EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 133
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR FITZWATER.
0382S.02I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 319.015, 319.022, 319.024, 319.025, 319.026, 319.027, 319.030, 319.031, and
319.035, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof eleven new sections relating to
underground facilities.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 319.015, 319.022, 319.024, 319.025, 1
319.026, 319.027, 319.030, 319.031, an d 319.035, RSMo, are 2
repealed and eleven new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be 3
known as sections 319.015, 319.019, 319.022, 319.024, 319.025, 4
319.026, 319.027, 319.030, 319.031, 319.034, and 319.035, to 5
read as follows:6
319.015. For the purposes of sections 319.010 to 1
319.050, the following terms mean: 2
(1) "Approximate location", a strip of land not wider 3
than the width of the underground facility plus two feet on 4
either side thereof. In situations where reinforced 5
concrete, multiplicity of adjacent facilities or other 6
unusual specified conditions interfere with location 7
attempts, the owner or operator shall designate to the best 8
of his [or], her, or its ability an approximate location of 9
greater width; 10
(2) "Best practices", the Common Ground Alliance Best 11
Practices for protecting vital underground facilities, 12
sponsored by the Department of Transportation as described 13
in 49 U.S.C. Section 6105(a), as amended. The Common Ground 14 SB 133 2
Alliance Best Practices shall be read in con junction with 15
Missouri law; in any instance in which such best practices 16
conflict with state law, state law shall control; 17
(3) "Careful and prudent", conducting excavation using 18
best practices; 19
(4) "Design request", a request from any person for 20
facility location information for design purposes only; 21
(5) "Detectible underground location device", any 22
device that is installed underground and that is capable of 23
being detected from above ground with an electronic locating 24
device, including a locator strip or locator wire; 25
(6) "Electronic white lining", the process in which an 26
excavator identifies where a proposed excavation will occur 27
by drawing a polygon shape on a GIS map, transmitted in a 28
manner that may then be delivered by the notification center 29
to its member operator; 30
[(3)] (7) "Emergency", a sudden, unexpected 31
occurrence, presenting a clear and imminent danger demanding 32
immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss or damage to 33
life, health, property, or essentia l public services. 34
"Unexpected occurrence" includes, but is not limited to, 35
thunderstorms, high winds, ice or snow storms, fires, 36
floods, earthquakes, or other soil or geologic movements, 37
riots, accidents, water or wastewater pipe breaks, 38
vandalism, or sabotage; 39
[(4)] (8) "Excavation", any operation in which earth, 40
rock or other material in or on the ground is moved, removed 41
or otherwise displaced by means of any tools, equipment or 42
explosives and includes, without limitation, backfilling, 43
grading, trenching, digging, ditching, pulling material from 44
a ditch but not including routine road maintenance, 45
drilling, well-drilling, augering, boring, tunneling, 46 SB 133 3
scraping, cable or pipe plowing, plowing -in, pulling-in, 47
ripping, driving, and demolit ion of structures, except that, 48
the use of mechanized tools and equipment to break and 49
remove pavement and masonry down only to the depth of such 50
pavement or masonry on roads dedicated to the public use for 51
vehicular traffic, the tilling of soil for ag ricultural 52
purposes when such excavation does not exceed sixteen inches 53
in depth, the installation of marking flags and stakes and 54
the use of pressurized air to disintegrate and suction to 55
remove earth, rock, or other materials for the location of 56
underground facilities shall not be deemed excavation. 57
Backfilling or moving earth on the ground in connection with 58
other excavation operations at the same site shall not be 59
deemed separate instances of excavation. For railroads 60
regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration, 61
"excavation" shall not include any excavating done by a 62
railroad when such excavating is done entirely on land that 63
the railroad owns or on which the railroad operates, or in 64
the event of an emergency, excavating done by a rai lroad on 65
adjacent land; 66
[(5)] (9) "Excavator", any person making one or more 67
excavations who is required to make notices of excavation 68
under the requirements of sections 319.010 to 319.050; 69
[(6)] (10) "Locate status", the underground facilit y 70
owner's designation of the status of the locate request to 71
the notification center which then makes that information 72
available to the person making the locate request through 73
electronic or other means; 74
(11) "Locator strip", a type of detectible underground 75
location device that consists of a plastic or other durable 76
material ribbon containing a material capable of being 77 SB 133 4
