19-Day Comment Period for New Dam Safety Enforcement Regulations

The Department of Water Resources (Department), Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) implements the regulatory program established in Part of 1 of Division 3 of the Water Code. To address violations of the Dam Safety Program requirements, the Department proposes to adopt regulations that will govern its administrative enforcement procedures and its assessment of administrative civil penalties. On May 21, 2021, proposed regulations were published that are related to California’s Dam Safety Program1 , which is implemented by the Department of Water Resources (Department).

The Department is proposing changes to the initially proposed regulation’s text that are sufficiently related to the text that was published in the Office of Administrative Law Notice Register on May 21, 2021. The Department is making these changes available for public comment for at least 15-days as required by Government Code section 11346.8.  The Administrative Procedure Act requires that the Department respond to comments received regarding all noticed changes. All written comments received by the September 7, 2021, deadline that pertain to the modified text shown in double strikeout and double underline will be responded to in the Final Statement of Reasons. Even though comments at this time are limited to the changes reflected in double strikeout and double underline, all timely comments received by the Department during the initial 55-day comment period will also be responded to in the Final Statement of Reasons.