BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 661
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB
661 (Hill) - As Amended January 4, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 35-3
SUBJECT: Protection of subsurface installations
SUMMARY: Establishes the "Dig Safe Act of 2016" and makes
several changes to existing laws governing subsurface
excavations, including prohibiting an excavator that damages a
subsurface installation due to an inaccurate field mark by an
operator from being liable for damages, replacement costs, or
other expenses arising from damage to the subsurface
installation, provided the excavator complied with all
pre-excavation notification requirements and procedures.
Directs, among other things, specified state agencies to enforce
violations of the bill's provisions related to excavation, and
creates the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation
Advisory Committee to investigate alleged violations of
specified laws relating to the protection of underground
infrastructure and develop standards relevant to safety
practices in excavating around subsurface installations.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Establishes the "Dig Safe Act of 2016" and, except as
specified, requires a person planning to conduct an excavation
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to contact the appropriate regional notification center prior
to commencing that excavation regardless of whether the
excavation will be conducted in an area that is known, or
reasonably should be known, to contain subsurface
installations.
2)Creates the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation
Advisory Committee, to be assisted by the staff of the
Contractors' State License Board (CSLB) in the Department of
Consumer Affairs, subject to appropriation of funds.
3)Directs the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation
Advisory Committee to:
a) Coordinate education and outreach activities that
encourage safe excavation practices;
b) Develop standards relevant to safety practices in
excavating around subsurface installations; and
c) Investigate possible violations of specified laws
relating to the protection of underground infrastructure.
4)Authorizes the California Underground Facilities Safe
Excavation Advisory Committee to issue non-binding
recommendations to other state or local agencies pertaining to
the enforcement of laws relating to the protection of
underground infrastructure, including recommended sanctions
against excavators and operators who violate these laws.
5)Exempts, until January 1, 2020, exempt excavations performed
as a landscape or operator maintenance activity, as specified,
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or routine operations, as specified, in a flood control area.
6)Provides that before notifying the appropriate regional
notification center, an excavator planning to conduct an
excavation shall delineate the area to be excavated. If the
area is not delineated, an operator may, at the operator's
discretion, choose not to locate and field mark until the area
to be excavated has been delineated.
7)Specifies that, except in an emergency, an excavator shall not
begin excavation until the excavator receives a response from
all operators of known subsurface installations within the
delineated boundaries of the proposed area of excavation.
8)Requires an operator to indicate with an "A" inside a circle
the presence of any abandoned subsurface installations within
the delineated area. States that there shall be no liability
associated with marking abandoned subsurface installations.
9)Requires operators of subsurface installations to retain
records on abandoned subsurface installations, as specified.
10)States that if an operator or local agency knows that it has
a subsurface installation embedded or partially embedded in
the pavement that is not visible from the surface, the
operator or local agency shall contact the excavator before
pavement removal to communicate and determine a plan of action
to protect both the subsurface installation and the excavator.
11)Provides that if an operator has failed to become a member
of, participate in, or share in the costs of, a regional
notification center, that operator shall forfeit his or her
claim for damages to his or her subsurface installation
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arising from an excavation against an excavator who has
complied with the requirements of this bill to the extent the
damages were proximately caused by the operator's failure to
be a member of, participate in, or share in the costs of, a
regional notification center.
12)Provides that if an operator of a subsurface installation has
failed to comply with the requirements of this bill without a
reasonable basis, as determined by a court of competent
jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, the requirement
to field mark the appropriate location of subsurface
installations within two working days of notification, the
operator shall be liable to the excavator who has complied
with the above provisions for damages, including liquidated
damages, liability, losses, costs, and expenses actually
incurred by the excavator resulting from the operator's
failure to comply with these specified requirements to the
extent the damages, costs, and expenses were proximately
caused by the operator's failure to comply.
13)Provides that an excavator who damages a subsurface
installation due to an inaccurate field mark by an operator,
or by a third party under contract to perform field marking
for the operator, shall not be liable for damages, replacement
costs, or other expenses arising from damages to the
subsurface installation if the excavator complied with the
requirements of this bill.
14)Specifies that the above provision is not intended to create
any presumption or to affect the burden of proof in any action
for personal injuries or property damage, other than damage to
the subsurface installation, nor is it intended to affect,
create, or eliminate any remedy for personal injury or
property damage, other than damage to the subsurface
installation.
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15)Strikes an existing exemption for an owner of real property
who contracts for an excavation project on the property with a
licensed contractor or subcontractor, and limit the existing
exemption for an owner of residential real property, not
engaged as a licensed contractor or subcontractor, who as part
of improving his or her principal residence or appurtenances
thereto is performing or having performed excavation work
using hand tools only.
16)Authorizes the Registrar of Contractors of the Contractors'
State License Board, the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC), and the Office of the State Fire Marshal
(OSFM) to enforce certain provisions of the laws pertaining to
subsurface infrastructure.
17)Makes other conforming and clarifying changes.
18)Makes various legislative findings and declarations related
to excavation and subsurface installations.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Vests the CSLB with all functions and duties relating to the
administration of the Contractors State License Law.
(Business and Professions Code Section 7000 et seq.)
2)Establishes the "Call Before You Dig" law and requires every
operator of a subsurface installation, except the Department
of Transportation, to become a member of, participate in, and
share in the costs of, a regional notification center.
(Government Code Section 4216.1)
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3)States that except in an emergency, any person planning to
conduct any excavation shall contact the appropriate regional
notification center at least two working days, but not more
than 14 calendar days, prior to commencing that excavation, if
the excavation will be conducted in an area that is known, or
reasonably should be known, to contain subsurface
installations other than the underground facilities owned or
operated by the excavator. (Government Code Section
4216.2(a))
4)Provides that where an excavation is proposed within 10 feet
of a high priority subsurface installation, the operator of
the high priority subsurface installation shall notify the
excavator of the existence of the high priority subsurface
installation prior to the excavation start date and time, and
the excavator and operator or its representative shall conduct
an onsite meeting at a mutually-agreed-on time to determine
actions or activities required to verify the location of the
high priority subsurface installation prior to start time.
(Government Code Section 4216.2(a))
5)Provides that any operator of a subsurface installation who
receives timely notification of any proposed excavation work
shall, within two working days of that notification, excluding
weekends and holidays, or before the start of the excavation
work, or at a later time mutually agreeable to the operator
and the excavator, locate and field mark the approximate
location and, if known, the number of subsurface installations
that may be affected by the excavation. (Government Code
Section 4216.3(a))
6)States that if a subsurface installation is damaged by an
excavator as a result of failing to comply with the above
requirements, or as a result of failing to comply with the
operator's requests to protect the subsurface installation as
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specified by the operator prior to the start of excavation,
the excavator shall be liable to the operator of the
subsurface installation for resulting damages, costs, and
expenses to the extent the damages, costs, and expenses were
proximately caused by the excavator's failure to comply.
(Government Code Section 4216.7(a))
7)States that if the operator of a subsurface installation has
failed to comply with the regional notification center system
requirements, that operator shall forfeit his or her claim for
damages to the subsurface installation arising from the
excavation against an excavator who has complied with the
above requirements to the extent damages were proximately
caused by the operator's failure to comply. (Government Code
Section 4216.7(b))
8)States that if an operator of a subsurface installation fails
to comply with the above provisions, the operator shall be
liable to the excavator who has complied with these provisions
for damages, costs, and expenses resulting from the operator's
failure to comply to the extent the damages, costs, and
expenses were proximately caused by the operator's failure to
comply. (Government Code Section 4216.7(c))
9)Exempts a project on the property with a licensed contractor
or subcontractor, or an owner of residential real property,
not engaged as a licensed contractor or subcontractor, who as
part of improving his or her principal residence or
appurtenances thereto is performing or having performed
excavation work, from the "Call Before You Dig" law if the
excavation work does not require a permit from a state or
local agency. (Government Code Section 4216.8)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
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COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: "California has the ignominy of having the
country's two most recent pipeline fatalities. On Friday April
17, a front loader in Fresno came into contact with a 12-inch
high pressure natural gas transmission pipe, causing an
explosion that injured fourteen people. One person died as a
result, and the operator of the front loader was hospitalized
for 53 days. On November 13, the operator of a bulldozer
preparing a field for orchard planting south of Bakersfield
struck one of [Pacific Gas and Electric Company's] backbone
transmission natural gas pipelines, killing himself and
seriously burning two people nearby. Accidents such as this
are the result of unsafe practices that people undertake all
the time. Roughly 7,000 of California's natural gas pipelines
are hit every year, and it is estimated that roughly half of
them occur because the excavator failed to use the free 8-1-1
service so that pipes can be located and marked before
digging. The safety hazard associated with digging into
natural gas pipelines has hung over the Legislature for a long
time-at least since 2004, when five laborers were killed in
Walnut Creek when a petroleum pipeline exploded after it was
struck with a backhoe."
2)Background: Following the attention to gas safety in the wake
of the natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno (which was
not caused by excavation), the CPUC, Pacific Gas and Electric
Company (PG&E), and others attempted to reboot reform efforts
to improve excavation safety. In 2005 a construction crew
digging a trench to install a new water pipeline for the East
Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) in Walnut Creek struck
a high-pressure petroleum pipeline operated by Kinder Morgan,
killing five workers. A backhoe struck the pipe, releasing
gasoline that was ignited by nearby welders. The petroleum
line had been installed along the street but had been bent to
avoid a tree that had since been removed. Kinder Morgan had
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not identified the bend, leading the contractor to believe
that the pipe was not in the path of the backhoe.
