Cliff Bentz

**Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025** This bill reauthorizes the Department of Defense to sell its excess aircraft and aircraft parts that are acceptable for commercial sale for wildfire suppression purposes. Such authority begins October 1, 2025, and ends October 1, 2035. The bill also provides that such aircraft may be used to deliver water by air in order to suppress wildfire (the previous authority only provided for the delivery of fire retardant). The bill removes the previous limitation on providing international wildfire suppression assistance with such purchased aircraft.

**Pet and Livestock Protection Act of 2025** This bill directs the Department of the Interior to remove protections for the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Specifically, the bill requires Interior to reissue the final rule titled *Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife* and published on November 3, 2020. The rule removed the gray wolf in the lower 48 United States, except for the Mexican wolf (*C. l. baileyi*) subspecies, from the endangered and threatened species list. However, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California vacated the rule on February 10, 2022. As a result, the gray wolf reattained the protection status it had prior to the rule's promulgation. The bill also prohibits the reissuance of the rule from being subject to judicial review.

**The Dalles Watershed Development Act** This bill provides for the conveyance of approximately 150 acres of National Forest System land located in the Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon from the Forest Service to the City of The Dalles, Oregon. If the city requests Interior to convey the land within a year of this bill's enactment, then the Forest Service must convey the land to the city as soon as practicable. The exact acreage and legal description of the National Forest System land to be conveyed must be determined by a survey satisfactory to the Forest Service.  The conveyance must be (1) subject to valid existing rights; (2) made without consideration (i.e., made without the transfer of value, such as money); (3) made by a quitclaim deed; and (4) subject to such additional terms and conditions as the Forest Service determines to be appropriate to protect the interests of the United States. As a condition of the conveyance, the city must pay the costs associated with the conveyance, including the cost of a survey.

**Northwest Energy Security Act** This bill requires Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) operations to be consistent with the preferred alternative in a 2020 environmental impact statement (EIS) decision that focuses on the operations, maintenance, and configuration of dams in the system rather than wild fish restoration. The system includes dams in the Columbia and Snake rivers in Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Idaho. Specifically, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must operate the FCRPS consistent with the *Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision* dated September 2020. Thus, Reclamation, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the Army Corps must follow the EIS rather than the 2023 Resilient Columbia Basin Initiative—and a supplemental EIS proposed in 2024—that focus on wild fish restoration in the Columbia Basin. The EIS decision may be amended if each agency determines that (1) changes are necessary for public safety or electrical grid reliability, or (2) certain requirements in the decision are no longer necessary. Further, the bill requires statutory authorization for any structural modification, action, study, or engineering plan that (1) restricts FCRPS hydroelectric dam generation; or (2) limits navigation on the Snake River in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho.

**Healthcare Freedom and Choice Act** This bill nullifies a rule regarding short-term, limited-duration health insurance plans. The rule was promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service, Employee Benefits Security Administration, and Department of Health and Human Services; is titled *Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance and Independent, Noncoordinated Excepted Benefits Coverage*; and was published April 3, 2024. Short-term, limited-duration health insurance plans are plans that may only offer coverage for a limited amount of time and are exempt from the market requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (e.g., coverage of individuals with preexisting conditions). The rule limits the length of the initial contract period for such a plan to no more than three months and, taking into account any renewals or extensions, the maximum coverage period to no more than four months. The rule also includes within the maximum renewal period limitation a new plan sold by the same issuer, or any issuer that is a member of the same controlled group, to the same policyholder within a 12-month period. Regulations in effect prior to the rule this bill nullifies permitted short-term, limited-duration health insurance plans with an initial contract period of fewer than 12 months and a maximum coverage period of up to 36 months, including renewals and extensions.