National Dam and Hydropower Safety Improvements Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8935 To improve dam and hydropower safety, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 10, 2020 Mrs. DINGELL (for herself and Mr. MOOLENAAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To improve dam and hydropower safety, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Dam and Hy- 4 dropower Safety Improvements Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FERC BRIEFING ON EDENVILLE DAM AND SANFORD 6 DAM FAILURES. 7 Not later than 90 days after the date on which the 8 Forensic Investigation Team submits to the Federal En- 9 ergy Regulatory Commission the report on the root causes, 10 and any other contributing causes, of the Edenville Dam 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8935.IH H8935 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8935 IH and Sanford Dam failures, the Federal Energy Regulatory 1 Commission shall conduct a briefing for, and submit a re- 2 port summarizing such briefing to, the Committee on En- 3 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives that 4 includes— 5 (1) an explanation of the findings of the Foren- 6 sic Investigation Team report on the root causes, 7 and any other contributing causes, of the Edenville 8 Dam and Sanford Dam failures; 9 (2) a determination of whether the dam safety 10 procedures established by the Federal Energy Regu- 11 latory Commission should be revised in light of the 12 lessons learned from such report; 13 (3) a determination of whether additional safety 14 inspections of dams should be required after large 15 storms; 16 (4) a determination of whether the safety re- 17 quirements and testing protocols for dams ade- 18 quately account for the projected effects of future 19 extreme weather events on the hydrology of river ba- 20 sins and dams; and 21 (5) a determination of whether additional ac- 22 tions should be taken to ensure the safety of dams 23 that operate without an emergency spillway. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8935.IH H8935 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8935 IH SEC. 3. DAM SAFETY CONDITIONS. 1 Section 10 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 803) 2 is amended by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(k) That the dam and other project works meet the 4 Commission’s dam safety requirements and that the li- 5 censee shall continue to manage, operate, and maintain 6 the dam and other project works in a manner that ensures 7 dam safety and public safety under the operating condi- 8 tions of the license.’’. 9 SEC. 4. DAM SAFETY REQUIREMENTS. 10 Section 15 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 808) 11 is amended by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(g) The Commission may issue a new license under 13 this section only if the Commission determines that the 14 dam and other project works covered by the license meet 15 the Commission’s dam safety requirements and that the 16 licensee can continue to manage, operate, and maintain 17 the dam and other project works in a manner that ensures 18 dam safety and public safety under the operating condi- 19 tions of the new license.’’. 20 SEC. 5. VIABILITY PROCEDURES. 21 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall es- 22 tablish procedures to assess the financial viability of an 23 applicant for a license under the Federal Power Act (16 24 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8935.IH H8935 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8935 IH (1) meet applicable dam safety requirements; 1 and 2 (2) operate the dam and project works under 3 the license. 4 SEC. 6. FERC DAM SAFETY TECHNICAL CONFERENCE WITH 5 STATES. 6 (a) TECHNICAL CONFERENCE.—Not later than April 7 1, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, act- 8 ing through the Director of the Office of Energy Projects, 9 shall hold a technical conference with the States to discuss 10 and provide information on— 11 (1) dam maintenance and repair; 12 (2) Risk Informed Decision Making; 13 (3) climate and hydrological regional changes 14 that may affect the structural integrity of dams; and 15 (4) high hazard dams. 16 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 17 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 18 $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. 19 (c) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 20 ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given such term in section 3 of 21 the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8935.IH H8935 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8935 IH SEC. 7. REQUIRED DAM SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS BE- 1 TWEEN FERC AND STATES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, acting through 3 the Director of the Office of Energy Projects, shall notify 4 each State within which a project is located when— 5 (1) the Commission issues a finding, following 6 a dam safety inspection, that requires the licensee 7 for such project to take actions to repair the dam 8 and other project works that are the subject of such 9 finding; 10 (2) after a period of 5 years starting on the 11 date a finding under paragraph (1) is issued, the li- 12 censee has failed to take actions to repair the dam 13 and other project works; and 14 (3) the Commission initiates a non-compliance 15 proceeding or otherwise takes steps to revoke a li- 16 cense due to the failure of a licensee to take actions 17 to repair a dam and other project works. 18 (b) NOTICE UPON REVOCATION, SURRENDER, OR IM- 19 PLIED SURRENDER OF A LICENSE.—If the Commission 20 issues an order to revoke a license or approve the sur- 21 render or implied surrender of a license under the Federal 22 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 792 et seq.), the Commission shall 23 provide to the State within which the project that relates 24 to such license is located— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8935.IH H8935 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8935 IH (1) all records pertaining to the structure and 1 operation of the applicable dam and other project 2 works, including, as applicable, any dam safety in- 3 spection reports by independent consultants, speci- 4 fications for required repairs or maintenance of such 5 dam and other project works that have not been 6 completed, and estimates of the costs for such re- 7 pairs or maintenance; 8 (2) all records documenting the history of main- 9 tenance or repair work for the applicable dam and 10 other project works; 11 (3) information on the age of the dam and 12 other project works and the hazard classification of 13 the dam and other project works; 14 (4) the most recent assessment of the condition 15 of the dam and other project works by the Commis- 16 sion; 17 (5) as applicable, the most recent hydrologic in- 18 formation used to determine the potential maximum 19 flood for the dam and other project works; and 20 (6) the results of the most recent risk assess- 21 ment completed on the dam and other project works. 22 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section: 23 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 24 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8935.IH H8935 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8935 IH (2) LICENSEE.—The term ‘‘licensee’’ has the 1 meaning given such term in section 3 of the Federal 2 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 3 (3) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ has the 4 meaning given such term in section 3 of the Federal 5 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8935.IH H8935 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS