SB 1315 - The act modifies provisions relating to underground facilities. Under the act, an underground facility owner shall ensure that all new and active underground facilities installed on any real property after August 28, 2024, shall be installed with a detectable underground location device unless the facility is capable of being detected from above ground with an electronic locating device. The act modifies the definition of "underground facility".
The act repeals certain provisions regarding a notice of intent to excavate.
When the location of the planned excavation cannot be clearly identified, the excavator may designate the planned excavation route or area to be excavated by physical white lining using white paint, stakes, whiskers, or other similar markings on and along the area to be excavated, or by electronic white lining when available through the notification center. Such information may be provided to the notification center prior to or with the notice of intent to excavate.
If a person responsible for the excavation finds that an owner or operator of the underground facility who is a participant in a notification center did not mark the discovery of the underground facility, the person responsible for the excavation shall notify the notification center.
In the event of any damage to an underground facility, the notification center shall notify the owner of the underground facility of any damage, dislocation, or disturbance to the facility.
Within 60 days of receipt of a notice of damage to the underground facility or actual notice of an incident involving damage, dislocation, or disturbance of the underground facility, the owner of the underground facility shall submit a report of the incident to the notification center and the excavator. Requirements for such notice are described in the act.
If any of the information required in the incident report is not known or reasonably available to the facility owner, such information shall be reported by the facility owner to the notification center as described in the act. The notification center shall maintain a database of incident report and each incident report shall be maintained by the notification center for a minimum of five years. If an underground facility owner fails to timely submit an incident report, the owner shall be subject to a fine as described in the act. The filing of an incident report shall be a condition precedent to the right of a facility owner to file and maintain a lawsuit for damages against an excavator for violations.
No later than April 1 of each year, instead of April 1, 2015, each underground facility owner who owns or operates electric, gas, or pipeline facilities shall submit to a central repository a report of damages experienced by their facilities for the prior calendar year.
In the event of any damage, dislocation, or disturbance to any underground facility or any protective devices required to be reported by the excavator, the person responsible for the excavation operations shall report the damage through the Damage Information Reporting Tool sponsored by the Common Ground Alliance and in accordance with best practices.
The act repeals the provision stating that design requests shall be made to the notification center no more than ten working days before the date a person has requested receiving the information relating to the design requests from the underground facility owner.
The location of underground facilities provided by a facility owner or operator to any person engaging in scheduled excavating shall be accurate. If any underground facility becomes damaged by an excavator due to the furnishing of inaccurate information as to its location by the facility owner or operator, the excavator shall not be subject to any liability resulting from damage to the underground facility as a result of the excavating, provided that such person engaging in scheduled excavating complies with the safety and notice requirements described in the act and current law with respect to such excavation and there is no evidence visible and obvious to the excavator of the presence of a mis-marked underground facility.
Upon documented evidence that the person seeking information as to the location of underground facilities has incurred losses or expenses due to inaccurate information, lack of information, or unreasonable delays in supplying information by the facility owners or operators, such facility owners or operators shall be liable to such person for any losses or expenses.
The act repeals the provision stating that failure of any excavator to give notice of proposed excavation activities shall be a rebuttable presumption of negligence on his or her part in the event that such failure shall cause injury, loss, or damage. In addition to any penalties, liability under common law may apply.
In addition to any fines or penalties payable to the state, a person injured by the negligence of an excavator or an underground facility owner or operator may recover any proximately caused damages allowed under the common law.
The failure of a locator or other contractor engaged by the underground facility owner to mark the facility owner's facilities shall be a rebuttable presumption of negligence on the part of the locator or other contractor engaged by the facility owner.
The failure of any excavator to give notice of proposed excavation activities shall be a rebuttable presumption of negligence on the part of the excavator in the event that such failure causes injury, loss, or damage.
If a court finds that any civil action or defense commenced under the act was asserted frivolously or in bad faith, the court may grant reasonable expenses and attorney's fees incurred by the opposing party.
JULIA SHEVELEVA