SSB 1199 (LSB 1751XC (6) 90)

SENATE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON BROWN)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to required timing for notices regarding underground facility excavations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 480.1, subsection 5, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  “Excavator” means a person proposing to engage or engaging in excavation, including a person acting under a contract with an excavator.
    Sec. 2.  Section 480.1, Code 2023, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5A.  “Forty-eight hours” or “forty-eight-hour period” means a period of time of forty-eight consecutive hours, not including the hours on the date of notification, the twenty-four hours on Saturdays or Sundays, and the hours of a legal holiday.
    Sec. 3.  Section 480.4, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2023, 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. 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 the notice was provided to the notification center after the conclusion of the forty-eight-hour period. 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. 4.  Section 480.4, subsection 1, paragraph b, subparagraph (4), Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   (4)  The type, depth, and extent of the proposed excavation.
    Sec. 5.  Section 480.4, subsection 1, paragraph c, subparagraph (4), Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   (4)  The type, depth, and extent of the proposed excavation.
    Sec. 6.  Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph a, subparagraph (1), Code 2023, is 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, 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.
    Sec. 7.  Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2023, 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. 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.
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 modifies the definition of “excavator” to include a person acting under a contract with an excavator. The bill defines “forty-eight hours” to mean a period of time that is 48 consecutive hours, but not including the hours on the date of notification, the 24 hours on Saturdays or Sundays, or the hours of a legal holiday (48-hour period).
   The bill strikes language relating to the treatment of notices received by the center after 5:00 p.m. The bill provides that a notice shall be valid for 20 calendar days after the conclusion of the 48-hour period. Current law provides that a notice is valid for 20 calendar days from the date the notice was provided to the notification center. 
   The bill includes that a notice must include the anticipated depth of the excavation.