Urban Canal Modernization Act

The Urban Canal Modernization Act would update the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to explicitly recognize a new category called “urban canal of concern” and to authorize targeted, extraordinary maintenance work on these canals. An urban canal of concern is a canal reach (part of a transferred federal project that has been turned over to a non-federal operating entity) whose failure could put more than 100 people at risk, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior using specified guidelines. The bill empowers the Secretary or the transferred works operating entity to carry out necessary extraordinary O&M on these urban canals, following the guidelines in section 9602. The bill also sets a cost-sharing framework for non-emergency work: 35% of the total cost would be provided by the Secretary on a nonreimbursable basis, with the remaining costs advanced by the Secretary and repaid by the transferred works operating entity. In emergencies, a separate provision (subsection related to emergencies) would apply. Reimbursable funds would count as non-Federal sources for Federal grant cost-sharing purposes. In short, the legislation aims to speed safety-critical maintenance on at-risk urban canals while sharing the cost between the federal government and local sponsors.