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Senate Natural Resources & Energy committee hears bill to pilot emergency plans for high-hazard dams
Summary
The committee reviewed H.778, which would fund a two-dam pilot to develop coordinated emergency operations plans (EOPs) for municipalities downstream of high-hazard dams, clarify state evacuation authority, and report back with recommendations and cost estimates; supporters said the $375,000 pilot would inform a multi-year statewide rollout.
The Senate Natural Resources & Energy committee on April 7 reviewed H.778, a bill to fund a pilot project that would produce coordinated emergency operations plans for municipalities downstream of two state high-hazard dams, clarify evacuation authority for the governor and the state director of emergency management, and return a report to the Legislature on how to scale the work statewide.
A House sponsor who described herself as a member of the House Environment Committee told the panel the measure builds on prior dam-safety work—Act 161 and the Flood Safety Act—and focuses on ‘‘high-hazard’’ sites, defined in state inventory as dams whose failure could cause probable loss of life. The sponsor said the state has at least 77 high-hazard dams and 50 of those are regulated by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). She said the…
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