[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4727 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4727

To reauthorize the national dam safety program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 2002

 Mr. Shuster introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reauthorize the national dam safety 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; AMENDMENT OF NATIONAL DAM SAFETY PROGRAM ACT.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Dam Safety and 
Security Act of 2002''.
    (b) Amendment of National Dam Safety Program Act.--Except as 
otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or 
repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or a repeal of, a 
section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be 
made to a section or other provision of the National Dam Safety Program 
Act (33 U.S.C. 467 et seq.).

SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON DAM SAFETY.

    Section 7(b) (33 U.S.C. 467e(b)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Federal and State programs'' and 
        inserting ``Federal programs''; and
            (2) by striking ``through--'' and all that follows through 
        the period at the end and inserting ``through coordination and 
        information exchange among Federal agencies concerning 
        implementation of the Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety.''.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL DAM SAFETY PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 8(a)(3) (33 U.S.C. 467f(a)(3)) is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B) by striking ``implementation plan 
        described in subsection (e)'' and inserting ``strategic plan 
        described in subsection (b)''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (C) by striking ``subsection (f)'' and 
        inserting ``subsection (e)''.
    (b) Duties.--Section 8(b) (33 U.S.C. 467f(b)) is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(b) Duties.--The Director shall prepare a strategic plan to--
            ``(1) establish goals, priorities, and target dates to 
        improve the safety of dams in the United States; and
            ``(2) to the extent feasible, establish cooperation and 
        coordination with, and assistance to, interested governmental 
        entities in all States.''.
    (c) Objectives.--Section 8(c) (33 U.S.C. 467f(c)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5) by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (6) by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) develop technical assistance materials, seminars, and 
        guidelines to improve security for dams in the United 
        States.''.
    (d) Functional Activities.--Section 8(d)(3)(A) (33 U.S.C. 
467f(d)(3)(A)) is amended by striking ``and shall be'' and all that 
follows through the period at the end and inserting ``and shall be 
exercised by chairing the Board to coordinate national efforts to 
improve the safety of the dams in the United States.''.
    (e) Implementation Plan; Dam Safety Training.--
            (1) In general.--Section 8 (33 U.S.C. 467f) is amended by 
        striking subsections (e) and (g) and redesignating subsections 
        (f) and (h) as subsections (e) and (f), respectively.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Section 2 (33 U.S.C. 467) is 
        amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ``section 8(h)'' 
                and inserting ``section 8(f)''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (12) by striking ``section 8(f)'' 
                and inserting ``section 8(e)''.
    (f) Assistance for State Dam Safety Programs.--Section 8(e) (as 
redesignated by subsection (e) of this section) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ``the Director shall 
        provide assistance'' and all that follows through the period at 
        the end and inserting ``the Director shall provide assistance 
        with amounts made available under section 13 to assist States 
        in establishing, maintaining, and improving dam safety programs 
        in accordance with the criteria specified in paragraph (2).'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``primary''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``, and for a State to be 
                        eligible'' and all that follows before the 
                        colon;
                    (B) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding clause (i) by 
                        striking ``For a State to be eligible for 
                        assistance under this subsection, a State'' and 
                        inserting ``A State''; and
                            (ii) in clause (vi) by inserting ``improve 
                        security,'' before ``revise operating 
                        procedures,''; and
            (3) in paragraph (3) by striking ``contract'' each place it 
        appears and inserting ``agreement''.
    (g) Board.--
            (1) Establishment.--Section 8(f)(1) (as redesignated by 
        subsection (e) of this section) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``The Director may establish'' and 
                inserting ``The Director shall establish''; and
                    (B) by striking ``to monitor'' and all that follows 
                through the period at the end and inserting ``to 
                monitor the safety of dams in the United States, to 
                monitor State implementation of this section, and to 
                advise the Director on national dam safety policy.''.
            (2) Voting membership.--Section 8(f)(3) (as redesignated by 
        subsection (e) of this section) is amended--
                    (A) in the paragraph heading by striking 
                ``Membership'' and inserting ``Voting membership.--'';
                    (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by 
                striking ``11 members'' and inserting ``11 voting 
                members''; and
                    (C) by striking subparagraphs (F) and (G) and 
                inserting the following:
                    ``(F) 5 members shall be selected by the Director, 
                in consultation with the Association of State Dam 
                Safety Officials, from among State dam safety 
                officials; and
                    ``(G) 1 member shall be selected by the Director, 
                in consultation with the United States Society on Dams, 
                to represent the private sector.''.
            (3) Nonvoting membership; duties; work groups.--Section 
        8(f) (as redesignated by subsection (e) of this section) is 
        amended--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), and (6) 
                as paragraphs (7), (8), and (9), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) Nonvoting membership.--The Director, in consultation 
        with the Board, may invite representatives from Federal or 
        State agencies or dam safety experts, as needed, to participate 
        in meetings of the Board.
            ``(5) Duties.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Board shall encourage the 
                establishment and maintenance of effective programs, 
                policies, and guidelines to enhance dam safety for the 
                protection of human life and property throughout the 
                United States.
                    ``(B) Coordination and information exchange among 
                agencies.--In carrying out subparagraph (A), the Board 
                shall encourage coordination and information exchange 
                among Federal and State dam safety agencies that share 
                common problems and responsibilities for dam safety, 
                including planning, design, construction, operation, 
                emergency action planning, inspections, maintenance, 
                regulation or licensing, technical or financial 
                assistance, research, and data management.
                    ``(C) Recommendations to director.--The Board shall 
                advise the Director in establishing and maintaining a 
                coordinated national dam safety program by making 
                recommendations to the Director on technical, 
                managerial, legislative, and policy issues that affect 
                national dam safety.
            ``(6) Work groups.--The Director may establish work groups 
        under the Board to assist the Board in accomplishing its goals. 
        The work groups shall consist of members of the Board and other 
        individuals selected by the Director.''.
            (4) Travel expenses.--Section 8(f) (as redesignated by 
        subsection (e) of this section) is amended by striking 
        paragraph (8) (as redesignated by paragraph (3)(A) of this 
        subsection) and inserting the following:
            ``(8) Travel expenses.--
                    ``(A) Representatives of federal agencies.--To the 
                extent amounts are made available in advance in 
appropriations Acts, each member of the Board who represents a Federal 
agency shall be reimbursed of appropriations for travel expenses by his 
or her agency, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates 
authorized for an employee of an agency under subchapter I of chapter 
57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from the home or regular 
place of business of the member in the performance of services for the 
Board.
                    ``(B) Other individuals.--To the extent amounts are 
                made available in advance in appropriations Acts, each 
                member of the Board who represents a State agency, the 
                member of the Board who represents the private sector, 
                and each member of a work group created under paragraph 
                (1) shall be reimbursed for travel expenses by FEMA, 
                including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates 
                authorized for an employee of an agency under 
                subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 
                Code, while away from home or regular place of business 
                of the member in performance of services for the 
                Board.''.

