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<br />by suggesting that the person in control of a dam must <br />be negligent to be held liable. The committee believes <br />that this issue should be clarified by the enactment of <br />state legislation assigning liability for dam failure 01 <br />mlsoperation to the owner, where existing statutes or <br />case laws are lacking, and that the u.s. government <br />should encourage the states to enact such legislation. <br /> <br />Also, the committee Is aware of at least one case <br />in which the court ruled that state employees <br />responsible for the state's dam safety program were not <br />immune from liability. The committee believes that <br />engineers who inspect and evaluate the safety of <br />existing structures, as well as the regulatory employee, <br />of the states, should be immune from personal liability' <br />for dam safety activities, except in instances of <br />malfeasance or misfeasance. <br /> <br />. The committee recommends that the U.S. <br />government, through FEMA, encourage the states <br />to enact legislation assigning liability for da, <br />failure or misoperation to the owners and slso <br />accompanying legislation to relieve the <br />engineers. and regulatory personnel involved in <br />dam safety activities from personal liability, <br />except in instances of malfeasance or <br />misfeasance. <br /> <br />STATE SUPERVISION <br /> <br />Since regulatory authority over nonfederal dams <br />should lie with the states, all states need adequate <br />laws regulating dam safety. However, many states have <br />no dam safety legislation, and others have legislation <br />that is inadequate. Therefore, the committee believes <br />that a need exists to promote state legislation <br />comparable to the Model Law for State Supervision of <br />Safety of Dams and Reservoirs; published by the United <br />States Committee on Large Dams (USCOLD) in 1970. <br /> <br />Also, the committee believes that the solution to <br />the problem of poor state supervision of dam safety <br />would be aided by a nstional perspective on dam safety <br />provided by either a governmental or nongovernmental <br />entity. <br /> <br />-2- <br />