Frank Pallone: “The manager's amendment to H.R. 8 already includes a provision which would hand over management of vast swaths of U.S.…”

“The manager's amendment to H.R. 8 already includes a provision which would hand over management of vast swaths of U.S. public lands to private corporations and other utility providers under the guise of preventing forest fires. This provision was inserted in the dead of night, and the full House won't get to vote on it. This is a terrible way to treat our public lands. As if this weren't enough, this amendment would go even further, allowing electric utilities to clear-cut a football field-length swath of national forest adjacent to transmission rights-of-way. It would also shift liability for fire damage caused by transmission infrastructure from the utilities to the American taxpayers, and that is just not right. The Forest Service and the BLM are already working with utilities to improve right-of-way maintenance, and both agencies testified before the Natural Resources Committee that prior agency approval is not necessary for emergency vegetation maintenance work. Mr. Huffman offered a commonsense amendment at markup which would have required proactive planning by utilities in coordination with land managers to identify and address potential fire threats, but every Republican voted against it. Instead, they are supporting legislation which would lead to less responsible stewardship of the American people's forests. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, power lines were responsible for causing only 0.03 percent of forest fires in past 5 years.…”