detected from above ground with an electronic locating 78
device and color coded by type of underground facility; 79
(12) "Locator wire", a type of detectible underground 80
location device that consists of a copper wire or metallic, 81
conductive, noncorrosive trace wire capable of being 82
detected from above ground with an electronic locating 83
device; 84
[(7)] (13) "Marking", the use of paint, flags, stakes, 85
or other clearly identifiable materials to show the field 86
location of underground facilities, or the area of proposed 87
excavation, in accordance with the marking standards for 88
underground facilities as designated by the C ommon Ground 89
Alliance Best Practices [Version 10.0] except that 90
"approximate location" shall comply with the requirements as 91
set forth in subdivision (1) of this section; 92
[(8)] (14) "Notification center", a statewide 93
organization operating twenty -four hours a day, three 94
hundred sixty-five days a year on a not -for-profit basis, 95
supported by a majority of the underground facility owners 96
in the state of Missouri; 97
[(9)] (15) "Notification center participant", an 98
underground facility owner wh o is a member and participant 99
in the notification center; 100
[(10)] (16) "Permitted project", a project for which a 101
permit for the work to be performed is required to be issued 102
by a local, state or federal agency and, as a prerequisite 103
to receiving such permit, the applicant is required to 104
notify all underground facility owners in the area of the 105
work for purposes of identifying the location of existing 106
underground facilities; 107
[(11)] (17) "Person", any individual, firm, joint 108
venture, partnership, corporation, association, cooperative, 109 SB 133 5
municipality, political subdivision, governmental unit, 110
department or agency and shall include a notification center 111
and any trustee, receiver, assignee or personal 112
representative thereof; 113
[(12)] (18) "Pipeline facility" includes all parts of 114
a facility through which a hazardous liquid or gas moves in 115
transportation including, but not limited to, pipe, valves 116
and other appurtenances connected to pipe, pumping units, 117
fabricated assemblies associate d with pumping units, 118
metering and delivery stations and fabricated assemblies 119
therein, and breakout tanks; 120
(19) "Reasonable care", includes compliance with 121
Common Ground Alliance Best Practices; 122
[(13)] (20) "State plane coordinates", a syst em of 123
locating a point on a flat plane developed by the National 124
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and utilized by state 125
agencies, local governments, and other persons to designate 126
the site of a construction project; 127
[(14)] (21) "Trenchless excavation", horizontal 128
excavation parallel to the surface of the earth which does 129
not use trenching or vertical digging as the primary means 130
of excavation, including but not limited to directional 131
boring, tunneling, or augering; 132
[(15)] (22) "Underground facility", any item of 133
personal property which shall be buried or placed below 134
ground for use in connection with the storage or conveyance 135
of water, storm drainage, sewage, telecommunications and 136
broadband service, cable television service, el ectricity, 137
oil, gas, hazardous liquids or other substances, and shall 138
include but not be limited to pipes, sewers, conduits, 139
cables, valves, vaults, lines, wires, manholes, attachments, 140
or appurtenances, and those portions of pylons or other 141 SB 133 6
supports below ground that are within any public or private 142
street, road or alley, right -of-way dedicated to the public 143
use or utility easement of record, or prescriptive 144
easement. If gas distribution lines or electric lines, 145
telecommunications and broadband facilities, cable 146
television facilities, water service lines, water system, 147
storm drainage or sewer system lines, other than those used 148
for vehicular traffic control, lighting of streets and 149
highways and communications for emergency response, are 150
located on private property and are owned solely by the 151
owner or owners of such private property, such lines or 152
facilities receiving service shall not be considered 153
underground facilities for purposes of this chapter, except 154
at locations where they cross or lie within an easement or 155
right-of-way dedicated to public use or owned by a person 156
other than the owner of the private property. Water and 157
sanitary sewer lines providing service to private property 158
that are owned solely by the owner of such property shall 159
not be considered underground facilities at any location. A 160
structure that transports only storm water drainage under 161
roadways, driveways, or railways shall not be considered an 162
underground facility; 163
[(16)] (23) "Underground facility owne r", any person 164
who owns or operates underground facilities; 165
[(17)] (24) "Working day", every day, except Saturday, 166
Sunday or a legally declared state or federal holiday. 167
319.019. The underground facility owner shall ensure 1
