I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7426 

To require development and implementation of an interagency plan to assist 

communities affected by climate change in the Ohio River Basin, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 30, 2020 

Mr. LAMB (for himself, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, and Mr. 

RYAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees 

on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Agriculture, and Natural 

Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require development and implementation of an interagency plan to assist communities affected by climate 

change in the Ohio River Basin, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Ohio River Basin Pre5 paredness Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY PLAN. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army, 

4 acting through the Chief of Engineers, in coordination 

5 with the head of each agency described in subsection (d), 

6 shall develop and issue an interagency plan for the agen7 cies described in subsection (d) to assist States, Indian 

8 Tribes, and communities in the Ohio River Basin in pre9 paring for, and responding to, the effects of climate 

10 change, including by— 

11 (1) informing such States, Indian Tribes, and 

12 communities of existing Federal resources available 

13 to such States, Indian Tribes, and communities, 

14 based on the analysis described in subsection (b)(2); 

15 and 

16 (2) providing assistance through the Environ17 mental Protection Agency’s Smart Growth Program, 

18 the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Pre19 Disaster Mitigation Grant Program, the Department 

20 of Housing and Urban Development’s Community 

21 Development Block Grant program, the Economic 

22 Development Administration of the Department of 

23 Commerce, and the Department of Agriculture, to 

24 such States, Indian Tribes, and communities to help 

25 them prepare for extreme weather, major floods, risVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7426.IH H7426

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1 ing temperatures, and potential economic losses 

2 from such threats. 

3 (b) DEVELOPMENT.—In developing the interagency 

4 plan under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Army, act5 ing through the Chief of Engineers, in coordination with 

6 the head of each agency described in subsection (d), 

7 shall— 

8 (1) consult with States, Indian Tribes, and 

9 communities in the Ohio River Basin that may be 

10 affected by climate change; and 

11 (2) include in such interagency plan— 

12 (A) identification of the particular needs of 

13 such States, Indian Tribes, and communities in 

14 order for such States, Indian Tribes, and com15 munities to adequately prepare for, and respond 

16 to, the effects of climate change; and 

17 (B) an analysis of— 

18 (i) the availability of existing and po19 tential Federal resources, including pro20 grams, grants, loans, and other assistance, 

21 that the agencies described in subsection 

22 (d) may provide to assist States, Indian 

23 Tribes, and communities in the Ohio River 

24 Basin in preparing for, and responding to, 

25 the effects of climate change (including asVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7426.IH H7426

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1 sistance in building or modernizing infra2 structure), including— 

3 (I) Corps of Engineers resources 

4 related to— 

5 (aa) modernizing and hard6 ening levees, floodwalls, and flood 

7 control projects for more extreme 

8 weather flooding events; 

9 (bb) restoring wetlands so 

10 that such wetlands may absorb 

11 rain; 

12 (cc) reconnecting floodplains 

13 to rivers in order to allow for 

14 natural flood storage; 

15 (dd) developing a basin-wide 

16 water management plan, in col17 laboration with the Department 

18 of Agriculture, Tennessee Valley 

19 Authority, and water manage20 ment agencies of the States in 

21 the Ohio River Basin; and 

22 (ee) updating and modern23 izing operations manuals for 

24 dams and reservoirs operated by 

25 the Corps of Engineers to acVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7426.IH H7426

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1 count for future water risks, pre2 cipitation, flow patterns, and 

3 usage; 

4 (II) Environmental Protection 

5 Agency resources and Department of 

6 Agriculture resources related to mod7 ernizing drinking water and waste8 water treatment and stormwater man9 agement; 

10 (III) Department of Transpor11 tation resources related to raising or 

12 hardening critical transportation in13 frastructure that may be vulnerable to 

14 flooding; 

15 (IV) United States Geological 

16 Survey resources and Environmental 

17 Protection Agency resources related to 

18 water quality and flow discharge mon19 itoring and modeling; and 

20 (V) Federal Emergency Manage21 ment Agency resources related to up22 dating and modernizing flood hazard 

23 maps to incorporate the latest science 

24 and future risk projections; and 


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1 (ii) the limitations of existing Federal 

2 resources that the agencies described in 

3 subsection (d) may so provide, including— 

4 (I) the limitations of such re5 sources in meeting the particular 

6 needs of such States, Indian Tribes, 

7 and communities identified under sub8 paragraph (A); and 

9 (II) recommendations— 

10 (aa) for Congress regarding 

11 any statutory changes regarding 

12 existing Federal programs, or ad13 ditional Federal funding, that the 

14 agencies determine are necessary 

15 to assist such States, Indian 

16 Tribes, and communities in pre17 paring for, and responding to, 

18 the effects of climate change; and 

19 (bb) for additional Federal, 

20 State, and local resources that 

21 the agencies determine are nec22 essary to so assist such States, 

23 Indian Tribes, and communities. 

24 (c) PUBLICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION.— 


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1 (1) PUBLICATION.—Upon issuance of the inter2 agency plan developed under subsection (a), the plan 

3 shall be published on the public internet website 

4 of— 

5 (A) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

6 (B) the Assistant Secretary of the Army 

7 for Civil Works; and 

8 (C) the Great Lakes and Ohio River Divi9 sion of the Corps of Engineers. 

10 (2) DEADLINE.—Not later than 30 days after 

11 the interagency plan developed under subsection (a) 

12 is issued, each head of an agency described in sub13 section (d) shall implement such interagency plan. 

14 (3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In implementing 

15 the interagency plan developed under subsection (a), 

16 the heads of the agencies described in subsection (d) 

17 shall provide technical assistance and expertise to 

18 States, Indian Tribes, and communities in the Ohio 

19 River Basin. 

20 (d) AGENCIES DESCRIBED.—The agencies described 

21 in this subsection are as follows: 

22 (1) The Corps of Engineers. 

23 (2) The Environmental Protection Agency. 

24 (3) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad25 ministration. 


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1 (4) The Department of the Interior. 

2 (5) The Department of Agriculture. 

3 (6) The Department of Transportation. 

4 (7) The Federal Emergency Management Agen5 cy. 

6 (8) The United States Geological Survey. 

7 (9) The Department of Housing and Urban De8 velopment. 

9 (10) The Department of Commerce. 

10 SEC. 3. REPORT ON IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON 

11 ELECTRIC UTILITIES. 

12 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall publish, on the 

14 public internet website of the Department of Energy, a 

15 report that includes— 

16 (1) an analysis of— 

17 (A) the potential vulnerabilities of electric 

18 utilities that are located in, or serve electric 

19 consumers in, the Ohio River Basin, to climate 

20 change and extreme weather; and 

21 (B) the impacts of climate change and ex22 treme weather on such electric utilities; and 

23 (2) recommendations and technical assistance, 

24 as appropriate, to assist such electric utilities in pre25 paring for climate change and extreme weather. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEFINITION. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘Ohio River Basin’’ means the 

3 Ohio River Basin as identified in the Corps of Engineers’ 

4 study titled ‘‘Ohio River Basin-Formulating Climate 

5 Change Mitigation/Adaptation Strategies through Re6 gional Collaboration with the ORB Alliance’’ (May 2017). 

Æ 


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