FLOOD06834 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Reclamation (USBR), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), and federal Power Commission (fPc)a were specifically excluded from the inspection requirements of the Act. Also exempted were dams which the Secretary of the Army determined would not pose any threat to human life or property. A five-volume report, "National Program of Inspection of Dams," dated May 1975, was issued by the Corps and delivered to Congress in November 1976,6 This report consisted of (a) an inventory compilation of Federal and non- federal dams, (b) a survey of state capabilities, practices and regulations in dam safety, (c) development of Recommended Guidelines for Safetv Insoection of Dams, and (d) recommendations for a national dam safety program including the respective responsibilities which should be assumed by federal, state, and local governments and by public and private interests. However, despite the implications of its title, by 1976, virtually no progress had been made toward the safety of dams in the United States since no inspections had actually been made. The Administration policy remained steadfast to the principle that inspection of non-federal dams was a responsibili ty of the states, Consequently, no inspection funds were ever requested or authorized during this period after P.L. 92-367 became law. However, the Corps inventory report did provide an initial understanding of the potential problem posed by dams. Of the approximately 49,000b inventoried at that time, only 18 percent of the dams had been inspected under existing state or federal authority. Based on partial downstream hazard classification data, it was estimated that about forty percent of all a The federal Power Commission became the federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on October 1, 1977. b 47,422 non-federal and 2,078 federal Dams .2-