that all new and active underground facilities installed on 2
any real property after August 28, 2025, shall be installed 3
with a detectible underground location device unless the 4
facility is capable of being detected from above ground with 5
an electronic locating device. 6 SB 133 7
319.022. 1. Any person, except a railroad regulated 1
by the Federal Railroad Administration, who installs or 2
otherwise owns or operates an underground facility shall 3
become a participant in a notification center upon fir st 4
acquiring or owning or operating such underground facility. 5
All underground facility owners within the state shall 6
maintain participation in a notification center for the 7
duration of owning and operating such underground facility. 8
2. Such notification center shall be governed by a 9
board of directors elected by the membership and composed of 10
representatives from the general membership group , plus no 11
fewer than four full voting directors from other damage 12
prevention stakeholders within the c onstruction industry, 13
two of whom shall be from a heavy civil, site grading, road 14
or highway contractor and two of whom shall be from a 15
utility or underground contractor; provided, however, that 16
none of the directors appointed from the construction 17
industry shall work for a contractor that owns or operates 18
an underground facility . 19
[2.] 3. The notification center shall maintain in its 20
offices and make available to any notification center 21
participant or excavator upon request a current list of t he 22
names and addresses of each notification center participant, 23
including the county or counties wherein each participant 24
has underground facilities. The notification center may 25
charge a reasonable fee to notification center participants 26
or excavators requesting such list as is necessary to 27
recover the actual costs of printing and mailing. 28
[3.] 4. Excavators shall be informed of the 29
availability of the list of notification center participants. 30
[4.] 5. An annual audit or review of the notification 31
center shall be performed by a certified public accountant 32 SB 133 8
and a report of the findings submitted to the speaker of the 33
house of representatives and the president pro tem of the 34
senate. 35
319.024. 1. Every person owning or operating an 1
underground facility shall assist excavators and the general 2
public in determining the location of underground facilities 3
before excavation activities are begun or as may be required 4
by subsection [6] 7 of section 319.026 or subsection 1 o f 5
section 319.030 after an excavation has commenced. Methods 6
of informing the public and excavators of the means of 7
obtaining such information may, but need not, include 8
advertising, including advertising in periodicals of general 9
circulation or trade publications, information provided to 10
professional or trade associations which routinely provide 11
information to excavators or design professionals, or 12
sponsoring meetings of excavators and design professionals 13
for such purposes. Information provided by the notification 14
center on behalf of persons owning or operating an 15
underground facility shall be deemed in compliance with this 16
section by such persons. 17
2. Every person owning or operating underground 18
pipeline facilities shall, in addition t o the requirements 19
of subsection 1 of this section: 20
(1) Identify on a current basis persons who normally 21
engage in excavation activities in the area in which the 22
pipeline is located. Every such person who is a participant 23
in a notification cente r shall be deemed to comply with this 24
subdivision if such notification center maintains and 25
updates a list of the names and addresses of all excavators 26
who have given notice of intent to excavate to such 27
notification center during the previous year and provided 28
the notification center shall, not less frequently than 29 SB 133 9
annually, provide public notification and actual 30
notification to all excavators on such list of the existence 31
and purpose of the notification center, and procedures for 32
obtaining information from the notification center; 33
(2) Either directly or through the notification 34
center, notify excavators and the public in the vicinity of 35
his [or], her, or its underground pipeline facility of the 36
availability of the notification center by i ncluding the 37
information set out in subsection 1 of section 319.025 in 38
notifications required by the safety rules of the Missouri 39
public service commission relating to its damage prevention 40
program; 41
(3) Notify excavators annually who give notice of 42
their intent to excavate of the type of marking to be 43
provided and how to identify the markings. 44
319.025. 1. Except as provided in subsection 4 of 1
section 319.030 and in section 319.050, [a person] an 2
excavator shall not make or begin any excavation in any 3
public street, road or alley, right -of-way dedicated to the 4
public use or utility easement of record or within any 5
private street or private property [without first giving ] 6
until such excavator gives notice to the notificat ion center 7
