CSSB 330(RES): "An Act relating to locations of underground facilities and excavations in the area of underground facilities."
00CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 330(RES) 01 "An Act relating to locations of underground facilities and excavations in the area 02 of underground facilities." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 42.30 is amended by adding new sections to read: 05 Article 6. Locating Underground Facilities. 06 Sec. 42.30.400. Excavator's notice of proposed excavation. (a) Before 07 beginning an excavation, an excavator shall give notice of the proposed excavation to 08 each underground facility operator who has an underground facility in the area of the 09 proposed excavation and request the operator to field mark the location of its 10 underground facility. The excavator shall notify an underground facility operator who 11 subscribes to a notification center by giving notice to the center. The excavator shall 12 notify an underground facility operator listed in the applicable telephone directory who 13 is not a subscriber to a notification center by giving notice directly to the operator. (b) Except in the case of an 14 emergency locate request or a request to locate
01 in a remote, unstaffed, or inaccessible location, the excavator shall notify an 02 underground facility operator who may have a facility in the area of a proposed 03 excavation at least two but not more than 15 working days before the date scheduled 04 for beginning the excavation. In the case of a request to locate in a remote or 05 unstaffed location, the excavator shall notify the operator at least 10 but not more than 06 20 working days before the scheduled date for beginning excavation. 07 (c) In an emergency, the excavator shall immediately notify each underground 08 facility operator in the area of the emergency and of the need for the excavation and 09 request prompt location of underground facilities. 10 Sec. 42.30.410. Operator's response to request to locate; immunity related 11 to unmarked or inaccurately marked facilities. (a) An underground facility 12 operator shall accept requests to locate underground facilities during the operator's 13 regular business hours. An operator who receives a request to locate shall maintain 14 for at least one year an accurate record of the request and responses to the request. 15 (b) When an underground facility operator receives a request to locate, it shall 16 notify the excavator of the location of the underground facilities that the operator is 17 able to field mark with reasonable accuracy and field mark those facilities. If the 18 operator owns, uses, or operates an underground facility that is identified as being in 19 the area of the proposed excavation but that the operator cannot field mark with 20 reasonable accuracy, the operator shall provide the excavator with the best information 21 available to the operator about its location and shall provide on-site assistance until the 22 facility is located or until the excavator no longer needs assistance in locating that 23 facility. 24 (c) The field marks for an underground facility buried 10 feet deep or less 25 must be located within 24 horizontal inches of the outside dimensions of the facility. 26 For a facility buried deeper than 10 feet, the operator shall locate the field marks 27 within 30 horizontal inches of the outside dimensions of the facility. The operator 28 shall use stakes, paint, or other clearly identifiable material to show the field location 29 of the underground facility. The marker used to designate the approximate location 30 of an underground facility must follow the current color code standard used by the 31 American Public Works Association.
01 (d) Except for an underground facility in a remote, unstaffed, or inaccessible 02 location, an underground facility operator shall respond to a request to locate promptly. 03 A response is considered to be prompt if it is made within two working days after the 04 operator receives the request or at a later time so long as the response occurs before 05 the beginning of the excavation. For an underground facility in an accessible remote 06 or unstaffed location, the operator shall respond within 10 working days after the 07 operator receives the request or at a later time so long as the response occurs before 08 the beginning of excavation. 09 (e) After an operator has field marked an underground facility, the excavator 10 is responsible for maintaining the markings. 11 (f) An excavator may not begin to excavate until each underground facility has 12 been field marked. 13 (g) When an operator has field marked an underground facility once at the 14 request of an excavator, the operator has the right to receive compensation from the 15 excavator for costs incurred in responding to subsequent requests to locate the same 16 underground facility during the same excavation project if the excavator failed to 17 maintain the original marking. 18 (h) If an excavator discovers an underground facility that was not field marked 19 or was inaccurately field marked, the excavator shall immediately stop excavating in 20 the vicinity of the facility and shall notify the operator of the discovery. The 21 excavator may notify the operator by means of a notification center. The operator 22 shall treat the notification as a request to locate in an emergency and shall respond 23 accordingly. An excavator may not be held liable for inadvertent damage caused to 24 an unmarked or an inaccurately marked underground facility. 25 (i) Unless the request to locate is made in response to an emergency, an 26 underground facility operator has the right to receive compensation for costs incurred 27 in responding to a request to locate that gives the operator less notice than the 28 minimum notice required by this section. This subsection may not be interpreted to 29 require the operator to respond to the request to locate within the time requested in the 30 notice. 31 Sec. 42.30.420. Responsibility of construction project owners. The owner
