I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4650 

To direct the Secretary of the Army to carry out programs and activities 

to enhance the safety of levees in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 22, 2005 

Mr. DUNCAN (for himself, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 

YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. BAKER, and Mr. 

MELANCON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Army to carry out programs 

and activities to enhance the safety of levees in the 

United States. 

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 ‘‘National Levee Safety 

5 Program Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 
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1 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Na2 tional Levee Safety Review Board established under 

3 section 6(a). 

4 (2) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 

5 means the Interagency Committee on Levee Safety 

6 established under section 5(a). 

7 (3) LEVEE.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘levee’’ 

9 means an embankment (including floodwalls)— 

10 (i) the primary purpose of which is to 

11 provide hurricane and flood protection re12 lating to seasonal high water and storm 

13 surges; and 

14 (ii) that normally is subject to water 

15 loading for only a few days or weeks dur16 ing a year. 

17 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘levee’’ in18 cludes structures along drainage canals that are 

19 subject to more frequent water loadings but 

20 that do not constitute a barrier across a water21 course. 

22 (4) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

23 agency’’ means a Federal agency that designs, fi24 nances, constructs, owns, operates, maintains, or 
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1 regulates the construction, operation, or mainte2 nance of a levee. 

3 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief 

5 of Engineers. 

6 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

7 (A) a State; 

8 (B) the District of Columbia; 

9 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

10 and 

11 (D) any other territory or possession of the 

12 United States. 

13 (7) STATE LEVEE SAFETY AGENCY.—The term 

14 ‘‘State levee safety agency’’ means the State agency 

15 that has regulatory authority over the safety of any 

16 non-Federal levee in a State. 

17 (8) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

18 States’’, when used in a geographical sense, means 

19 all of the States. 

20 SEC. 3. INSPECTION OF LEVEES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

22 program under which, as soon as practicable after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall inspect levees 

24 in the United States for the purpose of protecting human 

25 life and property. 
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1 (b) LEVEES TO BE INSPECTED.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 

3 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall inspect— 

4 (A) each levee in the United States con5 structed by the Secretary; 

6 (B) each levee in the United States main7 tained by the Secretary; and 

8 (C) each levee located in a State identified 

9 by the Governor of the State in a list trans10 mitted to the Secretary. 

11 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

12 (1), in carrying out the program under subsection 

13 (a), the Secretary shall not be required to inspect— 

14 (A) any levee that has been inspected by a 

15 State levee safety agency during the 1-year pe16 riod immediately preceding the date of enact17 ment of this Act, if the Governor of the State 

18 requests an exception; and 

19 (B) any levee that the Secretary deter20 mines would not pose a significant threat to 

21 human life or property in case of failure. 

22 (c) STATE PARTICIPATION.—On request of a State 

23 levee safety agency, with respect to any levee the failure 

24 of which would affect the State, the head of a Federal 

25 agency shall— 
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1 (1) provide information to the State levee safety 

2 agency relating to the construction, operation, or 

3 maintenance of the levee; and 

4 (2) allow an official of the State levee safety 

5 agency to participate in the inspection of the levee. 

6 (d) DETERMINATION.— 

7 (1) INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS.—For the pur8 pose of determining whether the failure a levee, in9 cluding the release of any water constrained by the 

10 levee, constitutes a danger to human life or prop11 erty, the Secretary shall take into consideration the 

12 possibility that the levee may be in danger of failing 

13 due to disparities in floodwall height or construction 

14 materials, overtopping due to storm surges, seepage, 

15 settlement, piping or internal erosion, sediment, 

16 cracking, earth movement, earthquakes, hurricanes, 

17 the failure of bulkheads or sheet walls, flashboards, 

18 gates or conduits, or other conditions that exist or 

19 may occur in any area in the vicinity of the levee. 

20 (2) PREVIOUSLY-INSPECTED LEVEES.—For any 

21 levee with respect to which the Secretary made any 

22 determination regarding the safety of the levee be23 fore the date of the inspection of the levee under this 

24 section, the Secretary shall review the determination, 
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1 taking into consideration information most recently 

2 available to the Secretary relating to— 

3 (A) the likelihood that a storm surge would 

4 exceed the designed level of protection of the 

5 levee; and 

6 (B) the effect of wetlands erosion, subsid7 ence, or any other natural process on the vul8 nerability of the area surrounding the levee to 

9 flooding or an extreme weather event. 

10 (e) INSPECTION RESULTS.— 

11 (1) NOTICE TO STATES.—As soon as prac12 ticable after the inspection of a levee, the Secretary 

13 shall notify the Governor of the State in which such 

14 levee is located of the results of the inspection. 

15 (2) HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS.— 

16 (A) ENGINEERING STUDIES.—In any case 

17 in which a hazardous condition is found during 

18 an inspection of a levee, the Secretary may per19 form, upon request of the owner of the levee, 

20 detailed engineering studies to determine the 

21 structural integrity of the levee, subject to reim22 bursement of such expense by the owner. 

23 (B) NOTICE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES.— 

24 The Secretary shall— 
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1 (i) immediately notify the Governor of 

2 a State of a hazardous condition found 

3 during an inspection of a levee located in 

4 the State under subparagraph (A); and 

5 (ii) provide to the Governor, upon re6 quest, advice relating to timely remedial 

7 measures necessary to mitigate or obviate 

8 the hazardous condition. 

9 (f) PRIORITY LIST.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than August 1 of 

11 each year, the Secretary shall submit to the Com12 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

13 House of Representatives and the Committee on En14 vironment and Public Works of the Senate a priority 

15 list of flood damage reduction studies and projects 

16 that constitutes a ranking of studies and projects 

17 that should be carried out, taking into consideration 

18 the results of any inspection under this section. 

19 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the pri20 ority list under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

21 consider— 

22 (A) the potential risk to human life or the 

23 environment if a study or project to address po24 tential flood damage is not carried out; 
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1 (B) the benefits of protecting critical infra2 structure and population centers; and 

3 (C) the implementation of Federal guide4 lines relating to levee safety. 

5 SEC. 4. NATIONAL LEVEE INVENTORY. 

6 The Secretary may maintain and periodically publish 

7 an inventory of levees in the United States, including the 

8 results of any levee inspection conducted under section 3. 

9 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON LEVEE SAFETY. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com11 mittee to be known as the ‘‘Interagency Committee on 

12 Levee Safety’’. 

13 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be com14 posed of 4 members as follows: 

15 (1) The Secretary (or the Secretary’s designee), 

16 who shall serve as the chairperson of the Committee. 

17 (2) The Secretary of Agriculture (or the Sec18 retary’s designee). 

19 (3) The Secretary of the Interior (or the Sec20 retary’s designee). 

21 (4) The Director of the Federal Emergency 

22 Management Agency (or the Director’s designee). 

23 (c) DUTIES.—The Committee shall support the es24 tablishment and maintenance of effective Federal pro25 grams, policies, and guidelines to enhance levee safety for 
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1 the protection of human life and property through coordi2 nation and information exchange among Federal agencies 

3 concerning the implementation of Federal guidelines relat4 ing to levee safety. 

5 SEC. 6. NATIONAL LEVEE SAFETY REVIEW BOARD. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

7 an advisory board, to be known as the ‘‘National Levee 

8 Safety Review Board’’, to— 

9 (1) monitor the safety of levees in the United 

10 States; 

11 (2) monitor the implementation of this Act by 

12 State levee safety agencies; and 

13 (3) advise the Secretary on policy relating to 

14 national levee safety. 

15 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

16 (1) VOTING MEMBERS.—The Board shall be 

17 composed of 10 voting members as follows: 

18 (A) The Secretary (or the Secretary’s des19 ignee), who shall serve as the chairperson of the 

20 Board. 

21 (B) The Secretary of Agriculture (or the 

22 Secretary’s designee). 

23 (C) The Secretary of the Interior (or the 

24 Secretary’s designee). 
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1 (D) The Administrator of the Environ2 mental Protection Agency (or the Administra3 tor’s designee). 

4 (E) The Director of the Federal Emer5 gency Management Agency (or the Director’s 

6 designee). 

7 (F) 4 representatives of State levee safety 

8 agencies, to be appointed by the Secretary. 

9 (G) 1 representative of the private sector 

10 who has expertise in levee safety, to be ap11 pointed by the Secretary. 

12 (2) NONVOTING MEMBERS.—The Secretary, in 

13 consultation with the voting members of the Board, 

14 may invite to participate in meetings of the Board 

15 as a nonvoting member— 

16 (A) a representative of the National Lab17 oratories; 

18 (B) a representative of any Federal or 

19 State agency; or 

20 (C) a levee safety expert. 

21 (c) DUTIES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall support the 

23 establishment and maintenance of effective pro24 grams, policies, and guidelines to enhance levee safe-
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1 ty for the protection of human life and property 

2 throughout the United States. 

3 (2) COORDINATION AND INFORMATION EX4 CHANGE AMONG AGENCIES.—In carrying out para5 graph (1), the Board shall support coordination and 

6 information exchange among Federal agencies and 

7 State levee safety agencies that share common prob8 lems and responsibilities relating to levee safety, in9 cluding planning, design, construction, operation, 

10 emergency action planning, inspections, mainte11 nance, regulation or licensing, technical or financial 

12 assistance, research, and data management. 

13 (d) CONTRACTS.—The Board may use the expertise 

14 of Federal agencies and request the Secretary to enter into 

15 contracts for necessary studies to carry out this section. 

16 (e) WORKING GROUPS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta18 tion with the Board, may establish working groups 

19 to assist the Board in carrying out this section. 

20 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—A working group under 

21 paragraph (1) shall be composed of— 

22 (A) members of the Board; and 

23 (B) any other individual, as the Secretary 

24 determines to be appropriate. 

25 (f) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.— 
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1 (1) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member of the 

2 Board who is an officer or employee of the United 

3 States shall serve without compensation in addition 

4 to compensation received for the services of the 

5 member as an officer or employee of the United 

6 States. 

7 (2) OTHER MEMBERS.—A member of the Board 

8 who is not an officer or employee of the United 

9 States shall serve without compensation. 

10 (g) TRAVEL EXPENSES.— 

11 (1) REPRESENTATIVES OF FEDERAL AGEN12 CIES.—To the extent amounts are made available in 

13 advance in appropriations Acts, a member of the 

14 Board who represents a Federal agency shall be re15 imbursed for travel expenses by the agency of the 

16 member, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at 

17 rates authorized for an employee of an agency under 

18 subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

19 Code, while away from home or regular place of 

20 business of the member in the performance of serv21 ices for the Board. 

22 (2) OTHER INDIVIDUALS.—To the extent 

23 amounts are made available in advance in appropria24 tions Acts, a member of the Board who represents 

25 a State levee safety agency, a member of the Board 
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1 who represents the private sector, and a member of 

2 a working group created under subsection (e) shall 

3 be reimbursed for travel expenses by the Secretary, 

4 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates 

5 authorized for an employee of an agency under sub6 chapter 1 of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

7 Code, while away from home or regular place of 

8 business of the member in performance of services 

9 for the Board. 

10 (h) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM11 MITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

12 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Board. 

13 SEC. 7. NATIONAL LEVEE SAFETY PROGRAM. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

15 with the Committee, the Board, and State levee safety 

16 agencies, shall establish and maintain a national levee 

17 safety program. 

18 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program under 

19 this section are— 

20 (1) to ensure that new and existing levees are 

21 safe through the development of technologically and 

22 economically feasible programs and procedures for 

23 hazard reduction relating to levees; 

24 (2) to encourage acceptable engineering policies 

25 and procedures to be used for levee site investiga-
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1 tion, design, construction, operation and mainte2 nance, and emergency preparedness; 

3 (3) to encourage the establishment and imple4 mentation of effective levee safety programs in each 

5 State based on State standards; 

6 (4) to develop and support public education and 

7 awareness projects to increase public acceptance and 

8 support of State levee safety programs; 

9 (5) to develop technical assistance materials for 

10 Federal and State levee safety programs; 

11 (6) to develop methods of providing technical 

12 assistance relating to levee safety to non-Federal en13 tities; and 

14 (7) to develop technical assistance materials, 

15 seminars, and guidelines to improve the security of 

16 levees in the United States. 

17 (c) STRATEGIC PLAN.—In carrying out the program 

18 under this section, the Secretary shall— 

19 (1) prepare a strategic plan to achieve the pur20 poses of the program under this section; and 

21 (2) not later than 120 days after the date of 

22 enactment of this Act, transmit the plan to the Com23 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

24 House of Representatives and the Committee on En25 vironment and Public Works of the Senate. 
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1 (d) FEDERAL GUIDELINES.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 

3 under this section, the Secretary, in consultation 

4 with the Board, shall establish Federal guidelines re5 lating to levee safety. 

6 (2) INCORPORATION OF FEDERAL ACTIVI7 TIES.—The Federal guidelines under paragraph (1) 

8 shall incorporate, to the maximum extent prac9 ticable, activities and practices carried out by a Fed10 eral agency as of the date on which the guidelines 

11 are established. 

12 (3) INCORPORATION OF STATE AND LOCAL AC13 TIVITIES.—The program under this section shall in14 corporate, to the maximum extent practicable— 

15 (A) the activities and practices carried out 

16 by States, local governments, and the private 

17 sector to safely build, regulate, operate, and 

18 maintain levees; and 

19 (B) Federal activities that foster State ef20 forts to develop and implement effective pro21 grams for the safety of levees. 

22 (e) ASSISTANCE FOR STATE LEVEE SAFETY PRO23 GRAMS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—To encourage the establish25 ment and maintenance of effective State programs 
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1 intended to ensure levee safety, to protect human 

2 life and public property, and to improve State levee 

3 safety programs, the Secretary shall provide assist4 ance, using amounts made to carry out this Act, to 

5 assist States in establishing and carrying out levee 

6 safety programs. 

7 (2) CRITERIA.—To be eligible for assistance 

8 under this subsection, a State shall have in effect a 

9 State levee safety program under which the State 

10 levee safety agency shall, in accordance with State 

11 law— 

12 (A) review and approve plans and speci13 fications to construct, enlarge, modify, remove, 

14 and abandon levees; 

15 (B) perform periodic inspections during 

16 levee construction to ensure compliance with 

17 approved plans and specifications; 

18 (C) require or perform the inspection, at 

19 least once every 5 years, of all levees that would 

20 pose a significant threat to human life and pub21 lic property in case of failure to determine the 

22 continued safety of the levees and a procedure 

23 for more detailed and frequent safety inspec24 tions; 
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1 (D) require that all inspections of levees be 

2 performed under the supervision of a State-reg3 istered professional engineer with related expe4 rience in levee design and construction; 

5 (E) issue notices, when appropriate, to re6 quire owners of levees to perform necessary 

7 maintenance or remedial work, improve secu8 rity, revise operating procedures, or take other 

9 actions, including breaching levees when nec10 essary; 

11 (F) provide necessary funds— 

12 (i) to ensure timely repairs or other 

13 changes to, or removal of, a levee in order 

14 to protect human life and public property; 

15 and 

16 (ii) if the owner of the levee does not 

17 take an action described in clause (i), to 

18 take appropriate action as expeditiously as 

19 practicable; 

20 (G) establish a system of emergency proce21 dures to be used if a levee fails or if the failure 

22 of a levee is imminent; 

23 (H) identify— 
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1 (i) each levee the failure of which 

2 could be reasonably expected to endanger 

3 human life; 

4 (ii) the maximum area that could be 

5 flooded if the levee failed; and 

6 (iii) necessary public facilities that 

7 would be affected by the flooding; and 

8 (I) issue regulations to carry out the pro9 gram. 

10 (3) BUDGETING REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible 

11 for assistance under this subsection, a State shall al12 locate sufficient funds in its budget to carry out a 

13 State levee safety program. 

14 (4) WORK PLANS.—The Secretary shall enter 

15 into an agreement with each State receiving assist16 ance under this subsection to develop a work plan 

17 necessary for the State levee safety program to 

18 reach a level of program performance specified in 

19 the agreement. 

20 (5) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Assistance 

21 may not be provided to a State under this subsection 

22 for a fiscal year unless the State enters into such 

23 agreement with the Secretary as the Secretary re24 quires to ensure that the State will maintain the ag25 gregate expenditures of the State from all other 
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1 sources for programs to ensure levee safety for the 

2 protection of human life and property at or above a 

3 level equal to the average annual level of such ex4 penditures for the 2 fiscal years preceding the fiscal 

5 year. 

