CONNECTIONS AND DISCONNECTS BETWEEN FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT
AND DAM SAFETY
There are many different agencies with responsibility for dams. Only a few are
responsible for regulation. The attached spreadsheet lists the agencies and what each is
responsible for. For a summary of each agency, see Descriptions of federal agencies
working in dam safety.
NOTES FROM THE FEMA WEBSITE
Source: www.fema.gov
For more than 25 years, the Federal Government has been working to protect Americans
from dam failure through the National Dam Safety Program (NDSP). The NDSP, which
is led by FEMA, is a partnership of the states, federal agencies, and other stakeholders to
encourage individual and community responsibility for dam safety.
State governments regulate 95 percent of the approximately 79,500 dams listed in the
National Inventory of Dams (NID).
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) is FEMA's primary partner in
the National Dam Safety Program (NDSP) and serves as the official voice for state dam
safety. To learn more about programs in your state, visit the ASDSO Web site.
The vast majority of dams in the USA are regulated by state dam safety programs.
Alabama is the only state that lacks a dam safety program; all other states, plus Puerto
Rico, participate in the National Dam Safety Program.
Federal agency representatives make up about 16% of the ASDSO membership. About
14% of dams in the USA are owned or regulated by federal agencies.
Federal agencies involved with dam safety, either as owners and/or regulators, include
the following:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Natural Resouces Conservation Service
Agriculture Research Service
Department of Defense
Army Corps of Engineers
- Engineer Research and Development Center
- Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC)
Department of the Interior (DOI Home Page)
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Reclamation
Fish & Wildlife Service
National Park Service
Office of Surface Mining
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Mine Safety and Health Administration
International Boundary and Water Commission (U.S. Section)
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency does
not own or regulate dams but administers the National Dam Safety Program.
Together these agencies make up the Interagency Committee on Dam Safety (ICODS),
overseen by FEMA as head of the National Dam Safety Program.
Other federal agencies that stay involved with ASDSO and the dam safety community:
Department of Homeland Security, Infrastructure Protection
NOAA, National Weather Service
U.S. Geological Survey