and [obtaining] obtains information concerning the possible 8
location of any underground facilities which may be affected 9
by said excavation from underground facility owners whose 10
names appear on the current list of participants in the 11
notification center and who were communicated to the 12
excavator as notification center participants who would be 13
informed of the excavation notice. Notice to the 14
notification center of proposed excavation shall be deemed 15
notice to all owners and operators o f underground 16 SB 133 10
facilities. The notice referred to in this section shall 17
comply with the provisions of section 319.026. 18
2. An excavator's notice to owners and operators of 19
underground facilities participating in the notification 20
center pursuant to section 319.022 is ineffective for 21
purposes of subsection 1 of this section unless given to 22
such notification center. 23
3. Notification center participants shall be relieved 24
of the responsibility to respond to a notice of intent to 25
excavate received directly from the person intending to 26
commence an excavation, except for requests for 27
clarification of markings through on -site meetings as 28
provided in subsection 1 of section 319.030 and requests for 29
locations at the time of an emergency as provide d by section 30
319.050. 31
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section to 32
the contrary, a person shall not make or begin any 33
excavation in any state highway, or on the right -of-way of 34
any state highway, without first obtaining a permit from the 35
state highways and transportation commission pursuant to 36
section 227.240, provided however, the provisions of this 37
subsection shall not apply to railroad right -of-way owned or 38
operated by a railroad. 39
319.026. 1. An excavator shall serve notice of intent 1
to excavate to the notification center by toll -free 2
telephone number operated on a twenty -four hour per-day, 3
seven day per-week basis [or by facsimile] or by completing 4
notice via the internet at least two working days, but not 5
more than ten working days, before the expected date of 6
commencing the excavation activity. The notification center 7
receiving such notice shall inform the excavator of all 8
notification center participants to whom such notice will be 9 SB 133 11
transmitted and shall promptly transmit all details of such 10
notice provided under subsection 2 of this section to every 11
notification center participant in the area of excavation. 12
2. Notices of intent to excavate given pursuant to 13
this section shall contain the foll owing information: 14
(1) The name and telephone number of the person filing 15
the notice of excavation, if the telephone number is 16
different than that of the excavator, and the name, address, 17
and telephone number of the excavator [and whether the 18
excavator's telephone is equipped with a recording device ]; 19
(2) The date the excavation activity is expected to 20
commence, the depth of planned excavation and, if 21
applicable, that the use of explosives is anticipated on the 22
excavation site, and the ty pe of excavation being planned, 23
including whether the excavation involves trenchless 24
excavation; 25
(3) The [facsimile number,] email address[,] and 26
cellular telephone number of the excavator, if any; 27
(4) The name of the person primarily respon sible for 28
conducting the excavation or managing the excavation 29
process, and if any of the information stated in subdivision 30
(1) or (3) of this subsection is different for the person 31
primarily responsible for the excavation, the notice shall 32
also state the same information for that person; 33
(5) A detailed description accepted by the 34
notification center sufficient for the location of the 35
excavation by any one or more of the following means: by 36
reference to a specific street address, or by descri ption of 37
location in relation to the nearest numbered, lettered, or 38
named state or county road or city street for which a road 39
sign is posted, or by latitude and longitude including the 40 SB 133 12
appropriate description in degrees, minutes, and seconds, or 41
by state plane coordinates; 42
(6) A description of the site of excavation by 43
approximate distance and direction from the nearest state or 44
county road or city street or intersection of such roads or 45
streets unless previously provided under subdivision (5 ) of 46
this subsection, and the proximity of the site to any 47
prominent landmarks; 48
(7) A description of the location or locations of the 49
excavation at the site described by direction and 50
approximate distance in relation to prominent features of 51
the site, such as existing buildings or roadways; 52
(8) Directions as to how to reach the site of the 53
excavation from the nearest such road, if the excavation is 54
not on or near a posted numbered, lettered, or named state 55
or county road or city street. 56
3. When the location of the planned excavation cannot 57
be clearly identified solely by the means described in 58
subdivision (5) of subsection 2 of this section, the 59