6 (6) APPROVAL OF PROGRAMS.— 

7 (A) SUBMISSION.—To be eligible for as8 sistance under this subsection, a State shall 

9 submit to the Secretary a State levee safety 

10 program and receive the Secretary’s approval of 

11 the program. 

12 (B) APPROVAL.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary de14 termines that a program submitted by a 

15 State under subparagraph (A) substan16 tially meets the requirements of this sub17 section, the Secretary shall approve the 

18 program and immediately notify the State 

19 in writing of the approval. 

20 (ii) DEEMED APPROVAL.—A program 

21 submitted by a State under subparagraph 

22 (A) shall be deemed to be approved by the 

23 Secretary on the 120th day following the 

24 date of the Secretary’s receipt of the pro25 gram unless the Secretary before such 
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1 120th day approves or disapproves the pro2 gram. 

3 (C) NOTIFICATION OF DISAPPROVAL.—If 

4 the Secretary determines that a program sub5 mitted by a State under subparagraph (A) does 

6 not substantially meet the requirements of this 

7 subsection, the Secretary shall disapprove the 

8 program, immediately notify the State in writ9 ing of the disapproval, and provide the reasons 

10 for the disapproval and the changes that are 

11 necessary for the program to be approved. 

12 (7) REVIEWS OF STATE LEVEE SAFETY PRO13 GRAMS.— 

14 (A) PERIODIC REVIEWS.—Using the exper15 tise of the Board, the Secretary shall periodi16 cally review State levee safety programs. 

17 (B) REVOCATION OF PROGRAM AP18 PROVAL.—If the Board finds that a State levee 

19 safety program has proven inadequate to rea20 sonably protect human life and public property 

21 and the Secretary concurs, the Secretary shall 

22 revoke approval of the State levee safety pro23 gram, and withhold assistance under this sub24 section, until the State levee safety program 
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1 again substantially meets the requirements for 

2 approval. 

3 (f) REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 2007, and 

4 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 

5 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

6 House of Representatives and the Committee on Environ7 ment and Public Works of the Senate a report describ8 ing— 

9 (1) the status of the program under this sec10 tion; 

11 (2) the progress made by Federal agencies dur12 ing the 2 preceding fiscal years in implementing 

13 Federal guidelines for levee safety; 

14 (3) the progress made by State levee safety 

15 agencies participating in the program; and 

16 (4) recommendations for legislative or other ac17 tion that the Secretary considers to be necessary, if 

18 any. 

19 SEC. 8. RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in cooperation 

21 with the Board, shall carry out a program of technical and 

22 archival research to develop and support— 

23 (1) improved techniques, historical experience, 

24 and equipment for rapid and effective levee construc25 tion, rehabilitation, and inspection; 
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1 (2) the development of devices for the continued 

2 monitoring of levee safety; 

3 (3) the development and maintenance of infor4 mation resources systems required to manage levee 

5 safety projects; and 

6 (4) public policy initiatives and other improve7 ments relating to levee safety engineering, security, 

8 and management. 

9 (b) PARTICIPATION BY STATE LEVEE SAFETY AGEN10 CIES.—In carrying out the program under subsection (a), 

11 the Secretary shall— 

12 (1) solicit participation from State levee safety 

13 agencies; and 

14 (2) periodically update State levee safety agen15 cies, the Committee on Transportation and Infra16 structure of the House of Representatives, and the 

17 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

18 Senate on the status of the program. 

19 SEC. 9. LEVEE SAFETY TRAINING PROGRAM. 

20 The Secretary shall establish a program under which 

21 the Secretary shall provide, upon request of a State that 

22 has (or intends to develop) a State levee safety program, 

23 training for State levee safety agency staff and inspectors. 

24 SEC. 10. EFFECT OF ACT. 

25 Nothing in this Act— 
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1 (1) creates any liability of the United States or 

2 its officers or employees for the recovery of damages 

3 caused by an action or failure to act; or 

4 (2) relieves an owner or operator of a levee of 

5 a legal duty, obligation, or liability incident to the 

6 ownership or operation of a levee. 

7 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec9 retary to carry out this Act $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 

10 years 2007 through 2012. Such sums shall remain avail11 able until expended. 

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