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Indian Dams Safety Act of 1994

Public Law 103-302 · H.R. 1426 · 103rd Congress · began in the House

Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Aug 23, 1994 · Native Americans

Sponsor: Rep. William Richardson (D-NM-3)

Cosponsors: None

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateVoice vote
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Indian Dams Safety Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) establish a dam safety maintenance program within the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in order to maintain each dam on Indian lands in a satisfactory condition; (2) perform necessary repair and rehabilitation work to bring any unsatisfactory dam to satisfactory condition and to then place the dam under the program's maintenance; and (3) develop a maintenance action plan, with priority given to dams with high or significant risk ratings.

Directs the Secretary to develop a comprehensive list of dams on Indian lands describing conditions of: (1) dam safety; (2) risk hazard; and (3) maintenance deficiencies.

Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) obtain technical assistance from other agencies and departments; and (2) contract with appropriate Indian tribes to carry out the program. States that the dam safety program (of 1980) and the program established by this Act shall be under BIA direction.

Authorizes appropriations.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 17 actions.

  1. Aug 23, 1994Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 103-302.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Aug 12, 1994PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Indian Affairs Committee
  5. Aug 11, 1994FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  6. Jul 26, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Indian Affairs Committee
  7. Jul 25, 1994FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  8. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  9. FloorFloor · Mr. Johnson (SD) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  10. Jul 14, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Natural Resources Committee
  11. Sep 22, 1993CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Natural Resources Committee
  12. Jul 30, 1993CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Native American Affairs Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
  13. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Native American Affairs Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
  14. Jul 2, 1993CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Native American Affairs Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
  15. Apr 13, 1993CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Native American Affairs Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
  16. Mar 18, 1993CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Natural Resources Committee
  17. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes

Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.