SCS/SB 331 - This act revises the Underground Facility Safety and Damage Prevention Act. The operation of the notification center is expanded to 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. The act provides that the notification center will be governed by a board of directors representative of and selected by the membership. Participation in the notification center will be mandatory for all new and existing owners and operators of underground facilities commencing January 1, 2003. Other technical changes are made in the act to reflect the requirement that all owners and operators will be participants in the notification center commencing January 1, 2003. The list of participants shall be maintained in the offices of the notification center rather than the recorder of deeds.

If the area of excavation cannot be determined from the description of the excavator the owner or operator may require the excavator to provide project plans or meet on-site with representatives of the owner or operator. A notice of intent to excavate must now include more contact information for the person filing the notice and location descriptions. Once markings have been furnished excavators may continue to work as long as the markings are visible. Owners or operators are required to give the excavator information about vaults, valves or other appurtenances in the excavation area. If there are no facilities in the excavation area, the owner or operator shall give actual notice that there are no facilities in the area. Owners and operators now have two working days rather than 48 hours to respond to notices of intents to excavate. Excavators may not use power-driven equipment for horizontal boring or directional drilling near the underground facilities until careful and prudent efforts have been made to determine the horizontal and vertical location of the facilities.

Owners and operators of underground facilities who fail to participate in the notification center after January 1, 2003, will not be allowed to recover damages resulting from excavations for which notice of intent to excavate was made. Nothing in this act will abrogate contractual provisions between any railroad and any other party owning or operating underground facilities within the right-of-way owned by the railroad. Requirements to provide a notice of intent to excavate will not apply in instances of emergency.
CINDY KADLEC