With the Lake Fire at over 34 thousand acres, congressman Salud Carbajal pushed for a bipartisan legislation to be heard in the house of representatives on Tuesday this week.
A release by Carbajal’s office says the fire safe electrical corridors act would allow the US Forest Service to approve the removal of hazardous trees near power lines on federal land without requiring a timber sale. This would remove the red tape that currently slows the clearing of hazardous fuel and potential triggers for a wildfire on federal land.
The bill would also require that any utility that sells marketable forest products from hazardous trees removed near power lines must return any proceeds to the forest service.
The bill was first introduced in October 2023, but was heard earlier this week in the US House of Representatives.