In response, the Legislature required additional communication
and operator qualification standards without addressing the
other means of improving excavation safety that had been
identified by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
and the federal pipeline safety regulator (Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration - PHMSA)
particularly enforcement of the one-call law. In its 1997
Safety Study on excavation damage, NTSB found that
administratively enforcing a state's one-call law was more
effective than relying on an Attorney General or district
attorney to do so, and that small penalties were effective
enforcement, if for no other reason that large, punitive
penalties were rarely levied.
Fatal accidents have occurred even after all this attention,
drawing no response from the Legislature. On October 2, 2009,
two workers working inside a water pipe during a municipal
water project drowned when a nearby backhoe operator struck an
8-inch water pipe, flooding the trench they had been working
in. The intersection where the strike occurred was deemed too
busy to mark the lines.
More recently, on April 17, 2015, a 12-inch high-pressure
natural gas pipeline exploded in Fresno, injuring 14 people.
The accident remains under investigation, but a county worker
was operating a front-end loader within several feet of the
pipeline at the time of the explosion. According to the
author, the contractor responsible for the excavating job had
called 8-1-1 to obtain a ticket and the ticket had expired on
November 5th.
California still relies on the Attorney General and district
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attorneys to enforce the one-call law, though regulatory
authorities such as the CPUC, OSFM, and CSLB have broad
jurisdiction over gas pipeline and electric operators,
hazardous liquid operators, and contractors, respectively, and
thus have the ability to enforce safe operations on those
entities within their jurisdictions.
3)Suggested Amendments: This bill is identical to SB 119 (Hill)
of 2015, which was heard and approved in this committee on
July 3, 2015. Governor Brown vetoed SB 119 on October 10, 2015
stating, among other things, that he looked forward to working
closely with the author. Following the veto of SB 119 in 2015,
the author worked with the administration and reached an
understanding on technical amendments to establish a program
that will improve safety around subsurface excavations. The
amendments reflect negotiations between the administration and
the author. Specifically:
a) Deletes findings and declarations.
b) Reverts the definitions to current law and only adds the
definition for working day.
c) "Advisory committee" under CSLB becomes a "board" under
the OSFM , but generally performs the same roles, including
accident investigation, standard setting, and coordination
of education and outreach.
d) Enforcement retains some characteristics of SB 119, but
expands enforcement in some areas.
i) As in SB 119, violations by certain parties found by
the board through investigation will be referred to other
agencies for enforcement:
(1) CSLB enforces violations of licensed
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contractors.
(2) OSFM enforces violations of petroleum pipeline
operators.
(3) CPUC enforces violations of IOU gas and
electric operators.
ii) Added are:
(1) CPUC enforces violations of gas, electric, and
water corporations.
(2) Local governments may enforce against local
agencies under their jurisdiction for violations of
this law.
(3) The board enforces violations by all others .
The author may wish to consider technical amendments to make the
language consistent with the provisions negotiated with the
administration. The proposed amendments are:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Dig Safe Act of 2016.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) For the state's "one-call" law to be effective, it needs
greater clarity and effective enforcement, and it must foster
communication between operators of subsurface installations and
the various types of excavators in California.
(b) Regional notification centers, or "one-call" centers, have
developed means of electronic communication that improve the
efficiency of the "one-call" process, and statutory barriers to
using new methods of notification should be eliminated.
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(c) Electronic positive response is a means to communicate the
status of responses to an excavator's notice of excavation via
the one-call center and provides the safety benefit that an
excavator has an easy means to know whether or not all of the
utilities within the excavation area have marked their
subsurface installations.
(d) The delineation by an excavator of the area to be excavated
in advance of the field location and marking by subsurface
facility operators of their installations aids the excavator in
understanding where subsurface installations were marked, and
thus improves safety. This practice was recommended by the
National Transportation Safety Board in its 1997 study
"Protecting Public Safety through Excavation Damage Prevention"
and is a best practice of the Common Ground Alliance.
(e) Continuing an excavation after an excavation "ticket" has
expired does not promote safety, and excavators should renew
their ticket with the one-call center before expiration.
Continuing excavation when markings are no longer visible does
not promote safety, and excavators should stop work until the
subsurface installations are remarked.
(f) Increased communication between subsurface installation
operators and excavators before breaking ground has safety
benefits.
(g) Construction sites often have many parties conducting
different, ongoing work, and so the inherent safety risks
associated with that work can be increased by a failure of these
parties to effectively communicate. Excavators, operators of
subsurface installations, and locators have a responsibility to
communicate with other parties before entering these worksites,
which may require advance schedule coordination, and also have a
responsibility to observe the safety requirements set for those
worksites.
(h) Abandoned subsurface installations can be mistaken for
active subsurface installations that are marked, and thus
present a safety risk to excavators and the public. Safety will
be improved if subsurface facility operators identify these
subsurface installations when their existence is known.
(i) The ability of an operator of subsurface installations to
locate and mark affected installations can be seriously impaired
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by a lack of high-quality records of those installations, and
thus operators should keep records of their facilities for as
long as they are in the ground, whether or not they are in use.
(j) Failure by an operator of subsurface installations to mark
the installations within the required two-working-day period is
a serious breach of duty.
(k) While an operator has two working days after an excavator's
call to the one-call center to mark its subsurface
installations, failure of that operator to do so does not
relieve the excavator of the safety responsibility to wait until
the operator has marked before commencing excavation.
(l) Mismarks by an operator place excavators and the public at
great safety risk, and so operators who mismark their
installations are entitled to no award for any damages to those
installations.
(m) Installations that are embedded in pavement require more
extensive communication among operators, locators, and
excavators to prevent the installations from being damaged.
(n) Exemptions that allow a class of persons to excavate without
calling 811 are to be permitted only if alternative procedures
allow the excavation to take place without compromising safety.
(o) More communication is needed between the Department of
Transportation and the regional notification centers, including
the sharing of subsurface installation location information, so
that excavators may be alerted of possible Department of
Transportation subsurface installations in the area of planned
excavation and, if the excavation is to take place in a
Department of Transportation right-of-way, the need to seek a
Department of Transportation encroachment permit. The Department
of Transportation controls access to the state right-of-way by
the traveling public, excavators, and contractors through the
encroachment permit process authorized in Article 2 (commencing
with Section 670) of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of the Streets and
Highway Code. Recognizing that the public is not always aware
where the state right-of-way exists, and that the Department of
Transportation operates subsurface installations in the state
right-of-way, the Department of Transportation shall facilitate
clear communication channels with those working around the state
right of way, with utility companies, and with the regional
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notification centers to promote safety and to prevent damage to
subsurface installations.
(p) Insufficient information exists on how to best achieve
safety when conducting agricultural activities around subsurface
installations, and a study informed by data collected about
damages in agricultural areas is needed to determine effective
and appropriate safety measures.
(q) Prevention of boring through sewer laterals with natural gas
and other subsurface installation services may be achieved
through reasonable care in the use of trenchless excavating
technologies. Indication of the location of sewer laterals can
aid in prevention of these cross-bores.
(r) The exemption that permits private property owners to dig on
their property without calling a regional notification center to
have the area marked for subsurface installations does not have
a basis in safety.
(s) The exemption that permits homeowners to conduct excavation
on their property with heavy machinery or when there is a
utility easement on his or her property does not have a basis in
safety.
(t) Behaviors that are suspected to be unsafe, but upon which
there is not widespread agreement as to the level of risk and,
therefore, are unregulated, must be monitored to better assess
the risk.
(u) The Study on the Impact of Excavation Damage on Pipeline
Safety, submitted by the United States Department of
Transportation to Congress on October 9, 2014, reported that
other states have found that exemption of landscape maintenance
activities of less than 12 inches deep, when performed with hand
tools, does not appear to have a significant impact on safety.
The report cautions, however, that while those activity-based
exemptions may be acceptable, they should be supported by
sufficient data.
(v) Insufficient data exists on the safety risks of the
installation of temporary real estate signposts; therefore, it
is important that natural gas distribution companies collect
information on whether damages are caused by these signposts.
(w) Gas corporations have ready access to information about
damages that occur on their subsurface installations and should
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collect relevant data to inform future discussions regarding the
risk of notification exemptions.
(x) Other states have experienced a dramatic improvement in
safety after implementing centralized administrative oversight
of one-call laws.
(y) California should have an advisory committee, composed of
excavation stakeholders, subject to oversight by the Legislature
and the Department of Finance, to perform three major tasks,
which are to coordinate the diverse education and outreach
efforts undertaken by state and local agencies, operators, and
excavators throughout the state and issue grants for targeted
efforts, to study excavation questions and develop standards
that clarify best practices, and to investigate potential
violations of the one-call law that inform both the standards it
is to develop and potential enforcement actions. Due to the size
of the state, and in order to reduce costs, the advisory
committee should meet in northern and southern California.
