§3303 — Title 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters | U.S. Code

Summary

Must create and keep a national database of levees no later than 1 year after December 16, 2016. The database must show where federal levees are (including GIS data) and take updates from States, regional districts, Indian tribes, Federal agencies, and others. It must note the general condition of each levee using available information. It must estimate how many buildings and how many people each levee protects and who would be harmed if the levee failed or if water rose above it. The Secretary must share the database with the right federal, State, regional, tribal, and local agencies, and must make the location data and other parts the Secretary chooses available to the public. The Secretary must inventory and inspect all federally owned or run levees at Federal expense. Federally built but non‑federally operated levees must be inventoried and inspected at the project’s original cost share. For non‑Federal levees whose owners take part in the emergency response program under section 701n, the Secretary will inspect if the owner asks and the Federal share is 65 percent. The Secretary must do a one‑time review of all levees in the database. That review does not create a Federal duty to build, run, or maintain a levee. The Secretary will use levee safety action classification criteria to decide if a more detailed inspection is needed. States, regional districts, and tribes may join reviews and must be given information about location, construction, operation, or maintenance. The Secretary need not re‑review a levee already inspected using the same method during the 1‑year period immediately preceding June 10, 2014, if the Governor or tribal/regional chief executive asks for an exemption. For each levee inventoried or reviewed, the Secretary must list engineering and maintenance problems and describe fixes, and provide cost estimates if a non‑Federal owner asks. The Secretary must consult and give a chance to comment to relevant non‑Federal interests.

Title 33, §3303

Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)Not later than 1 year after December 16, 2016, the Secretary shall establish and maintain a database with an inventory of the Nation’s levees.

(2)The database shall include—

(A)location information of all Federal levees in the Nation (including global information system information) and updated levee information provided by States, regional districts, Indian tribes, Federal agencies, and other entities;

(B)utilizing such information as is available, the general condition of each levee; and

(C)an estimate of the number of structures and population at risk and protected by each levee that would be adversely impacted if the levee fails or water levels exceed the height of the levee.

(3)(A)The Secretary shall make all of the information in the database available to appropriate Federal, State, regional, tribal, and local governmental agencies.

(B)The Secretary shall make the information in the database described in paragraph (2)(A), and such other information in the database as the Secretary determines appropriate, available to the public.

(b)(1)The Secretary, at Federal expense, shall establish an inventory and conduct an inspection of all federally owned and operated levees.

(2)The Secretary shall establish an inventory and conduct an inspection of all federally constructed, non-federally operated and maintained levees, at the original cost share for the project.

(3)For non-Federal levees the owners of which are participating in the emergency response to natural disasters program established under section 701n of this title, the Secretary shall establish an inventory and conduct an inspection of each such levee if the owner of the levee requests such inspection. The Federal share of the cost of an inspection under this paragraph shall be 65 percent.

(c)(1)The Secretary shall carry out a one-time inventory and review of all levees identified in the national levee database.

(2)The inventory and inspection under paragraph (1) does not create a Federal interest in the construction, operation, or maintenance of any levee that is included in the inventory or inspected under this subsection.

(3)In carrying out the inventory and review, the Secretary shall use the levee safety action classification criteria to determine whether a levee should be classified in the inventory as requiring a more comprehensive inspection.

(4)At the request of a State, regional district, or Indian tribe with respect to any levee subject to review under this subsection, the Secretary shall—

(A)allow an official of the State, regional district, or Indian tribe to participate in the review of the levee; and

(B)provide information to the State, regional district, or Indian tribe relating to the location, construction, operation, or maintenance of the levee.

(5)In carrying out the inventory and review under this subsection, the Secretary shall not be required to review any levee that has been inspected by a State, regional district, or Indian tribe using the same methodology described in paragraph (3) during the 1-year period immediately preceding June 10, 2014, if the Governor of the State or chief executive of the regional district or tribal government, as applicable, requests an exemption from the review.

(d)(1)For each levee included in an inventory established under subsection (b) or for which the Secretary has conducted a review under subsection (c), the Secretary shall—

(A)identify the specific engineering and maintenance deficiencies, if any; and

(B)describe the recommended remedies to correct each deficiency identified under subparagraph (A), and, if requested by owner of a non-Federal levee, the associated costs of those remedies.

(2)In identifying deficiencies and describing remedies for a levee under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult with relevant non-Federal interests, including by providing an opportunity for comment by those non-Federal interests.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2020—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–260 added subsec. (d). 2016—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 114–322, § 1130(b)(1)(A), substituted “1 year after

December 16, 2016,” for “one year after

November 8, 2007,”. Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Pub. L. 114–322, § 1130(b)(1)(B), substituted “States, regional districts, Indian tribes, Federal agencies, and other entities” for “States, Indian tribes, Federal agencies, and other entities”. Subsec. (a)(3)(A). Pub. L. 114–322, § 1130(b)(1)(C), substituted “Federal, State, regional, tribal, and local” for “Federal, State, and local” in heading and text. Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 114–322, § 1130(b)(2)(A), substituted “State, regional, and tribal” for “State and tribal” in heading and “State, regional district, or Indian tribe” for “State or Indian tribe” wherever appearing in text. Subsec. (c)(5). Pub. L. 114–322, § 1130(b)(2)(B), substituted “State, regional district, or Indian tribe” for “State or Indian tribe” and “chief executive of the regional district or tribal government” for “chief executive of the tribal government”. 2014—Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Pub. L. 113–121, § 3016(d)(1), substituted “and updated levee information provided by States, Indian tribes, Federal agencies, and other entities” for “and, for non-Federal levees, such information on levee location as is provided to the Secretary by State and local governmental agencies”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 113–121, § 3016(d)(2), added subsec. (c).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

“Secretary” Defined Secretary means the Secretary of the Army, see section 2 of Pub. L. 110–114, set out as a note under section 2201 of this title.

§3303 Inventory and Inspection of Levees