excavator may also designate the planned excavation route or 60
area to be excavated by physical white lining using white 61
paint, stakes, whiskers, or other similar markings on and 62
along the area to be excavated, or by electronic white 63
lining when available through the notification center. Such 64
information may be provided to the notifica tion center prior 65
to or with the notification required under this section. 66
4. The notification center receiving such notice shall 67
solicit all information required by subsection 2 of this 68
section and shall require the excavator to provide all such 69
information before notice by the excavator is deemed to be 70
completed pursuant to sections 319.015 to 319.050. The 71 SB 133 13
notification center shall transmit all details of such 72
notice as required by this section. 73
[4.] 5. A record of each notice of inten t to excavate 74
shall be maintained by the notification center for a period 75
of five years. The record shall include the date the notice 76
was received and all information required by subsection 2 of 77
this section which was provided by the excavator and a 78
record of the underground facility owners notified by the 79
notification center. If the notification center creates a 80
record of the notice by telephonic recording, such record of 81
the original notice shall be maintained for one year from 82
the date of receipt. Records of notices to excavate 83
maintained by the notification center in electronic form 84
shall be deemed to be records under this subsection. 85
Persons holding records of notices of intent to excavate and 86
records of information provided to the exca vator by the 87
notification center or owner or operator of the facility 88
shall make copies of such records available for a reasonable 89
copying fee upon the request of the owner or operator of the 90
underground facilities or the excavator filing the notice. 91
[5.] 6. If in the course of excavation the person 92
responsible for the excavation operations discovers that the 93
owner or operator of the underground facility who is a 94
participant in a notification center has incorrectly located 95
the underground faci lity, or if the discovery of an 96
underground facility is not marked, he or she shall notify 97
the notification center which shall inform the underground 98
facility owner. The underground facility owner shall 99
respond to the incorrect locate notification wit hin two 100
hours of receipt of the notification by contacting the 101
person responsible for the excavation or by correctly 102
locating their underground facility. The person responsible 103 SB 133 14
for maintaining records of the location of underground 104
facilities for the notification center participant shall 105
correct such records to show the actual location of such 106
facilities, if current records are incorrect. 107
[6.] 7. When markings have been provided in response 108
to a notice of intent to excavate, excavators may co mmence 109
or continue to work within the area described in the notice 110
for so long as the markings are visible. If an excavator is 111
unable to begin the excavation within ten working days as 112
described in the request, the excavator shall make a 113
relocate request before beginning the excavation. If 114
markings become unusable due to weather, construction or 115
other cause, the excavator shall contact the notification 116
center to request remarking. Such notice shall be given in 117
the same manner as original notice of intent to excavate, 118
and the owner or operator shall remark the site in the same 119
manner, within the same time, as required in response to an 120
original notice of intent to excavate. Each excavator shall 121
exercise reasonable care not to unnecessarily di sturb or 122
obliterate markings provided for location of underground 123
facilities. If remarking is required due to the excavator's 124
failure to exercise reasonable care, or if repeated 125
unnecessary requests for remarking are made by an excavator 126
even though the markings are visible and usable, the 127
excavator may be liable to the owner or operator for the 128
reasonable cost of such remarking. Nothing in this section 129
shall allow any person other than the facility owner or 130
their representative to mark or reloca te any underground 131
facility. 132
[7.] 8. Before commencing excavation, the excavator 133
shall determine best practices for confirming the horizontal 134
and vertical location of facilities at the site of 135 SB 133 15
excavation considering conditions at the site includi ng 136
geology, access to the site, and the presence of paved 137
surfaces. Hand digging or soft digging shall be used as a 138
best practice when possible. 139
[8.] 9. In the event of any damage, dislocation, or 140
disturbance of any underground facility in conne ction with 141
any excavation, the person responsible for the excavation 142
operations shall notify the notification center. This 143
subsection shall be deemed to require reporting of any 144
damage, dislocation, or disturbance to trace wires, 145
encasements, cathode protection, permanent above -ground 146
