SB 330: "An Act relating to underground facilities."
00SENATE BILL NO. 330 01 "An Act relating to underground facilities." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 42.30 is amended by adding new sections to read: 04 Article 6. Locating Underground Facilities. 05 Sec. 42.30.400. Excavator's notice of proposed excavation. (a) Before 06 beginning an excavation, an excavator shall give notice of the proposed excavation to 07 each underground facility operator who has an underground facility in the area of the 08 proposed excavation and request the operator to field mark the location of its 09 underground facility. The excavator shall notify an underground facility operator who 10 subscribes to a notification center by giving notice to the center. The excavator shall 11 notify an underground facility operator listed in the applicable telephone directory who 12 is not a subscriber to a notification center by giving notice directly to the operator. (b) Except in the case of an 13 emergency locate request or a request to locate 14 in a remote, unstaffed, or inaccessible location, the excavator shall notify an
01 underground facility operator who may have a facility in the area of a proposed 02 excavation at least two but not more than 15 working days before the date scheduled 03 for beginning the excavation. In the case of a request to locate in a remote or 04 unstaffed location, the excavator shall notify the operator at least 10 but not more than 05 20 working days before the scheduled date for beginning excavation. 06 (c) In an emergency, the excavator shall immediately notify each underground 07 facility operator in the area of the emergency and of the need for the excavation and 08 request prompt location of underground facilities. 09 Sec. 42.30.410. Operator's response to request to locate. (a) An 10 underground facility operator shall accept requests to locate underground facilities 11 during the operator's regular business hours. An operator who receives a request to 12 locate shall maintain for at least three years an accurate record of the request and 13 responses to the request. 14 (b) When an underground facility operator receives a request to locate, it shall 15 notify the excavator of the location of the underground facilities that the operator is 16 able to field mark with reasonable accuracy and field mark those facilities. If the 17 operator owns, uses, or operates an underground facility that is identified as being in 18 the area of the proposed excavation but that the operator cannot field mark with 19 reasonable accuracy, the operator shall provide the excavator with the best information 20 available to the operator about its location. 21 (c) The field marks for an underground facility buried 10 feet deep or less 22 must be located within 24 horizontal inches of the outside dimensions of the facility. 23 For a facility buried deeper than 10 feet, the operator shall locate the field marks 24 within 30 horizontal inches of the outside dimensions of the facility. The operator 25 shall use stakes, paint, or other clearly identifiable material to show the field location 26 of the underground facility. The marker used to designate the approximate location 27 of an underground facility must follow the current color code standard used by the 28 American Public Works Association. 29 (d) Except for an underground facility in a remote, unstaffed, or inaccessible 30 location, an underground facility operator shall respond to a request to locate promptly. 31 A response is considered to be prompt if it is made within two working days after the
01 operator receives the request or at a later time so long as the response occurs before 02 the beginning of the excavation. For an underground facility in an accessible remote 03 or unstaffed location, the operator shall respond within 10 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 excavation. 06 (e) After an operator has field marked an underground facility, the excavator 07 is responsible for maintaining the markings. 08 (f) An excavator may not begin to excavate until each underground facility has 09 been field marked. 10 (g) When an operator has field marked an underground facility once at the 11 request of an excavator, the operator has the right to receive compensation from the 12 excavator for costs incurred in responding to subsequent requests to locate the same 13 underground facility during the same excavation project if the excavator failed to 14 maintain the original marking. 15 (h) If an excavator discovers an underground facility that was not field marked 16 or was inaccurately field marked, the excavator shall immediately stop excavating in 17 the vicinity of the facility and shall notify the operator of the discovery. The 18 excavator may notify the operator by means of a notification center. The operator 19 shall treat the notification as a request to locate in an emergency and shall respond 20 accordingly. 21 (i) Unless the request to locate is made in response to an emergency, an 22 underground facility operator has the right to receive compensation for costs incurred 23 in responding to a request to locate that gives the operator less notice than the 24 minimum notice required by this section. This subsection may not be interpreted to 25 require the operator to respond to the request to locate within the time requested in the 26 notice. 27 Sec. 42.30.420. Responsibility of construction project owners. The owner 28 of a construction project that will require excavation shall indicate in bid documents 29 or contracts for construction the existence of underground facilities that the project 30 owner knows are located inside of the proposed area of excavation. This requirement 31 does not release the excavator from the excavator's responsibility under AS 42.30.400
01 - 42.30.490. 02 Sec. 42.30.430. Obligations concerning the conduct of excavations. (a) An 03 excavator shall use reasonable care to avoid damaging an underground facility. The 04 excavator shall 05 (1) determine, without damage to the facility, the precise location of 06 an underground facility whose location has been marked; 07 (2) plan the excavation to avoid damage to and minimize interference 08 with an underground facility in or near the excavation area; and 09 (3) to the extent necessary to protect a facility from damage, provide 10 support for an underground facility in and near the construction area during the 11 excavation. 12 (b) If an underground facility is damaged by failure to fulfill an obligation 13 under AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490, the party failing to perform the obligation is liable 14 to the other party for damages resulting from the failure to perform. Damages may 15 include the normal overhead charges that can be allocated to having to respond to the 16 party's failure to perform. 17 (c) An excavator who, in the course of excavation, contacts or damages an 18 underground facility shall notify the operator. If the damage causes an emergency, the 19 excavator shall also alert appropriate local public safety agencies and take reasonable 20 steps to ensure public safety. A damaged underground facility may not be reburied 21 until it is repaired or relocated to the satisfaction of the operator. The operator of an 22 underground facility that was damaged during excavation shall arrange for repair or 23 relocation of the facility as soon as practical. 24 Sec. 42.30.440. Penalties. (a) A person who violates a provision of 25 AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490 is subject to a civil penalty of not less than $50 nor more 26 than $1,000 for each offense if the violation results in or significantly contributes to 27 damage to an underground facility. 28 (b) If the court finds that an excavator is violating or threatening to violate a 29 provision of AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490 and the violation may result in damage to an 30 underground facility, the court may grant injunctive relief to the underground facility 31 operator.