01 of a construction project that will require excavation shall indicate in bid documents 02 or contracts for construction the existence of underground facilities that the project 03 owner knows are located inside of the proposed area of excavation. This requirement 04 does not release the excavator from the excavator's responsibility under AS 42.30.400 05 - 42.30.490. 06 Sec. 42.30.430. Obligations concerning the conduct of excavations; liability. 07 (a) An excavator shall use reasonable care to avoid damaging an underground facility. 08 The excavator shall 09 (1) determine, without damage to the facility, the precise location of 10 an underground facility whose location has been marked; 11 (2) plan the excavation to avoid damage to and minimize interference 12 with an underground facility in or near the excavation area; and 13 (3) to the extent necessary to protect a facility from damage, provide 14 support for an underground facility in and near the construction area during the 15 excavation. 16 (b) If an underground facility is damaged by failure to fulfill an obligation 17 under AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490, the party failing to perform the obligation is liable 18 to the other party for damages resulting from the failure to perform. Damages may 19 include 20 (1) costs incurred by an excavator if an operator has not field marked 21 or has inaccurately field marked an underground facility; and 22 (2) the normal overhead charges that can be allocated to having to 23 respond to the party's failure to perform. 24 (c) An excavator who, in the course of excavation, contacts or damages an 25 underground facility shall notify the operator. If the damage causes an emergency, the 26 excavator shall also alert appropriate local public safety agencies and take reasonable 27 steps to ensure public safety. A damaged underground facility may not be reburied 28 until it is repaired or relocated to the satisfaction of the operator. The operator of an 29 underground facility that was damaged during excavation shall arrange for repair or 30 relocation of the facility as soon as practical. 31 Sec. 42.30.440. Penalties; civil actions. (a) A person who violates a
01 provision of AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490 is subject to a civil penalty of not less than $50 02 nor more than $1,000 for each offense if the violation results in or significantly 03 contributes to damage to an underground facility. 04 (b) If the court finds that an excavator is violating or threatening to violate a 05 provision of AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490 and the violation may result in damage to an 06 underground facility, the court may grant injunctive relief to the underground facility 07 operator. 08 (c) An excavator is liable to the operator of an underground facility for the 09 operator's cost in repairing and relocating the facility if the excavator 10 (1) intentionally damages a field marked underground facility; or 11 (2) knows of an underground facility that is near a planned excavation 12 and the excavator fails to notify the underground facility operator as required by 13 AS 42.30.400; notification under this paragraph may be made directly to the operator 14 or, if appropriate, through a notification center. 15 Sec. 42.30.450. Waiver of requirements by written agreement. An operator 16 and an excavator may, by written agreement, waive the requirements of AS 42.30.400 17 - 42.30.490 that the excavator notify the operator of planned excavations and that the 18 operator locate underground facilities. The agreement must identify the geographic 19 areas to which the waiver applies and the time period for which the waiver is valid. 20 Sec. 42.30.460. Underground facility owner. If the operator of an 21 underground facility is not the owner of the facility and if the operator cannot be 22 identified or has been identified but cannot be reached in a reasonable amount of time, 23 the excavator may give the notice required by AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490 to the owner 24 of the underground facility and the owner shall assume the duties and responsibilities 25 of the operator under AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490. 26 Sec. 42.30.490. Definitions. In AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490, 27 (1) "damage" means 28 (A) the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of 29 an underground facility; 30 (B) penetration, impairment, or destruction of any underground 31 protective coating, housing, or other protective device; and
01 (C) the partial or complete severance of an underground facility 02 to the extent that the project owner or facility operator determines that repairs 03 are required; 04 (2) "emergency" means 05 (A) a condition that constitutes a clear and present danger to 06 life, health, or property; or 07 (B) an unplanned service interruption; 08 (3) "excavation" means 09 (A) an activity in which earth, rock, or other material on or 10 below the ground is moved or otherwise displaced by any means; 11 (B) road maintenance that changes the original road grade; 12 (C) demolition or movement of earth by equipment, tools, or 13 explosive device except tilling of the soil less than 12 inches in depth for 14 agricultural purposes; 15 (4) "excavator" means a person who conducts excavation in the state; 16 (5) "inaccessible" means impossible or unreasonably difficult to reach 17 due to conditions beyond the control of the underground facility operator; 18 (6) "intentionally" has the meaning given in AS 11.81.900(a); 19 (7) "notification center" or "center" means a service through which a 20 person is able to call one number to notify member operators of underground facilities 21 that an excavation is proposed and to request the operators to mark facilities located 22 inside of the proposed excavation area; 23 (8) "operator" means a person who supplies a service for commercial 24 or public use by means of an underground facility; 25 (9) "person" means any individual, public or private corporation, 26 political subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, partnership, 27 copartnership, association, firm, trust, estate, or any other entity whatsoever; 28 (10) "remote" means not accessible by road; 29 (11) "underground facility" means a pipe, sewer, conduit, cable, valve, 30 line, or wire, including attachments and those parts of poles or anchors that are below 31 ground, for use in connection with the storage or conveyance of water, sewage,
01 telecommunications, cable television, electricity, petroleum, petroleum products, 02 hazardous liquids, or flammable, toxic, or corrosive gas; 03 (12) "unstaffed" means not normally staffed with employees; 04 (13) "working day" means a day on which an underground facility 05 operator is open for regular business.