House Study Bill 538 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON LUNDGREN) A BILL FOR An Act relating to required timing for notices regarding 1 underground facility excavations. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 5443YC (1) 90 lh/js

H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 480.1, Code 2024, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 5A. “Forty-eight-hour period” means a 3 period of forty-eight consecutive hours beginning at 6:00 a.m. 4 the next business day from the day the notification center 5 receives a notice and excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and legal 6 holidays. 7 Sec. 2. Section 480.4, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2024, 8 is amended to read as follows: 9 a. Except as otherwise provided in this section , prior to 10 any excavation, an excavator shall contact the notification 11 center and provide notice of the planned excavation occurring 12 after a forty-eight-hour period . This notice must be given 13 at least forty-eight hours prior to the commencement of the 14 excavation, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. 15 Notices received after 5:00 p.m. shall be processed as if 16 received at 8:00 a.m. the next business day. The notice shall 17 be valid for twenty calendar days from the date beginning on 18 the day the notice was provided to the notification center 19 forty-eight-hour period concludes . If all locating and marking 20 of underground facilities is completed prior to the expiration 21 of the forty-eight-hour period, the excavator may proceed with 22 excavation upon being notified by the notification center that 23 the locating and marking of all underground facilities is 24 complete. The notification center shall establish a toll-free 25 telephone number to allow excavators to provide the notice 26 required pursuant to this subsection . 27 Sec. 3. Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph a, 28 subparagraph (1), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows: 29 (1) An operator who receives notice from the notification 30 center shall mark the horizontal location of the operator’s 31 underground facility and the excavator shall use due care in 32 excavating in the marked area to avoid damaging the underground 33 facility. The operator shall complete such locating and 34 marking, and shall notify the notification center that the 35 -1- LSB 5443YC (1) 90 lh/js 1/ 3

H.F. _____ marking is complete within forty-eight hours after receiving 1 the notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, 2 the forty-eight-hour period unless otherwise agreed by the 3 operator and the excavator. No later than the expiration of 4 the forty-eight-hour period, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, 5 and legal holidays, the notification center shall notify the 6 excavator of the underground facility locating and marking 7 status, or the failure of the operator to notify the center 8 that the locating and marking is complete. The locating and 9 marking of the underground facilities shall be completed at no 10 cost to the excavator. If, in the opinion of the operator, the 11 planned excavation requires that the precise location of the 12 underground facilities be determined, the excavator, unless 13 otherwise agreed upon between the excavator and the operator, 14 shall hand dig test holes to determine the location of the 15 facilities unless the operator specifies an alternate method. 16 Sec. 4. Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2024, 17 is amended to read as follows: 18 b. An operator who receives notice from the notification 19 center and who determines that the operator does not have 20 any underground facility located within the proposed area of 21 excavation shall notify the notification center concerning 22 this determination within forty-eight hours after receiving 23 the notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays 24 the forty-eight-hour period . No later than the expiration of 25 the forty-eight-hour period, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, 26 and legal holidays, the notification center shall notify the 27 excavator that the operator does not have any underground 28 facilities within the proposed area of excavation. 29 EXPLANATION 30 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 31 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 32 This bill relates to required timing for notices regarding 33 underground facility excavations. 34 The bill modifies the requirement for an excavator or an 35 -2- LSB 5443YC (1) 90 lh/js 2/ 3

H.F. _____ operator to provide notice to the notification center prior to 1 a planned excavation, after locating and marking the area for 2 excavation, or when no underground facility is located in the 3 proposed area. A notice for a planned excavation initiates a 4 48-hour period and other required notices must occur within the 5 48-hour period. A “forty-eight-hour period” is defined in the 6 bill as 48 consecutive hours beginning at 6:00 a.m. the next 7 business day after the notification center receives a notice 8 and excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The bill 9 strikes language relating to the treatment of notices received 10 by the notification center after 5:00 p.m. being processed as 11 if received at 8:00 a.m. the following day. 12 The bill provides that notice shall be valid for 20 calendar 13 days after the conclusion of the 48-hour period. Current law 14 provides that notice is valid for 20 calendar days from the 15 date the notice was provided to the notification center. 16 -3- LSB 5443YC (1) 90 lh/js 3/ 3