(z) The advisory committee should not be funded through the
General Fund, but should be funded through fines levied on gas
and electric corporations for safety violations, instead of
having those fines go to the General Fund.
SEC. 3. Section 4216 of the Government Code is amended to read:
4216. As used in this article the following definitions apply:
(a) "Abandoned subsurface installation" means a subsurface
installation that is no longer in service and is physically
disconnected from any active or inactive subsurface
installation.
(b) "Active subsurface installation" means a subsurface
installation currently in use or currently carrying service.
(c) "Advisory Committee" means the California Underground
Facilities Safe Excavation Advisory Committee.
(d) "Delineate" means to mark in white the location or path of
the proposed excavation using the guidelines in Appendix B of
the "Guidelines for Excavation Delineation" published in the
most recent version of the Best Practices guide of the Common
Ground Alliance. If there is a conflict between the marking
practices in those guidelines and other provisions of this
article, this article shall control. "Delineation" also includes
physical identification of the area to be excavated using pink
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marking, if an excavator makes a determination that standard
delineation may be misleading to those persons using affected
streets and highways, or be misinterpreted as a traffic or
pedestrian control, and the excavator has contacted the regional
notification center to advise the operators that the excavator
will physically identify the area to be excavated using pink
markings.
(e) "Electronic positive response" means an electronic response
from an operator to the regional notification center providing
the status of an operator's statutorily required response to a
ticket.
(f) (1) "Emergency" means a sudden, unexpected occurrence,
involving a clear and imminent danger, demanding immediate
action to prevent or mitigate loss of, or damage to, life,
health, property, or essential public services.
(2) "Unexpected occurrence" includes, but is not limited to, a
fire, flood, earthquake or other soil or geologic movement,
riot, accident, damage to a subsurface installation requiring
immediate repair, or sabotage.
(g) (1) "Excavation" means any operation in which earth, rock,
pavement, or other material in the ground is moved, removed, or
otherwise displaced by means of tools, equipment, or explosives
in any of the following ways: grading, trenching, digging,
ditching, drilling, augering, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe
plowing and driving, gouging, crushing, jack hammering, saw
cutting, or any other way.
(2) For purposes of this article, "excavation" does not include
any of the following:
(A) Landscape maintenance activity that is performed with hand
tools at a depth of no more than 12 inches. Landscape
maintenance activity includes all of the following:
(i) Aeration, dethatching, and cutting of vegetation, including
lawn edging.
(ii) Installation or replacement of ground cover and plant life.
(iii) Minor fixes to existing drainage and sprinkler systems.
(B) Operator maintenance activities that are performed with hand
tools around an operator's facilities that traverse from above
the ground to below ground in areas known, or reasonably
believed, to contain only the operator's facilities. Operator
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maintenance activities include all of the following:
(i) Clearing soil, debris, or vegetation from around or inside
vaults, casings, and other in-ground structures that house an
operator's facilities.
(ii) Moving, removing, or displacing soil for the specific
purpose of mitigating or preventing corrosion to pipeline
facilities such as gas meters, risers, pipes, and valves located
above ground or inside vaults, casings, and other in-ground
structures.
(iii) Replacing or repairing an operator's facilities located
above ground or inside vaults, casings, and other in-ground
structures.
(iv) Repairing or replacing vaults, casings, and other in-ground
structures that house an operator's facilities.
(C) Routine digging, grading, and scraping or similar operations
in a flood control area known, or reasonably known, not to
contain substructures, in connection with debris, vegetation,
sediment, or mudflow removal for the purposes of flood control
where the flood control facility is owned by a county, city,
city and county, flood control district, or similar special
district, and the activity is performed by or for the county,
city, city and county, flood control district, or similar
special district.
(D) This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2020.
(3) The exclusion of the activities in paragraph (2) from the
definition of "excavation" shall not be used to discourage a
person planning to perform those activities from voluntarily
notifying a regional notification center pursuant to Section
4216.2, and does not relieve an operator of a subsurface
installation from the obligation to locate and field mark
pursuant to Section 4216.3 following the notification. The
exclusion of activities in paragraph (2) does not relieve a
person performing those activities from a duty of reasonable
care to prevent damage to subsurface installations, and failure
to exercise reasonable care may result in liability for damage
to a subsurface installation that is proximately caused by those
activities.
(h) Except as provided in Section 4216.8, "excavator" means any
person, firm, contractor or subcontractor, owner, operator,
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utility, association, corporation, partnership, business trust,
public agency, or other entity that, with his, her, or its own
employees or equipment, performs any excavation.
(i) "Hand tool" means a piece of equipment used for excavating
that uses human power and is not powered by any motor, engine,
hydraulic, or pneumatic device.
(j) "High priority subsurface installation" means high-pressure
natural gas pipelines with normal operating pressures greater
than 415kPA gauge (60psig), petroleum pipelines, pressurized
sewage pipelines, high-voltage electric supply lines,
conductors, or cables that have a potential to ground of greater
than or equal to 60kv, or hazardous materials pipelines that are
potentially hazardous to workers or the public if damaged.
(k) "Inactive subsurface installation" means both of the
following:
(1) The portion of an underground subsurface installation that
is not in use but is still connected to the subsurface
installation, or to any other subsurface installation, that is
in use or still carries service.
(2) A new underground subsurface installation that has not been
connected to any portion of an existing subsurface installation.
(l) "Legal excavation start date and time" means at least two
working days, not including the date of notification, or up to
14 calendar days from the date of notification, if so specified
by the excavator.
(m) "Local agency" means a city, county, city and county, school
district, or special district.
(n) (1) "Locate and field mark" means to indicate the existence
of any owned or maintained subsurface installations by using the
guidelines in Appendix B of the "Guidelines for Operator
Facility Field Delineation" published in the most recent version
of the Best Practices guide of the Common Ground Alliance and in
conformance with the uniform color code of the American Public
Works Association. If there is a conflict between the marking
practices in the guidelines and this article, this article shall
control.
(2) "Locate and field mark" does not require an indication of
the depth.
(o) "Near miss" means an event in which damage did not occur,
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but a clear potential for damage was identified.
(p) "Operator" means any person, corporation, partnership,
business trust, public agency, or other entity that owns,
operates, or maintains a subsurface installation. For purposes
of Section 4216.1, an "operator" does not include an owner of
real property where subsurface installations are exclusively
located if they are used exclusively to furnish services on that
property and the subsurface facilities are under the operation
and control of that owner.
(q) "Pavement" means a manmade surface material that cannot be
removed with a conventional hand tool.
(r) "Positive response" means the response from an operator
directly to the excavator providing the status of an operator's
statutorily required response to a ticket.
(s) "Qualified person" means a person who completes a training
program in accordance with the requirements of Section 1509 of
Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, Injury and
Illness Prevention Program, that meets the minimum locators
training guidelines and practices published in the most recent
version of the Best Practices guide of the Common Ground
Alliance.
(t) "Regional notification center" means a nonprofit association
or other organization of operators of subsurface installations
that provides advance warning of excavations or other work close
to existing subsurface installations, for the purpose of
protecting those installations from damage, removal, relocation,
or repair.
(u) "State agency" means every state agency, department,
division, bureau, board, or commission.
(v) "Subsurface installation" means any underground or submerged
duct, pipeline, or structure, including, but not limited to, a
conduit, duct, line, pipe, wire, or other structure, except
nonpressurized sewerlines, nonpressurized storm drains, or other
nonpressurized drain lines.
(w) "Ticket" means an excavation location request issued a
number by the regional notification center.
(x) "Tolerance zone" means 24 inches on each side of the field
marking placed by the operator in one of the following ways:
(1) Twenty-four inches from each side of a single marking,
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assumed to be the centerline of the subsurface installation.
(2) Twenty-four inches plus one-half the specified size on each
side of a single marking with the size of installation
specified.
(3) Twenty-four inches from each outside marking that
graphically shows the width of the outside surface of the
subsurface installation on a horizontal plane.
(y) "Working day" for the purposes of determining excavation
start date and time means a weekday Monday through Friday, from
7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except for federal holidays and state
holidays, as defined in Section 19853, or as otherwise posted on
the Internet Web site of the regional notification center.
SEC. 2. Section 4216 of the Government Code is amended to read:
4216. As used in this article the following definitions apply:
(a) "Approximate location of subsurface installations" means a
strip of land not more than 24 inches on either side of the
exterior surface of the subsurface installation. "Approximate
location" does not mean depth.
(b) "Excavation" means any operation in which earth, rock, or
other material in the ground is moved, removed, or otherwise
displaced by means of tools, equipment, or explosives in any of
the following ways: grading, trenching, digging, ditching,
drilling, augering, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing
and driving, or any other way.
(c) Except as provided in Section 4216.8, "excavator" means any
person, firm, contractor or subcontractor, owner, operator,
utility, association, corporation, partnership, business trust,
public agency, or other entity that, with their, or his or her,
own employees or equipment performs any excavation.
(d) "Emergency" means a sudden, unexpected occurrence, involving
a clear and imminent danger, demanding immediate action to
prevent or mitigate loss of, or damage to, life, health,
property, or essential public services. "Unexpected occurrence"
includes, but is not limited to, fires, floods, earthquakes or
other soil or geologic movements, riots, accidents, damage to a
subsurface installation requiring immediate repair, or sabotage.
