top border
border border
 
 
-

NEW LANGUAGE APPEARS LIKE THIS
Stricken language appears like this
Remaining language appears like this

Reference Title: underground facilities; marking

AN ACT
AMENDING SECTION 40-360.22, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES; RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 40-360.22, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

40-360.22 . Excavations; determining location of underground facilities; providing information; excavator marking; on-site representative; validity period of markings

A. A person shall not make or begin any excavation in any public street, alley, right-of-way dedicated to the public use or utility easement or on any express or implied private property utility easement without first determining whether underground facilities will be encountered, and if so where they are located from each and every public utility, municipal corporation or other person having the right to bury such underground facilities within the public street, alley, right-of-way or utility easement and taking measures for control of the facilities in a careful and prudent manner.

B. Every public utility, municipal corporation or other person having the right to bury underground facilities shall file with the corporation commission the job title, address and telephone number of the person or persons from whom the necessary information may be obtained. Such person or persons shall be readily available during established business hours. The information on file shall also include the name, address and telephone number of each one-call notification center to which the owner of the facility belongs. Upon receipt of inquiry or notice from the excavator, the owner of the facility shall respond as promptly as practical, but in no event later than two working days, by marking such facility with stakes, paint or in some customary manner. No person shall begin excavating before the location and marking are complete or the excavator is notified that marking is unnecessary.

C. On a timely request by the owner of a facility, the excavator shall mark the boundaries of the location requested to be excavated in accordance with a color code designated by the commission or by applicable custom or standard in the industry. A request under this subsection for excavator marking does not alter any other requirement of this section.

D. In performing the marking required by subsection B of this section, the owner of an underground facility installed after December 31, 1988 in a public street, alley or right-of-way dedicated to public use, but not including any express or implied private property utility easement, shall locate the facility by referring to installation records of the facility and utilizing one of the following methods:

1. Vertical line or facility markers.

2. Locator strip or locator wire.

3. Signs or permanent markers.

4. Electronic or magnetic location or tracing techniques.

5. Electronic or magnetic sensors or markers.

6. Metal sensors or sensing techniques.

7. Sonar techniques.

8. Underground electrical or radio transmitters.

9. Manual location techniques, including pot-holing.

10. Surface extensions of underground facilities.

11. Any other surface or subsurface location technique at least as accurate as the other marking methods in this subsection not prohibited by the commission or by federal or state law.

E. For an underground facility other than one installed after December 31, 1988, in a public street, alley or right-of-way dedicated to public use, in performing the marking required by subsection B of this section, the owner may refer to installation or other records relating to the facility to assist in locating the facility and shall locate the facility utilizing one of the methods listed under subsection D of this section.

F. If an underground facility owner is unable to complete the location and marking within the time period provided by subsection B of this section, the facility owner shall satisfy the requirements of this section by providing prompt notice of these facts to the excavator and assigning one or more representatives to be present on the excavation site at all pertinent times as requested by the excavator to provide facility location services until the facilities have been located and marked. The underground facility owner shall bear all of its own costs associated with assigning representatives. If representatives are assigned under this subsection, the excavator is not responsible or liable for damage to or repair of the owner's underground facility while acting under the direction of an assigned representative of the owner, unless the damage or need for repair was caused by the excavator's negligence.

G. The marking required by subsection B of this section is valid for fifteen days from the date of the marking , EXCLUDING SATURDAYS, SUNDAYS AND OTHER LEGAL HOLIDAYS . If the excavation will continue past the validity period of the marks as provided by this subsection, the excavator shall notify the facility owner or an organization designated by the facility owner at least two days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, before the end of the validity period.

H. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent an excavator and an underground facility owner from holding a preconstruction conference regarding marking and location of underground facilities and entering into a mutually agreeable written schedule or written arrangement for satisfying the requirements of this section, except that this subsection does not eliminate the excavator's obligation to notify the facility owner to mark excavation sites under subsection B of this section based on the actual construction schedule.

I. The owner of an underground facility shall notify the excavator whether the facility is active or abandoned. For an underground facility abandoned after December 31, 1988 or covered by installation records prepared under section 40-360.30, subsection A, the owner of the facility may not advise or represent to the excavator that a facility or portion of a facility is abandoned unless the owner has verified, by reference to installation records or by testing, that the facility or portion is actually abandoned and not merely inactive. For all other abandoned or apparently abandoned underground facilities, each one-call notification center shall establish a method of providing personnel from a facility owner qualified to safely inspect and verify that the facility is abandoned or active and a method for reimbursing the verifying facility owner for the costs incurred. The reimbursement method may not include any charge or expense to the excavator. An inactive facility shall be considered active for purposes of this article. For all purposes under this article, a facility owner, excavator or other person subject to this article may not represent that an underground facility is abandoned, or treat an underground facility as abandoned, unless the facility has been verified as abandoned pursuant to this subsection.

J. Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting the use of warning tape, warning markers or any other warning device by the owner of an underground facility.


APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR MARCH 8, 1996.

FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE MARCH 11, 1996.



Click here to return to the A.L.I.S. Home Page.