The House last week passed H.R. 471, the Fix Our Forests Act, by voice vote.
Introduced by Representatives Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Scott Peters (D-CA), the bill would:
- Designate fireshed management areas;
- Establish the Fireshed Center within the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Geological Survey;
- Require the Department of Interior (DOI) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enter into a shared stewardship agreement within 90 days of a state or Indian Tribe issuing a request;
- Codify emergency National Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and Endangered Species Act regulations in fireshed management areas;
- Establish a joint DOI-USDA Community Wildfire Defense Research Program to test and advance wildfire-resistant infrastructure;
- Create a new categorical exclusion for electric utility lines rights-of-way; and
- Automatically approve electric utilities’ vegetation management plans after approximately four months without amendment.
An amendment containing the text of the Fire Safe Electrical Corridors Act was adopted. Offered by Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA), the amendment would allow the U.S. Forest Service to approve the removal of hazardous trees near power lines on federal land without requiring a timber sale.
APPA strongly supports the Fix Our Forests Act and the Fire Safe Electrical Corridors Act amendment.