I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2489 

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, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2015 

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York (for himself and Mr. GIBSON) 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, 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 ‘‘Dam Rehabilitation 

5 and Repair Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REHABILITATION AND REPAIR OF DEFICIENT 

2 DAMS. 

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

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

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

6 (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), and (13) as para7 graphs (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (11), (13), (14), (15), 

8 and (16), respectively; 

9 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol10 lowing: 

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

12 dam’ means a dam that the State within the bound13 aries of which the dam is located determines— 

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

15 standards of the State or an Indian tribe; and 

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

17 public.’’; and 

18 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) (as redesig19 nated by paragraph (1) of this subsection) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(10) PUBLICLY-OWNED DAM.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘publicly23 owned dam’ means a dam that is owned by 1 

24 or more State agencies or governments, local 

25 governments, municipal governments, or tribal 

26 governments. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘publicly2 owned dam’ includes a dam owned by a non3 profit organization that— 

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

5 local, municipal, or tribal governments; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) provides public benefits, such 

8 as— 

9 ‘‘(I) local flood control districts; 

10 ‘‘(II) regional public water utili11 ties; and 

12 ‘‘(III) local irrigation districts.’’; 

13 and 

14 (4) by inserting after paragraph (11) (as redes15 ignated by paragraph (1) of this subsection) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(12) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘rehabilita18 tion’ means the repair, replacement, reconstruction, 

19 or removal of a dam that is carried out to meet ap20 plicable State or tribal dam safety standards.’’. 

21 (b) PROGRAM FOR REHABILITATION AND REPAIR OF

22 DEFICIENT DAMS.—The National Dam Safety Program 

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

24 467f) the following: 


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

2 DAMS. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Adminis4 trator shall establish, within FEMA, a program to provide 

5 grant assistance to States for use in rehabilitation of defi6 cient dams that are publicly-owned dams. 

7 ‘‘(b) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.— 

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

10 receiving a grant under this section may submit 

11 to the Administrator an application for the 

12 grant. 

13 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—An application 

14 submitted to the Administrator under this sec15 tion shall be submitted at such time, be in such 

16 form, and contain such information as the Ad17 ministrator may prescribe by regulation. 

18 ‘‘(2) GRANT.— 

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

20 may make a grant in accordance with this sec21 tion for rehabilitation of a deficient dam to a 

22 State that submits an application for the grant 

23 in accordance with the regulations prescribed by 

24 the Administrator. 

25 ‘‘(B) PROJECT GRANT AGREEMENT.—The 

26 Administrator shall enter into a project grant 


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1 agreement with the State to establish the terms 

2 of the grant and the project, including the 

3 amount of the grant. 

4 ‘‘(C) GRANT ASSURANCE.—As part of a 

5 project agreement entered into under subpara6 graph (B), the Administrator shall require a 

7 State to provide an assurance, with respect to 

8 the dam to be rehabilitated under the project, 

9 that the owner of the dam has developed and 

10 will carry out a plan for maintenance of the 

11 dam during the expected life of the dam. 

12 ‘‘(3) AGREEMENTS BETWEEN STATES AND IN13 DIAN TRIBES.—A State that receives a grant under 

14 this section may enter into an agreement with an In15 dian tribe— 

16 ‘‘(A) to transfer grant funds to the tribe 

17 for rehabilitation of a tribally-owned deficient 

18 dam consistent with this section; or 

19 ‘‘(B) to authorize the State to use grant 

20 funds to rehabilitate a tribally-owned deficient 

21 dam consistent with this section. 

22 ‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS.—The 

23 Administrator shall require recipients of grants 

24 under this section to assure compliance with the 

25 standards set forth in section 611(j)(9) of the RobVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 May 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2489.IH H2489

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1 ert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As2 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5196(j)(9)), as in effect on 

3 the date of enactment of this section, in the same 

4 manner that recipients of financial contributions 

5 under section 611(j) of such Act are required to as6 sure compliance with such standards. 

7 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY SYSTEM.—The Administrator, in con8 sultation with the Board, shall develop a risk-based pri9 ority system for use in identifying deficient dams for which 

10 grants may be made under this section. 

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

12 funds appropriated pursuant to subsection (h)(1) for a fis13 cal year shall be allocated for making grants under this 

14 section to States applying for the grants for that fiscal 

15 year as follows: 

‘‘(1) 1 16 ⁄3 divided equally among applying States. 

