S-2835 : Still Just a Bill

This bill amends the National Dam Safety Program Act to direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish a program to provide technical, planning, design, and construction assistance grants to non-federal sponsors for rehabilitation of eligible high hazard potential dams.

The bill defines an "eligible high hazard potential dam" as a non-federal dam that:

• is classified as high hazard potential by the dam safety agency of the state in which the dam is located;
• has an emergency action plan approved by such agency; and
• fails to meet minimum state dam safety standards and poses an unacceptable risk to the public.

An eligible high hazard potential dam does not include a licensed hydroelectric dam or a dam built under the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture.

FEMA shall require a grant recipient to provide an assurance that the owner of the dam has developed and will carry out a plan for maintenance of the dam during its expected life. A grant must be approved by the relevant state dam safety agency.

Grant funds shall be allocated to all states from which applications are submitted based on each state's relative number of eligible high hazard potential dams compared to all states.

Grant funds may not be used to:

• rehabilitate a federal dam,
• perform routine operation or maintenance of a dam,
• modify a dam to produce hydroelectric power,
• increase water supply storage capacity, or
• make any other modification that does not also improve the safety of the dam.