The Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) has one last opportunity to put the brakes on a radical utility line-clearing proposal that would remove any tall tree growing within eight feet to the right and to the left of utility distribution lines, from ground to sky, regardless of the health of the tree.
This crisis was generated by legitimate efforts, since gone awry, intended to address the widespread power outages caused in part by trees falling on power lines during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The General Assembly passed P.A. 13-298, setting up a legal framework for “vegetation management” around utility lines, defined as the “pruning or removal of trees, shrubs, or other vegetation that pose a risk to the reliability of the utility infrastructure, and the retention of trees and shrubs that are compatible with the utility infrastructure.”
