Senate Study Bill 1199 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON BROWN) 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 1751XC (6) 90 es/rn

S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 480.1, subsection 5, Code 2023, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 5. “Excavator” means a person proposing to engage or 3 engaging in excavation , including a person acting under a 4 contract with an excavator . 5 Sec. 2. Section 480.1, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 6 following new subsection: 7 NEW SUBSECTION . 5A. “Forty-eight hours” or “forty-eight-hour 8 period” means a period of time of forty-eight consecutive 9 hours, not including the hours on the date of notification, the 10 twenty-four hours on Saturdays or Sundays, and the hours of a 11 legal holiday. 12 Sec. 3. Section 480.4, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2023, 13 is amended to read as follows: 14 a. Except as otherwise provided in this section , prior to 15 any excavation, an excavator shall contact the notification 16 center and provide notice of the planned excavation. This 17 notice must be given at least forty-eight hours prior to the 18 commencement of the excavation , excluding Saturdays, Sundays, 19 and legal holidays . Notices received after 5:00 p.m. shall be 20 processed as if received at 8:00 a.m. the next business day. 21 The notice shall be valid for twenty calendar days from the 22 date the notice was provided to the notification center after 23 the conclusion of the forty-eight-hour period . If all locating 24 and marking of underground facilities is completed prior to the 25 expiration of the forty-eight-hour period, the excavator may 26 proceed with excavation upon being notified by the notification 27 center that the locating and marking of all underground 28 facilities is complete. The notification center shall 29 establish a toll-free telephone number to allow excavators to 30 provide the notice required pursuant to this subsection . 31 Sec. 4. Section 480.4, subsection 1, paragraph b, 32 subparagraph (4), Code 2023, is amended to read as follows: 33 (4) The type , depth, and extent of the proposed excavation. 34 Sec. 5. Section 480.4, subsection 1, paragraph c, 35 -1- LSB 1751XC (6) 90 es/rn 1/ 3

S.F. _____ subparagraph (4), Code 2023, is amended to read as follows: 1 (4) The type , depth, and extent of the proposed excavation. 2 Sec. 6. Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph a, 3 subparagraph (1), Code 2023, is amended to read as follows: 4 (1) An operator who receives notice from the notification 5 center shall mark the horizontal location of the operator’s 6 underground facility and the excavator shall use due care 7 in excavating in the marked area to avoid damaging the 8 underground facility. The operator shall complete such 9 locating and marking, and shall notify the notification 10 center that the marking is complete within forty-eight hours 11 after receiving the notice , excluding Saturdays, Sundays, 12 and legal holidays, unless otherwise agreed by the operator 13 and the excavator. No later than the expiration of the 14 forty-eight-hour period , excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and 15 legal holidays, the notification center shall notify the 16 excavator of the underground facility locating and marking 17 status, or the failure of the operator to notify the center 18 that the locating and marking is complete. The locating and 19 marking of the underground facilities shall be completed at no 20 cost to the excavator. If, in the opinion of the operator, the 21 planned excavation requires that the precise location of the 22 underground facilities be determined, the excavator, unless 23 otherwise agreed upon between the excavator and the operator, 24 shall hand dig test holes to determine the location of the 25 facilities unless the operator specifies an alternate method. 26 Sec. 7. Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2023, 27 is amended to read as follows: 28 b. An operator who receives notice from the notification 29 center and who determines that the operator does not have 30 any underground facility located within the proposed area of 31 excavation shall notify the notification center concerning 32 this determination within forty-eight hours after receiving 33 the notice , excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays . 34 No later than the expiration of the forty-eight-hour period , 35 -2- LSB 1751XC (6) 90 es/rn 2/ 3

S.F. _____ excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, the 1 notification center shall notify the excavator that the 2 operator does not have any underground facilities within the 3 proposed area of excavation. 4 EXPLANATION 5 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 6 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 7 This bill relates to required timing for notices regarding 8 underground facility excavations. 9 The bill modifies the definition of “excavator” to include 10 a person acting under a contract with an excavator. The bill 11 defines “forty-eight hours” to mean a period of time that is 12 48 consecutive hours, but not including the hours on the date 13 of notification, the 24 hours on Saturdays or Sundays, or the 14 hours of a legal holiday (48-hour period). 15 The bill strikes language relating to the treatment of 16 notices received by the center after 5:00 p.m. The bill 17 provides that a notice shall be valid for 20 calendar days 18 after the conclusion of the 48-hour period. Current law 19 provides that a notice is valid for 20 calendar days from the 20 date the notice was provided to the notification center. 21 The bill includes that a notice must include the anticipated 22 depth of the excavation. 23 -3- LSB 1751XC (6) 90 es/rn 3/ 3