HR 7996 Introduced – Linemen Legacy Act

 Last month, Rep Higgins (R,LA) introduced HR 7996, the Linemen Legacy Act. The bill would amend 6 USC 101(6) to add ‘utility line technicians’ to the definition of the term ‘emergency response providers’ as that term is used in 6 USC Chapter 1, Homeland Security Organization. No new funding is authorized by this bill. 

HR 7996 essentially identical to HR 7610, the Linemen Legacy Act, that was introduced by Higgens in March of 2024. No action was taken on that bill in the 118th Congress. 

The legislation adds the new category to the definition when the technicians are “responding to a major disaster or an emergency declared by the President”. This change means that everwhere the term ‘emergency response providers’ is mentioned in Chapter 1 it would include such responding utility line technicians. It does not look like this would include any federal renumeration being provided to such personnel, but this definition may be utilized by reference in other US Code sections and federal regulations.