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 con-
tracts with Indian tribes.
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 ‘‘Indian Dams Safety
Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) the Secretary of the Interior (hereafter in
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) has identi-
fied 53 dams on Indian lands that present a high
hazard to human life in the event of a failure;
(2) because of inadequate attention in the past
to regular maintenance requirements for dams oper-
ated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (hereafter in
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Bureau’’), unsafe Bu-
reau dams continue to pose an imminent threat to
people and property;
(3) many Bureau dams have operation and
maintenance deficiencies regardless of their current
safety condition classification and the deficiencies
must be corrected to avoid future threats to human
life and property;
(4) safe working dams on Indian lands are nec-
essary to supply irrigation water, to provide flood
control, to provide water for municipal, industrial,
domestic, livestock, and recreation uses, and for fish
and wildlife habitats; and
(5) it is necessary to institute a regular dam
maintenance program, utilizing the expertise in the
Bureau, Indian tribes, and other Federal agencies.
SEC. 3. DAM SAFETY OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PRO-
GRAM.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish
a dam safety operation and maintenance program within
the Bureau to ensure maintenance and monitoring of the
condition of each dam identified pursuant to subsection
(c) necessary to maintain the dam in a satisfactory condi-
tion on a long-term basis.
(b) REHABILITATION.—The Secretary shall perform
such rehabilitation work as is necessary to bring the dams
identified pursuant to subsection (c) to a satisfactory con-
dition. Upon the completion of rehabilitation work on each
dam, the dam shall be placed under the dam safety oper-
ation and maintenance program established pursuant to
subsection (a) and shall be regularly maintained under the
guidelines of such program.
(c) IDENTIFICATION OF DAMS.—
(1) DEVELOPMENT
OF
LIST.—The Secretary
shall develop a comprehensive list of dams located on
Indian lands that describes the dam safety condition
classification of each dam, as specified in paragraph
(2).
(2) DAM
SAFETY
CONDITION
CLASSIFICA-
TIONS.—The dam safety condition classification re-
ferred to in paragraph (1) is one of the following
classifications:
(A) SATISFACTORY.—No existing or poten-
tial dam safety deficiencies are recognized. Safe
performance is expected under all anticipated
conditions.
(B) FAIR.—No existing dam safety defi-
ciencies are recognized for normal loading con-
ditions. Infrequent hydrologic or seismic events
would probably result in a dam safety defi-
ciency.
(C) CONDITIONALLY
POOR.—A potential
dam safety deficiency is recognized for unusual
loading conditions that may realistically occur
during the expected life of the structure.
(D) POOR.—A potential dam safety defi-
ciency is clearly recognized for normal loading
conditions. Immediate actions to resolve the de-
ficiency are recommended; reservoir restrictions
may be necessary until resolution of the prob-
lem.
(E) UNSATISFACTORY.—A dam safety de-
ficiency exists for normal loading conditions.
Immediate remedial action is required for reso-
lution of the problem.
(d) LIMITATION
ON PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.—
Work authorized by this Act shall be for the purposes of
dam safety operation and maintenance and not for the
purposes of providing additional conservation storage ca-
pacity or developing benefits beyond those provided by the
original dams and reservoirs.
(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—To carry out the pur-
poses of this Act, the Secretary may obtain technical as-
sistance from other departments and agencies. Notwith-
standing any such technical assistance, the dam safety
program (established by the Secretary by order dated Feb-
ruary 28, 1980, to prevent dam failure and the resulting
loss of life or serious property damage) and the dam safety
operation and maintenance program established under
subsection (a) shall be under the direction and control of
the Bureau.
(f) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—In addition to any other
authority established by law, the Secretary is authorized
to contract with appropriate Indian tribes (as defined in
section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e))) to carry out
the dam safety operation and maintenance program estab-
lished under subsection (a).
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as
may be necessary to carry out this Act.
Æ