Congress should not be building loopholes for utility companies to log out public lands. If clearing must be done to install and maintain utilities, it must be proposed to and agreed upon by the EPA, Forestry Service, or National Park Service if applicable, during the contract process.

I have to say there is a knee jerk reaction to yell save the trees here, however, as I live in a state with year round forest fires there are two important things people forget. Forest or wildfires generally are caused by people acting recklessly or lighting strikes in dry windy conditions. Seldom if ever is one cause by utilities. The other thing is fire is not a bad thing for a forest unless it's to the point of sterilization of the soil. Many forests are experiencing beetle kill. A fire takes out the standing deadwood and allows for new growth. While this bill has good intentions, I see no oversight and it appears to be shifting the cost away from the utilities where it belongs. There is no incentive to bury these lines for both aesthetic and safety purposes. Nice idea but it doesn't go far enough. Much praise to our Wildland Firefighters.

This seems like a way for private companies to clear cut forests in the name of safety and fire control. The bill does not specify what science has shown as a safe distance nor does it provide oversight mechanism for company's, because we all know they want to make profit regardless of the impact to the environment, loss of habitat, etc.