[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1426 Introduced in House (IH)]

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 contracts with Indian tribes.

    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 ``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 identified 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 operated by the Bureau of 
        Indian Affairs (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 
        ``Bureau''), unsafe Bureau 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 necessary 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 PROGRAM.

    (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 condition 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 condition. Upon the 
completion of rehabilitation work on each dam, the dam shall be placed 
under the dam safety operation 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 classifications.--The dam safety 
        condition classification referred to in paragraph (1) is one of 
        the following classifications:
                    (A) Satisfactory.--No existing or potential dam 
                safety deficiencies are recognized. Safe performance is 
                expected under all anticipated conditions.
                    (B) Fair.--No existing dam safety deficiencies are 
                recognized for normal loading conditions. Infrequent 
                hydrologic or seismic events would probably result in a 
                dam safety deficiency.
                    (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 deficiency is 
                clearly recognized for normal loading conditions. 
                Immediate actions to resolve the deficiency are 
                recommended; reservoir restrictions may be necessary 
                until resolution of the problem.
                    (E) Unsatisfactory.--A dam safety deficiency exists 
                for normal loading conditions. Immediate remedial 
                action is required for resolution 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 
capacity or developing benefits beyond those provided by the original 
dams and reservoirs.
    (e) Technical Assistance.--To carry out the purposes of this Act, 
the Secretary may obtain technical assistance from other departments 
and agencies. Notwithstanding any such technical assistance, the dam 
safety program (established by the Secretary by order dated February 
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 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e))) to 
carry out the dam safety operation and maintenance program established 
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.

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