Gov. Kay Ivey earlier this week signed into law Senate Bill 284, which establishes a dam safety program for the State of Alabama.

Under the new law dam owners who choose to opt into the program will be required to have their dam inspected every two years by a licensed civil engineer. The engineer is then required to certify that the inspection has been completed to the local Emergency Management Agency (EMA) and deliver a record of the inspection to the dam’s owner.

As part of the regular inspections the engineer must also assign each dam a hazard designation which can include rankings of low, significant, or high, depending on the extent of damage that would be caused by a dam’s failure according to the Association of State Dam Safety.

Participating owners must also notify their local EMA of any new dam construction or enlargement.

Dam owners who choose to elect in and own significant or high-hazard dams or reservoirs are also responsible for developing an emergency action plan with the inspecting engineer and the director of the emergency management organization for the county or municipality in which the dam or reservoir is located according to the bill’s text. The plan would go into effect if the dam should fail in any way.