Union Calendar No. 331

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1426

[Report No. 103–600]

A BILL

To provide for the maintenance of dams located on

through contracts with Indian tribes.Indian lands by the Bureau of Indian Affairs or

JULY 14, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 331

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1426

[Report No. 103–600]

To provide for the maintenance of dams located on Indian lands by the

Bureau of Indian Affairs or through contracts with Indian tribes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 18, 1993

Mr. RICHARDSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

JULY 14, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 18, 1993]

A BILL

To provide for the maintenance of dams located on Indian

lands by the Bureau of Indian Affairs or through contracts with Indian tribes.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Indian Dams Safety

3 Act of 1993’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) the Secretary of the Interior has identified 53

7 dams on Indian lands that present a high hazard to

8 human life in the event of a failure;

9 (2) because of inadequate attention in the past to

10 problems stemming from structural deficiencies and

11 regular maintenance requirements for dams operated

12 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, unsafe Bureau dams

13 continue to pose an imminent threat to people and

14 property;

15 (3) many Bureau dams have maintenance defi16 ciencies regardless of their current safety condition

17 classification and the deficiencies must be corrected to

18 avoid future threats to human life and property;

19 (4) safe working dams on Indian lands are nec20 essary to supply irrigation water, to provide flood

21 control, to provide water for municipal, industrial,

22 domestic, livestock, and recreation uses, and for fish

23 and wildlife habitats; and

24 (5) it is necessary to institute a regular dam

25 maintenance program, utilizing the expertise in the

26 Bureau, Indian tribes, and other Federal agencies.
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 As used in this Act:

3 (1) The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the Bureau of

4 Indian Affairs.

5 (2) The term ‘‘dam’’ has the same meaning given

6 such term by the first section of Public Law 92–367

7 (33 U.S.C. 467).

8 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of

9 the Interior.

10 SEC. 4. DAM SAFETY MAINTENANCE PROGRAM.

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish a

12 dam safety maintenance program within the Bureau to en13 sure maintenance and monitoring of the condition of each

14 dam identified pursuant to subsection (d) necessary to

15 maintain the dam in a satisfactory condition on a long16 term basis.

17 (b) REHABILITATION.—The Secretary shall perform

18 such rehabilitation and repair work as is necessary to bring

19 the dams identified pursuant to subsection (d) to a satisfac20 tory condition. Upon the completion of rehabilitation work

21 on each dam, the dam shall be placed under the dam safety

22 maintenance program established pursuant to subsection

23 (a) and shall be regularly maintained under the guidelines

24 of such program.

25 (c) MAINTENANCE ACTION PLAN.—The Secretary shall

26 develop a maintenance action plan, which shall include a
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1 prioritization of actions to be taken, for those dams with

2 a risk hazard rating of high or significant as identified pur3 suant to subsection (d).

4 (d) IDENTIFICATION OF DAMS.—

5 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF LIST.—The Secretary

6 shall develop a comprehensive list of dams located on

7 Indian lands that describes the dam safety condition

8 classification of each dam, as specified in paragraph

9 (2), the risk hazard classification of each dam, as

10 specified in paragraph (3), and the conditions result11 ing from maintenance deficiencies.

12 (2) DAM SAFETY CONDITION CLASSIFICATIONS.—

13 The dam safety condition classification referred to in

14 paragraph (1) is one of the following classifications:

15 (A) SATISFACTORY.—No existing or poten16 tial dam safety deficiencies are recognized. Safe

17 performance is expected under all anticipated

18 conditions.

19 (B) FAIR.—No existing dam safety defi20 ciencies are recognized for normal loading condi21 tions. Infrequent hydrologic or seismic events

22 would probably result in a dam safety defi23 ciency.

24 (C) CONDITIONALLY POOR.—A potential

25 dam safety deficiency is recognized for unusual
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1 loading conditions that may realistically occur

2 during the expected life of the structure.

3 (D) POOR.—A potential dam safety defi4 ciency is clearly recognized for normal loading

5 conditions. Immediate actions to resolve the defi6 ciency are recommended; reservoir restrictions

7 may be necessary until resolution of the problem.

8 (E) UNSATISFACTORY.—A dam safety defi9 ciency exists for normal loading conditions. Im10 mediate remedial action is required for resolu11 tion of the problem.

12 (3) RISK HAZARD CLASSIFICATION.—The risk

13 hazard classification referred to in paragraph (1) is

14 one of the following classifications:

15 (A) HIGH.—Six or more lives would be at

16 risk or extensive property damage could occur if

17 the dam failed.

18 (B) SIGNIFICANT.—Between one and six

19 lives would be at risk or significant property

20 damage could occur if the dam failed.

21 (C) LOW.—No lives would be at risk and

22 limited property damage would occur if the dam

23 failed.

24 (e) LIMITATION ON PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.—Work

25 authorized by this Act shall be for the purpose of dam safety
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1 maintenance. The Secretary may authorize, upon request

2 of an Indian tribe, up to 20 percent of the cost of repairs

3 to be used to provide additional conservation storage capac4 ity or developing benefits beyond those provided by the

5 original dams and reservoirs. This Act is not intended to

6 preclude development of increased storage or benefits under

7 any other authority.

8 (f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—To carry out the pur9 poses of this Act, the Secretary may obtain technical assist10 ance from other departments and agencies. Notwithstanding

11 any such technical assistance, the dam safety program (es12 tablished by the Secretary by order dated February 28,

13 1980, to prevent dam failure and the resulting loss of life

14 or serious property damage) and the dam safety mainte15 nance program established under subsection (a) shall be

16 under the direction and control of the Bureau.

17 (g) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—In addition to any other

18 authority established by law, the Secretary is authorized to

19 contract with appropriate Indian tribes (as defined in sec20 tion 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education

21 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e))) to carry out the dam

22 safety maintenance program established under subsection

23 (a).
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1 (h) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit an

2 annual report on the implementation of this Act. The report

3 shall include—

4 (1) the list of dams and their status on the

5 maintenance action plan developed under this section;

6 and

7 (2) the projected total cost and a schedule of the

8 projected annual cost of rehabilitation or repair for

9 each dam under this section.

10 The report shall be submitted at the time the budget is re11 quired to be submitted under section 1105 of title 31, United

12 States Code, to the Committee on Natural Resources of the

13 House of Representatives and the Committee on Indian

14 Affairs of the Senate.

15 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as

17 may be necessary to carry out this Act. Funds provided

18 under this Act are to be considered nonreimbursable not19 withstanding any other authority to the contrary, and noth20 ing in this Act shall be construed to change or amend exist21 ing laws and related payment contracts with irrigation

22 districts.