stakes, or other such items utilized for protection of the 147
underground facility. The excavator shall immediately 148
contact 911 when any damage or contact with a pipeline 149
results in a release from the pipeline of hazar dous liquid 150
or gas to occur. 151
[9.] 10. In the event of any damage, dislocation, or 152
disturbance to any underground facility or any protective 153
devices required to be reported by the excavator under 154
subsection [8] 9 of this section in advance of or d uring the 155
excavation work, the person responsible for the excavation 156
operations shall not conceal or attempt to conceal such 157
damage, dislocation, or disturbance, nor shall that person 158
attempt to make repairs to the facility unless authorized by 159
the underground facility owner. In the case of sewer lines 160
or facilities, emergency temporary repairs may be made by 161
the excavator after notification without the owners' or 162
operators' authorization to prevent further damage to the 163
facilities. Such emergency repairs shall not relieve the 164
excavator of responsibility to make notification as required 165
by subsection [8] 9 of this section. 166 SB 133 16
[10.] 11. No later than April [1, 2015, and] first of 167
each year [thereafter], each underground facility owner who 168
owns or operates electric, gas, or pipeline facilities shall 169
submit to a central repository designated by the 170
notification center a report of damages experienced by its 171
facilities for the prior calendar year. The notification 172
center shall determine the minimum information to be 173
reported. All data submitted shall be aggregated and 174
anonymous. Information provided by the underground facility 175
owner specific to damage data submitted shall be accessible 176
only to the underground facility owner unless other wise 177
designated by the underground facility owner. 178
12. In the event of any damage, dislocation, or 179
disturbance to any underground facility or any protective 180
devices required to be reported by the excavator under 181
subsection 9 of this section in ad vance of or during the 182
excavation work, the person responsible for the excavation 183
operations shall report the occurrence through the Damage 184
Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) sponsored by the Common 185
Ground Alliance and in accordance with best practices. 186
319.027. 1. Any person may make design requests by 1
contacting the notification center. Such design requests 2
shall include all information deemed necessary by the 3
notification center to complete the notice, including the 4
identification of the person and a description of the 5
location of the project being designed and other information 6
similar to that required of excavators under section 319.026. 7
2. Design requests shall be made to the notification 8
center at least five worki ng days[, but not more than ten 9
working days,] before the date the person has requested 10
receiving the information from the underground facility 11
owner. Upon receipt of a design request, the notification 12 SB 133 17
center shall inform the person of the name of all 13
notification center participants to whom the notice will be 14
transmitted and shall promptly transmit such notice to the 15
appropriate underground facility owners. 16
3. Every underground facility owner who receives a 17
design request shall mark the loca tion of the facility, or 18
contact the person making the request, within five working 19
days after the date the notice was received from the 20
notification center. If the person making the request was 21
contacted as an alternative to marking location, the per son 22
and the underground facility owner shall mutually agree on a 23
schedule and method for providing the information, provided 24
that the facility shall be marked within five working days 25
if the facility owner and the person making the request are 26
unable to agree. 27
4. No excavation may be commenced based upon 28
information received through a design request. Obtaining 29
information through a design request shall not excuse any 30
person commencing an excavation from making notice and 31
obtaining informatio n under sections 319.025 and 319.026 32
concerning the possible location of any underground 33
facilities which may be affected. 34
319.030. 1. Every person owning or operating an 1
underground facility to whom notice of intent to excavate is 2
required to be given shall, upon receipt of such notice as 3
provided in this section from a person intending to commence 4
an excavation, inform the excavator as promptly as 5
practical, but not in excess of two working days, unless the 6
excavator agrees to extend the start date and time provided 7
in the locate request through methods established by the 8
notification center, of the approximate location of 9
underground facilities in or near the area of the excavation 10 SB 133 18
so as to enable the person engaged in the excavation work to 11
locate the facilities in advance of and during the 12
excavation work, provided that no excavation shall begin 13
earlier than the scheduled excavation date provided on the 14