‘‘(2) 2 17 ⁄3 divided among applying States based on 

18 the proportion that— 

19 ‘‘(A) the number of non-Federal publicly20 owned dams that the Secretary of the Army 

21 identifies in the national inventory of dams 

22 maintained under section 6 as constituting a 

23 danger to human health and that are located 

24 within the boundaries of the State; bears to 


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1 ‘‘(B) the number of non-Federal publicly2 owned dams that are so identified and that are 

3 located within the boundaries of all applying 

4 States. 

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

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

7 this section shall be used— 

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

9 ‘‘(2) to perform routine operation or mainte10 nance of a dam; 

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

12 power; 

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

14 or 

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

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

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

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

19 made under this section may not exceed 75 percent of the 

20 cost of the rehabilitation. 

21 ‘‘(g) CONTRACTUAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

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

24 section, a State that receives the grant shall require 

25 that each contract and subcontract for program 


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1 management, construction management, planning 

2 studies, feasibility studies, architectural services, 

3 preliminary engineering, design, engineering, sur4 veying, mapping, and related services entered into 

5 using funds from the grant be awarded in the same 

6 manner as a contract for architectural and engineer7 ing services is awarded under— 

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

9 Code; or 

10 ‘‘(B) an equivalent qualifications-based re11 quirement prescribed by the State. 

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

13 awarded in accordance with paragraph (1) shall not 

14 be considered to confer a proprietary interest upon 

15 the United States. 

16 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

18 appropriated to carry out this section— 

19 ‘‘(A) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; 

20 ‘‘(B) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2017; 

21 ‘‘(C) $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; 

22 ‘‘(D) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(E) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2020. 


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1 ‘‘(2) STAFF.—There is authorized to be appro2 priated to provide for the employment of such addi3 tional staff of FEMA as are necessary to carry out 

4 this section $400,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 

5 through 2020. 

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

7 made available under this section shall remain avail8 able until expended.’’. 

9 (c) RULEMAKING.— 

10 (1) PROPOSED RULEMAKING.—Not later than 

11 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

12 Administrator of the Federal Emergency Manage13 ment Agency shall issue a notice of proposed rule14 making regarding the amendments made by this sec15 tion to the National Dam Safety Program Act (33 

16 U.S.C. 467 et seq.). 

17 (2) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 120 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis19 trator of the Federal Emergency Management Agen20 cy shall promulgate a final rule regarding the 

21 amendments described in paragraph (1). 

22 SEC. 3. BUY AMERICA. 

23 The National Dam Safety Program Act (33 U.S.C. 

24 467 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 15. BUY AMERICA. 

2 ‘‘(a) DOMESTIC SOURCE REQUIREMENT FOR STEEL, 

3 IRON, AND MANUFACTURED GOODS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of law, funds made available to carry out 

6 this Act may not be obligated for a project unless 

7 the steel, iron, and manufactured goods used for the 

8 project are produced in the United States. 

9 ‘‘(2) SCOPE.—The requirements of this section 

10 apply to all contracts for a project carried out within 

11 the scope of the applicable finding, determination, or 

12 decision under the National Environmental Policy 

13 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) regardless of 

14 the funding source of such contracts, if at least one 

15 contract for the project is funded with amounts 

16 made available to carry out this Act. 

17 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ISSUANCE OF WAIVERS.—The Adminis19 trator may waive the requirements of subsection (a) 

20 only if the Administrator finds that— 

21 ‘‘(A) applying subsection (a) would be in22 consistent with the public interest, as deter23 mined in accordance with the regulations re24 quired under paragraph (2); 


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1 ‘‘(B) the steel, iron, or manufactured 

2 goods required for a project are not produced in 

3 the United States— 

4 ‘‘(i) in sufficient and reasonably avail5 able quantities; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) to a satisfactory quality; or 

7 ‘‘(C) the use of steel, iron, and manufac8 tured goods produced in the United States for 

9 a project will increase the total cost of the 

10 project by more than 25 percent. 

11 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year 

12 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad13 ministrator shall issue regulations establishing the 

14 criteria that the Administrator shall use to deter15 mine whether the application of subsection (a) is in16 consistent with the public interest for purposes of 

17 paragraph (1)(A). 

18 ‘‘(3) REQUESTS FOR WAIVERS.—A recipient of 

19 assistance under this Act seeking a waiver under 

20 paragraph (1) shall submit to the Administrator a 

21 request for the waiver in such form and containing 

22 such information as the Administrator may require. 

23 ‘‘(c) WAIVER REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PUBLIC NOTIFICATION OF AND OPPOR2 TUNITY FOR COMMENT ON REQUEST FOR A WAIV3 ER.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator 

5 receives a request for a waiver under subsection 

6 (b), the Administrator shall provide notice of 

7 and an opportunity for public comment on the 

8 request at least 30 days before making a find9 ing based on the request. 

