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