locate request unless the excavator has confirmed that all 15
underground facilities have been located. The two working 16
days provided for notice in this subsection and subsection 1 17
of section 319.026 shall begin at 12:00 a.m. following the 18
receipt of the request by the notification center. Each 19
underground facility owner receiving notifications from the 20
notification center by use of the internet shall, after 21
December 31, 2014, use the locate status system provided by 22
the notification center. Those underground facility owners 23
that do not receive notifications by use of the internet 24
shall, no later than January 1, 2016, provide locate status 25
to the notification center by an alternate method provided 26
by the notification center. If the excavator states in the 27
notice of intent to excavate that the excavation will 28
involve trenchless technology, the owner or operator shall 29
inform the excavator of the depth, to the best of his [or], 30
her, or its knowledge or ability, of the facility according 31
to the records of the owner or operator. The owner or 32
operator shall provide the approximate location of 33
underground facilities by use of markings as designated in 34
section 319.015. Persons representing the excavator and the 35
owner or operator shall meet on the site of excavation 36
within two working days of a request by ei ther person for 37
such meeting for the purpose of clarifying markings, or upon 38
agreement of the excavator and owner or operator, such 39
meeting may be an alternate means of providing the location 40
of facilities by originally marking the approximate location 41
of the facility at the time of the meeting. If upon receipt 42 SB 133 19
of a notice of intent to excavate, an owner or operator 43
determines that he or she neither owns or operates 44
underground facilities in or near the area of excavation, 45
the owner or operator sh all within two working days after 46
receipt of the notice, inform the excavator that the owner 47
or operator has no facilities located in the area of the 48
proposed excavation. The owner or operator of the 49
underground facility shall make notice to the excav ator that 50
no facilities are located in the area of excavation by 51
contacting the excavator by any of the following methods: 52
(1) By calling the primary number of the excavator or 53
by calling the telephone number of the responsible person as 54
provided by the excavator under subdivision (4) of 55
subsection 2 of section 319.026; 56
(2) By leaving a message on the recording device for 57
such numbers; 58
(3) By calling the cellular telephone number of the 59
excavator or responsible person; 60
(4) By notifying the excavator by [facsimile or] 61
electronic mail at [numbers or] addresses stated by the 62
excavator in the notice of excavation made under subsection 63
2 of section 319.026; 64
(5) By marking "clear" or "OK" at the site of 65
excavation; 66
(6) By verbally informing the excavator in person. 67
If the only means of contacting the excavator is one or more 68
telephone numbers provided by the excavator in the notice of 69
excavation under section 319.026, then two attempts by the 70
underground facility ow ner to contact the excavator at one 71
of the telephone numbers provided shall constitute 72
compliance with this subsection; or 73 SB 133 20
(7) By use of a locate status system. 74
2. A record of the date and means of informing the 75
excavator that no facilities w ere located by the owner or 76
operator shall be included in the written records of the 77
underground facility owner regarding each specific notice of 78
excavation and shall be retained for a period of five years. 79
3. If the owner or operator notifies the excavator 80
that the area of excavation cannot be determined from the 81
description provided by the excavator through the notice 82
required by this section, the excavator shall provide 83
clarification of the area of excavation by marking the area 84
with white flags or white paint, or by providing project 85
plans to the owner or operator, or by meeting on the site of 86
the excavation with representatives of the owner or operator 87
as provided for in this section. 88
4. In the event that a person owning or operat ing an 89
underground facility fails to comply with the provisions of 90
subsection 1 of this section after notice given by an 91
excavator in compliance with section 319.026, the excavator, 92
prior to commencing the excavation, shall give a second 93
notice to the notification center as required by section 94
319.026 stating that there has been no response to the 95
original notice given under section 319.026. After the 96
receipt of the notice stating there has been "no response", 97
the owner or operator of an undergrou nd facility shall, 98
within two hours of the receipt of such notice, mark its 99
facilities or contact and inform the excavator of when the 100
facilities will be marked; provided, however, that for "no 101
response" notices made to the notification center by 2:00 102
p.m., the markings shall be completed on the working day the 103