01 (c) An excavator is liable to the operator of an underground facility for three 02 times the operator's cost in repairing and relocating the facility if the excavator 03 (1) knowingly or intentionally damages a field marked underground 04 facility; or 05 (2) knows of an underground facility that is near a planned excavation 06 and the excavator fails to notify the underground facility operator as required by 07 AS 42.30.400; notification under this paragraph may be made directly to the operator 08 or, if appropriate, through a notification center. 09 Sec. 42.30.450. Waiver of requirements by written agreement. An operator 10 and an excavator may, by written agreement, waive the requirements of AS 42.30.400 11 - 42.30.490 that the excavator notify the operator of planned excavations and that the 12 operator locate underground facilities. The agreement must identify the geographic 13 areas to which the waiver applies and the time period for which the waiver is valid. 14 Sec. 42.30.460. Underground facility owner. If the operator of an 15 underground facility is not the owner of the facility and if the operator cannot be 16 identified or has been identified but cannot be reached in a reasonable amount of time, 17 the excavator may give the notice required by AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490 to the owner 18 of the underground facility and the owner shall assume the duties and responsibilities 19 of the operator under AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490. 20 Sec. 42.30.490. Definitions. In AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490, 21 (1) "damage" means 22 (A) the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of 23 an underground facility; 24 (B) penetration, impairment, or destruction of any underground 25 protective coating, housing, or other protective device; and 26 (C) the partial or complete severance of an underground facility 27 to the extent that the project owner or facility operator determines that repairs 28 are required; 29 (2) "emergency" means 30 (A) a condition that constitutes a clear and present danger to 31 life, health, or property; or
01 (B) an unplanned service interruption; 02 (3) "excavation" means 03 (A) an activity in which earth, rock, or other material on or 04 below the ground is moved or otherwise displaced by any means; 05 (B) road maintenance that changes the original road grade; 06 (C) demolition or movement of earth by equipment, tools, or 07 explosive device except tilling of the soil less than 12 inches in depth for 08 agricultural purposes; 09 (4) "excavator" means a person who conducts excavation in the state; 10 (5) "inaccessible" means impossible or unreasonably difficult to reach 11 due to conditions beyond the control of the underground facility operator; 12 (6) "intentionally" has the meaning given in AS 11.81.900(a); 13 (7) "knowingly" has the meaning given in AS 11.81.900(a); 14 (8) "notification center" or "center" means a service through which a 15 person is able to call one number to notify member operators of underground facilities 16 that an excavation is proposed and to request the operators to mark facilities located 17 inside of the proposed excavation area; 18 (9) "operator" means a person who supplies a service for commercial 19 or public use by means of an underground facility; 20 (10) "person" means any individual, public or private corporation, 21 political subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, partnership, 22 copartnership, association, firm, trust, estate, or any other entity whatsoever; 23 (11) "remote" means not accessible by road; 24 (12) "underground facility" means a pipe, sewer, conduit, cable, valve, 25 line, or wire, including attachments and those parts of poles or anchors that are below 26 ground, for use in connection with the storage or conveyance of water, sewage, 27 telecommunications, cable television, electricity, petroleum, petroleum products, 28 hazardous liquids, or flammable, toxic, or corrosive gas; 29 (13) "unstaffed" means not normally staffed with employees; 30 (14) "utility" has the meaning given in AS 42.05.990; 31 (15) "working day" means a day on which an underground facility
01 operator is open for regular business.