Substitute bill does not require any dams to be inspected

MONTGOMERY, Ala. —

Like we revealed on Wednesday, Alabama is the only state in the country without a statewide dam safety program.

“I guess tongue-in-cheek, we're the make-me state. So, we're usually the last on this type thing,” Alabama Sen. Clyde Chambliss said.

So, Chambliss, a civil engineer himself, introduced a bill to change that.

His original bill required all state-owned dams to be inspected and authorized ADEM to maintain public inspection records and emergency action plans in case of a dam failure.

“Your local emergency manager, he has a list and he knows or she and they can, you know, be proactive about preventing injury,” Chambliss said.

Then Wednesday, moments before our Investigates report aired, the Senate passed a substitute version of his bill.

We sifted through both bills.

The substitute, which passed unanimously, is one-third thinner. It no longer requires any dams to be inspected. It allows owners to opt in instead.

ADEM no longer handles the safety records, local emergency management agencies do.

Plus, those records will not be public.

Finally, a Dam Rehabilitation Loan Program funded by the state through ADEM was scrapped.

Chambliss has said legitimate issues surfaced late leading up to the vote, which forced the changes.

However, he hopes to iron them out after the legislative session to help keep communities safe.

“We're trying to do is be proactive instead of reactive, instead of after some catastrophe. We're trying to get ahead of it and do it now,” Chambliss said two weeks earlier.

We followed up with Chambliss Thursday and Friday to find out what issues prompted him to strip the inspection requirements, but so far, he has not responded.

His substitute bill must now receive approval in the House.

There are four more days left in the 2023 legislative session.