notice is made to the notification center, and provided that 104
for "no response" notices made to the notification center 105 SB 133 21
after 2:00 p.m., the markings shall be completed no later 106
than 10:00 a.m. on the next working day. If an underground 107
facility owner fails to mark its facilities or contact the 108
excavator as required by this subsection, the excavator may 109
commence the excavation. Nothing in this subsection shall 110
excuse the excavator from e xercising the degree of care in 111
making the excavation as is otherwise required by law. 112
5. For purposes of this section, a period of two 113
working days begins at 12:00 a.m. following when the request 114
is made. 115
319.031. 1. In addition to the other requirements of 1
section 319.030, the response to a notice of intent to 2
excavate received by a sewer system owner, when such owner 3
has underground facilities located in the area of excavation 4
identified in the notice and when the notice indicates that 5
trenchless excavation methods will be used, shall include a 6
determination of whether sewer service connections exist in 7
the area of the excavation. 8
2. If the sewer system owner determines that sewer 9
service connections exist in th e area of the excavation 10
identified in a notice of intent to excavate, the owner 11
shall provide his [or], her, or its best available 12
information, or notice that the information does not exist, 13
regarding the location of such connections to the excavator 14
by any of the following methods: 15
(1) Placing a triangular green mark at the approximate 16
location of the sewer service connection pointing in the 17
direction of the customer structure serviced; 18
(2) Providing electronic copies of the information to 19
the excavator; 20
(3) Delivering copies of the information to the 21
excavator by [facsimile or by] other agreed upon means; or 22 SB 133 22
(4) Arranging to meet the excavator at the site of the 23
excavation to provide the information. 24
3. Providing the best available information, or notice 25
that the information does not exist, regarding the location 26
of sewer service connections that exist in the area of 27
excavation identified in a notice of intent to excavate 28
shall constitute full compliance with thi s section, and a 29
sewer system owner shall not be liable to any party for 30
damages or injuries resulting from an excavation if they are 31
in compliance with this section. 32
4. Providing the best available information regarding 33
the location of sewer ser vice connections that exist in the 34
area of excavation identified in a notice of intent to 35
excavate shall not in and of itself constitute ownership, 36
operation, control, or management of sewer service lines by 37
a sewer system owner. 38
319.034. For purposes of sections 319.010 to 319.050, 1
the location of underground facilities provided by a 2
facility owner or operator in accordance with section 3
319.026 to any person engaging in scheduled excavating shall 4
be accurate. If any underground facility becomes damaged by 5
an excavator due to the furnishing of inaccurate information 6
as to its location by the facility owner or operator, the 7
excavator shall not be subject to any liability resulting 8
from damage to the underground facility as a r esult of the 9
excavating, provided that such person engaging in scheduled 10
excavating complies with the requirements of sections 11
319.010 to 319.050 with respect to such excavation and there 12
is no evidence visible and obvious to the excavator of the 13
presence of a mismarked underground facility. 14
319.035. 1. Obtaining information as required by 1
sections 319.010 to 319.050 does not excuse any person 2 SB 133 23
making any excavation from doing so in a careful and prudent 3
manner. 4
2. Nothing in sections 319.010 to 319.050 shall 5
relieve an excavator from the obligation to excavate in a 6
safe and prudent manner, nor shall it absolve an excavator 7
from liability for damage to underground facilities. 8
3. The failure of any excavator to give notice of 9
proposed excavation activities as required by this chapter 10
shall be a rebuttable presumption of negligence on his or 11
her part in the event that such failure shall cause injury, 12
loss, or damage. In addition to any penalties provided 13
herein, liability under common law may apply. 14
4. The failure of an underground facility owner or a 15
locator or other contractor engaged by the facility owner to 16
mark [his or her] the facility owner's facilities that are 17
located in an area of excavation des cribed in a notice of 18
intent to excavate received by the underground facility 19
owner, as required by section 319.030, or the failure of an 20
underground facility owner to be a notification center 21
participant, consistent with the provisions of section 22
319.022, shall be a rebuttable presumption of negligence on 23
the part of such owner , and of the locator or other 24
contractor engaged by the facility owner, in the event that 25
such failure shall cause injury, loss, or damage. In 26
addition to any penalties pro vided herein, liability under 27
common law may apply. 28