# 119-hr-7578: TORCH Act 119-hr-7578, TORCH Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Kennedy, Mike [R-UT-3] (R-UT); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-06-25). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7578 - As of: 2026-06-25 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-hr-7578 - Congress: 119 - Title: TORCH Act - Status: introduced - Introduced: 2026-02-13 - Sponsor: Rep. Kennedy, Mike [R-UT-3] (R-UT) - Cosponsors: 1 - Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-06-25 ## Summary **Speeds and scales forest and vegetation treatments to reduce catastrophic wildfire risk.** It creates new categorical exclusions, raises allowed project sizes, and expands authorities to use timber, grazing, and power-line vegetation work to accelerate fuels reduction. - Homeowners and rural communities: Faster, larger fuels-reduction projects aim to lower wildfire risk, with collaborative and fuel-break project sizes increased from 3,000 to 10,000 acres. - Tribes, counties, and forest managers: Indian tribes and counties can receive and use timber-sale revenue under an expanded Good Neighbor Authority. The bill also lets agencies dispose of trees in extreme-risk areas without an appraisal and clarifies how restoration funds are retained and shared. - Utilities, private landowners, and ranchers: Sets a 50-foot hazard-tree buffer from power lines, creates a categorical exclusion for right-of-way vegetation work, and expands livestock grazing and temporary permits as tools for fuels reduction and drought response. ## Cosponsors (1) - Rep. Gallagher, James [R-CA-1] (R-CA), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - Allow larger forest projects: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would raise several project-size limits from 3,000 acres to 10,000 acres. This includes collaborative restoration categorical exclusions and wildfire resilience projects under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act and fuel-break projects under the cited infrastructure law. The ch… - Faster hazard-tree removal near roads: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Forest Service would have to create a fast review option for "high-priority hazard trees" within one year. The option would cover pruning, felling, and disposal of trees likely to fail and within 300 feet of certain roads, trails, or developed recreation sites. Projects using this c… - More grazing to cut wildfire fuel: benefit, low. If enacted, the Forest Service would have to make a strategy to use more livestock grazing to reduce wildfire risk. The plan would include NEPA reviews to allow grazing on vacant allotments during droughts or disasters, use of targeted grazing, more temporary permits for fuels reduction and invasiv… - More time for cross-boundary projects: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would change a deadline year in the Healthy Forests Restoration Act from 2023 to 2030. That would give states, tribes, and local collaboratives more time to plan and carry out cross-boundary wildfire mitigation projects under the cited program. The change extends the timeframe… - Tribes and counties keep timber money: benefit, low. If enacted, Indian tribes and counties would be allowed to retain and use timber-sale revenue received under Good Neighbor Agreements, like Governors already can. The retained funds could be used to carry out restoration services under that agreement, and any remaining funds could be used on restor… - Easier timber sales in emergencies: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would raise the appraisal threshold for timber sales from $10,000 to $50,000 so smaller sales would not need an appraisal. It would also let the Secretary sell or otherwise dispose of portions of trees or forest products on National Forest land without an appraisal when a unit… - Limit new Endangered Species reviews: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would say the Secretary does not have to reinitiate consultation under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act for a land use or management plan when a new species is listed or new information appears about effects. The change would apply to plans approved, amended, or revised… - Faster power-line tree work: mixed, medium. If enacted, electric utilities would get faster approval for vegetation management plans. Plans submitted without changes would be approved in 60 days and plans with modifications in 67 days. The allowed hazard-tree distance from power lines would increase to 50 feet and permits or easements could… ## Related bills - 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025 - 119-hr-9693: Patients First Act of 2026 - 119-hr-6955: Main Street Capital Access Act - 119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250 - 119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act - 119-hr-1502: North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act ## Sources - [119-hr-7578 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7578) ## Related - [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669) - [119-hr-9693: Patients First Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9693) - [119-hr-6955: Main Street Capital Access Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6955) - [119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9250) - [119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-471) - [119-hr-1502: North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1502) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7578 (as of 2026-06-25).