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FERC Proposes Significant Changes to Dam Safety Regulations in Wake of Michigan Dam Failures By Chuck Sensiba and Melissa Horne
A satellite image of the Edenville Dam after the breach.
A satellite image of the Sanford Dam after overtopping.
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34 | HYDRO LEADER | October 2020
Background: The Edenville and Sanford Dam Failures FERC’s proposed revisions to its dam safety program come on the heels of the catastrophic failure of two dams in central Michigan in mid-May. On May 19, 2020, the Edenville Dam on the Tittabawassee and Tobacco Rivers was breached during historic flooding. The downstream FERC-licensed Sanford Dam was overtopped by the increased flows from the Edenville breach. Evacuation orders were issued for around 10,000 residents in the area, and floodwaters from the dam failures encroached on downtown Midland, Michigan, and a nearby Dow Chemical complex. The Edenville Dam had formerly been licensed by FERC, but in 2018, after a long history of dam safety noncompliance, FERC directed the licensee to cease
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IMAGES CONTAIN MODIFIED COPERNICUS SENTINEL DATA.
n July 24, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) that proposes to overhaul the FERC dam safety regulations promulgated under section 10(c) of the Federal Power Act. The NOPR proposes revisions to part 12 of FERC’s regulations governing dam safety, including the replacement of subpart D, which provides for independent consultant safety inspections, in its entirety. Coincident with the NOPR, FERC also proposes to update its Engineering Guidelines for the Evaluation of Hydropower Projects by adding four new chapters addressing supporting technical information documents, the part 12 independent consultant safety inspection process, potential failure mode analysis, and level 2 risk analyses.
