Title: Dam Safety Improvement Act
Policy area: Water Resources Development

Summary:
Dam Safety Improvement Act
This bill expands eligibility for funding under the High Hazard Dam Rehabilitation Program and otherwise modifies the program.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6985 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6985

To amend the National Dam Safety Program Act to expand eligibility for 
the rehabilitation of high hazard potential dam program, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 22, 2020

  Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York 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 expand eligibility for 
the rehabilitation of high hazard potential dam program, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Dam Safety Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. REHABILITATION OF HIGH HAZARD POTENTIAL DAMS.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 2 of the National Dam Safety Program Act 
(33 U.S.C. 467) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (10);
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (11) and (16) as paragraphs 
        (10) and (17), respectively;
            (3) in paragraph (4)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) in clause (iii)--
                                    (I) by striking ``and'' at the end 
                                and inserting ``or'';
                                    (II) by striking the clause 
                                designation and inserting ``(iii)(I)''; 
                                and
                                    (III) by adding at the end the 
                                following:
                            ``(II) if the dam is in a State that by law 
                        requires an emergency action plan to comply 
                        with FEMA guidelines and to be approved by an 
                        authorized State agency, the dam--
                                    ``(aa) was identified as having an 
                                emergency action plan in the inventory 
                                of dams maintained under section 6 
                                before the State required the emergency 
                                action plan to comply with FEMA 
                                guidelines and to be approved by an 
                                authorized State agency; and
                                    ``(bb) as of the date on which, for 
                                each fiscal year, funds for assistance 
                                under section 8A are distributed under 
                                subsection (g)(2) of that section, has 
                                an updated emergency action plan that--
                                            ``(AA) is in conformance 
                                        with State law; and
                                            ``(BB) is pending approval 
                                        by the authorized State agency; 
                                        and''; and
                            (ii) in clause (iv)(II), by inserting 
                        before the period at the end ``, as determined 
                        by the Administrator, in consultation with the 
                        Board''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking ``dam;'' 
                and inserting ``dam under a hydropower project with an 
                authorized installed capacity of greater than 1.5 
                megawatts;'';
            (4) by inserting after paragraph (10) (as so redesignated) 
        the following:
            ``(11) Recipient.--The term `recipient' means the entity 
        applying for, receiving, and distributing to subrecipients the 
        assistance under section 8A.''; and
            (5) by inserting after paragraph (15) the following:
            ``(16) Subrecipient.--The term `subrecipient', with respect 
        to a project at a dam for which the assistance under section 8A 
        is sought, means an entity that--
                    ``(A) receives the assistance for the project from 
                a recipient; and
                    ``(B)(i) if the owner of the dam is a governmental 
                organization or a nonprofit organization, is the owner; 
                or
                    ``(ii) if the owner of the dam is not a 
                governmental organization or a nonprofit organization, 
                is a governmental organization or nonprofit 
                organization seeking the assistance on behalf of the 
                owner.''.
    (b) Rehabilitation of High Hazard Potential Dams.--Section 8A of 
the National Dam Safety Program Act (33 U.S.C. 467f-2) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``non-Federal sponsors'' 
        and inserting ``recipients'';
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``non-Federal 
                sponsor'' and inserting ``recipient''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``non-
                        Federal sponsor'' and inserting ``recipient'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)--
                                    (I) in the subparagraph heading, by 
                                striking ``Project grant'' and 
                                inserting ``Grant'';
                                    (II) by striking ``a project grant 
                                agreement with the non-Federal 
                                sponsor'' and inserting ``a grant 
                                agreement with the recipient''; and
                                    (III) by inserting ``for which the 
                                grant is provided'' after ``the 
                                project'';
                            (iii) by striking subparagraph (C) and 
                        inserting the following:
                    ``(C) Grant assurance.--As part of a grant 
                agreement under subparagraph (B), the Administrator 
                shall require that each subrecipient for the applicable 
                project provides an assurance that the subrecipient 
                will carry out a plan for maintenance of the dam to be 
                rehabilitated under the grant agreement during the 
                expected life of the dam.''; and
                            (iv) in subparagraph (D), in the matter 
                        preceding clause (i), by striking ``A grant 
                        provided under this section shall not exceed 
                        the lesser'' and inserting ``A subrecipient 
                        that receives assistance from a grant provided 
                        under this section shall not receive, for any 1 
                        dam, assistance that exceeds the lesser'';
            (3) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in the paragraph heading, by striking 
                        ``Non-federal sponsor'' and inserting 
                        ``Subrecipient'';
                            (ii) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A), by striking ``To receive'' and all that 
                        follows through ``shall'' and inserting ``To 
                        receive assistance, a subrecipient shall'';
                            (iii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
                        ``participate in, and comply with,'' and 
                        inserting ``demonstrate that the community in 
                        which the dam is located participates in, and 
                        complies with,'';
                            (iv) in subparagraph (B), in the matter 
                        preceding clause (i), by striking ``have'' and 
                        inserting ``not later than 2 years after the 
                        development of criteria for such a plan by the 
                        Administrator, in consultation with the Board, 
                        under paragraph (3), demonstrate that the 
                        applicable local or Tribal government has''; 
                        and
                            (v) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``50-
                        year period'' and inserting ``expected life of 
                        the dam''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Hazard mitigation plan criteria.--The Administrator 
        shall develop criteria for hazard mitigation plans under 
        paragraph (2)(B).
            ``(4) Recovery of funds.--In the event that a grant is 
        awarded under this section for which required activities may be 
        completed after the date on which the grant is awarded, the 
        Administrator may seek to recoup the amounts awarded under the 
        grant if those activities are not completed within the 
        applicable time period.'';
            (4) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A), by striking ``non-Federal sponsor'' and 
                        inserting ``subrecipient''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``1 
                        year'' each place it appears and inserting ``2 
                        years''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in the paragraph heading, by striking 
                        ``Technical'' and inserting ``Plan criteria and 
                        technical''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``The Administrator may 
                        provide'' and inserting ``The Administrator, in 
                        consultation with the Board, shall provide 
                        criteria and may provide''; and
            (5) in subsection (i)(1), in the matter preceding 
        subparagraph (A), by striking ``non-Federal sponsor'' and 
        inserting ``subrecipient''.
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