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Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-73not60

§831y–1 Approval of Plans by Board as Condition Precedent to Construction and Operation; Restraining Action Without Approval; Other Laws Unaffected

Title 16 › Chapter 12A— TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY › § 831y–1

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

No dam, related work, or other obstruction that affects navigation, flood control, or public lands on the Tennessee River or its tributaries may be built, started, run, or kept in place unless plans for building, operating, and keeping it up are sent to and approved by the Board. Doing any of those things without the Board’s approval is not allowed. After the Board approves plans, any changes must also be sent to and approved before or after work is done. If the Board does not approve plans or changes within sixty days for work on the Little Tennessee River, the applicant can ask the Secretary of the Army to review them. If the Secretary, after notice and a hearing, approves the plans as reasonably adequate, that counts as approval. A district court can stop or order removal of structures built in violation, and the Corporation may bring such court actions. These rules do not replace any other federal or state permits or approvals that are also needed.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §831y–1

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The unified development and regulation of the Tennessee River system requires that no dam, appurtenant works, or other obstruction, affecting navigation, flood control, or public lands or reservations shall be constructed, and thereafter operated or maintained across, along, or in the said river or any of its tributaries until plans for such construction, operation, and maintenance shall have been submitted to and approved by the Board; and the construction, commencement of construction, operation, or maintenance of such structures without such approval is prohibited. When such plans shall have been approved, deviation therefrom either before or after completion of such structures is prohibited unless the modification of such plans has previously been submitted to and approved by the Board. In the event the Board shall, within sixty days after their formal submission to the Board, fail to approve any plans or modifications, as the case may be, for construction, operation, or maintenance of any such structures on the Little Tennessee River, the above requirements shall be deemed satisfied, if upon application to the Secretary of the Army, with due notice to the Corporation, and hearing thereon, such plans or modifications are approved by the said Secretary of the Army as reasonably adequate and effective for the unified development and regulation of the Tennessee River system. Such construction, commencement of construction, operation, or maintenance of any structures or parts thereof in violation of the provisions of this section may be prevented, and the removal or discontinuation thereof required by the injunction or order of any district court exercising jurisdiction in any district in which such structures or parts thereof may be situated, and the Corporation is authorized to bring appropriate proceedings to this end. The requirements of this section shall not be construed to be a substitute for the requirements of any other law of the United States or of any State, now in effect or hereafter enacted, but shall be in addition thereto, so that any approval, license, permit, or other sanction now or hereafter required by the provisions of any such law for the construction, operation, or maintenance of any structures whatever, except such as may be constructed, operated, or maintained by the Corporation, shall be required, notwithstanding the provisions of this section.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Department of War designated Department of the Army and title of Secretary of War changed to Secretary of the Army by section 205(a) of act
July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, 61 Stat. 501. section 205(a) of act
July 26, 1947, was repealed by section 53 of act Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 641. section 1 of act Aug. 10, 1956, enacted “Title 10, Armed Forces” which in sections 3010 to 3013 continued military Department of the Army under administrative supervision of Secretary of the Army.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 831y–1

Title 16, Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60