I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1770 

To amend the National Dam Safety Program Act to establish a program 

to provide grant assistance to States for the rehabilitation and repair 

of deficient dams. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2009 

Mr. SALAZAR (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, and Ms. MARKEY of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the National Dam Safety Program Act to establish 

a program to provide grant assistance to States for the 

rehabilitation and repair of deficient dams. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dam Rehabilitation 

5 and Repair Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REHABILITATION AND REPAIR OF DEFICIENT 

7 DAMS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the National Dam 

9 Safety Program Act (33 U.S.C. 467) is amended— 


jbell on PRODPC61 with BILLS
2 

•HR 1770 IH

1 (1) by striking paragraph (3); 

2 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

3 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; 

4 (3) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as redes5 ignated by paragraph (2) of this subsection) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis8 trator’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

9 Emergency Management Agency.’’; 

10 (4) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), (6), 

11 (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), and (13) as para12 graphs (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (13), (14), (15), 

13 and (16), respectively; 

14 (5) by inserting after paragraph (3) (as redesig15 nated by paragraph (2) of this subsection) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(4) DEFICIENT DAM.—The term ‘deficient 

18 dam’ means a dam that the State within the bound19 aries of which the dam is located determines— 

20 ‘‘(A) fails to meet minimum dam safety 

21 standards of the State; and 

22 ‘‘(B) poses an unacceptable risk to the 

23 public.’’; and 


jbell on PRODPC61 with BILLS
3 

•HR 1770 IH

1 (6) by inserting after paragraph (10) (as redes2 ignated by paragraph (4) of this subsection) the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(11) PUBLICLY-OWNED DAM.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘publicly6 owned dam’ means a dam that is owned by 1 

7 or more State agencies or governments, local 

8 governments, or municipal governments. 

9 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘publicly10 owned dam’ includes a dam owned by a non11 profit organization that— 

12 ‘‘(i) is established by 1 or more State, 

13 local, or municipal governments; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) provides public benefits, such 

15 as— 

16 ‘‘(I) local flood control districts; 

17 ‘‘(II) regional public water utili18 ties; and 

19 ‘‘(III) local irrigation districts. 

20 ‘‘(12) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘rehabilita21 tion’ means the repair, replacement, reconstruction, 

22 or removal of a dam that is carried out to meet ap23 plicable State dam safety and security standards.’’. 

24 (b) PROGRAM FOR REHABILITATION AND REPAIR OF

25 DEFICIENT DAMS.—The National Dam Safety Program 


jbell on PRODPC61 with BILLS
4 

•HR 1770 IH

1 Act is amended by inserting after section 8 (33 U.S.C. 

2 467f) the following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 8A. REHABILITATION AND REPAIR OF DEFICIENT 

4 DAMS. 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Adminis6 trator shall establish, within FEMA, a program to provide 

7 grant assistance to States for use in rehabilitation of defi8 cient dams that are publicly-owned dams. 

9 ‘‘(b) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State interested in 

12 receiving a grant under this section may submit 

13 to the Administrator an application for the 

14 grant. 

15 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—An application 

16 submitted to the Administrator under this sec17 tion shall be submitted at such time, be in such 

18 form, and contain such information as the Ad19 ministrator may prescribe by regulation. 

20 ‘‘(2) GRANT.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

22 may make a grant in accordance with this sec23 tion for rehabilitation of a deficient dam to a 

24 State that submits an application for the grant 


jbell on PRODPC61 with BILLS
5 

•HR 1770 IH

1 in accordance with the regulations prescribed by 

2 the Administrator. 

3 ‘‘(B) PROJECT GRANT AGREEMENT.—The 

4 Administrator shall enter into a project grant 

5 agreement with the State to establish the terms 

6 of the grant and the project, including the 

7 amount of the grant. 

8 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS.—The 

9 Administrator shall require a State receiving a grant 

10 under this section to comply with requirements ap11 plicable to contributions of Federal funds under sec12 tion 611(j)(9) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

13 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 5196(j)(9)), as in effect on the date of enactment of 

15 this section, in carrying out a project funded using 

16 amounts from the grant. 

