Dam Safety Grant Fund

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ), through its Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources, administers the Dam Safety Program. This program is responsible for ensuring the structural integrity and regulatory compliance of dams within the state. As part of this mandate, the Division oversees an application and fee process for the construction, modification, repair, decommissioning, removal, or breaching of dams across North Carolina. This process ensures adherence to the Dam Safety Law of 1967 and associated administrative codes under 15A NCAC 2K. Applications to the Dam Safety Program must follow strict submission protocols. Each application must be submitted with a fully completed Application for Review form and, when applicable, a processing and compliance fee. These applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis, and expedited reviews are only considered under exceptional circumstances. Applications must be project-specific and not combine multiple types (e.g., As-Built Plans with Emergency Action Plans), as doing so results in rejection and return to the applicant. Furthermore, all engineering applications must be developed and sealed by a North Carolina licensed Professional Engineer unless the submission is explicitly exempted. The application fee structure is based on the actual cost of construction and is set at 2.25% of this cost. A minimum initial fee of $500, or 50% of the estimated total fee (whichever is greater), must be submitted with the application. The remainder is due upon submission of as-built plans and must be accompanied by an Owner’s Cost Certification and supporting documentation. Fees are capped at $50,000 and apply solely to labor and materials, excluding land acquisition, quality control, and roadways. However, applications concerning jurisdictional determinations, hazard classifications, emergency action plans, operations and maintenance plans, changes in ownership or engineer of record, extension requests, or withdrawals are exempt from fees. Submission requires both electronic and hard copy formats, depending on the content. All applicants must send one electronic version of their application and related documents to the Central Office, using email, mail, courier, or secure file transfer protocol. Importantly, electronic submissions must include the dam name, state ID (if applicable), and type of application in the subject line. Hard copies of engineering drawings must be sent to the appropriate regional office based on the dam’s location. However, supporting documentation such as O&M manuals, EAPs, and calculation packages are only required in digital form and are not to be submitted to the Central Office or individual engineers directly. Incomplete applications will be returned and must be resubmitted in full as new submissions. Any misdirected hard copies are the applicant’s responsibility to recover or resend. Approval for final impoundment or breach is contingent upon full compliance with fee payments and documentation submissions, including certified as-built plans and an Engineer of Record Certification of Completion in line with 15A NCAC 2K .0215. The Dam Safety Program plays a critical role in public safety, infrastructure resilience, and environmental protection by rigorously managing dam-related activities through a structured application and compliance process. It provides detailed instructions and checklists to ensure applications meet all regulatory and procedural requirements, and it maintains transparency in application queue management. Applicants are encouraged to consult the department’s online resources for forms, flowcharts, and contact details to facilitate timely and complete submissions.

Ensure your submission addresses ALL deficiencies present in the dam, not just some -- partial submissions will not be considered for funding. Projects are ranked by Risk Reduction Value (RRV) calculated from the difference between current and post-rehabilitation priority ratings, so applicants should clearly demonstrate the maximum risk reduction their project will achieve. The Population-at-Risk (PAR) value from FEMA's DSS-WISE tool also factors into ranking, so dams protecting larger downstream populations may score higher. All engineering work must be done by a Professional Engineer registered in North Carolina. Construction activities must begin within 1 year of certificate of approval issuance. Pre-award costs are not reimbursable, so do not begin construction before receiving an award.