United States 114th Congress Status: Died 1 R cosponsors

HR 2358 — Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act

Last action — Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 219.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. Died in session

This bill died with 114th Congress. It reached “Introduced” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

Summary

Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act (Sec. 2) This bill requires the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), with respect to lands under their respective jurisdictions, to provide direction under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to ensure that all existing and future rights-of-way for electrical transmission and distribution facilities on such lands include requirements meeting specified criteria for utility vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance activities. Interior and the USDA shall: (1) give facility owners and operators the option to submit their own vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance plans for approval; and (2) develop jointly a consolidated and coordinated process for review and approval of those plans. Interior and the USDA shall apply their respective categorical exclusion processes under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) to any plans developed on existing transmission and distribution rights-of-way located on lands under their respective jurisdictions. (A "categorical exclusion" under NEPA is a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and which have been found to have no such effect in procedures adopted by a federal agency in implementing environmental regulations and for which, therefore, neither an Environmental Assessment nor an Environmental Impact Statement is required.) A plan approved under this section shall become part of the authorization governing the covered right-of-way and hazard trees adjacent to that right-of-way. A hazard tree is any tree inside or located outside a right-of-way that has been found by either the transmission or distribution facility owner or operator, or by Interior or the USDA, to be likely to fail and cause a high risk of injury, damage, or disruption within 10 feet or less of an electric power line or related structure if it fell. If vegetation on federal lands within, or hazard trees on federal lands adjacent to, an electrical transmission or distribution right-of-way granted by Interior or the USDA has contacted, or is in imminent danger of contacting, one or more electric transmission or distribution lines, the owner or operator: may prune or remove the vegetation to avoid disruption of electric service and risk of fire; and shall notify the local agent of the relevant Department within 24 hours after such removal. The owner or operator of a transmission or distribution facility, after notifying Interior or the USDA, as appropriate, may also conduct vegetation management activities on federal lands to meet clearance requirements under standards established by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation or by state and local authorities. An owner or operator of a transmission or distribution facility shall not be held liable for wildfire damage, loss, or injury, including the cost of fire suppression, if Interior or the USDA fails to allow it to: operate consistently with an approved vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance plan on federal lands within or adjacent to a right-of-way to comply with federal, state, or local electric system reliability and fire safety standards; or perform vegetation management activities in response to an identified hazard tree or a tree in imminent danger of contacting the owner's or operator's transmission or distribution facility. Interior and the USDA should develop a program to train their personnel involved in vegetation management decisions relating to transmission and distribution facilities to ensure that they: understand electric system reliability and fire safety requirements, assist transmission and distribution facility owners and operators to comply with applicable electric reliability and fire safety requirements, and encourage and assist willing owners and operators to incorporate voluntarily vegetation management practices to enhance habitats and forage for pollinators and for other wildlife so long as those practices are compatible with the integrated vegetation management practices necessary for reliability and safety.

Bill Text

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Read HR 2358 on the official United States source →

Action History

  1. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 219.

  2. Committee on Agriculture discharged.

  3. Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 114-287, Part I.

  4. Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 22 - 15.

  5. Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.

  6. Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans Discharged.

  7. Subcommittee on Federal Lands Discharged.

  8. Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.

  9. Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry.

  10. Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans.

  11. Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.

  12. Referred to House Agriculture

  13. Referred to House Natural Resources

  14. 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.

  15. Introduced in House

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 546 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (546)

546 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

environment energy
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Frequently asked questions

What does HR 2358 do?
Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act (Sec. 2) This bill requires the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), with respect to lands under their respective jurisdictions, to provide direction under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to ensure that all existing and future rights-of-way for electrical transmission and distribution facilities on such lands include requirements meeting specified criteria for utility vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance activities. Interior and the USDA shall: (1) give facility owners and operators the option to submit their own vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance plans for approval; and (2) develop jointly a consolidated and coordinated process for review and approval of those plans. Interior and the USDA shall apply their respective categorical exclusion processes under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) to any plans developed on existing transmission and distribution rights-of-way located on lands under their respective jurisdictions. (A "categorical exclusion" under NEPA is a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and which have been found to have no such effect in procedures adopted by a federal agency in implementing environmental regulations and for which, therefore, neither an Environmental Assessment nor an Environmental Impact Statement is required.) A plan approved under this section shall become part of the authorization governing the covered right-of-way and hazard trees adjacent to that right-of-way. A hazard tree is any tree inside or located outside a right-of-way that has been found by either the transmission or distribution facility owner or operator, or by Interior or the USDA, to be likely to fail and cause a high risk of injury, damage, or disruption within 10 feet or less of an electric power line or related structure if it fell. If vegetation on federal lands within, or hazard trees on federal lands adjacent to, an electrical transmission or distribution right-of-way granted by Interior or the USDA has contacted, or is in imminent danger of contacting, one or more electric transmission or distribution lines, the owner or operator: may prune or remove the vegetation to avoid disruption of electric service and risk of fire; and shall notify the local agent of the relevant Department within 24 hours after such removal. The owner or operator of a transmission or distribution facility, after notifying Interior or the USDA, as appropriate, may also conduct vegetation management activities on federal lands to meet clearance requirements under standards established by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation or by state and local authorities. An owner or operator of a transmission or distribution facility shall not be held liable for wildfire damage, loss, or injury, including the cost of fire suppression, if Interior or the USDA fails to allow it to: operate consistently with an approved vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance plan on federal lands within or adjacent to a right-of-way to comply with federal, state, or local electric system reliability and fire safety standards; or perform vegetation management activities in response to an identified hazard tree or a tree in imminent danger of contacting the owner's or operator's transmission or distribution facility. Interior and the USDA should develop a program to train their personnel involved in vegetation management decisions relating to transmission and distribution facilities to ensure that they: understand electric system reliability and fire safety requirements, assist transmission and distribution facility owners and operators to comply with applicable electric reliability and fire safety requirements, and encourage and assist willing owners and operators to incorporate voluntarily vegetation management practices to enhance habitats and forage for pollinators and for other wildlife so long as those practices are compatible with the integrated vegetation management practices necessary for reliability and safety.
Who sponsors HR 2358?
HR 2358 is sponsored by Ryan Zinke (R).
What is the current status of HR 2358?
This bill died with 114th Congress. It reached “Introduced” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track HR 2358?
Track HR 2358 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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