The House passed a bill Oct. 29 that would provide grant assistance totaling $200 million over five years to states to rehabilitate deficient publicly owned non-federal dams.
The Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007 (H.R.3224) would amend the National Dam Safety Program Act to establish a program within the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide the grants. The measure, sponsored by Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., cleared the House 263-102.
There were 19 co-sponsors of the legislation, which now goes to the Senate. Sens. George Voinovich, D-Ohio, and Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, introduced a similar version of the bill in the Senate Oct. 30.
The bill would authorize appropriations of: $10 million for fiscal year 2008, which began Oct. 1, 2007; $15 million for fiscal year 2009; $25 million for fiscal year 2010; $50 million for fiscal year 2011; and $100 million for fiscal year 2012. The federal share of the cost of rehabilitation of a deficient dam for which a grant is made cannot exceed 65 percent of the rehabilitation cost.
The bill defines �deficient dam� to be a dam a state determines fails to meet minimum dam safety standards and poses an unacceptable risk to the public. The bill defines the term �rehabilitation� to include repair, replacement, reconstruction, or removal that is carried out to meet state dam safety and security standards.
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials said needed repairs to publicly owned dams are estimated to total $5.9 billion. ASDSO estimates $36.2 billion is needed to rehabilitate all U.S. dams. It says $10.1 billion is needed over the next 12 years to address the most critical dams, both public and private, that pose a direct risk to human life should they fail. The program in the House-passed bill does not offer assistance to privately owned dams.
A spending authorization totaling $59.2 million offering incentive grants over five years was included in legislation passed in the last Congress that reauthorized the National Dam Safety Program for another five years. (HNN 1/24/07)
