H.F. 2581 Section 1. Section 480.1, Code 2024, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsections: 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 NEW SUBSECTION . 5B. “Locator” means a person proposing to 8 engage or engaging in the location and marking of underground 9 facilities under contract with or employed by an operator. 10 Sec. 2. Section 480.3, subsection 1, paragraph a, 11 subparagraph (1), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows: 12 (1) The center shall be governed by a board of directors , 13 which shall represent and be elected by operators, excavators, 14 and other persons who participate in the center. The board 15 shall include two locators and two excavators to serve as 16 nonvoting members. The board, with input from all interested 17 parties, shall determine the operating procedures and 18 technology needed for a single statewide notification center 19 and establish a notification process. 20 Sec. 3. Section 480.3, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended 21 to read as follows: 22 2. a. The board shall implement the latest and most 23 cost-effective technological improvements for the center 24 in order to provide operators and excavators with the most 25 accurate data available and in a timely manner to allow 26 operators and excavators to perform their responsibilities with 27 the minimum amount of interruptions. 28 b. The center shall establish a communication system to 29 facilitate the provision of notice by operators, locators, and 30 excavators. 31 Sec. 4. Section 480.3, Code 2024, is amended by adding the 32 following new subsection: 33 NEW SUBSECTION . 4. The center shall provide records to the 34 utilities board upon request as a part of an investigation on 35 -1- HF 2581 (5) 90 lh/js/md 1/ 5

H.F. 2581 behalf of the attorney general’s office. 1 Sec. 5. Section 480.4, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2024, 2 is amended to read as follows: 3 a. Except as otherwise provided in this section , prior to 4 any excavation, an excavator shall contact the notification 5 center and provide notice of the planned excavation occurring 6 after a forty-eight-hour period . This notice must be given 7 at least forty-eight hours prior to the commencement of the 8 excavation, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. 9 Notices received after 5:00 p.m. shall be processed as if 10 received at 8:00 a.m. the next business day. The notice 11 shall be valid for twenty twenty-five calendar days from the 12 date beginning on the day the notice was provided to the 13 notification center forty-eight-hour period concludes . If all 14 locating and marking of underground facilities is completed 15 prior to the expiration of the forty-eight-hour period, the 16 excavator may proceed with excavation upon being notified 17 by the notification center that the locating and marking of 18 all underground facilities is complete. The notification 19 center shall establish a toll-free telephone number to allow 20 excavators to provide the notice required pursuant to this 21 subsection . 22 Sec. 6. Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph a, 23 subparagraphs (1), (2), and (3), Code 2024, are amended to read 24 as follows: 25 (1) An operator who receives notice from the notification 26 center shall mark the horizontal location of the operator’s 27 underground facility and the excavator shall use due care in 28 excavating in the marked area to avoid damaging the underground 29 facility. The operator shall complete such locating and 30 marking, and shall notify the notification center that the 31 marking is complete within forty-eight hours after receiving 32 the notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, 33 the forty-eight-hour period unless otherwise agreed by the 34 operator and the excavator. No later than the expiration of 35 -2- HF 2581 (5) 90 lh/js/md 2/ 5

