I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1426

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

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the Secretary of the Interior (hereafter in

9 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) has identi-
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1 fied 53 dams on Indian lands that present a high

2 hazard to human life in the event of a failure;

3 (2) because of inadequate attention in the past

4 to regular maintenance requirements for dams oper5 ated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (hereafter in

6 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Bureau’’), unsafe Bu7 reau dams continue to pose an imminent threat to

8 people and property;

9 (3) many Bureau dams have operation and

10 maintenance deficiencies regardless of their current

11 safety condition classification and the deficiencies

12 must be corrected to avoid future threats to human

13 life and property;

14 (4) safe working dams on Indian lands are nec15 essary to supply irrigation water, to provide flood

16 control, to provide water for municipal, industrial,

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

18 and wildlife habitats; and

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

20 maintenance program, utilizing the expertise in the

21 Bureau, Indian tribes, and other Federal agencies.

22 SEC. 3. DAM SAFETY OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PRO23 GRAM.

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish

25 a dam safety operation and maintenance program within
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1 the Bureau to ensure maintenance and monitoring of the

2 condition of each dam identified pursuant to subsection

3 (c) necessary to maintain the dam in a satisfactory condi4 tion on a long-term basis.

5 (b) REHABILITATION.—The Secretary shall perform

6 such rehabilitation work as is necessary to bring the dams

7 identified pursuant to subsection (c) to a satisfactory con8 dition. Upon the completion of rehabilitation work on each

9 dam, the dam shall be placed under the dam safety oper10 ation and maintenance program established pursuant to

11 subsection (a) and shall be regularly maintained under the

12 guidelines of such program.

13 (c) IDENTIFICATION OF DAMS.—

14 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF LIST.—The Secretary

15 shall develop a comprehensive list of dams located on

16 Indian lands that describes the dam safety condition

17 classification of each dam, as specified in paragraph

18 (2).

19 (2) DAM SAFETY CONDITION CLASSIFICA20 TIONS.—The dam safety condition classification re21 ferred to in paragraph (1) is one of the following

22 classifications:

23 (A) SATISFACTORY.—No existing or poten24 tial dam safety deficiencies are recognized. Safe
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1 performance is expected under all anticipated

2 conditions.

3 (B) FAIR.—No existing dam safety defi4 ciencies are recognized for normal loading con5 ditions. Infrequent hydrologic or seismic events

6 would probably result in a dam safety defi7 ciency.

8 (C) CONDITIONALLY POOR.—A potential

9 dam safety deficiency is recognized for unusual

10 loading conditions that may realistically occur

11 during the expected life of the structure.

12 (D) POOR.—A potential dam safety defi13 ciency is clearly recognized for normal loading

14 conditions. Immediate actions to resolve the de15 ficiency are recommended; reservoir restrictions

16 may be necessary until resolution of the prob17 lem.

18 (E) UNSATISFACTORY.—A dam safety de19 ficiency exists for normal loading conditions.

20 Immediate remedial action is required for reso21 lution of the problem.

22 (d) LIMITATION ON PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.—

23 Work authorized by this Act shall be for the purposes of

24 dam safety operation and maintenance and not for the

25 purposes of providing additional conservation storage ca-
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1 pacity or developing benefits beyond those provided by the

2 original dams and reservoirs.

3 (e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—To carry out the pur4 poses of this Act, the Secretary may obtain technical as5 sistance from other departments and agencies. Notwith6 standing any such technical assistance, the dam safety

7 program (established by the Secretary by order dated Feb8 ruary 28, 1980, to prevent dam failure and the resulting

9 loss of life or serious property damage) and the dam safety

10 operation and maintenance program established under

11 subsection (a) shall be under the direction and control of

12 the Bureau.

13 (f) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—In addition to any other

14 authority established by law, the Secretary is authorized

15 to contract with appropriate Indian tribes (as defined in

16 section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu17 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e))) to carry out

18 the dam safety operation and maintenance program estab19 lished under subsection (a).

20 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as

22 may be necessary to carry out this Act.

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