Aging dams could soon benefit from $7B federal loan program
By DAVID A. LIEB
Associated Press
The federal government is taking the first step to set up a program that could offer more than $7 billion of loans to repair aging dams across the country. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a proposed rule Friday for the program, which could be open for applications in 2023. The Corps’ Water Infrastructure Financing Program was authorized under a 2014 law. But it hadn’t been set up because it lacked funding. A series of laws adopted over the past 18 months finally provided that funding. The safety of the nation’s 92,000 dams has come under increased scrutiny in recent years after some high-profile failures forced evacuations.