17 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY SYSTEM.—The Administrator, in con18 sultation with the Board, shall develop a risk-based pri19 ority system for use in identifying deficient dams for which 

20 grants may be made under this section. 

21 ‘‘(d) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The total amount of 

22 funds appropriated pursuant to subsection (h)(1) for a fis23 cal year shall be allocated for making grants under this 

24 section to States applying for the grants for that fiscal 

25 year as follows: 


jbell on PRODPC61 with BILLS
6 

•HR 1770 IH

‘‘(1) 1 1 ⁄3 divided equally among applying States. 

‘‘(2) 2 2 ⁄3 divided among applying States based on 

3 the proportion that— 

4 ‘‘(A) the number of non-Federal publicly5 owned dams that the Secretary of the Army 

6 identifies in the national inventory of dams 

7 maintained under section 6 as constituting a 

8 danger to human health and that are located 

9 within the boundaries of the State; bears to 

10 ‘‘(B) the number of non-Federal publicly11 owned dams that are so identified and that are 

12 located within the boundaries of all applying 

13 States. 

14 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—None of the funds provided 

15 in the form of a grant or otherwise made available under 

16 this section shall be used— 

17 ‘‘(1) to rehabilitate a Federal dam; 

18 ‘‘(2) to perform routine operation or mainte19 nance of a dam; 

20 ‘‘(3) to modify a dam to produce hydroelectric 

21 power; 

22 ‘‘(4) to increase water supply storage capacity; 

23 or 

24 ‘‘(5) to make any other modification to a dam 

25 that does not also improve the safety of the dam. 


jbell on PRODPC61 with BILLS
7 

•HR 1770 IH

1 ‘‘(f) COST SHARING.—The Federal share of the cost 

2 of rehabilitation of a deficient dam for which a grant is 

3 made under this section may not exceed 65 percent of the 

4 cost of the rehabilitation. 

5 ‘‘(g) CONTRACTUAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

7 as a condition on the receipt of a grant under this 

8 section, a State that receives the grant shall require 

9 that each contract and subcontract for program 

10 management, construction management, planning 

11 studies, feasibility studies, architectural services, 

12 preliminary engineering, design, engineering, sur13 veying, mapping, and related services entered into 

14 using funds from the grant be awarded in the same 

15 manner as a contract for architectural and engineer16 ing services is awarded under— 

17 ‘‘(A) chapter 11 of title 40, United States 

18 Code; or 

19 ‘‘(B) an equivalent qualifications-based re20 quirement prescribed by the State. 

21 ‘‘(2) NO PROPRIETARY INTEREST.—A contract 

22 awarded in accordance with paragraph (1) shall not 

23 be considered to confer a proprietary interest upon 

24 the United States. 

25 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


jbell on PRODPC61 with BILLS
8 

•HR 1770 IH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

2 appropriated to carry out this section— 

3 ‘‘(A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

4 ‘‘(B) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

5 ‘‘(C) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

6 ‘‘(D) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(E) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

9 ‘‘(2) STAFF.—There is authorized to be appro10 priated to provide for the employment of such addi11 tional staff of FEMA as are necessary to carry out 

12 this section $400,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

13 through 2014. 

14 ‘‘(3) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY.—Amounts 

15 made available under this section shall remain avail16 able until expended.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. RULEMAKING. 

18 (a) PROPOSED RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 

19 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis20 trator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

21 shall issue a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the 

22 amendments made by section 2 to the National Dam Safe23 ty Program Act (33 U.S.C. 467 et seq.). 

24 (b) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 120 days after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 


jbell on PRODPC61 with BILLS
9 

•HR 1770 IH

1 Federal Emergency Management Agency shall promulgate 

2 a final rule regarding the amendments described in sub3 section (a). 

Æ 


jbell on PRODPC61 with BILLS