Revisions to Reliability Standard for Transmission Vegetation Management

Under section 215 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) approves Reliability Standard FAC-003-2 (Transmission Vegetation Management), submitted to the Commission for approval by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization. Reliability Standard FAC-003-2 expands the applicability of the standard to include overhead transmission lines that are operated below 200 kV, if they are either an element of an Interconnection Reliability Operating Limit or an element of a Major WECC Transfer Path. Reliability Standard FAC-003-2 incorporates a new minimum annual inspection requirement, and incorporates new minimum vegetation clearance distances into the text of the standard. The Commission also approves the related definitions, violation severity levels, implementation plan, and effective dates proposed by NERC. The Commission approves the related violation risk factors, except that it directs a revision to the violation risk factor corresponding to one requirement.