(e) "High priority subsurface installation" means high-pressure
natural gas pipelines with normal operating pressures greater
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than 415kPA gauge (60psig), petroleum pipelines, pressurized
sewage pipelines, high-voltage electric supply lines,
conductors, or cables that have a potential to ground of greater
than or equal to 60kv, or hazardous materials pipelines that are
potentially hazardous to workers or the public if damaged.
(f) "Inquiry identification number" means the number that is
provided by a regional notification center to every person who
contacts the center pursuant to Section 4216.2. The inquiry
identification number shall remain valid for not more than 28
calendar days from the date of issuance, and after that date
shall require regional notification center revalidation.
(g) "Local agency" means a city, county, city and county, school
district, or special district.
(h) "Operator" means any person, corporation, partnership,
business trust, public agency, or other entity that owns,
operates, or maintains a subsurface installation. For purposes
of Section 4216.1, an "operator" does not include an owner of
real property where subsurface facilities are exclusively
located if they are used exclusively to furnish services on that
property and the subsurface facilities are under the operation
and control of that owner.
(i) "Qualified person" means a person who completes a training
program in accordance with the requirements of Title 8,
California Code of Regulations, Section 1509, Injury Prevention
Program, that meets the minimum training guidelines and
practices of Common Ground Alliance current Best Practices.
(j) "Regional notification center" means a nonprofit association
or other organization of operators of subsurface installations
that provides advance warning of excavations or other work close
to existing subsurface installations, for the purpose of
protecting those installations from damage, removal, relocation,
or repair.
(k) "State agency" means every state agency, department,
division, bureau, board, or commission.
(l) "Subsurface installation" means any underground pipeline,
conduit, duct, wire, or other structure, except nonpressurized
sewerlines, nonpressurized storm drains, or other nonpressurized
drain lines.
(m) "Working day" for the purposes of determining excavation
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start date and time means a weekday Monday through Friday, from
7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except for federal holidays and state
holidays, as defined in Section 19853, or as otherwise posted on
the Internet Web site of the regional notification center.
SEC. 4. SEC. 3.
Section 4216.1 of the Government Code is amended to read:
4216.1. Every operator of a subsurface installation, except the
Department of Transportation, shall become a member of,
participate in, and share in the costs of, a regional
notification center. Operators of subsurface installations who
are members of, participate in, and share in, the costs of a
regional notification center, including, but not limited to, the
Underground Service Alert-Northern California or the Underground
Service Alert-Southern California are in compliance with this
section and Section 4216.9.
SEC. 5. SEC. 4. Section 4216.2 of the Government Code is amended
to read:
4216.2. (a) Before notifying the appropriate regional
notification center, an excavator planning to conduct an
excavation shall delineate the area to be excavated. If the area
is not delineated, an operator may, at the operator's
discretion, choose not to locate and field mark until the area
to be excavated has been delineated.
(b) Except in an emergency, an excavator planning to conduct an
excavation shall notify the appropriate regional notification
center of the excavator's intent to excavate at least two
working days, and not more than 14 calendar days, before
beginning that excavation. The date of the notification shall
not count as part of the two-working-day notice. If an excavator
gives less notice than the legal excavation start date and time
and the excavation is not an emergency, the regional
notification center will take the information and provide a
ticket, but an operator has until the legal excavation start
date and time to respond. However, an excavator and an operator
may mutually agree to a different notice and start date.
(c) When the excavation is proposed within 10 feet of a high
priority subsurface installation, the operator of the high
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priority subsurface installation shall notify the excavator of
the existence of the high priority subsurface installation prior
to the legal excavation start date and time, and set up an
onsite meeting at a mutually agreed upon time to determine
actions or activities required to verify the location and
prevent damage to the high priority subsurface installation. The
excavator shall not begin excavating until after the completion
of the onsite meeting.
(d) Except in an emergency, every excavator covered by Section
4216.8 planning to conduct an excavation on private property
that does not require an excavation permit may contact the
appropriate regional notification center if the private property
is known, or reasonably should be known, to contain a subsurface
installation other than the underground facility owned or
operated by the excavator. Before notifying the appropriate
regional notification center, an excavator shall delineate the
area to be excavated. Any temporary marking placed at the
planned excavation location shall be clearly seen, functional,
and considerate to surface aesthetics and the local community.
An excavator shall check if any local ordinances apply to the
placement of temporary markings.
(e) If an excavator gives less than the legal excavation start
date and time and it is not an emergency, the regional
notification center shall take the information and provide a
ticket but an operator shall have until the legal excavation
start date and time to respond.
(f) The regional notification center shall provide a ticket to
the person who contacts the center pursuant to this section and
shall notify any member, if known, who has a subsurface
installation in the area of the proposed excavation. A ticket
shall be valid for 28 days from the date of issuance. If work
continues beyond 28 days, the excavator shall update renew the
ticket either by accessing the center's Internet Web site or by
calling "811" by the end of the 28th day.
(g) A record of all notifications by an excavator or operator to
the regional notification center shall be maintained for a
period of not less than three years. The record shall be
available for inspection by the excavator and any member, or
their representative, during normal working hours and according
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to guidelines for inspection as may be established by the
regional notification centers.
(h) Unless an emergency exists, an excavator shall not begin
excavation until the excavator receives a positive response from
all known subsurface installations within the delineated
boundaries of the proposed area of excavation.
(i) If a site requires special access, an excavator shall
request an operator to contact the excavator regarding that
special access or give special instructions on the location
request.
(j) If a ticket obtained by an excavator expires but work is
ongoing, the excavator shall call into the regional notification
center and get a new ticket and wait a minimum of two working
days, not including the date of call in, before restarting
excavation. All excavation shall cease during the waiting
period.
SEC. 6. SEC. 5. Section 4216.3 of the Government Code is amended
to read:
4216.3. (a) (1) (A) Unless the excavator and operator mutually
agree to a later start date and time, or otherwise agree to the
sequence and timeframe in which the operator will locate and
field mark, an operator shall do one of the following before the
legal excavation start date and time:
(i) Locate and field mark within the area delineated for
excavation and, where multiple subsurface installations of the
same type are known to exist together, mark the number of
subsurface installations.
(ii) To the extent and degree of accuracy that the information
is available, provide information to an excavator where the
operator's active or inactive subsurface installations are
located.
(iii) Advise the excavator it operates no subsurface
installations in the area delineated for excavation.
(B) An operator shall mark newly installed subsurface
installations in areas with continuing excavation activity.
(C) An operator shall indicate with an "A" inside a circle the
presence of any abandoned subsurface installations, if known,
within the delineated area. The markings are to make an
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excavator aware that there are abandoned subsurface
installations within that delineated work area.
(2) Only a qualified person shall perform subsurface
installation locating activities.
(3) A qualified person performing subsurface installation
locating activities on behalf of an operator shall use a minimum
of a single-frequency utility locating device and shall have
access to alternative sources for verification, if necessary.
(4) An operator shall amend, update, maintain, and preserve all
plans and records for its subsurface installations as that
information becomes known. If there is a change in ownership of
a subsurface installation, the records shall be turned over to
the new operator. Commencing January 1, 2017, records on
abandoned subsurface installations, to the extent that those
records exist, shall be retained.
(b) If the field marks are no longer reasonably visible, an
excavator shall renotify the regional notification center with a
request for remarks that can be for all or a portion of the
excavation. Excavation shall cease in the area to be remarked.
If the delineation markings are no longer reasonably visible,
the excavator shall redelineate the area to be remarked. If
remarks are requested, the operator shall have two working days,
not including the date of request, to remark the subsurface
installation. If the area to be remarked is not the full extent
of the original excavation, the excavator shall delineate the
portion to be remarked and provide a description of the area
requested to be remarked on the ticket. The excavator shall
provide a description for the area to be remarked that falls
within the area of the original location request.
(c) Every operator may supply an electronic positive response
through the regional notification center before the legal
excavation start date and time. The regional notification center
shall make those responses available.
(d) The excavator shall notify the appropriate regional
notification center of the failure of an operator to identify
subsurface installations pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), or subdivision (b). The
notification shall include the ticket issued by the regional
notification center. A record of all notifications received
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pursuant to this subdivision shall be maintained by the regional
notification center for a period of not less than three years.
The record shall be available for inspection pursuant to
subdivision (h) of Section 4216.2.
(e) If an operator or local agency knows that it has a
subsurface installation embedded or partially embedded in the
pavement that is not visible from the surface, the operator or
local agency shall contact the excavator before pavement removal
to communicate and determine a plan of action to protect that
subsurface installation and excavator.
SEC. 7. SEC. 6. Section 4216.4 of the Government Code is amended
to read:
4216.4. (a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), if an
excavation is within the tolerance zone of a subsurface
installation, the excavator shall determine the exact location
of the subsurface installations in conflict with the excavation
using hand tools before using any power-driven excavation or
boring equipment within the tolerance zone of the subsurface
installations. In all cases the excavator shall use reasonable
care to prevent damaging subsurface installations.
(2) (A) An excavator may use a vacuum excavation device to
expose subsurface installations within the tolerance zone if the
operator has marked the subsurface installation, the excavator
has contacted any operator whose subsurface installations may be
in conflict with the excavation, and the operator has agreed to
the use of a vacuum excavation device. An excavator shall inform
the regional notification center of his or her intent to use a
vacuum excavation device when obtaining a ticket.
