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To prohibit the use of Federal funds to allow or study the breach or alteration of the Lower Snake River dams, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill prohibits the use of federal funds for breaching, altering, or studying the breach or functional alteration of the four Lower Snake River dams in Washington State (Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite dams), including studies of power, flood control, or navigation replacement and dam removal technical assistance. It also requires that any spillage operations at these dams be jointly approved by the Secretary of the Army (through the Chief of Engineers) and the Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, with both officials considering overall Columbia River System operations when making such determinations. The bill effectively prevents federal funding from being directed toward dam removal efforts on these four facilities.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Newhouse, Dan [R-WA-4] (R-WA)
3 cosponsors
Actions (5)
- Sep 3, 2025 Subcommittee Hearings Held · house
- Aug 29, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. · house
- Mar 11, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. · house
- Mar 11, 2025 Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. · house
- Mar 11, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
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Similar bills (6)
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Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 11, 2025
Mr. Newhouse (for himself, Mr. Baumgartner, Mr. Fulcher, and Mr. Bentz) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To prohibit the use of Federal funds to allow or study the breach or alteration of the Lower Snake River dams, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Defending our Dams Act”.
SEC. 2. LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS.
(a) Prohibition on Use of Federal Funds.—No Federal funds may be used to allow, lead to, or study the breach or functional alteration of, including study of power, flood control, or navigation replacement of, or provide dam removal technical assistance for, the Lower Snake River dams.
(b) Prohibition on Spillage Operations.—
(1) In general.—The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, may not carry out any spillage operations on any of the Lower Snake River dams unless such operations are approved by the Secretary and the Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration.
(2) Considerations.—In determining whether to approve spillage operations under paragraph (1), the Secretary and the Administrator shall consider all Columbia River System operations.
(c) Definition.—In this section, the term “Lower Snake River dams” means the following dams in the State of Washington, authorized by section 2 of the Act of March 2, 1945 (chapter 19, 59 Stat. 21):
(1) Ice Harbor Dam.
(2) Lower Monumental Dam.
(3) Little Goose Dam.
(4) Lower Granite Dam. <all>
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