Political Quotes

“I am pleased to be introducing, along with Senator Capito, the High Hazard Potential Small Dam Safety Act. This legislation seeks to provide grant assistance for the rehabilitation and repair of non-Federal high hazard potential dams. High hazard potential dams are those dams where failure is probable to cause loss of human life and endanger population centers and ecosystems, especially in periods of extreme weather and flooding. According to the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, ASDSO, the number of high-hazard potential dams increased nationally from 9,281 in 1998 to more than 14,700 in 2013. In testimony before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, on February 10, 2016, the president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE, Norma Jean Mattei, indicated that the average age of dams in the United States is 52 years, and she called for a dam rehabilitation program to address this growing problem. In Rhode Island, we have dozens of high hazard potential dams in need of rehabilitation, many of which date back to the nineteenth century. Currently, there is no Federal program to assist states with the repair or removal of non-agricultural, non-hydroelectric, non-Federal high hazard potential small dams.…”