(B) An excavator may use power-operated or boring equipment for
the removal of any existing pavement only if there is no known
subsurface installation contained in the pavement.
(3) An excavator shall presume all subsurface installations to
be active, and shall use the same care around subsurface
installations that may be inactive as the excavator would use
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around active subsurface installations.
(b) If the exact location of the subsurface installation cannot
be determined by hand excavating in accordance with subdivision
(a), the excavator shall request the operator to provide
additional information to the excavator, to the extent that
information is available to the operator, to enable the
excavator to determine the exact location of the installation.
If the excavator has questions about the markings that an
operator has placed, the excavator may contact the notification
center to send a request to have the operator contact the
excavator directly. The regional notification center shall
provide the excavator with the contact telephone number of the
subsurface installation operator.
(c) An excavator discovering or causing damage to a subsurface
installation, including all breaks, leaks, nicks, dents, gouges,
grooves, or other damage to subsurface installation lines,
conduits, coatings, or cathodic protection, shall immediately
notify the subsurface installation operator. The excavator may
contact the regional notification center to obtain the contact
information of the subsurface installation operator. If high
priority subsurface installations are damaged and the operator
cannot be contacted immediately, the excavator shall call 911
emergency services.
(d) Each excavator, operator, or locator shall communicate with
each other and respect the appropriate safety requirements and
ongoing activities of the other parties, if known, at an
excavation site.
SEC. 8. SEC. 7. Section 4216.5 of the Government Code is amended
to read:
4216.5. The requirements of this article apply to state agencies
and to local agencies that own or operate subsurface
installations, except as otherwise provided in Section 4216.1. A
local agency that is required to provide the services described
in Section 4216.3 may charge a fee in an amount sufficient to
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cover the cost of providing that service.
SEC. 9. SEC. 8. Section 4216.6 of the Government Code is amended
to read:
4216.6. (a) (1) Any operator or excavator who negligently
violates this article is subject to a civil penalty in an amount
not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(2) Any operator or excavator who knowingly and willfully
violates any of the provisions of this article is subject to a
civil penalty in an amount not to exceed fifty thousand dollars
($50,000).
(3) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this article,
this section is not intended to affect any civil remedies
otherwise provided by law for personal injury or for property
damage, including any damage to subsurface installations, nor is
this section intended to create any new civil remedies for those
injuries or that damage.
(4) This article shall not be construed to limit any other
provision of law granting governmental immunity to state or
local agencies or to impose any liability or duty of care not
otherwise imposed by law upon any state or local agency.
(b) An action may be brought by the Attorney General, the
district attorney, or the local or state agency that issued the
permit to excavate, for the enforcement of the civil penalty
pursuant to this section in a civil action brought in the name
of the people of the State of California. If penalties are
collected as a result of a civil suit brought by a state or
local agency for collection of those civil penalties, the
penalties imposed shall be paid to the general fund of the
agency. If more than one agency is involved in enforcement, the
penalties imposed shall be apportioned among them by the court
in a manner that will fairly offset the relative costs incurred
by the state or local agencies, or both, in collecting these
fees.
(c) The requirements of this article may also be enforced
following a recommendation of the California Underground
Facilities Safe Excavation Advisory Committee by a state or
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local agency, which may include the Attorney General or a
district attorney, with jurisdiction over the activity or
business undertaken in commission of the violation. The
following agencies Board by the following agencies, who shall
act to accept, amend, or reject the recommendations of the
advisory committee as follows: board:
(1) The Registrar of Contractors of the Contractors' State
License Board shall enforce the provisions of this article on
contractors, as defined in Article 2 (commencing with Section
7025) of Chapter 9 of Division 3 of the Business and Professions
Code.
(2) The Public Utilities Commission shall enforce the provisions
of this article on gas corporations, as defined in Section 222
of the Public Utilities Code, and electrical corporations, as
defined in Section 218 of the Public Utilities Code , and water
corporations, as defined in Section 241 of the Public Utilities
Code.
(3) The Office of the State Fire Marshal shall enforce the
provisions of this article on operators of hazardous liquid
pipeline facilities, as defined in Section 60101 of Chapter 601
of Subtitle VIII of Title 49 of the United States Code.
(d) The local governing board may enforce the provisions of this
article on local agencies under the governing board's
jurisdiction.
(e) California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board
shall enforce the provisions of this article on persons other
than those listed in subdivision (c) and (d).
(f) Moneys collected as a result of penalties imposed pursuant
to subdivisions (c) and (e) shall be deposited in the Safe
Energy Infrastructure and Excavation Fund.
(d) (g) Statewide information provided by operators and
excavators regarding facility incident events shall be compiled
and made available in an annual report by regional notification
centers and posted on the Internet Web sites of the regional
notification centers.
(e) (h) For purposes of subdivision (d), (g), the following
terms have the following meanings:
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(1) " Facility Incident event" means the occurrence of excavator
downtime, damages, near misses, and violations.
(2) "Statewide information" means information submitted by
operators and excavators using the California Regional Common
Ground Alliance's Virtual Private Damage Information Reporting
Tool. Supplied data shall comply with the Damage Information
Reporting Tool's minimum essential information as listed in the
most recent version of the Best Practices guide of the Common
Ground Alliance.
SEC. 10. SEC. 9. Section 4216.7 of the Government Code is amended
to read:
4216.7. (a) If a subsurface installation is damaged by an
excavator as a result of failing to comply with Section 4216.2
or 4216.4, or subdivision (b) of Section 4216.3, or as a result
of failing to comply with the operator's requests to protect the
subsurface installation as specified by the operator before the
start of excavation, the excavator shall be liable to the
operator of the subsurface installation for resulting damages,
costs, and expenses to the extent the damages, costs, and
expenses were proximately caused by the excavator's failure to
comply.
(b) If an operator has failed to become a member of, participate
in, or share in the costs of, a regional notification center,
that operator shall forfeit his or her claim for damages to his
or her subsurface installation arising from an excavation
against an excavator who has complied with this article to the
extent damages were proximately caused by the operator's failure
to comply with this article.
(c) If an operator of a subsurface installation without a
reasonable basis, as determined by a court of competent
jurisdiction, has failed to comply with the provisions of
Section 4216.3, including, but not limited to, the requirement
to field mark the appropriate location of subsurface
installations within two working days of notification, as
defined by subdivision (y) (m) of Section 4216 and subdivision
(b) of Section 4216.2, has failed to comply with subdivision (c)
of Section 4216.2, or has failed to comply with subdivision (b)
of Section 4216.4, the operator shall be liable for damages to
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the excavator who has complied with Section 4216.2, subdivisions
(b) and (d) of Section 4216.3, and Section 4216.4, including
liquidated damages, liability, losses, costs, and expenses,
actually incurred by the excavator, resulting from the
operator's failure to comply with these specified requirements
to the extent the damages, costs, and expenses were proximately
caused by the operator's failure to comply.
(d) An excavator who damages a subsurface installation due to an
inaccurate field mark by an operator, or by a third party under
contract to perform field marking for the operator, shall not be
liable for damages, replacement costs, or other expenses arising
from damages to the subsurface installation if the excavator
complied with Sections 4216.2 and 4216.4.
This section is not intended to create any presumption or to
affect the burden of proof in any action for personal injuries
or property damage, other than damage to the subsurface
installation, nor is this section intended to affect, create, or
eliminate any remedy for personal injury or property damage,
other than damage to the subsurface installation.
(e) For the purposes of this section, "inaccurate field mark"
means a mark, or set of markings, made pursuant to Section
4216.3, that did not correctly indicate the approximate location
of a subsurface installation affected by an excavation and
includes the actual physical location of a subsurface
installation affected by an excavation that should have been
marked pursuant to Section 4216.3 but was not.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to do any of the
following:
(1) Affect claims including, but not limited to, third-party
claims brought against the excavator or operator by other
parties for damages arising from the excavation.
(2) Exempt the excavator or operator from his or her duty to
mitigate any damages as required by common or other applicable
law.
(3) Exempt the excavator or operator from liability to each
other or third parties based on equitable indemnity or
comparative or contributory negligence.
SEC. 11. Section 4216.8 of the Government Code is amended to
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read:
4216.8. This article does not apply to either of the following
persons:
(a) An owner of residential real property, not engaged as a
contractor or subcontractor licensed pursuant to Article 5
(commencing with Section 7065) of Chapter 9 of Division 3 of the
Business and Professions Code, who, as part of improving his or
her principal residence or an appurtenance thereto, is
performing or is having an excavation performed using hand
tools, including the installations of temporary real estate
signposts, that does not require a permit issued by a state or
local agency. A person described in this subdivision is not an
"excavator" as defined in subdivision (h) of Section 4216,
however this subdivision shall not discourage a person from
voluntarily notifying a regional notification center pursuant to
Section 4216.2, and does not relieve an operator of a subsurface
facility from the obligation to locate and field mark pursuant
to Section 4216.3 following the notification. Notwithstanding
Section 4216.2, an owner of real residential property is not
required to wait until 14 calendar days before the beginning of
an excavation to notify the regional notification center, but
rather may do so at any time at least two working days before
beginning an excavation to learn the locations of subsurface
installations on his or her property. This subdivision does not
relieve a person performing excavation activities from a duty of
reasonable care to prevent damage to subsurface installations,
and failure to exercise reasonable care may result in liability
for damage to a subsurface installation that is proximately
caused by those activities.