SEC. 4. RESEARCH.

    Section 9(a) (33 U.S.C. 467g) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``in cooperation with ICODS'' and 
                inserting ``in cooperation with the Board''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``and support'' after ``develop'';
            (2) in paragraph (1) by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (3) in paragraph (2) by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) development and maintenance of information resources 
        systems needed to support managing the safety of dams; and
            ``(4) initiatives to guide the formulation of effective 
        public policy and advance improvements in dam safety 
        engineering, security, and management.''.

SEC. 5. DAM SAFETY TRAINING.

    The Act (33 U.S.C. 467 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating sections 10, 11, and 12 as sections 
        11, 12, and 13, respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after section 9 the following:

``SEC. 10. DAM SAFETY TRAINING.

    ``At the request of any State that has or intends to develop a 
State dam safety program, the Director shall provide training for State 
dam safety staff and inspectors.''.

SEC. 6. REPORTS.

    Section 11 (as redesignated by section 5 of this Act) is amended by 
striking subsection (a) and all that follows through ``(b) Biennial 
Reports.--''.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Annual Amounts.--Section 13(a)(1) (as redesignated by section 5 
of this Act) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``sections 7, 8, and 10'' and inserting 
        ``sections 7, 8, and 11''; and
            (2) by striking ``$1,000,000 for fiscal year 1998,'' and 
        all that follows through the period at the end and inserting 
        ``$6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2006, to 
        remain available until expended.''.
    (b) Allocation.--Section 13(a)(2) (as redesignated by section 5 of 
this Act) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``section 8(f)'' each 
        place it appears and inserting ``section 8(e)''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (C) by striking ``needing primary 
        assistance and States needing advanced assistance under section 
        8(f)''.
    (c) Research; Dam Safety Training; Staff.--Section 13 (as 
redesignated by section 5 of this Act) is amended by striking 
subsections (c) through (e) and inserting the following:
    ``(c) Research.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out section 9 $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2006, to 
remain until expended.
    ``(d) Dam Safety Training.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
to carry out section 10 $500,000 for each fiscal years 2003 through 
2006.
    ``(e) Staff.--There is authorized to be appropriated to FEMA for 
the employment of such additional staff personnel as are necessary to 
carry out sections 8 through 10 $600,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 
through 2006.''.
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