With the passage of the National Dam Safety Program Act of 1996, Public Law 104-303, ICODS and

its
Subcommittees were reorganized to reflect the objectives and requirements of Public Law 104-303. In
1998, the newly convened Guidelines Development Subcommittee completed work on the update of all of
the following guidelines:
 Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety (FEMA 64): Emergency Action Planning for Dam Owners , July
2013: Guidelines to encourage strict safety standards and to encourage emergency action
planning for dams to help save lives and reduce property damage.

 Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety: Hazard Potential Classification System for Dams, April 2004:
Guidelines that set forth a hazard potential classification system for dams that is simple, clear,
concise, and adaptable to any agency’s current system.

 Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety: Earthquake Analyses and Design of Dams, May 2005:
Guidelines that provide the basic framework for the earthquake design and evaluation of dams.

 Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety: Selecting and Accommodating Inflow Design Floods for Dams
, August 2013: Guidelines that provide procedures for selecting and accommodating inflow design
floods.

 Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety: Glossary of Terms, April 2004: A provision of common
terminology for dam safety for use within Federal agencies.

The publication of these guidelines marks the final step in the review and update process. In
recognition of the continuing need to enhance dam safety through coordination and information
exchange among federal and state agencies, the Guidelines Development Subcommittee will be
responsible for maintaining these documents and establishing additional guidelines that will help
achieve the objectives of the National Dam Safety Program.

Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety: Hazard Potential Classification System for Dams

The Dam Safety Branch classifies dams according to a three-level 'Incremental Hazard
Potential' characterizing system, similar to that used in Mozambique but with different
consideration.

Three classification levels are adopted as follows: LOW, SIGNIFICANT, and HIGH, listed in order of
increasing adverse incremental consequences.
This hazard potential classification system should be utilized with the understanding that the failure of
any dam or water-retaining structure, no matter how small, could represent a danger to downstream
life and property.

This hazard potential classification system categorizes dams based on the probable loss of human life
and the impacts on economic, environmental, and lifeline interests.
Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety Risk Management, January 2015

The Bureau of Reclamation adopted risk management 1strategies to assess and manage risks for their
dams. For entities that own or regulate dams, various decisions are made regarding an individual structure
or a portfolio of structures, including decisions about:

 The safety of a structure

 Necessary actions to reduce risks
 Prioritization of actions for a portfolio of structures

Using risk to inform decisions involves three distinct components. These components, each having
their own purpose and function, are:
 Risk analysis
 Risk assessment
 Risk management

Dam safety risk management includes routine and non-routine activities and is the umbrella under which
risk is used to inform decisions by owners and regulators. While the main components of risk-informed
decision making are risk analysis, risk assessment, and risk management, there are activities that
dominate the completion of each component. For risk analysis, the key activity is risk estimation. For
risk assessment, the key activity is risk evaluation. For risk management, the key activity for dams
with high risk is risk reduction.

The term risk, when used in the context of dam safety, is comprised of three parts: (1) the likelihood
of occurrence of a load (e.g., flood, earthquake, etc.), (2) the likelihood of an adverse structural
response (e.g., dam failure, damaging spillway discharge, etc.), and (3) the magnitude of the
consequences resulting from that adverse event (e.g., life loss, economic damages, environmental
damages, etc.).

Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety: Earthquake Analyses and Design of Dams, May 2005:

This document contains general guidelines for specifying design earthquake loadings (for design
or safety evaluation) and performing seismic analyses for the design of new dams (for evaluating
the safety of existing dams or modifying existing dams). The guidelines are presented in four

1
Risk management is action implemented to communicate the risks and either accept, avoid, transfer, or control
the risks to an acceptable level considering associated costs and benefits of any action taken.
parts:
 Selection of design or safety evaluation earthquakes
 Characterization of ground motions
 Seismic analyses of the dams and foundations
 Evaluation of structural adequacy for earthquake loading

Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety (FEMA 64): Emergency Action Planning for Dam Owners, July
2013:

Residents of areas that could be affected by a dam failure or operational incident have a risk of loss
of life, injuries, and damage to property from a failure or operational incident. The purpose of this
document is to provide guidelines for the preparation of an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) to
facilitate the development of plans that are comprehensive and consistent. The purpose of an EAP
is to protect lives and reduce property damage.

An EAP is a formal document that identifies potential emergency conditions at a dam and specifies
actions to be followed to minimize loss of life and property damage. The EAP includes:

 Actions the dam owner will take to moderate or alleviate a problem at the dam
 Actions the dam owner will take, and in coordination with emergency management
authorities, to respond to incidents or emergencies related to the dam
 Procedures dam owners will follow to issue early warning and notification messages to
responsible downstream emergency management authorities
 Inundation maps to help dam owners and emergency management authorities identify
critical infrastructure and population-at-risk sites that may require protective measures,
warning, and evacuation planning
 Delineation of the responsibilities of all those involved in managing an incident or
emergency and how the responsibilities should be coordinated

Carroço dises