[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 442 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 442

 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 25 (legislative day, January 5), 1993

 Mr. Bingaman introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
              referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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) in 1980, the Secretary of the Interior established a 
        department-wide dam safety program to correct deficiencies 
        identified by inspections of dams;
            (2) the Bureau of Indian Affairs (hereafter referred to in 
        this Act as the ``BIA'') did not make timely progress toward 
        accomplishing the objectives of the dam safety program and, as 
        a result, 53 dams on Indian lands are considered to present a 
        high hazard to human life in the event of failure;
            (3) unsafe BIA dams continue to pose an imminent threat to 
        people and property because the dam safety program has not been 
        given a sufficiently high priority either by the BIA or by the 
        Congress;
            (4) until 1991, the BIA did not have an adequate program to 
        ensure proper periodic maintenance of dams under its 
        jurisdiction and structural problems have often led to seepage 
        and accelerated bank erosion, as well as other unsafe 
        conditions;
            (5) safe working dams are necessary on Indian lands 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;
            (6) because of inadequate attention in the past to regular 
        maintenance requirements for BIA dams, the costs for needed 
        repairs and future maintenance are significantly increased;
            (7) many 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; and
            (8) it is necessary to institute a regular dam maintenance 
        and repair program, utilizing expertise either within the BIA, 
        the Indian tribal governments, or other Federal agencies.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) Indian tribes.--The term ``Indian tribes'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (3) Dam safety program.--The term ``dam safety program'' 
        means the program established by the Secretary of Interior by 
        order dated February 28, 1980, to prevent dam failure and the 
        resulting loss of life or serious property damage.
            (4) Dam safety operation and maintenance program.--The term 
        ``dam safety operation and maintenance program'' means the 
        program established under section 4 of this Act.
            (5) Dam safety condition classifications.--The term ``dam 
        safety condition classifications'' means the following 
        classifications cited in the Bureau of Reclamation glossary of 
        dam safety terms:
                    (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.

SEC. 4. ACTIONS BY SECRETARY.

    (a) Establishment of Dam Safety Operation and Maintenance 
Program.--The Secretary shall establish a dam safety operation and 
maintenance program within the BIA to ensure the regular, recurring, 
routine maintenance, examination, 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 is directed to 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) List of Dams.--The Secretary shall develop a comprehensive list 
of dams located on Indian lands that describes the dam safety condition 
classifications of each dam, as such terms are defined in section 3(5).
    (d) Purpose.--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 agencies in addition 
to the BIA under his jurisdiction, such as the Bureau of Reclamation, 
or from other departments through memoranda of understanding, such as 
the Department of Defense. Notwithstanding any such technical 
assistance, the dam safety program and the dam safety operation and 
maintenance program shall remain under the direction of the BIA.
    (f) Contract Authority.--In addition to any other authority 
established by law, the Secretary is authorized to contract with 
appropriate Indian tribes to carry out the dam safety operation and 
maintenance program established pursuant to this Act.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

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