BILL REQ. #:  H-2173.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/23/09.   

     AN ACT Relating to locating underground facilities; amending RCW 19.122.020 and 19.122.030; adding a new section to chapter 19.122 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 19.122.020 and 2007 c 142 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((Unless the context clearly requires otherwise,)) The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter((:)) unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Bar hole" means a hole made in the soil or pavement with a bar for the specific purpose of testing the subsurface atmosphere with a combustible gas indicator.
     (2) "Business day" means any day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a legal local, state, or federal holiday.
     (((2))) (3) "Damage" includes the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of an underground facility, penetration, impairment, or destruction of any underground protective coating, housing, or other protective device, or the severance, partial or complete, of any underground facility to the extent that the project owner or the affected utility owner determines that repairs are required.
     (((3))) (4) "Emergency" means any condition constituting a clear and present danger to life or property, or a customer service outage.
     (((4))) (5) "Excavation" means any operation in which earth, rock, or other material on or below the ground is moved or otherwise displaced by any means, except ((the tilling of soil less than twelve inches in depth for agricultural purposes, or road and ditch maintenance that does not change the original road grade or ditch flowline)):
     (a) The tilling of soil less than twelve inches in depth for agricultural purposes;
     (b) Road and ditch maintenance that does not change the original road grade or ditch flowline;
     (c) For bar holes created by hand-operated equipment during emergency leak investigations; or
     (d) For bar holes less than twelve inches in depth.
     (((5))) (6) "Excavation confirmation code" means a code or ticket issued by the one-number locator service for the site where an excavation is planned. The code must be accompanied by the date and time it was issued.
     (((6))) (7) "Excavator" means any person who engages directly in excavation.
     (((7))) (8) "Gas" means natural gas, flammable gas, or toxic or corrosive gas.
     (((8))) (9) "Hazardous liquid" means: (a) Petroleum, petroleum products, or anhydrous ammonia as those terms are defined in 49 C.F.R. Part 195 as in effect on March 1, 1998; and (b) carbon dioxide. The utilities and transportation commission may by rule incorporate by reference other substances designated as hazardous by the secretary of transportation.
     (((9))) (10) "Identified facility" means any underground facility which is indicated in the project plans as being located within the area of proposed excavation.
     (((10))) (11) "Identified but unlocatable underground facility" means an underground facility which has been identified but cannot be located with reasonable accuracy.
     (((11))) (12) "Locatable underground facility" means an underground facility which can be field-marked with reasonable accuracy.
     (((12))) (13) "Marking" means the use of stakes, paint, or other clearly identifiable materials to show the field location of underground facilities, in accordance with the current color code standard of the American public works association. Markings shall include identification letters indicating the specific type of the underground facility.
     (((13))) (14) "Notice" or "notify" means contact in person or by telephone or other electronic methods that results in the receipt of a valid excavation confirmation code.
     (((14))) (15) "One-number locator service" means a service through which a person can notify utilities and request field-marking of underground facilities.
     (((15))) (16) "Operator" means the individual conducting the excavation.
     (((16))) (17) "Person" means an individual, partnership, franchise holder, association, corporation, a state, a city, a county, or any subdivision or instrumentality of a state, and its employees, agents, or legal representatives.
     (((17))) (18) "Pipeline" or "pipeline system" means all or parts of a pipeline facility through which hazardous liquid or gas moves in transportation, including, but not limited to, line pipe, valves, and other appurtenances connected to line pipe, pumping units, fabricated assemblies associated with pumping or compressor units, metering and delivery stations and fabricated assemblies therein, and breakout tanks. "Pipeline" or "pipeline system" does not include process or transfer pipelines.
     (((18))) (19) "Pipeline company" means a person or entity constructing, owning, or operating a pipeline for transporting hazardous liquid or gas. A pipeline company does not include: (a) Distribution systems owned and operated under franchise for the sale, delivery, or distribution of natural gas at retail; or (b) excavation contractors or other contractors that contract with a pipeline company.
     (((19))) (20) "Reasonable accuracy" means location within twenty-four inches of the outside dimensions of both sides of an underground facility.
     (((20))) (21) "Service lateral" means an individual customer service line providing connection or conveyance to or from one or more building units to an underground facility and operated by the owner of the underground facility within its right-of-way or easement.
     (22) "Transfer pipeline" means a buried or aboveground pipeline used to carry hazardous liquid between a tank vessel or transmission pipeline and the first valve inside secondary containment at the facility provided that any discharge on the facility side of that first valve will not directly impact waters of the state. A transfer pipeline includes valves, and other appurtenances connected to the pipeline, pumping units, and fabricated assemblies associated with pumping units. A transfer pipeline does not include process pipelines, pipelines carrying ballast or bilge water, transmission pipelines, or tank vessel or storage tanks.
     (((21))) (23) "Transmission pipeline" means a pipeline that transports hazardous liquid or gas within a storage field, or transports hazardous liquid or gas from an interstate pipeline or storage facility to a distribution main or a large volume hazardous liquid or gas user, or operates at a hoop stress of twenty percent or more of the specified minimum yield strength.
     (((22))) (24) "Underground facility" means any item buried or placed below ground for use in connection with the storage or conveyance of water, sewage, electronic, telephonic or telegraphic communications, cablevision, electric energy, petroleum products, gas, gaseous vapors, hazardous liquids, or other substances and including but not limited to pipes, sewers, service laterals, conduits, cables, valves, lines, wires, manholes, attachments, and those parts of poles or anchors below ground. This definition does not include pipelines as defined in subsection (((17))) (18) of this section, but does include distribution systems owned and operated under franchise for the sale, delivery, or distribution of natural gas at retail.

Sec. 2   RCW 19.122.030 and 2000 c 191 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Before commencing any excavation, excluding agriculture tilling less than twelve inches in depth, the excavator shall provide notice of the scheduled commencement of excavation to all owners of underground facilities through a one-number locator service.
     (2) All owners of underground facilities within a one-number locator service area shall subscribe to the service. One-number locator service rates for cable television companies will be based on the amount of their underground facilities. An underground facility owner who is required to subscribe to the one-number locator service and fails to do so is liable for all damages to the owner's underground facilities and for any other damages that occur as a result of proper notice of a scheduled excavation through the one-number locator service. Nothing under this subsection may be construed to require a person who owns underground facilities at the person's residence, farm, or place of business to subscribe to the one-number locator service.
     (3) If no one-number locator service is available, notice shall be provided individually to those owners of underground facilities known to or suspected of having underground facilities within the area of proposed excavation. The notice shall be communicated to the owners of underground facilities not less than two business days or more than ten business days before the scheduled date for commencement of excavation, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
     (((3))) (4) Upon receipt of the notice provided for in this section, the owner of the underground facility shall provide the excavator with reasonably accurate information as to its locatable underground facilities by surface-marking the location of the facilities. If there are identified but unlocatable underground facilities, the owner of such facilities shall provide the excavator with the best available information as to their locations. The owner of the underground facility providing the information shall respond no later than two business days after the receipt of the notice or before the excavation time, at the option of the owner, unless otherwise agreed by the parties. Excavators shall not excavate until all known facilities have been marked. Once marked by the owner of the underground facility, the excavator is responsible for maintaining the markings. Excavators shall have the right to receive compensation from the owner of the underground facility for costs incurred if the owner of the underground facility does not locate its facilities in accordance with this section.
     (((4))) (5) The owner of the underground facility shall have the right to receive compensation for costs incurred in responding to excavation notices given less than two business days prior to the excavation from the excavator.
     (((5) An owner of underground facilities is not required to indicate the presence of existing service laterals or appurtenances if the presence of existing service laterals or appurtenances on the site of the construction project can be determined from the presence of other visible facilities, such as buildings, manholes, or meter and junction boxes on or adjacent to the construction site.))
     (6) Emergency excavations are exempt from the time requirements for notification provided in this section. For emergency bar holing twelve or more inches in depth, reasonable measures will be taken to eliminate electrical arc hazards.
     (7) If the excavator, while performing the contract, discovers underground facilities which are not identified, the excavator shall cease excavating in the vicinity of the facility and immediately notify the owner or operator of such facilities, or the one-number locator service.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 19.122 RCW to read as follows:
     An owner of an underground facility located within a one-number locator service area that does not subscribe to the one-number locator service is guilty of a misdemeanor.