WASHINGTON — Salvage logging near Yosemite National Park could proceed without the customary environmental studies, public review or judicial oversight under a controversial bill that a key panel in the House of Representatives approved Thursday.

Authored by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., the measure that the Republican-controlled House Natural Resources Committee approved circumvents the usual administrative and legal procedures that can slow emergency logging.

McClintock, whose district includes Yosemite, says top speed is crucial in the wake of last summer’s devastating Rim fire, which ravaged a quarter of a million acres in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

“Time is of the essence,” McClintock said. “I cannot emphasize this enough.” The timber sale must take place in the spring, he said, “if it is to happen at all.”

The bill, approved 19-14, faces opposition from the Forest Service and the Interior Department, though, as well as potential skepticism in the Senate.

Further negotiations and tradeoffs of the kind that will test McClintock’s legislative skills will be necessary if the bill is to become law, Democrats say.

“My problem with the bill is it overreaches,” said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif. “The art of the compromise is what it’s going to take.”