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H.R. 1873: Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act

Jun 21, 2017 at 4:39 p.m. ET. On Passage of the Bill in the House.

This was a vote to pass H.R. 1873 (115th) in the House.

H.R. 1873 amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to enhance the reliability of the electricity grid and reduce the threat of wildfires to and from electric transmission and distribution facilities on Federal lands by facilitating vegetation management on such lands. Specifically, the goal of H.R. 1873 is to ensure reliable electricity service and reduce the risk of fires and fire hazards caused by inadequate vegetation management in and adjacent to power line rights-of-way (ROW) on some federally managed lands. H.R. 1873 seeks to reduce such wildfires, in part, by promoting federal consistency, accountability, and timely decision-making as it relates to protecting electricity transmission and distribution lines on some federal lands from hazard trees

H.R. 1873 provides utilities with the ability to rapidly remove hazardous trees by receiving pre-approval from the Forest Service to manage transmission line right of ways and remove trees that are or could become hazards. Furthermore, if a utility requests authorization to remove a tree and is denied by the Forest Service, the Forest Service is responsible for any firefighting costs that result from the failure to remove the tree.

Source: Republican Policy Committee

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Totals

All Votes R D
Aye 72%
 
 
300
231
 
69
 
No 28%
 
 
118
0
 
118
 
Not Voting
 
 
13
7
 
6
 

Passed. Simple Majority Required. Source: house.gov.

Ideology Vote Chart

Key:
Republican - Aye Democrat - Aye Democrat - No
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Cartogram Map

Each hexagon represents one congressional district. Dark shaded hexes are Aye votes.

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Notes: The Speaker’s Vote?
The Speaker of the House is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings, except when such vote would be decisive.” In practice, this means the Speaker of the House rarely votes and only does so when it is politically useful. When the Speaker declines to vote, he or she is simply omitted from the roll call by the House Clerk. (See House Rules, Rule I(7).)
“Aye” or “Yea”?

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The U.S. Constitution says that bills should be decided on by the “yeas and nays” (Article I, Section 7). Congress takes this literally and uses “yea” and “nay” when voting on the final passage of bills.

All Senate votes use these words. But the House of Representatives uses “Aye” and “No” in other sorts of votes.

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