Utilities and unions tell House subcommittee permitting delays raise wildfire risk and costs; they urge Fix Our Forest Act

Witnesses at a House subcommittee hearing said permitting delays for vegetation management and transmission work on federal lands exacerbate wildfire risk, raise costs for ratepayers and complicate workforce safety, and urged Congress to pass the House-passed Fix Our Forest Act to speed approvals.

Chairman Westerman opened the session by pressing the need to implement section 512 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and to adopt uniform agency practices. "When utilities encounter bureaucratic bottlenecks that prevent timely maintenance necessary to reduce fire risk from their power lines, that creates a recipe for disaster," he said in his opening statement.

Multiple utility leaders described real-world consequences. Jim Anderson, chief executive officer of Mid State Electric Cooperative, said a past complex fire damaged a transmission line and cut power county‑wide; he recounted a decades‑old liability case that carried a $327,000 cost and said repeated agency delays left his cooperative exposed. "Too much is at stake to wait another 30 years to ensure rural…