(b) Any person or private entity that leases or rents power
operated or power-driven excavating or boring equipment,
regardless of whether an equipment operator is provided for that
piece of equipment or not, to a contractor or subcontractor
licensed pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 7065) of
Chapter 9 of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code, if
the signed rental agreement between the person or private entity
and the contractor or subcontractor contains the following
provision:
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"It is the sole responsibility of the lessee or renter to follow
the requirements of the regional notification center law
pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 4216) of Chapter
3.1 of Division 5 of Title 1 of the Government Code. By signing
this contract, the lessee or renter accepts all liabilities and
responsibilities contained in the regional notification center
law."
SEC. 12. SEC. 10.
Section 4216.9 of the Government Code is amended to read:
4216.9. (a) A permit to excavate issued by any local agency, as
defined in Section 4216, or any state agency, shall not be valid
unless the applicant has been provided an initial ticket by a
regional notification center pursuant to Section 4216.2. For
purposes of this section, "state agency" means every state
agency, department, division, bureau, board, or commission,
including the Department of Transportation.
(b) This article does not exempt any person or corporation from
Sections 7951, 7952, and 7953 of the Public Utilities Code.
SEC. 13. SEC. 11.
Section 4216.12 is added to the Government Code, to read:
4216.12. (a) The California Underground Facilities Safe
Excavation Advisory Committee Board is hereby created under, and
shall be assisted by the staff of, the Contractors' State
License Board in the Department of Consumer Affairs. Office of
the State Fire Marshall.
(b) The advisory committee board shall perform the following
tasks:
(1) Coordinate education and outreach activities that encourage
safe excavation practices, as described in Section 4216.17.
(2) Develop standards, as described in Section 4216.18.
(3) Investigate possible violations of this article, as
described in Section 4216.19.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the repeal of this section
renders the advisory committee subject to review by the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature.
(d) This section shall remain in effect so long as, pursuant to
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subdivision (c) of Section 7000.5 of the Business and
Professions Code, there is in the Department of Consumer Affairs
a Contractors' State License Board.
(e) This section shall become operative only if the Legislature
appropriates moneys from the Safe Energy Infrastructure and
Excavation Fund to the California Underground Facilities Safe
Excavation Advisory Committee for the purposes of this section
and grants authority to the Contractors' State License Board to
hire sufficient staff.
(4) Enforce the article, to the extent authorized by subdivision
(e) of Section 4216.6.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, on and after January 1, 2019,
the board shall be subject to review by the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature.
SEC. 14. SEC. 12.
Section 4216.13 is added to the Government Code, to read:
4216.13. (a) The advisory committee board shall be composed of
nine members, of which four s even shall be appointed by the
Governor, three shall be appointed by the Contractors' State
License Board, one shall be appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly, and one shall be appointed by the Senate Committee on
Rules.
(b) The four Seven members appointed by the Governor shall be
appointed, as follows:
(1) Three members shall have knowledge and expertise in the
operation of subsurface installations. Of those three members,
one shall have knowledge and expertise in the operation of the
subsurface installations of a municipal utility. At least one of
the three members shall have knowledge and experience in the
operation of high priority subsurface installations.
(2) One member shall have knowledge and expertise in subsurface
installation location and marking and shall not be under the
direct employment of an operator.
(c) The three (2) Three members appointed by the Contractors'
State License Board shall have knowledge and experience in
contract excavation for employers who are not operators of
subsurface installations. Of the three members, one member shall
be a general engineering contractor, one member shall be a
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general building contractor, and one member shall be a specialty
contractor. For the purposes of this section, the terms "general
engineering contractor," "general building contractor," and
"specialty contractor" shall have the meanings given in Article
4 (commencing with Section 7055) of Chapter 9 of Division 3 of
the Business and Professions Code.
(3) One member shall have knowledge and expertise in subsurface
installation location and marking and shall not be under the
direct employment of an operator.
(d) The member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly shall
have knowledge and expertise in representing in safety matters
the workers employed by contract excavators.
(e) The member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules shall
have knowledge and expertise in managing the underground
installations on one's own property, and may be drawn from
agricultural, commercial, or residential, or other, property
sectors.
(f) The advisory committee board may invite two directors of
operations of regional notification centers to be nonvoting ex
officio members of the advisory committee. board.
SEC. 15. SEC. 13. Section 4216.14 is added to the Government
Code, to read:
4216.14. (a) The term of a member of the advisory committee board
is two four years. Of the first members of the advisory
committee, board, four members, determined by lot, shall serve
for one year two years so that the terms of the members shall be
staggered.
(b) A member shall not be appointed for more than two
consecutive full terms.
(c) To the extent possible, the appointing power shall fill any
vacancy in the membership of the advisory committee board within
60 days after the vacancy occurs.
(d) Upon the recommendation of the advisory committee, board, the
Governor may remove a member appointed by the Governor for
incompetence or misconduct.
(e) The advisory committee board shall select a chairperson from
among its members at the first meeting of each calendar year or
when a vacancy in the chair exists.
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(f) Subject to subdivision (g), the manner in which the
chairperson is selected and the chairperson's term of office
shall be determined by the advisory committee. board.
(g) A member of the advisory committee board shall not serve more
than two consecutive years as the chairperson of the advisory
committee. board.
SEC. 16. SEC. 14. Section 4216.15 is added to the Government
Code, to read:
4216.15. The advisory committee board shall meet at least once
every three months. The advisory committee board shall hold
meetings in Sacramento and Los Angeles, and in other locations
in the state it deems necessary.
SEC. 17. SEC. 15. Section 4216.16 is added to the Government
Code, to read:
4216.16. The advisory committee board may obtain funding for its
operational expenses from:
(a) The Safe Energy Infrastructure and Excavation Fund, created
in Section 320.5 of the Public Utilities Code.
(b) (a) A federal or state grant.
(c) (b) A fee charged to members of the regional notification
centers not to exceed the reasonable regulatory cost incident to
enforcement of this article. Revenues derived from the
imposition of this fee shall be deposited in the Safe Energy
Infrastructure and Excavation Fund.
(d) A filing or administrative fee to hear a complaint pursuant
to Section 4216.20.
(e) (c) Any other source.
SEC. 18. SEC. 16. Section 4216.17 is added to the Government
Code, to read:
4216.17. (a) In order to understand the needs for education and
outreach, including of those groups with the highest awareness
and education needs, such as homeowners, and to facilitate
discussion on how to coordinate those efforts, the advisory
committee board shall annually convene a meeting with state and
local government agencies, California operators, regional
notification centers, and trade associations that fund outreach
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and education programs that encourage safe excavation practices.
(b) The advisory committee board shall use the annual meeting
described in subdivision (a) to determine the areas in which
additional education and outreach efforts should be targeted.
The advisory committee board shall grant the use of the moneys
that may be apportioned to it by the Public Utilities Commission
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 320.5 of
the Public Utilities Code in the Safe Energy Infrastructure and
Excavation Fund to fund public education and outreach programs
designed to promote excavation safety around subsurface
installations and target targeted towards specific excavator
groups, giving priority to those with the highest awareness and
education needs, such as homeowners.
SEC. 19. SEC. 17. Section 4216.18 is added to the Government
Code, to read:
4216.18. (a) The advisory committee board shall develop a
standard or set of standards relevant to safety practices in
excavating around subsurface installations and procedures and
guidance in encouraging those practices. When possible,
standards should be informed by public ly publicly available
data, such as that collected by state and federal agencies and
by the regional notification centers pursuant to subdivision
(d) (g) of Section 4216.6, and the advisory committee board should
refrain from using data about facility events not provided
either to a state or federal agency or as statewide information,
as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) (h) of Section
4216.6. The standard or set of standards are not intended to
replace other relevant standards, including the best practices
of the Common Ground Alliance, but are to inform areas currently
without established standards. The standard or set of standards
shall address all of the following:
(1) (a) Evidence necessary for excavators and operators to
demonstrate compliance with Sections 4216.2, 4216.3, and 4216.4.
(2) (b) Guidance for recommended sanctions against excavators and
operators for violations of the article designed to improve
safety. Sanctions may include notification and information
letters, direction to attend relevant education, and financial
penalties. The guidance shall state the circumstances under
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which the investigation and a recommendation for sanction shall
be transmitted to a state or local agency, which may include the
Attorney General or a district attorney, for enforcement
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 4216.20 and may allow for
a decision not to transmit if the investigation was initiated by
a complaint, the parties have settled the matter, and the
advisory committee has determined that further enforcement is
not necessary as a deterrent to maintain the integrity of
subsurface installations and to protect the safety of excavators
and the public. Recommendations for sanctions shall be graduated
and shall consider all of the following:
(A) (1) The type of violation and its gravity.
(B) (2) The degree of culpability.
(C) (3) The operator's or excavator's history of violations.
(D) (4) The operator's or excavator's history of work conducted
without violations.
