Georgia Senate panel approves new dam regulations

[Judi Lynn]

Ben Nadler, Associated Press Updated 6:26 pm CST, Friday, February 7, 2020

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia could soon loosen safety standards for dams that sit above newly built homes, under a proposal unanimously passed by a state Senate committee.

Senate Bill 319 would allow for homes and other inhabitable structures to be built in a dam’s inundation zone — the area that would be flooded if the dam fails — without causing the dam to be recategorized and required to meet higher safety standards. The structures would have to be built to withstand a breach of the dam and receive certification from an engineer approved by the state Environmental Protection Division’s Safe Dams Program.

The bill's sponsor, Republican State Sen. Frank Ginn of Danielsville, said it would protect dam owners from having to choose between taking on costly upgrades or removing a dam. The proposal, passed Tuesday by the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee, could soon go to the full state Senate for a vote.

Under current Georgia regulations, any dam with a home or other inhabitable structure in its inundation zone is considered a Category I dam, meaning its failure would result in probable loss of human life.

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Georgia-Senate-panel-approves-new-dam-regulations-15039376.php

[SWBTATTReg]

1. I'm surprised that banks and other lending institutions would allow funding to proceed for...

homes financed by them in these potentially dangerous areas. Am I missing something or is this bill an over reaction by the republican? Or, are state agencies all geared up to react to a Cat. I failure, to warn residents that a potential dam failure is possible, and by shifting the categorization of the dam structure/environment, that people w/ homes in these areas would failed to get notified in case something does happen?

[Hoyt]

2. 43 years ago, a damn failed killing 39 about 70 miles north of Atlanta.

But it sounds like there are some protections in the revisions.