I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1873 
To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to enhance 
the reliability of the electricity grid and reduce the threat of wildfires 
to and from electric transmission and distribution facilities on Federal 
lands by facilitating vegetation management on such lands. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 4, 2017 
Mr. LAMALFA (for himself, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. CHENEY, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 
WESTERMAN, and Mr. O’HALLERAN) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to 
the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976 to enhance the reliability of the electricity grid 
and reduce the threat of wildfires to and from electric 
transmission and distribution facilities on Federal lands 
by facilitating vegetation management on such lands. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electricity Reliability 
and Forest Protection Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY INSPECTION, 
AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE ON 
FEDERAL 
LANDS 
CONTAINING 
ELECTRIC 
TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION FACILI-
TIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Federal Land Pol-
icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 512. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY INSPEC-
TION, AND OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE 
RELATING TO ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION AND 
DISTRIBUTION FACILITY RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL DIRECTION.—In order to enhance the 
reliability of the electricity grid and reduce the threat of 
wildfires to and from electric transmission and distribu-
tion rights-of-way and related facilities and adjacent prop-
erty, the Secretary, with respect to public lands and other 
lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary, and the Sec-
retary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest Sys-
tem lands, shall provide direction to ensure that all exist-
ing and future rights-of-way, however established (includ-
ing by grant, special use authorization, and easement), for 
electrical transmission and distribution facilities on such 
lands include provisions for utility vegetation manage-
ment, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance 
activities that, while consistent with applicable law— 
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‘‘(1) are developed in consultation with the 
holder of the right-of-way; 
‘‘(2) enable the owner or operator of a facility 
to operate and maintain the facility in good working 
order and to comply with Federal, State and local 
electric system reliability and fire safety require-
ments, including reliability standards established by 
the North American Electric Reliability Corporation 
and plans to meet such reliability standards; 
‘‘(3) minimize the need for case-by-case or an-
nual approvals for— 
‘‘(A) routine vegetation management, facil-
ity inspection, and operation and maintenance 
activities within existing electrical transmission 
and distribution rights-of-way; and 
‘‘(B) utility vegetation management activi-
ties that are necessary to control hazard trees 
within or adjacent to electrical transmission and 
distribution rights-of-way; and 
‘‘(4) when review is required, provide for expe-
dited review and approval of utility vegetation man-
agement, facility inspection, and operation and 
maintenance activities, especially activities requiring 
prompt action to avoid an adverse impact on human 
safety or electric reliability to avoid fire hazards. 
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‘‘(b) VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY INSPEC-
TION, AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PLANS.— 
‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT
AND
SUBMISSION.—Con-
sistent with subsection (a), the Secretary and the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall provide owners and 
operators of electric transmission and distribution 
facilities located on lands described in such sub-
section with the option to develop and submit a 
vegetation management, facility inspection, and op-
eration and maintenance plan, that at each owner or 
operator’s transmission discretion may cover some or 
all of the owner or operator’s transmission and dis-
tribution rights-of-way on Federal lands, for ap-
proval to the Secretary with jurisdiction over the 
lands. A plan under this paragraph shall enable the 
owner or operator of a facility, at a minimum, to 
comply with applicable Federal, State, and local elec-
tric system reliability and fire safety requirements, 
as provided in subsection (a)(2). The Secretaries 
shall not have the authority to modify those require-
ments. 
‘‘(2) REVIEW AND APPROVAL PROCESS.—The 
Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
jointly develop a consolidated and coordinated proc-
ess for review and approval of— 
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‘‘(A) vegetation management, facility in-
spection, and operation and maintenance plans 
submitted under paragraph (1) that— 
‘‘(i) assures prompt review and ap-
proval not to exceed 90 days; 
‘‘(ii) includes timelines and bench-
marks for agency comments to submitted 
plans and final approval of such plans; 
‘‘(iii) is consistent with applicable law; 
and 
‘‘(iv) minimizes the costs of the proc-
ess to the reviewing agency and the entity 
submitting the plans; and 
‘‘(B) amendments to the plans in a prompt 
manner if changed conditions necessitate a 
modification to a plan. 
‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—The review and approval 
process under paragraph (2) shall— 
‘‘(A) include notification by the agency of 
any changed conditions that warrant a modi-
fication to a plan; 
‘‘(B) provide an opportunity for the owner 
or operator to submit a proposed plan amend-
ment to address directly the changed condition; 
and 
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‘‘(C) allow the owner or operator to con-
tinue to implement those elements of the ap-
proved plan that do not directly and adversely 
affect the condition precipitating the need for 
modification. 
‘‘(4) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION PROCESS.—The 
Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
apply his or her categorical exclusion process under 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to plans developed under this 
subsection on existing transmission and distribution 
rights-of-way under this subsection. 
‘‘(5) 
IMPLEMENTATION.—A 
plan 
approved 
under this subsection shall become part of the au-
thorization governing the covered right-of-way and 
hazard trees adjacent to the right-of-way. If a vege-
tation management plan is proposed for an existing 
transmission and distribution facility concurrent 
with the siting of a new transmission or distribution 
facility, necessary reviews shall be completed as part 
of the siting process or sooner. Once the plan is ap-
proved, the owner or operator shall provide the agen-
cy with only a notification of activities anticipated to 
be undertaken in the coming year, a description of 
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