(E) (5) The efforts taken by the violator to prevent violation,
and, once the violation occurred, the efforts taken to mitigate
the safety consequences of the violation.
(F) (6) That homeowners have high awareness and education needs,
and for this reason, financial penalties shall not be
recommended except in cases in which a person's violations have
been willful, repeated, and flagrant.
(3) (c) What constitutes reasonable care, as required by
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 4216.4, in using
hand tools around subsurface installations within the tolerance
zone, considering the need to balance worker safety in trenches
with the protection of subsurface installations. As part of
determining reasonable care, the advisory committee shall
consider the appropriate additional excavating depth an
excavator should make if either of the following occur:
(A) (1) The subsurface installation is delineated within the
tolerance zone but it is not in conflict with the excavation.
(B) (2) The location of a subsurface installation is determined,
but additional subsurface installations may exist immediately
below the located subsurface installation.
(4) (d) What constitutes reasonable care, as required by
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 4216.4, in grading
activities on road shoulders and dirt roads which may include
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standards for potholing.
(b) On or before December 31, 2018, the advisory committee
shall, in consultation with the Department of Food and
Agriculture and after an agricultural stakeholder process, make
recommendations for long-term treatment of agricultural
activities that include determining whether the notification
requirements of Section 4216.2, the locate and field mark
requirements of Section 4216.3, and the excavation requirements
of Section 4216.4 are appropriate for all types of agricultural
activities, or whether they could be modified in ways to promote
participation in safe agricultural practices around high
priority subsurface installations.
(1) The recommendations shall be informed by a study that
includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(A) A review of past damages attributable to agricultural
activities, including information provided by gas corporations
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 971 of the Public
Utilities Code.
(B) Estimations of the use of regional notification centers by
persons involved in agricultural activities provided by gas
corporations, including the methodology used for the development
of, the sources of error in, and confidence intervals for the
estimations, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 971 of the
Public Utilities Code.
(C) A review of the outreach and education practices of
operators of high priority subsurface installations toward
persons who undertake agricultural activities and measures of
the successes of those practices, with an explanation of how the
measure of success is defined.
(D) A review of existing standards for operator communication
with excavators, such as Recommended Practice 1162 by the
American Petroleum Institute.
(2) The recommendations shall address the following questions:
(A) Do agricultural activities differ from common types of
excavation in ways that may affect the applicability of Sections
4216.2, 4216.3, and 4216.4 to agricultural activities?
(B) Should a person notify the regional notification center
before undertaking agricultural activities that are not in the
vicinity of subsurface installations? What is a sufficient means
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by which a person would know if there are subsurface
installations in the vicinity?
(C) What is the benefit of the requirement in subdivision (c) of
Section 4216.2 for an onsite meeting in advance of the
performance of agricultural activities in the vicinity of high
priority subsurface installations? Under what circumstances is
an onsite meeting appropriate in advance of the performance of
agricultural activities, and how far in advance of the
performance of agricultural activities does the onsite meeting
requirement retain its benefit? What is the most convenient and
expedient means to initiate an onsite meeting in advance of the
performance of agricultural activities?
(D) What outreach and education activities on the part of
operators of high priority subsurface installations are
important to promote safety in performing agricultural
activities? What actions should the outreach and education
activities induce in persons performing agricultural activities,
and how can success be measured?
(E) How should the success of the advisory committee's
recommendations be measured?
SEC. 20. SEC. 18. Section 4216.19 is added to the Government
Code, to read:
4216.19. (a) The advisory committee board shall investigate
possible violations of this article, including complaints from
affected parties and members of the public. article.
(b) The board may investigate reports of incident events, as
defined by paragraph (1) of subdivision (h) of Section 4216.6
and complaints from affected parties and members of the public.
(c) In determining whether to pursue an investigation, the board
shall consider whether the parties have settled the matter and
whether further enforcement is necessary as a deterrent to
maintain the integrity of subsurface installations and to
protect the safety of excavators and the public.
(b) (d) In furthering the purposes of this article, the advisory
committee to the extent resources allow, the board may authorize
staff allocated to it by the Contractors' State License Board
Office of the State Fire Marshall to use compliance audits,
including field audits, and investigations of incidents and
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near-misses.
(c) (e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2018.
SEC. 21. SEC. 19. Section 4216.20 is added to the Government
Code, to read:
4216.20. (a) Upon the completion of an investigation of a
possible violation of this article, the advisory committee board
shall inform the following parties of the result of the
investigation, including any findings of probable violation:
(1) The party or parties whose activities were the subject of
the investigation.
(2) The complainant, if the investigation was initiated because
of a complaint.
(3) Any excavator or operator whose activities or subsurface
installations were involved in the incident investigated.
(b) If the advisory committee, board, upon the completion of an
investigation, finds a probable violation of the article, the
advisory committee board may transmit the investigation results
and any recommended penalty to the state or local agency with
jurisdiction over the activity or business undertaken in
commission of the violation. violation, pursuant to subdivision
(c) of Section 4216.6, and may take action pursuant to
subdivision (e) of Section 4216.6.
SEC. 22. SEC. 20. Section 4216.21 is added to the Government
Code, to read:
4216.21. (a) For an investigation that the advisory committee
board undertakes as a result of a complaint of a violation of
Sections 4216.2, 4216.3, or 4216.4, the complainant shall not
file an action in court for damages based on those violations
until the investigation is complete, or for 120 days after the
investigation begins, whichever comes first, during which time,
applicable statutes of limitation shall be tolled.
(b) If a complainant files an action in court against a person
for damages based upon violations of Sections 4216.2, 4216.3, or
4216.4, after the completion of an advisory committee board
investigation in which the person was found not to have violated
the article, the complainant shall also notify the advisory
committee board when the action is filed.
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(c) This section only applies to a claim for damages to a
subsurface installation.
SEC. 21. Section 4216.22 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
4216.22. The board may prescribe rules and regulations as may be
necessary or proper to carry out the purposes and intent of this
act and to exercise the powers and duties conferred upon it by
this act, not inconsistent with any statute of this state.
SEC. 23. SEC. 22. Section 4216.22 4216.23 is added to the
Government Code, to read:
4216.22. 4216.23. (a) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5, the
advisory committee board shall report to the Governor and the
Legislature on or before February 1, 2018, and each year
thereafter, on the activities of the advisory committee board
and any recommendations of the advisory committee. board.
(b) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
be submitted in compliance with Section 9795.
SEC. 24. Section 17921.11 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
17921.11. (a) During the next regularly scheduled intervening
code cycle that commences on or after January 1, 2016, or during
a subsequent code adoption cycle, the department shall develop
and propose for adoption by the California Building Standards
Commission, pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section
18935) of Part 2.5, building standards requiring all new
residential nonpressurized building sewers that connect from
building structures to the public right-of-way or applicable
utility easement to include the installation of tracer tape or
wire to aid in detection and tracing of these nonpressurized
building sewers.
(b) In researching, developing, and proposing building standards
under this section, the Department of Housing and Community
Development is authorized to expend funds from the Building
Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund, upon
appropriation pursuant to Section 18931.7.
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SEC. 25. Section 18940.8 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
18940.8.(a) During the next regularly scheduled intervening code
cycle that commences on or after January 1, 2016, or during a
subsequent code adoption cycle, the commission shall develop and
propose for adoption, pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 18935) of Part 2.5, building standards requiring all new
nonresidential nonpressurized building sewers that connect from
building structures to the public right-of-way or applicable
utility easement to include the installation of tracer tape or
wire to aid in detection and tracing of these nonpressurized
building sewers.
(b) In researching, developing, and proposing building standards
under this section, the California Building Standard Commission
is authorized to expend funds from the Building Standards
Administration Special Revolving Fund, upon appropriation
pursuant to Section 18931.7.
SEC. 26. Section 320.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
320.5. (a) The Safe Energy Infrastructure and Excavation Fund is
hereby established in the State Treasury. Moneys deposited into
the fund shall be used to cover the administrative expenses of
the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Advisory
Committee, upon appropriation by the Legislature. Additionally,
the moneys may be used as described in subdivision (b).
(b) Up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) of moneys in
the fund that are in excess of the moneys necessary for the
administrative expenses of the California Underground Facilities
Safe Excavation Advisory Committee may, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, be apportioned by the commission for the
following purposes:
(1) The California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation
Advisory Committee, to fund public education and outreach
programs designed to promote excavation safety around subsurface
installations and targeted toward specific excavator groups.
(2) The commission, to further a gas and electric safety and
enforcement workforce development program consistent with its
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equal employment opportunity program. No moneys shall be used to
fulfill existing state and federal training requirements or for
ongoing operations, but moneys may be used for the purpose of
education in emergent safety issues and in best practices
pertaining to gas and electric utility inspections, audits,
accident investigations, and data tracking and analysis. The
commission may only apportion moneys for this purpose upon
commission approval of a safety and enforcement workforce
development program at a meeting of the commission. No more than
one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) of the Safe Energy
Infrastructure and Excavation Fund may be used for this purpose.
(c) Any moneys not allocated pursuant to subdivisions (a) and
(b) shall be deposited into the General Fund.
SEC. 27. Section 911.2 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
911.2. No later than February 1, 2019, the commission shall
report to the Legislature and to the California Underground
Facilities Safe Excavation Advisory Committee an analysis of
excavation damage to commission-regulated pipeline facilities.
The report shall include analyses of the types of damages and
other information described in Section 971.
SEC. 28. Section 955.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
955.5. (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms
have the following meanings:
(1) "Gas pipeline" means an intrastate distribution line as
described in paragraph (1) of, or an intrastate transmission
line as described in paragraph (2) of, Section 950.
(2) "Hospital" means a licensed general acute care hospital as
defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250 of the Health and
Safety Code.
(3) "School" means a public or private preschool, elementary, or
secondary school.
(b) A gas corporation shall provide not less than three working
days' notice to the administration of a school or hospital prior
to undertaking nonemergency excavation or construction of a gas
pipeline, excluding any work which only uses hand tools,
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pneumatic hand tools, or vacuum technology for the purpose of
marking and locating a subsurface installation pursuant to
Article 2 (commencing with Section 4216) of Chapter 3.1 of
Division 5 of Title 1 of the Government Code, if the work is
located within 500 feet of the school or hospital. The
notification shall include all of the following:
(1) The name, address, telephone number, and emergency contact
information for the gas corporation.
(2) The specific location of the gas pipeline where the
excavation or construction will be performed.
(3) The date and time the excavation or construction is to be
conducted and when the work is expected to be completed.
(4) An invitation and a telephone number to call for further
information on what the school or hospital should do in the
event of a leak.
(c) The gas corporation shall maintain a record of the date and
time of any notification provided to the administration of a
school or hospital prior to undertaking nonemergency excavation
or construction of a gas pipeline and any subsequent contacts
with the administration of a school or hospital relative to the
excavation or construction and the actions taken, if any, in
response to those subsequent contacts. The gas corporation shall
maintain these records and make them available for inspection
for no less than five years from the date of the notification.
SEC. 29. Section 971 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
971. (a) As a part of its damage prevention program carried out
pursuant to Section 192.614 of Part 192 of Title 49 of the Code
of Federal Regulations, each gas corporation shall collect data
to inform its outreach activities. Until January 1, 2020, the
data shall include all of the following:
(1) Damages to underground commission-related pipeline
facilities that occurred during the performance of landscaping
activities. Each gas corporation shall note in its investigation
of excavation damage incidents the approximate depth of the gas
facility at the time of damage, the type of excavator involved,
which may include "homeowner," "licensed contractor," or
"unlicensed contractor," and whether the excavator had called
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the regional notification center before performing the
excavation.
(2) All claims filed by the gas corporation against an excavator
for damage to commission-regulated pipeline facilities.
(3) Damages to underground commission-related pipeline
facilities that occurred in the installation of temporary real
estate signposts. Each gas corporation shall note in its
investigation of excavation damage incidents the type of
signpost installed and the method of installation, including the
types of tools used.
(4) Damages to underground commission-regulated pipeline
facilities that occurred during agricultural activities,
including the type of activity performed and the type of tool
involved in the damage.
(5) Any other information that the commission shall require.
(b) Until January 1, 2020, each gas corporation shall annually
report to the commission and to the California Underground
Facilities Safe Excavation Advisory Committee excavation damage
data and analyses contained in subdivision (a) in a format of
the commission's choosing.
(c) As a part of its damage prevention program carried out
pursuant to Section 192.614 of Part 192 of Title 49 of the Code
of Federal Regulations, each gas corporation shall estimate
Californians' use of regional notification centers, as defined
in Section 4216 of the Government Code, before conducting
agricultural activities. This estimation shall consider the use
of regional notification centers before conducting agricultural
activities that are both in the vicinity of its natural gas
transmission pipelines and not in the vicinity of its natural
gas transmission pipelines. Each gas corporation shall provide
this estimate to the commission and to the California
Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Advisory Committee on or
before July 1, 2016. In performing this estimation, each gas
corporation shall do all of the following:
(1) Estimate the amount and locations of agricultural activity
being performed by using relevant publically available
information, such as maps prepared pursuant to the Farmland
Mapping and Monitoring Program of the California Natural
Resources Agency, information from the National Agricultural
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Statistics Service, and information available from assessor
parcel numbers.
(2) Determine the number and locations of notifications to
regional notification centers for excavation activities on
agricultural land by using information from its own mark and
locate activities and, to the extent the information is
available, from the regional notification centers or other
sources.
(3) For notifications in the vicinity of its natural gas
transmission pipelines, determine the average number of
notifications on agricultural land per transmission pipeline
mile per year as well as a histogram to describe the number of
transmission pipeline intervals Y, in units of the best
available precision, on which X notifications occurred, where X
increases from zero.
(4) Describe the methodology used for the development of any
estimates and identify sources of error in the estimation and a
confidence interval for the estimation.
SEC. 30. Section 1702.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
1702.5. (a) The commission shall, in an existing or new
proceeding, develop and implement a safety enforcement program
applicable to gas corporations and electrical corporations that
includes procedures for monitoring, data tracking and analysis,
and investigations, as well as issuance of citations by
commission staff, under the direction of the executive director.
The enforcement program shall be designed to improve gas and
electrical system safety through the enforcement of applicable
law, or order or rule of the commission related to safety using
a variety of enforcement mechanisms, including the issuance of
corrective actions, orders, and citations by designated
commission staff, and recommendations for action made to the
commission by designated commission staff.
(1) When considering the issuance of citations and assessment of
penalties, the commission staff shall take into account
voluntary reporting of potential violations, voluntary removal
or resolution efforts undertaken, the prior history of
violations, the gravity of the violation, and the degree of
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culpability.
(2) The procedures shall include, but are not limited to,
providing notice of violation within a reasonable period of time
after the discovery of the violation.
(3) The commission shall adopt an administrative limit on the
amount of monetary penalty that may be set by commission staff.
(b) The commission shall develop and implement an appeals
process to govern the issuance and appeal of citations or
resolution of corrective action orders issued by the commission
staff. The appeals process shall provide the respondent a
reasonable period of time, upon receiving a citation, to file a
notice of appeal, shall afford an opportunity for a hearing, and
shall require the hearing officer to expeditiously provide a
draft disposition.
(c) The commission shall, within a reasonable time set by the
commission, conclude a safety enforcement action with a finding
of violation, a corrective action order, a citation, a
determination of no violation, approval of the corrective
actions undertaken by the gas corporation or electrical
corporation, or other action. The commission may institute a
formal proceeding regarding the alleged violation, potentially
resulting in additional enforcement action, regardless of any
enforcement action taken at the commission staff level.
(d) The commission shall implement the safety enforcement
program for gas safety by July 1, 2014, and implement the safety
enforcement program for electrical safety no later than January
1, 2015.
(e) This section does not apply to an exempt wholesale
generator, a qualifying small power producer, or qualifying
cogenerator, as defined in Section 796 of Title 16 of the United
States Code and the regulations enacted pursuant thereto.
Nothing in this section affects the commission's authority
pursuant to Section 761.3.
(f) Notwithstanding any other law, moneys collected as a result
of the issuance of citations pursuant to this section shall be
deposited in the Safe Energy Infrastructure and Excavation Fund.
SEC. 23. Section 4216.24 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
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4216.24. The Safe Energy Infrastructure and Excavation Fund is
hereby established in the State Treasury. Moneys deposited in
the fund shall be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature,
for both of the following purposes:
(a) To cover the operational expenses of the board. Any revenues
derived from penalties imposed pursuant to Section 4216.6 shall
not be used for operational expenses.
(b) For the purposes specified in subdivision (b) of Section
4216.17. Any revenues derived from the fee imposed pursuant to
Section 4216.16 shall not be used for this purpose.
4)Prior Legislation:
AB 73 (Elder), Chapter 928, Statutes of 1989: Created
California's one-call law, requiring facility owners to
participate in the one-call notification centers, mandatory
calling before excavation, use safe excavation practices, and
penalties for noncompliance.
SB 1359 (Torlakson), Chapter 651, Statutes of 2006: Required
onsite meetings between excavators and operators when an
excavation was to take place near the most dangerous lines,
such as high-pressure gas and petroleum lines and high-voltage
electric lines. The bill also required the notification to an
operator in the case of a damage or the discovery of a prior
damage, specified the qualifications for locating underground
infrastructure, and added liability provisions.
AB 1514 (Lowenthal) of 2012: Increased the maximum fine for a
violation of the "one-call" law from $10,000 to $100,000 and
would have placed the CPUC in charge of investigating
excavation damages and referring the investigations to the
Attorney General or a district attorney for action. Died in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
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AB 811 (Lowenthal), Chapter 250, Statutes of 2013: Required
the regional notification centers (or "one-call" centers) to
annually report on subsurface facility damages voluntarily
reported to those centers from excavators and utilities. An
earlier version would have set education requirements as a
condition of obtaining a license from CSLB, but that
requirement was stripped from the bill in the Assembly.
SB 119 (Hill) of 2015: Modified laws governing excavations
near subsurface installations. Vetoed by Governor.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Associated General Contractors of California
AT&T
California Labor Federation
California State Council of Laborers
Construction Employers Association
National Electrical Contractors Association
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California Legislative Conference of the Plumbing, Heating and
Piping Industry
United Contractors
Western Line Constructors Chapter
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Sue Kateley / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083