AB 811, as amended, Lowenthal. Excavations: regional notification center system: contractor certification.
Existing law generally requires any person planning to conduct an excavation to contact a regional notification center prior to excavation, and, if practical, to delineate the areas to be excavated. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General, a district attorney, or the state or a local agency that issued a permit to excavate to bring an action for the enforcement of a civil penalty against an operator or excavator who negligently or knowingly and willfully violates the requirements of these and related provisions.
The bill would requirebegin delete the regional notification centers to post on their Internet Web sitesend delete statewide informationbegin insert, as defined,end insert provided by
operators and excavators regardingbegin delete violations of these requirements and damages resulting from those violations.end deletebegin insert facility events, as defined, to be compiled and made available in an annual report by regional notification centers and posted on the Internet Web sites of those regional notification centers.end insert
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 4216.6 of the Government Code is
2amended to read:
(a) (1) Any operator or excavator who negligently
4violates this article is subject to a civil penalty in an amount not
5to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
6(2) Any operator or excavator who knowingly and willfully
7violates any of the provisions of this article is subject to a civil
8penalty in an amount not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
9(3) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this article, this
10section is not intended to affect any civil remedies otherwise
11provided by law for personal injury or for property damage,
12including any damage to
subsurface installations, nor is this section
13intended to create any new civil remedies for those injuries or that
14damage.
15(4) This article shall not be construed to limit any other provision
16of law granting governmental immunity to state or local agencies
17or to impose any liability or duty of care not otherwise imposed
18by law upon any state or local agency.
19(b) An action may be brought by the Attorney General, the
20district attorney, or the local or state agency which issued the
21permit to excavate, for the enforcement of the civil penalty pursuant
22to this section. If penalties are collected as a result of a civil suit
23brought by a state or local agency for collection of those civil
24penalties, the penalties imposed shall be paid to the general fund
25of the agency. If more than one
agency is involved in enforcement,
26the penalties imposed shall be apportioned among them by the
27court in a manner that will fairly offset the relative costs incurred
28by the state or local agencies, or both, in collecting these fees.
29(c) Statewide information provided by operators and excavators
30regardingbegin delete violations of the requirements of this article and damages begin insert facility eventsend insert shall bebegin insert compiled
31resulting from those violationsend delete
32and made available in an annual report by regional notification
P3 1centers andend insert
posted on the Internet Web sites of the regional
2notification centers.
3(d) For purposes of subdivision (c), the following terms have
4the following meanings:
5(1) “Facility event” means the occurrence of excavator
6downtime, damages, near misses, and violations.
7(2) “Statewide information” means information submitted by
8operators and excavators using the California Regional Common
9Ground Alliance’s Virtual Private Damage Information Reporting
10Tool. Supplied data shall
comply with the Damage Information
11Reporting Tool’s minimum essential information as listed in the
12Common Ground Alliance’s most recent Best Practices Handbook.
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