diff --git a/src/google/adk/environment/_base_environment.py b/src/google/adk/environment/_base_environment.py
index 1217d6115ad..8779bf8d7db 100644
--- a/src/google/adk/environment/_base_environment.py
+++ b/src/google/adk/environment/_base_environment.py
@@ -121,6 +121,37 @@ async def read_file(self, path: Path) -> bytes:
       FileNotFoundError: If the file does not exist.
     """
 
+  async def read_file_lines(
+      self,
+      path: str | Path,
+      start_line: int = 1,
+      end_line: int | None = None,
+  ) -> tuple[list[bytes], int]:
+    """Reads lines from a file, avoiding loading the entire file if possible.
+
+    Args:
+      path: Absolute or working-dir-relative path to the file.
+      start_line: First line to return (1-based, inclusive). Defaults to 1.
+      end_line: Last line to return (1-based, inclusive). Defaults to end of
+        file.
+
+    Returns:
+      A tuple containing:
+        - A list of lines as bytes.
+        - The total number of lines in the file.
+
+    Raises:
+      FileNotFoundError: If the file does not exist.
+    """
+    data_bytes = await self.read_file(Path(path))
+    lines_bytes = data_bytes.splitlines(keepends=True)
+    total = len(lines_bytes)
+    start = max(1, start_line)
+    end = total if end_line is None else min(total, end_line)
+    if start > total:
+      return [], total
+    return lines_bytes[start - 1 : end], total
+
   @abstractmethod
   async def write_file(self, path: Path, content: str | bytes) -> None:
     """Write content to a file in the environment's filesystem.
diff --git a/src/google/adk/environment/_local_environment.py b/src/google/adk/environment/_local_environment.py
index 33b99c56965..bf98cbf7382 100644
--- a/src/google/adk/environment/_local_environment.py
+++ b/src/google/adk/environment/_local_environment.py
@@ -207,6 +207,21 @@ async def read_file(self, path: str | Path) -> bytes:
     resolved = self._resolve_path(path)
     return await asyncio.to_thread(self._sync_read, resolved)
 
+  @override
+  async def read_file_lines(
+      self,
+      path: str | Path,
+      start_line: int = 1,
+      end_line: int | None = None,
+  ) -> tuple[list[bytes], int]:
+    if self._working_dir is None:
+      raise RuntimeError('`working_dir` is not set. Call initialize() first.')
+
+    resolved = self._resolve_path(path)
+    return await asyncio.to_thread(
+        self._sync_read_lines, resolved, start_line, end_line
+    )
+
   @override
   async def write_file(self, path: str | Path, content: str | bytes) -> None:
     if self._working_dir is None:
@@ -232,6 +247,21 @@ def _sync_read(path: Path) -> bytes:
     with open(path, 'rb') as f:
       return f.read()
 
+  @staticmethod
+  def _sync_read_lines(
+      path: Path, start_line: int, end_line: int | None = None
+  ) -> tuple[list[bytes], int]:
+    selected_lines: list[bytes] = []
+    total_lines = 0
+    with open(path, 'rb') as f:
+      for line in f:
+        total_lines += 1
+        if start_line <= total_lines and (
+            end_line is None or total_lines <= end_line
+        ):
+          selected_lines.append(line)
+    return selected_lines, total_lines
+
   @staticmethod
   def _sync_write(path: Path, content: str | bytes) -> None:
     os.makedirs(path.parent, exist_ok=True)
diff --git a/src/google/adk/tools/environment/_read_file_tool.py b/src/google/adk/tools/environment/_read_file_tool.py
index d49dd0d054a..f63ce3891c5 100644
--- a/src/google/adk/tools/environment/_read_file_tool.py
+++ b/src/google/adk/tools/environment/_read_file_tool.py
@@ -114,13 +114,10 @@ async def run_async(
         }
 
     try:
-      # TODO: Avoid loading the entire file into memory to prevent OOM on large files.
-      data_bytes = await self._environment.read_file(path)
-      # Slice data_bytes by line boundaries before decoding.
-      lines_bytes = data_bytes.splitlines(keepends=True)
-      total = len(lines_bytes)
       start = max(1, start_line or 1)
-      end = min(total, end_line or total)
+      selected_bytes, total = await self._environment.read_file_lines(
+          path, start_line=start, end_line=end_line
+      )
       if start > total:
         return {
             'status': 'error',
@@ -129,13 +126,13 @@ async def run_async(
             ),
             'total_lines': total,
         }
+      end = min(total, end_line or total)
       if start > end:
         return {
             'status': 'error',
             'error': f'`start_line` ({start}) is after `end_line` ({end}).',
             'total_lines': total,
         }
-      selected_bytes = lines_bytes[start - 1 : end]
       lines = [
           line_bytes.decode('utf-8', errors='replace')
           for line_bytes in selected_bytes
diff --git a/tests/unittests/tools/environment/test_read_file_tool.py b/tests/unittests/tools/environment/test_read_file_tool.py
index 8cc66d52785..bd16322acc6 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/tools/environment/test_read_file_tool.py
+++ b/tests/unittests/tools/environment/test_read_file_tool.py
@@ -194,3 +194,67 @@ async def test_read_file_rejects_boolean_line_numbers(
         'status': 'error',
         'error': '`end_line` must be an integer if provided.',
     }
+
+  @pytest.mark.asyncio
+  async def test_read_file_lines_empty_file(self, env: LocalEnvironment):
+    """Test reading from an empty file."""
+    await env.write_file('empty.txt', '')
+
+    tool = ReadFileTool(env)
+    result = await tool.run_async(
+        args={'path': 'empty.txt', 'start_line': 1},
+        tool_context=None,
+    )
+
+    assert result == {
+        'status': 'error',
+        'error': '`start_line` 1 exceeds file length (0 lines).',
+        'total_lines': 0,
+    }
+
+  @pytest.mark.asyncio
+  async def test_read_file_lines_exceeds_total(self, env: LocalEnvironment):
+    """Test start_line exceeding total lines of file."""
+    await env.write_file('sample.txt', 'line1\nline2\n')
+
+    tool = ReadFileTool(env)
+    result = await tool.run_async(
+        args={'path': 'sample.txt', 'start_line': 5},
+        tool_context=None,
+    )
+
+    assert result == {
+        'status': 'error',
+        'error': '`start_line` 5 exceeds file length (2 lines).',
+        'total_lines': 2,
+    }
+
+  @pytest.mark.asyncio
+  async def test_read_file_lines_order_violation(self, env: LocalEnvironment):
+    """Test start_line after end_line error handling."""
+    await env.write_file('sample.txt', 'line1\nline2\n')
+
+    tool = ReadFileTool(env)
+    result = await tool.run_async(
+        args={'path': 'sample.txt', 'start_line': 3, 'end_line': 2},
+        tool_context=None,
+    )
+
+    # Note that start_line is 3, which is also exceeding the file length.
+    # Therefore, the start_line exceeding check is fired first.
+    assert result == {
+        'status': 'error',
+        'error': '`start_line` 3 exceeds file length (2 lines).',
+        'total_lines': 2,
+    }
+
+    # Now let's try with start_line = 2, end_line = 1 (valid lines but out of order)
+    result_out_of_order = await tool.run_async(
+        args={'path': 'sample.txt', 'start_line': 2, 'end_line': 1},
+        tool_context=None,
+    )
+    assert result_out_of_order == {
+        'status': 'error',
+        'error': '`start_line` (2) is after `end_line` (1).',
+        'total_lines': 2,
+    }