Chapter 360. To amend an Act entitled “An Act to regulate the construction of dams across navigable waters,” approved June twenty-first, nineteen hundred and six
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CHAP. 360.— An Act To amend an Act entitled “An Act to regulate the construction of dams across navigable waters,” approved June twenty-first, nineteen hundred and six. June 23, 1910.[[H. R. 24375](/us/bill/61/hr/24375).][[Public, No. 246](/us/pl/61/246).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That the Act entitled “An Dams. Vol. 34, p. 386, amended. Act to regulate the construction of dams across navigable waters,” approved June twenty-first, nineteen hundred and six, be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:
" “Section 1. That when authority has been or may hereafter be Regulations governing constructing, over navigable waters, extended. granted by Congress, either directly or indirectly or by any official or officials of the United States, to any persons, to construct and maintain a dam for water power or other purpose across or in any of the navigable waters of the United States, such dam shall not be built or commenced until the plans and specifications for such dam and all accessory works, 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 subject, have been submitted Approval of Secretary of War and Chief of Engineers. to the Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers for their approval, nor until they shall have approved such plans and specifications and the location of such dam and accessory works; and Changes. when the plans and specifications 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 or specifications either before or after completion of the structure unless the modification of such plans or 594 specifications has previously been submitted to and received the approval of the Chief of Engineers and of the Secretary of War: *Provisos*.
Conditions. *Provided*, That in approving the plans, specifications, and location for any dam, 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 the persons constructing or maintaining such dam shall construct, maintain, and operate, without expense to the United States, in connection with any dam and accessory or appurtenant works, a lock or locks, booms, sluices, or any other structure or structures which the Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers or Congress at any time may deem necessary Approaches, etc., to locks. in the interests of navigation, in accordance 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 persons owning such dam shall convey to the United States, free of cost, title to such land as may Water power. be required for such constructions and approaches, and shall grant to the United States free water power or power generated from water power for building and operating such constructions: *Provided Bearing upon improvements to be considered. further*, That in acting upon said plans as aforesaid the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War shall consider the bearing of said structure upon a comprehensive plan for the improvement of the waterway over which it is to be constructed with a view to the promotion of its navigable quality and for the full development of Charges for improvements, etc. water power; and, as a part of the conditions and stipulations imposed by them, shall provide for improving and developing navigation, and fix such charge or charges for the privilege granted as may be sufficient to restore conditions with respect to navigability as existing at the time such privilege be granted or reimburse the United States for doing the same, and for such additional or further expense as may be incurred by the United States with reference to such project, including the cost of any investigations necessary for approval of plans and of such supervision of construction as may be necessary in the interests of the United States: *Provided further*, Charges for storage reservoirs, etc., constructed.
That the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War are hereby authorized and directed to fix and collect just and proper charge or charges for the privilege granted to all dams authorized and constructed under the provisions of this Act which shall receive any direct benefit from the construction, operation, and maintenance by the United States of storage reservoirs at the headwaters of any navigable streams, or from the acquisition, holding, and maintenance of any forested watershed, or lands located by the United States at the headwaters of any navigable stream, wherever such shall be, for the development, improvement, or preservation of navigation in such streams in which such dams may be constructed.
“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 in accordance with the provisions of this Act, a suitable lock or locks, booms, sluices, 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 persons constructing, maintaining, or operating any dam or appurtenant or accessory works, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, shall be liable for any damage that may be inflicted thereby upon private property, either by overflow or otherwise. Lights, fishways, etc., to be maintained. The persons owning or operating any such dam, or accessory works, subject to the provisions of this Act, shall maintain, at their own expense, such lights and other signals thereon and such fishways 595 as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall prescribe, and for failure so to do in any respect shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor Penalty for failure. and subject to a fine of not less than five hundred dollars, and each month of such failure shall constitute a separate offense and subject such persons to additional penalties therefor.
“Sec. 4. That all rights acquired under this Act shall cease and be Forfeiture of rights. determined if the person, company, or corporation acquiring such rights shall, at any time, fail, after receiving reasonable notice thereof, 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, including the payment into the Treasury of the United States of the charges provided for by section one of this Act: *Provided*, That Congress *Provisos*.
Revocation when needed for public use. may revoke any rights conferred in pursuance of this Act whenever it is necessary for public use, and, in the event of any such revocation by Congress, the United States shall pay the owners of any dam and appurtenant works built under authority of this Act, as full compensation, the reasonable value thereof, exclusive of the value of the authority or franchise granted, such reasonable value to be determined by mutual agreement between the Secretary of War and the said owners, and in case they can not agree, then by proceedings instituted in the United States circuit court for the condemnation of such properties: *And provided also*, That the authority Termination in fifty years. granted under or in pursuance of the provisions of this Act shall terminate at the end of a period not to exceed fifty years from the date of the original approval of the project under this Act, unless sooner revoked as herein provided or Congress shall otherwise direct: *Provided, however*, That this limitation shall not apply to any corporation Exceptions. or individual heretofore authorized by the United States, or by any State, to construct a dam in or across a navigable waterway, upon which dam expenditures of money have heretofore been made in reliance upon such grant or grants.
“Sec. 5. That any persons who shall fail or refuse to comply with Penalty for noncompliance with orders. 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 default shall be deemed a new offense and subject such persons to additional penalties therefor; and in addition to the penalties above Removal, 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 Suits for expense. 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.
Said provision as to recovery of expense shall not apply wherever the United States has been previously Proceeding. reimbursed for such removal; and the removal or any structures erected or maintained in violation of the provisions of this Act or the order or direction of the Secretary of War or the 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 Litigation. 596 litigation 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. Time for construction. That whenever Congress shall hereafter by law authorize 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. Right to alter, etc., reserved. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is hereby 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. Construction of “persons” and “dam.
” That the word ‘persons’ as used in this Act shall be construed to import both the singular and the plural, as the case demands, and shall include corporations, companies, and associations. The word ‘dam’ as used in this Act shall be construed to import both the singular and the plural, as the case demands.” " Approved, June 23, 1910.