I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1770 
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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 26, 2009 
Mr. SALAZAR (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, and Ms. MARKEY of Colorado) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Trans-
portation 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dam Rehabilitation 
and Repair Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. REHABILITATION AND REPAIR OF DEFICIENT 
DAMS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the National Dam 
Safety Program Act (33 U.S.C. 467) is amended— 
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(1) by striking paragraph (3); 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; 
(3) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as redes-
ignated by paragraph (2) of this subsection) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis-
trator’ means the Administrator of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency.’’; 
(4) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), (6), 
(7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), and (13) as para-
graphs (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (13), (14), (15), 
and (16), respectively; 
(5) by inserting after paragraph (3) (as redesig-
nated by paragraph (2) of this subsection) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(4) DEFICIENT
DAM.—The term ‘deficient 
dam’ means a dam that the State within the bound-
aries of which the dam is located determines— 
‘‘(A) fails to meet minimum dam safety 
standards of the State; and 
‘‘(B) poses an unacceptable risk to the 
public.’’; and 
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(6) by inserting after paragraph (10) (as redes-
ignated by paragraph (4) of this subsection) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(11) PUBLICLY-OWNED DAM.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘publicly- 
owned dam’ means a dam that is owned by 1 
or more State agencies or governments, local 
governments, or municipal governments. 
‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘publicly- 
owned dam’ includes a dam owned by a non-
profit organization that— 
‘‘(i) is established by 1 or more State, 
local, or municipal governments; and 
‘‘(ii) provides public benefits, such 
as— 
‘‘(I) local flood control districts; 
‘‘(II) regional public water utili-
ties; and 
‘‘(III) local irrigation districts. 
‘‘(12) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘rehabilita-
tion’ means the repair, replacement, reconstruction, 
or removal of a dam that is carried out to meet ap-
plicable State dam safety and security standards.’’. 
(b) PROGRAM FOR REHABILITATION AND REPAIR OF 
DEFICIENT DAMS.—The National Dam Safety Program 
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Act is amended by inserting after section 8 (33 U.S.C. 
467f) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 8A. REHABILITATION AND REPAIR OF DEFICIENT 
DAMS. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Adminis-
trator shall establish, within FEMA, a program to provide 
grant assistance to States for use in rehabilitation of defi-
cient dams that are publicly-owned dams. 
‘‘(b) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) APPLICATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State interested in 
receiving a grant under this section may submit 
to the Administrator an application for the 
grant. 
‘‘(B) 
REQUIREMENTS.—An 
application 
submitted to the Administrator under this sec-
tion shall be submitted at such time, be in such 
form, and contain such information as the Ad-
ministrator may prescribe by regulation. 
‘‘(2) GRANT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
may make a grant in accordance with this sec-
tion for rehabilitation of a deficient dam to a 
State that submits an application for the grant 
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