# 119-hr-168: TORCH Act 119-hr-168, TORCH Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. LaMalfa, Doug [R-CA-1] (R-CA); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-168 - As of: 2026-04-21 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-hr-168 - Congress: 119 - Title: TORCH Act - Status: in_committee - Introduced: 2025-01-03 - Sponsor: Rep. LaMalfa, Doug [R-CA-1] (R-CA) - Cosponsors: 0 - Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-04-21 ## Summary **Streamlines forest and vegetation management to reduce wildfire risk and speed hazardous-tree removal.** This bill would create new categorical exclusions and change authorities so agencies, utilities, and partners can move faster on targeted wildfire-mitigation work. - Communities and forests: It would create a categorical exclusion for high-priority hazard-tree work near National Forest System roads and trails and raise major wildfire-resilience project size from 3,000 acres to 10,000 acres while extending certain cross-boundary authorities into 2030. This aims to speed removal of dangerous trees and larger fuels projects. - Utilities and customers: It would authorize more vegetation management, inspection, and maintenance on electric transmission and distribution rights-of-way, allow tree removal up to 50 feet from power lines on federal lands, and establish a categorical exclusion with automatic approvals for many ROW activities while banning new permanent roads. - Agencies, tribes, counties, and partners: It would expand Good Neighbor Authority to include tribes and counties, change how timber-sale proceeds are retained and used to prioritize restoration, allow targeted disposal of tree portions without appraisal in extreme risk cases, and limit when agencies must reinitiate Endangered Species Act consultations on land management plans. ## Provisions PRIA read - Easier small timber sales after disasters: benefit, medium. If passed, small timber deals on national forests would get simpler. The dollar line that triggers special sale rules would rise from $10,000 to $50,000. In extreme‑risk situations (wildfire, pests, storms, floods, or drought), the Secretary could dispose of parts of trees or forest products withou… - Expand grazing to cut wildfire risk: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Forest Service would develop a plan to expand livestock grazing as a wildfire tool with input from permit holders. The plan could speed reviews to allow grazing on vacant allotments during droughts, fires, or other disasters. It could use targeted grazing and more temporary permits… - Faster removal of hazard trees near roads: benefit, medium. If enacted, within one year the Secretary of Agriculture would set a NEPA exclusion for high‑priority hazard tree work near roads, trails, and recreation sites. Projects could be up to 3,000 acres and must still pass extraordinary‑circumstance checks. A covered tree would be visibly dangerous, like… - Larger wildfire projects through 2030: benefit, medium. If passed, several forest project size limits would rise from 3,000 acres to 10,000 acres. This would cover certain wildfire resilience and fuel‑break projects. The bill would also keep a cross‑boundary wildfire mitigation authority in place through 2030. - Tribes and counties keep timber sale funds: benefit, medium. If enacted, Governors, Indian tribes, and counties would be able to keep money from Good Neighbor timber sales. They would have to use it first for restoration under the same agreement. Any leftover funds could support other Good Neighbor restoration work. The change would cover projects started af… - Fewer Endangered Species Act plan rechecks: mixed, medium. If passed, the Forest Service and BLM would not have to restart Endangered Species Act consultations on land plans when a new species is listed or new information appears. This would apply to approved, amended, or revised land management or land use plans. It could speed planning, but it would redu… - Faster tree clearing near power lines: mixed, medium. If passed, utilities and the Forest Service would be able to manage trees near power lines on federal land faster. Routine plan work would get a NEPA exclusion, except in wilderness, some restricted lands, and inventoried roadless areas. Plans without changes would be auto‑approved 60 days after re… ## Related bills - 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025 - 119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act - 119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025 - 119-hr-2619: No Paydays for Hostage-Takers Act - 119-hr-3898: PERMIT Act - 119-hr-2709: Save Our Sequoias Act ## Sources - [119-hr-168 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/168) ## Related - [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725) - [119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-471) - [119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1229) - [119-hr-2619: No Paydays for Hostage-Takers Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2619) - [119-hr-3898: PERMIT Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3898) - [119-hr-2709: Save Our Sequoias Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2709) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-168 (as of 2026-04-21).