HF 2581 (LSB 5443HV (3) 90)

HOUSE FILE 2581

BY  COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 538)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to required timing for notices regarding underground facility excavations and enforcement of excavation provisions, and including penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 480.1, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new subsections:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5A.  “Forty-eight-hour period” means a period of forty-eight consecutive hours beginning at 6:00 a.m. the next business day from the day the notification center receives a notice and excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5B.  “Locator” means a person proposing to engage or engaging in the location and marking of underground facilities under contract with an operator. “Locator” does not include a person employed by an operator.
    Sec. 2.  Section 480.3, subsection 1, paragraph a, subparagraph (1), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  The center shall be governed by a board of directors, which shall represent and be elected by operators, excavators, and other persons who participate in the center.  The board shall include two members engaged in the business of land excavating. The board, with input from all interested parties, shall determine the operating procedures and technology needed for a single statewide notification center and establish a notification process.
    Sec. 3.  Section 480.3, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  4.  The center shall provide records to the utilities board upon request as a part of an investigation on behalf of the attorney general’s office.
    Sec. 4.  Section 480.4, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  Except as otherwise provided in this section, prior to any excavation, an excavator shall contact the notification center and provide notice of the planned excavation occurring after a forty-eight-hour period. This notice must be given at least forty-eight hours prior to the commencement of the excavation, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. Notices received after 5:00 p.m. shall be processed as if received at 8:00 a.m. the next business day. The notice shall be valid for twenty calendar days from the date beginning on the day the notice was provided to the notification center forty-eight-hour period concludes, unless an excavator, at the time of providing notice to the notification center, agrees to extend the commencement date of the planned excavation beyond the forty-eight-hour period, in which case the twenty-calendar-day period shall begin on the day the excavator selected as the commencement date of the planned excavation. If all locating and marking of underground facilities is completed prior to the expiration of the forty-eight-hour period, the excavator may proceed with excavation upon being notified by the notification center that the locating and marking of all underground facilities is complete. The notification center shall establish a toll-free telephone number to allow excavators to provide the notice required pursuant to this subsection.
    Sec. 5.  Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph a, subparagraphs (1) and (3), Code 2024, are amended to read as follows:
   (1)  An operator who receives notice from the notification center shall mark the horizontal location of the operator’s underground facility and the excavator shall use due care in excavating in the marked area to avoid damaging the underground facility. The operator shall complete such locating and marking, and shall notify the notification center that the marking is complete within forty-eight hours after receiving the notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, the forty-eight-hour period unless otherwise agreed by the operator and the excavator. No later than the expiration of the forty-eight-hour period, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, the notification center shall notify the excavator of the underground facility locating and marking status, or the failure of the operator to notify the center that the locating and marking is complete. The locating and marking of the underground facilities shall be completed at no cost to the excavator. If, in the opinion of the operator, the planned excavation requires that the precise location of the underground facilities be determined, the excavator, unless otherwise agreed upon between the excavator and the operator, shall hand dig test holes to determine the location of the facilities unless the operator specifies an alternate method.
   (3)  Unless otherwise agreed by the operator and excavator in writing, no excavation shall be performed within twenty-five feet of an underground natural gas transmission line as defined in 49 C.F.R. §192.3 An excavation shall not be performed within twenty-five feet of an underground natural gas line operating at one hundred fifty pounds per square inch or greater and that is equal to or greater than two inches in diameter without a written agreement between the operator and the excavator unless a representative of the operator of the underground natural gas transmission line is present at the planned excavation area. This requirement shall not apply, however, when a representative of the operator fails to be present at the proposed excavation area at the time work is scheduled to commence or as otherwise agreed by the operator and excavator in writing. In this event, the excavator shall notify the operator that the representative failed to appear, and excavation operations can begin, provided the excavator uses due care to avoid damaging the underground facilities.
    Sec. 6.  Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  An operator who receives notice from the notification center and who determines that the operator does not have any underground facility located within the proposed area of excavation shall notify the notification center concerning this determination within forty-eight hours after receiving the notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays the forty-eight-hour period. No later than the expiration of the forty-eight-hour period, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, the notification center shall notify the excavator that the operator does not have any underground facilities within the proposed area of excavation.
    Sec. 7.  Section 480.6, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  c.  If a locator violates a time limit set forth in this chapter or any rule established by the utilities board and a complaint relating to the violation is filed with the utilities board, the locator is subject to a civil penalty in an amount determined by the utilities board. A locator may receive a warning letter from the office of the attorney general in lieu of a penalty for the violation. A civil penalty imposed by the utilities board under this paragraph shall not exceed one hundred dollars for each violation for each day the violation continues, up to a maximum of five thousand dollars.
    Sec. 8.  Section 480.6, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  a.  The attorney general, upon the receipt of a complaint, may institute any legal proceedings necessary to enforce the penalty provisions of this chapter.
   b.  At the direction of the attorney general, the utilities board shall investigate a violation of this chapter. Upon completion of the investigation, the utilities board shall submit to the attorney general a written summary of the investigation and all evidence acquired during the investigation, except as set forth in subsection 2, paragraph “c”.
   c.  The utilities board may independently receive, investigate, and enforce complaints alleging a violation of this chapter by a locator.
    Sec. 9.  NEW SECTION.  480.11  Locator enforcement authority.
   1.  A locator who operates in this state and engages in location services under a contract with an operator shall satisfy all of the following requirements:
   a.  Take responsibility for completing location services as required under section 480.4.
   b.  Correctly notify the notification center that a location service could not be completed due to a lack of response by the excavator and include in the notice the date, time, and method of the attempted contact with the excavator, and the name and contact information of any representative of the excavator.
   2.  A locator operating in this state is subject to enforcement requirements as established in chapter 476. Any enforcement action taken for a violation of this chapter by a locator shall be taken solely against the locator and not the operator.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to required timing for notices regarding underground facility excavations.
   The bill requires the statewide notification center (center) for underground facilities to include two members engaged in the business of land excavating on the board of directors. The center is required to provide the Iowa utilities board with requested records when the Iowa utilities board is investigating on behalf of the attorney general’s office.
   The bill modifies the requirement for an excavator or an operator to provide notice to the notification center prior to a planned excavation, after locating and marking the area for excavation, or when no underground facility is located in the proposed area. The bill defines a “locator” as a person who engages in locating and marking underground facilities under contract with but not employed by an operator. A notice for a planned excavation initiates a 48-hour period and other required notices must occur within the 48-hour period. A “forty-eight-hour period” is defined in the bill as 48 consecutive hours beginning at 6:00 a.m. the next business day after the notification center receives a notice and excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The bill strikes language relating to the treatment of notices received by the notification center after 5:00 p.m. being processed as if received at 8:00 a.m. the following day.
   The bill provides that notice shall be valid for 20 calendar days after the conclusion of the 48-hour period or on the excavation date selected by the excavator. Current law provides that notice is valid for 20 calendar days from the date the notice was provided to the notification center.
   Current law provides that an excavation shall not be performed within 25 feet of an underground natural gas transmission line, as federally defined, without an agreement in writing by the operator and excavator. The bill refines the prohibition by limiting excavation performed within 25 feet of an underground natural gas line operating at 150 pounds per square inch or greater and that is two inches in diameter without a written agreement.
   The bill provides penalties for locator violations including a warning letter or a civil penalty not to exceed $100 for each violation up to $5,000. The Iowa utilities board shall investigate violations of Code chapter 480 at the direction of the attorney general. The Iowa utilities board may independently investigate complaints alleging violations by a locator. The bill provides requirements for a locator contracted for location services.