Chapter 3508. To regulate the construction of dams across navigable waters
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CHAP. 3508.— An Act To regulate the construction of dams across navigable waters. June 21, 1906. [[H. R. 8428](/us/bill/59/hr/8428).] [[Public, No. 262](/us/pl/59/262).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* Dams.Regulations for constructing, over navigable waters. That when, hereafter, authority is granted by Congress to any persons to construct and maintain a dam for water power or other purposes across any of the navigable waters of the United States, such dams shall not be built or commenced until the plans and specifications for its construction, together with such drawings of the proposed construction and such map of the proposed location as may be required for a full understanding of the Approval of Secretary of War and Chief of Engineers.subject, have been submitted to the Secretary of War and Chief of Engineers for their approval, or until they shall have approved such plans and specifications and the location of such dam and accessory Changes.works; and when the plans for any dam to be constructed under the provisions of this Act have been approved by the Chief of Engineers and by the Secretary of War it shall not be, lawful to deviate from such plans either before or after completion of the structure unless the modification of such plans has previously been submitted to and received the approval of the Chief of Engineers and of the Secretary *Proviso*.Conditions.of War: *Provided*, That in approving said plans and location such conditions and stipulations may be imposed as the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War may deem necessary to protect the present and future interests of the United States, which may include the condition that such persons shall construct, maintain, and operate, without expense to the United States, in connection with said dam and appurtenant works, a lock or locks, booms, sluices, or any other structures which the Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers at any time may deem necessary in the interest of navigation, in accordance Approaches, etc., to locks.with such plans as they may approve, and also that whenever Congress shall authorize the construction of a lock, or other structures for navigation purposes, in connection with such dam, the person owning such dam shall convey to the United States, free of cost, title to such land as may be required for such constructions and approaches, Water power.and shall grant to the United States a free use of water power for building and operating such constructions.
Sec. 2. Rights reserved for navigation. That the right is hereby reserved to the United States to construct, maintain, and operate, in connection with any dam built under the provisions of this Act, a suitable lock or locks, or any other structures for navigation purposes, and at all times to control the said dam and the level of the pool caused by said dam to such an extent as may be necessary to provide proper facilities for navigation. Sec. 3. Flowage, etc., damages. That the person, company, or corporation building, maintaining, or operating any dam and appurtenant works, under the provisions of this Act, shall be liable for any damage that may be inflicted Lights, fishways, etc.thereby upon private property, either by overflow or otherwise.
The persons owning or operating any such dam shall maintain, at their own expense, such lights and other signals thereon and such fishways as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall prescribe. Sec. 4. Forfeiture of rights. That all rights acquired under this Act shall cease and be determined if the person, company, or corporation acquiring such rights shall, at any time, fail to comply with any of the provisions and requirements of the Act, or with any of the stipulations and conditions that may be prescribed as aforesaid by the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War.
Sec. 5. Punishment for non-compliance with orders, etc. That any persons who shall fail or refuse to comply with the lawful order of the Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers, made in accordance with the provisions of this Act, shall be deemed guilty of a violation of this Act and any persons who shall be guilty of a violation of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and every month such persons shall remain in 387default shall be deemed a new offense and subject such persons to additional penalties therefor; and in addition to the penalties aboveRemoval, etc. described the Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers may, upon refusal of the persons owning or controlling any such dam and accessory works to comply with any lawful order issued by the Secretary of War or Chief of Engineers in regard thereto, cause the removal of such dam and accessory works as an obstruction to navigation at the expense of the persons owning or controlling such dam, and suit for such expense may be brought in the name of the United States against such persons, and recovery had for such expense in any court of competent jurisdiction: and the removal of any structures erected or maintained in violation of the provisions of this Act or the order or direction of the Secretary of War or Chief of Engineers made in pursuance thereof may be enforced by injunction, mandamus, or other summary process, upon application to the circuit court in the district in which such structure may. in whole or in part, exist, and proper proceedings to this end may be instituted under the direction of the Attorney-General of the United States at the request of the Chief of Engineers or the Secretary of War; and in case of any litigationLitigation. arising from any obstruction or alleged obstruction to navigation created by the construction of any dam under this Act, the. cause or question arising may be tried before the circuit court of the United States in any district in which any portion of said obstruction or dam touches.
Sec. 6. That whenever Congress shall hereafter by law authorizeTime of construction. the construction of any dam across any of the navigable waters of the United States, and no time for the commencement and completion of such dam is named in said Act, the authority thereby granted shall cease and be null and void unless the actual construction of the dam authorized in such Act be commenced within one year and completed within three years from the date of the passage of such Act.
Sec. 7. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is herebyRight to alter, etc., reserved. expressly reserved as to any and all dams which may be constructed in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and the United States shall incur no liability for the alteration, amendment, or repeal thereof to the owner or owners or any other persons interested in any dam which shall have been constructed in accordance with its provisions. Sec. 8. That the word “persons” as used in this Act shall be construedMeaning of “persons.” to import both the singular and the plural, as the case demands, and shall include corporations, companies, and associations.
Approved, June 21, 1906.