H.F. 2581 the forty-eight-hour period, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, 1 and legal holidays, the notification center shall notify the 2 excavator of the underground facility locating and marking 3 status, or the failure of the operator to notify the center 4 that the locating and marking is complete. The locating and 5 marking of the underground facilities shall be completed at no 6 cost to the excavator. If, in the opinion of the operator, the 7 planned excavation requires that the precise location of the 8 underground facilities be determined, the excavator, unless 9 otherwise agreed upon between the excavator and the operator, 10 shall hand dig test holes or use nondestructive methods to 11 determine the location of the facilities unless the operator 12 specifies an alternate method. 13 (2) (a) The marking required under this subsection shall 14 be done in a manner that will last for a minimum of five 15 working days on any nonpermanent surface, or a minimum of ten 16 working days on any permanent surface. If the excavation will 17 continue for any period longer than such periods, the operator 18 shall remark the location of the underground facility upon the 19 request of the excavator. The request shall be made through 20 the notification center. 21 (b) A locator shall use for marking a flag that includes the 22 name of the operator and a contact phone number. 23 (3) Unless otherwise agreed by the operator and excavator in 24 writing, no excavation shall be performed within twenty-five 25 feet of an underground natural gas transmission line as defined 26 in 49 C.F.R. §192.3 pipeline operating at one hundred fifty 27 pounds per square inch or greater and that is equal to or 28 greater than two inches in diameter unless a representative 29 of the operator of the underground natural gas transmission 30 line pipeline is present at the planned excavation area. This 31 requirement shall not apply, however, when a representative of 32 the operator fails to be present at the proposed excavation 33 area at the time work is scheduled to commence or as otherwise 34 agreed by the operator and excavator in writing. In this 35 -3- HF 2581 (5) 90 lh/js/md 3/ 5

H.F. 2581 event, the excavator shall notify the operator that the 1 representative failed to appear, and excavation operations can 2 begin, provided the excavator uses due care to avoid damaging 3 the underground facilities. 4 Sec. 7. Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2024, 5 is amended to read as follows: 6 b. An operator who receives notice from the notification 7 center and who determines that the operator does not have 8 any underground facility located within the proposed area of 9 excavation shall notify the notification center concerning 10 this determination within forty-eight hours after receiving 11 the notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays 12 the forty-eight-hour period . No later than the expiration of 13 the forty-eight-hour period, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, 14 and legal holidays, the notification center shall notify the 15 excavator that the operator does not have any underground 16 facilities within the proposed area of excavation. 17 Sec. 8. Section 480.6, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended 18 by adding the following new paragraph: 19 NEW PARAGRAPH . c. If a locator violates a time limit set 20 forth in this chapter and a complaint relating to the violation 21 is filed with the utilities board, the locator is subject 22 to a civil penalty in an amount determined by the attorney 23 general. A civil penalty imposed by the attorney general under 24 this paragraph shall not exceed one hundred dollars for each 25 violation for each day the violation continues, up to a maximum 26 of five thousand dollars. 27 Sec. 9. Section 480.6, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended 28 to read as follows: 29 2. a. The attorney general, upon the receipt of a 30 complaint, may institute any legal proceedings necessary to 31 enforce the penalty provisions of this chapter . 32 b. At the direction of the attorney general, the utilities 33 board shall investigate a violation of this chapter. Upon 34 completion of the investigation, the utilities board 35 -4- HF 2581 (5) 90 lh/js/md 4/ 5

H.F. 2581 shall submit to the attorney general a written summary of 1 the investigation and all evidence acquired during the 2 investigation, except as set forth in subsection 2, paragraph 3 “c” . 4 c. The utilities board may independently receive and 5 investigate complaints alleging a violation of this chapter by 6 a locator. 7 Sec. 10. NEW SECTION . 480.11 Locator enforcement authority. 8 1. A locator who operates in this state and engages in 9 location services under a contract with an operator shall 10 satisfy all of the following requirements: 11 a. Take responsibility for completing location services as 12 required under section 480.4. 13 b. Correctly notify the notification center that a location 14 service could not be completed due to a lack of response by the 15 excavator and include in the notice the date, time, and method 16 of the attempted contact with the excavator, and the name and 17 contact information of any representative of the excavator. 18 2. A locator operating in this state is subject to 19 enforcement requirements as established in chapter 476. Any 20 enforcement action taken for a violation of this chapter by a 21 locator shall be taken solely against the locator and not the 22 operator. 23 Sec. 11. UNDERGROUND FACILITY EXCAVATION MEETING. The Iowa 24 utilities board shall convene interested stakeholders before 25 December 31, 2024, to discuss underground facility excavations, 26 including subjects relating to forecasting and future projects, 27 and operational challenges. 28 -5- HF 2581 (5) 90 lh/js/md 5/ 5