10 ‘‘(B) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.—A notice 

11 provided under subparagraph (A) shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) include the information available 

13 to the Administrator concerning the re14 quest, including whether the request is 

15 being made under subsection (b)(1)(A), 

16 (b)(1)(B), or (b)(1)(C); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) be provided by electronic means, 

18 including on the official public Internet 

19 Web site of FEMA. 

20 ‘‘(2) DETAILED JUSTIFICATION IN FEDERAL

21 REGISTER.—If the Administrator issues a waiver 

22 under subsection (b), the Administrator shall publish 

23 in the Federal Register a detailed justification for 

24 the waiver that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) addresses the public comments re2 ceived under paragraph (1)(A); and 

3 ‘‘(B) is published before the waiver takes 

4 effect. 

5 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than Feb6 ruary 1 of each year beginning after the date of en7 actment of this section, the Administrator shall sub8 mit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra9 structure of the House of Representatives and the 

10 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

11 Affairs of the Senate a report that— 

12 ‘‘(A) specifies each project with respect to 

13 which the Administrator issued a waiver under 

14 subsection (b) during the preceding calendar 

15 year; 

16 ‘‘(B) identifies the country of origin and 

17 product specifications for steel, iron, or manu18 factured goods acquired pursuant to each waiv19 er under subsection (b) issued by the Adminis20 trator during the preceding calendar year; 

21 ‘‘(C) summarizes the monetary value of 

22 contracts awarded pursuant to each such waiv23 er; 

24 ‘‘(D) provides the justification for each 

25 such waiver, including the specific law, treaty, 


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1 or international agreement under which the 

2 waiver was granted; 

3 ‘‘(E) summarizes the funds expended on— 

4 ‘‘(i) steel, iron, and manufactured 

5 goods produced in the United States for 

6 projects with respect to which the Buy 

7 America requirement under this section 

8 applied during the preceding calendar year; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ii) steel, iron, and manufactured 

11 goods produced outside the United States 

12 for projects with respect to which the Ad13 ministrator issued a waiver under sub14 section (b) during the preceding calendar 

15 year; and 

16 ‘‘(F) provides an employment impact anal17 ysis of the cumulative effect of all waivers 

18 under subsection (b) issued by the Adminis19 trator during the preceding calendar year on 

20 manufacturing employment in the United 

21 States. 

22 ‘‘(d) STATE REQUIREMENTS.—The Administrator 

23 may not impose a limitation or condition on assistance 

24 provided under this Act that restricts— 


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1 ‘‘(1) a State from imposing requirements that 

2 are more stringent than those imposed under this 

3 section with respect to limiting the use of articles, 

4 materials, or supplies mined, produced, or manufac5 tured in foreign countries for projects carried out 

6 with such assistance; or 

7 ‘‘(2) any recipient of such assistance from com8 plying with such State requirements. 

9 ‘‘(e) INTENTIONAL VIOLATIONS.—Pursuant to proce10 dures established under subpart 9.4 of chapter 1 of title 

11 48, Code of Federal Regulations, a person shall be ineli12 gible to receive a contract or subcontract funded with 

13 amounts made available to carry out this Act if the Ad14 ministrator, the head of any department, agency, or in15 strumentality of the United States, or a court determines 

16 that such person intentionally— 

17 ‘‘(1) affixed a label bearing a ‘Made in Amer18 ica’ inscription, or any inscription with the same 

19 meaning, to any steel, iron, or manufactured goods 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(A) were used in a project to which this 

22 section applies; and 

23 ‘‘(B) were not produced in the United 

24 States; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) represented that any steel, iron, or manu2 factured goods were produced in the United States 

3 that— 

4 ‘‘(A) were used in a project to which this 

5 section applies; and 

6 ‘‘(B) were not produced in the United 

7 States. 

8 ‘‘(f) CONSISTENCY WITH INTERNATIONAL AGREE9 MENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall be ap11 plied in a manner that is consistent with United 

12 States obligations under international agreements. 

13 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES IN

14 VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.—The 

15 Administrator shall prohibit the use of steel, iron, 

16 and manufactured goods produced in a foreign coun17 try in a project funded with amounts made available 

18 to carry out this Act, including any project for which 

19 the Administrator has issued a waiver under sub20 section (b), if the Administrator, in consultation 

21 with the United States Trade Representative, deter22 mines that the foreign country is in violation of the 

23 terms of an agreement with the United States by 

24 discriminating against steel, iron, or manufactured 


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1 goods that are produced in the United States and 

2 covered by the agreement. 

3 ‘‘(g) EMERGENCY WAIVER.—Notwithstanding any 

4 other provision of this section, the Administrator may 

5 waive the applicability of this section, in whole or in part, 

6 in an emergency.’’. 

Æ 


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