PUBLIC LAW 95-578—NOV. 2, 1978
92 STAT. 2471
Public Law 95-578 95th Congress An Act To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct, restore, operate, and maintain new or modified features at existing Federal reclamation dams for safety of dams purposes.
Nov. 2, 1978 [S. 2820]
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act shall Reclamation Safety of Dams be cited as the "Reclamation Safety of Dams Act of 1978". SEC. 2. In order to preserve the structural safety of Bureau of Recla- Act ofe1978.note. mation dams and related facilities the Secretary of the Interior is 43 s 506 Structures, authorized to perform such modifications as he determines to be modifications. reasonably required. Said performance of work shall be in accordance 43 USC 506. with the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, 43 USC 391 note. and Acts amendatory or supplementary thereto). SEC. 3. Construction authorized by this Act shall be for the pur- 43 USC 507. poses of dam safety and not for the specific purposes of providing additional conservation storage capacity or of developing benefits over and above those provided by the original dams and reservoirs. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to reduce the amount of project costs allocated to reimbursable purposes heretofore authorized. SEC. 4. (a) Costs heretofore or hereafter incurred in the modifica- 43 USC 508. tion of structures under this Act, the cause of which results from age and normal deterioration of the structure or from nonperformance of reasonable and normal maintenance of the structure by the operating entity shall be considered as project costs and will be allocated to the purposes for which the structure was authorized initially to be constructed and will be reimbursable as provided by existing law. (b) Costs heretofore or hereafter incurred in the modification of structures under this Act, the cause of which results from new hydrologic or seismic data or changes in state-of-the-art criteria deemed necessary for safety purposes shall be nonreimbursable and nonreturnable under the Federal Reclamation law. SEC. 5. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for fiscal Appropriation year 1979 and ensuing fiscal years such sums as may be necessary, but authorization. not to exceed $100,000,000, to carry out the provisions of this Act to 43 USC 509. remain available until expended if so provided by the appropriations Act: Provided, That no funds shall be obligated for carrying out Report to actual construction to modify an existing dam under authority of this Act prior to sixty days (which sixty days shall not include days on which either the House of Representatives or the Senate is not in session because of an adjournment of more than three calendar days to a day certain) from the date that the Secretary has transmitted a report on such existing dam to the Congress. The report required to be submitted by this section will consist of a finding by the Secretary of the Interior to the effect that modifications are required to be made to insure the safety of an existing dam. Such finding shall be accompanied by a technical report containing information on the need for structural modification, the corrective action deemed to be required, alternative solutions to structural modification that were considered, the estimated cost of needed modifications, and environmental impacts if any resulting from the implementation of the recommended plan of modification.
�
