AN ACT Relating to overhead electric lines; amending RCW 19.122.010, 19.122.020, and 19.122.070; 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. Section 1, chapter 144, Laws of 1984 and RCW 19.122.010 are each amended to read as follows:

It is the intent of the legislature in enacting this chapter to assign responsibilities for locating and keeping accurate records of utility locations, protecting and repairing damage to existing underground facilities and overhead electric lines, and protecting the public health and safety from interruption in utility services caused by damage to existing underground utility facilities and overhead electric lines.

Sec. 2. Section 2, chapter 144, Laws of 1984 and RCW 19.122.020 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter:

(1) "Business day" means any day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a legal local, state, or federal holiday.

(2) "Damage" includes: (a) 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; and (b) contact with an overhead electric line that results in the interruption of service and any damage that the project owner or the affected utility owner determines requires repair or replacement.

(3) "Emergency" means any condition constituting a clear and present danger to life or property, or a customer service outage.

(4) "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.

(5) "Excavator" means any person who engages directly in excavation.

(6) "Identified facility" means any underground facility which is indicated in the project plans as being located within the area of proposed excavation.

(7) "Identified but unlocatable underground facility" means an underground facility which has been identified but cannot be located with reasonable accuracy.

(8) "Locatable underground facility" means an underground facility which can be field-marked with reasonable accuracy.

(9) "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.

(10) "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.

(11) "Reasonable accuracy" means location within twenty-four inches of the outside dimensions of both sides of an underground facility.

(12) "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, conduits, cables, valves, lines, wires, manholes, attachments, and those parts of poles or anchors below ground.

(13) "One-number locator service" means a service through which a person can notify utilities and request field-marking of underground facilities or notify utilities of work near overhead electric lines.

(14) "Overhead electric line" means all electrical conductors installed above the ground with a voltage in excess of seven hundred fifty volts between conductors or from any conductor to ground.

(15) "Authorized person" means: (a) An employee or agent of an electric utility; (b) an employee or agent of a utility which provides communication services; (c) an employee of a state, county, or municipal agency which has authorized circuit construction on or near the poles or structures of a utility; (d) an employee or agent of an industrial plant whose work relates to the electrical system of the industrial plant; or (e) an employee or agent of a cable television or communication services company or an employee of a contractor of a cable television or communication services company if specifically authorized by the owner of the poles to make cable television or communication services attachments.

(16) "Project owner" means the person on whose behalf excavation or work near an overhead electric line is being performed.

(17) "Work near an overhead electric line" includes but is not limited to performing work, piling, storing, or otherwise handling material, erecting or dismantling scaffolding, signs, or structures, or operating any tools, machinery, or equipment within ten feet, or such greater distance as may be prescribed by rule of the department of labor and industries, of any overhead electric line.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 19.122 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Before commencing any work near an overhead electric line the project owner shall notify all utilities operating overhead electric lines through a one-number locator service. If a one-number locator service is not available, notice shall be given in writing to each utility known to or suspected of operating the overhead electric lines. The notice shall be communicated to the utilities operating the overhead electric lines not less than two business days, or more than ten business days before the scheduled date for commencement of work, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

(2) The project owner may engage in activity after arrangements have been made between the utility operating the overhead electric lines and the project owner. Arrangements may include coordination of work and construction schedules, placement of temporary mechanical barriers to separate and prevent contact between material, tools, equipment, or persons and the overhead electric lines, temporary de-energization and grounding, or temporary relocation by raising the overhead electric lines.

(3) The utility shall at its own cost, provide a written cost estimate for providing the necessary safety arrangements to the project owner. The project owner shall pay all costs of the utility in carrying out the arrangements. The utility is not required to carry out arrangements until an agreement for payment has been made. The utility shall commence arrangements within five working days of an agreement for payment.

Sec. 4. Section 7, chapter 144, Laws of 1984 and RCW 19.122.070 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter, and which violation results in damage to underground facilities or overhead electric lines, is subject to a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each violation. All penalties recovered in such actions shall be deposited in the general fund.

(2) Any excavator who wilfully or maliciously damages a field-marked underground facility shall be liable for treble the costs incurred in repairing or relocating the facility. In those cases in which an excavator fails to notify known underground facility owners or the one-number locator service, any damage to the underground facility shall be deemed willful and malicious and shall be subject to treble damages for costs incurred in repairing or relocating the facility.

(3) If a violation of this chapter results in physical or electrical contact with an overhead electric line, the person violating this chapter is liable to the utility operating the overhead electric line for any damages, including indirect and consequential damages and amounts paid to third parties as a result of injury or other damage arising from the person's failure to comply with the requirements of this chapter.

(4) This chapter does not affect any civil remedies for personal injury or for property damage, including that to underground facilities or overhead electric lines, nor does this chapter create any new civil remedies for such damage.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.