[House Report 118-915]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
118th Congress } { Rept. 118-915
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { Part 1
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FIRE SAFE ELECTRICAL CORRIDORS ACT OF 2024
_______
December 18, 2024.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Westerman, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 6012]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 6012) to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture
to permit removal of trees around electrical lines on National
Forest System land without conducting a timber sale, and for
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably
thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill as
amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fire Safe Electrical Corridors Act of
2024''.
SEC. 2. PERMITS AND AGREEMENTS WITH ELECTRICAL UTILITIES.
(a) In General.--In any special use permit or easement on National
Forest System lands or land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of
Land Management provided to an electrical utility, the Secretary of
Agriculture or Secretary of the Interior, as applicable, may provide
permission to cut and remove trees or other vegetation, including
hazardous vegetation that increases fire risk, from within the vicinity
of distribution lines or transmission lines without requiring a
separate timber sale, if that cutting and removal is consistent with--
(1) the applicable land management plan; and
(2) other applicable environmental laws (including
regulations).
(b) Use of Proceeds.--A special use permit or easement that includes
permission for cutting and removal described in subsection (a) shall
include a requirement that, if the applicable electrical utility sells
any portion of the material removed under the permit or easement, the
electrical utility shall provide to the Secretary of Agriculture,
acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, or the Secretary of the
Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management,
any proceeds received from the sale, less any transportation costs
incurred in the sale.
(c) Effect.--Nothing in subsection (b) shall require the sale of any
material removed under a permit or easement that includes permission
for cutting and removal described in subsection (a).
PURPOSE OF THE LEGISLATION
The purpose of H.R. 6012 is to authorize the Secretary of
Agriculture to permit removal of trees around electrical lines
on National Forest System land without conducting a timber
sale, and for other purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Overgrown, unhealthy, and fire-prone federal forests are
tinderboxes that pose significant threats to Western
communities in the wildland-urban interface. Downed hazard
trees within utility rights-of-way (ROW) remain one of the
biggest ignition threats and have sparked some of the most
significant and deadly fires in the country's history. For
example, the largest single wildfire in California state
history, the Dixie Fire, ignited when a tree fell onto
electrical lines.\1\ Catastrophic fires in Maui and Texas over
the last two years have also been linked to downed utility
lines.\2\
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\1\Tim Stelloh ``California's massive Dixie Fire ignited after tree
fell on PG&E electrical lines, officials say,'' NBC News, January 4,
2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/californias-massive-dixie-
fire-ignited-tree-fell-pge-electrical-lines-rcna10973.
\2\``Preliminary After-Action Report: 2023 Maui Wildfire'', U.S.
Fire Administration February 8, 2024, https://www.usfa.fema.gov/blog/
preliminary-after-action-report-2023-maui-wildfire/. Kane Wells, ``500+
structures destroyed by Smokehouse Creek fire'', Reinsurance News,
March 4, 2024, https://www.reinsurancene.ws/500-structures-destroyed-
by-smokehouse-creek-fire/.
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To address these threats, utility companies attempt to
maintain clear ROW and fell hazard trees within their utility
corridors under special use permits or easements from the U.S.
Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM). To
dispose of the felled timber, however, utilities are currently
required to go through a lengthy timber sale process.\3\ This
frequently leads to wood waste stacking up in piles and not
being removed, further heightening wildfire risk. This
unnecessarily costly and time-consuming process for removing
hazard trees is needlessly preventing active management in some
of the highest risk areas of our national forests.\4\
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\3\Id.
\4\``Creating Fire-Safe Electrical Corridors'', Northern California
Power Agency, February 2024, https://republicans-
naturalresources.house.gov/UploadedFiles/NCPA_Creating_Fire-Safe_
Electrical_Corridors_Issue_Paper_2024.pdf.
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H.R. 6012, the ``Fire Safe Electrical Corridors Act,''
would allow USFS and BLM to permit utility companies to fully
remove hazard trees and other vegetation within the vicinity of
distribution or transmission lines without going through a
separate timber sale. If the utilities eventually sell the used
material, this legislation requires the proceeds to be returned
to USFS or BLM, accounting for any transportation costs. This
bipartisan legislation is sponsored by Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-
CA-24) and co-led by Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR-05).
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 6012 was introduced on October 20, 2023, by Rep. Salud
Carbajal (D-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee
on Federal Lands. The bill was also referred to the Committee
on Agriculture.On July 9, 2024, the Subcommittee on Federal
Lands held a hearing on the bill. On September 19, 2024, the Committee
on Natural Resources met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on
Federal Lands was discharged from further consideration of H.R. 6012 by
unanimous consent. Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) offered an amendment
designated Westerman #1. The amendment was agreed to by unanimous
consent. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) offered an amendment designated Neguse
#1. The amendment was agreed to by unanimous consent. The bill, as
amended, was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives
by unanimous consent.
HEARINGS
For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the
following hearing was used to develop or consider this measure:
hearing by the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held on July 9,
2024.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 names the bill the ``Fire Safe Electrical
Corridors Act of 2023.''
Section 2. Permits and agreements with electrical utilities
Section 2 authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior, where applicable, to provide
permission to electrical utilities to cut and remove trees and
other vegetation from within the vicinity of distribution or
transmission lines without requiring a separate timber sale
under a special use permit or easement provided to such
utility. Section 2 requires such action to comply with the
applicable land management plan and all other applicable laws.
In addition, Section 2 dictates that if utilities sell any
portion of the removed material under the permit or easement
that they provide the Secretary of Agriculture or Secretary of
the Interior with proceeds from those sales, deducting any
transportation costs incurred in the sale. Lastly, Section 2
specifies that nothing in the bill requires a timber sale.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT
1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act.
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and pursuant to
clause 3(c)(3) of House rule XIII and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested
but not received from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office a budgetary analysis and a cost estimate of this bill.
2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of
Agriculture to permit removal of trees around electrical lines
on National Forest System land without conducting a timber
sale, and for other purposes.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
UNFUNDED MANDATES REFORM ACT STATEMENT
An estimate of federal mandates prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Chair of
the Committee shall cause such estimate to be printed in the
Congressional Record upon its receipt by the Committee, if such
estimate is not publicly available on the Congressional Budget
Office website.
EXISTING PROGRAMS
Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any
directed rule makings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the
U.S. Constitution.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
As ordered reported by the Committee on Natural Resources,
H.R. 6012 would make no changes in existing law.
[all]