I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4375 
To provide funding to rehabilitate, retrofit, and remove the Nation’s dams 
to improve the health of the Nation’s rivers, improve public safety, 
and increase clean energy production, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 9, 2021 
Ms. KUSTER (for herself, Mr. YOUNG, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mrs. 
DINGELL, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. 
BARRAGA´N, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in ad-
dition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, 
Natural Resources, Science, Space, and Technology, and Agriculture, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide funding to rehabilitate, retrofit, and remove the 
Nation’s dams to improve the health of the Nation’s 
rivers, improve public safety, and increase clean energy 
production, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Twenty-First Century Dams Act’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
the Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—DAM SAFETY ASSISTANCE 
Sec. 101. Increase Federal assistance to improve dam safety. 
TITLE II—TAX PROVISIONS 
Sec. 201. Credit for maintaining and enhancing hydroelectric dams. 
Sec. 202. Credit for obsolete river obstruction removal expenditures. 
TITLE III—RESTORE RIVER ECOSYSTEMS THROUGH DAM 
ABATEMENTS 
Sec. 301. Purposes. 
Sec. 302. Definitions. 
Sec. 303. Dam removal program. 
Sec. 304. Establishment of Dam Removal Council. 
Sec. 305. Establishment of Dam Removal Advisory Board. 
Sec. 306. Dam removal strategy. 
Sec. 307. Reporting. 
Sec. 308. Funding. 
Sec. 309. General provisions. 
TITLE IV—REIMAGINED FEDERAL DAMS 
Sec. 401. National dam assessment. 
Sec. 402. Federal dam assessments. 
Sec. 403. Report. 
Sec. 404. Investing in Federal dam infrastructure. 
TITLE I—DAM SAFETY 
ASSISTANCE 
SEC. 101. INCREASE FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO IMPROVE 
DAM SAFETY. 
(a) NATIONAL DAM SAFETY PROGRAM ACT.— 
(1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2(4)(A) of the Na-
tional Dam Safety Program Act (33 U.S.C. 
467(4)(A)) is amended— 
(A) in clause (iii)(II), by striking the semi-
colon and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 
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(B) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 
inserting a period; and 
(C) by striking clause (v). 
(2) INSPECTION OF DAMS.—Section 3(a) of the 
National Dam Safety Program Act (33 U.S.C. 
467a(a)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable, the Sec-
retary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, 
shall carry out a national program of inspection of dams 
for the purpose of protecting human life and property. All 
non-Federal dams in the United States that are not under 
the regulatory inspection authority of a State or Federal 
entity shall be inspected by the Secretary, except dams 
which the Secretary of the Army determines do not pose 
any threat to human life or property. The inspection will 
include an assessment of downstream hazard and develop-
ment of a dam failure inundation map and a non-failure 
residual risk inundation map that can be incorporated in 
an emergency action plan for the dam.’’. 
(3) ASSISTANCE FOR STATE DAM SAFETY PRO-
GRAMS.—Section 8(e) of the National Dam Safety 
Program Act (33 U.S.C. 467f(e)(1)) is amended by 
inserting ‘‘including the development of emergency 
action plans’’ after ‘‘improving dam safety pro-
grams’’. 
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(4) PRIORITY SYSTEM.—Section 8A(f) of the 
National Dam Safety Program Act (33 U.S.C. 
467f–2(f)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(f) PRIORITY SYSTEM.—The Administrator, in con-
sultation with the Board, shall develop a risk-based pri-
ority system for States to use as a factor in prioritizing 
multiple applications in a single year of eligible high haz-
ard potential dams for which grants may be made under 
this section.’’. 
(5) REHABILITATION OF HIGH HAZARD POTEN-
TIAL
DAMS.—Section 8A(j) of the National Dam 
Safety Program Act (33 U.S.C. 467f–2(j)) is 
amended— 
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 
and inserting a semicolon; 
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘each of 
fiscal years 2021 through 2026.’’ and inserting 
‘‘fiscal year 2021; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 
through 2026.’’. 
(6) NATIONAL DAM SAFETY PROGRAM.—Section 
14(a)(1) of the National Dam Safety Program Act 
(33 U.S.C. 467j(a)(1)) is amended by striking 
‘‘$9,200,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 
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2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$92,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2022 through 2026’’. 
(7) INSPECTION OF DAMS.—Section 14 of the 
National Dam Safety Program Act (33 U.S.C. 467j) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) INSPECTION OF DAMS.—There is authorized to 
be appropriated to carry out section 3 $35,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.’’. 
(8) ALLOCATION.—Section 14(a)(2) of the Na-
tional Dam Safety Program Act (33 U.S.C. 
467j(a)(2)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 
Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 
for’’ and inserting ‘‘For’’; 
(ii) in clause (i)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘(i)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘(A)’’; and 
(II) by inserting ‘‘of the remain-
ing’’ after ‘‘one-third’’; 
(iii) in clause (ii)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘(ii)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘(B)’’; and 
(II) by inserting ‘‘of the remain-
ing’’ after ‘‘two-thirds’’; 
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