HB 2024

Present law prohibits a person from excavating a street, a highway, a public space, or a private easement within 100 feet of the edge of a street or highway, or demolishing a building, without giving notice at least three days prior to beginning work. I f the work is not completed within 20 calendar days from the date specified in the notice, then this bill requires the person responsible for excavation or demolition to serve an additional notice at least three days prior to the expiration of time on the 2 0th calendar day. Further, this bill clarifies that excavation includes dredging. Present law requires the notice described above to contain the name, address, telephone number, and email address of the person filing the notice and the person responsible for the excavation or demolition. It must also include the start date and antici pating duration of the work, the type of work to be conducted, the specific location of the work, and whether or not explosives will be used. EXCEPTION TO MARKING REQUIREMENTS Present law generally requires an area being excavated or demolished to be marked with "safety white"" color-coded stakes, with white paint, or with electronic white lining. This bill provides an exception to the marking requirement if the person respons ible for the excavation or demolition and all operators with underground facilities in the area have had a meeting prior to the beginning of the work for the exchange of information. EXEMPTION TO NOTICE REQUIREMENTS This bill exempts the use of vacuum excavation by or on behalf of a member operator for locating or protecting the member operator's underground facilities from the above described notice requirements. Vacuum excavation, also referred to as ""soft digging, is a non-destructive, precision excavation method that uses high-pressure air or water to loosen soil, which is then removed by a powerful vacuum system into a debris tank. DESIGN LOCATE REQUESTS Present law authorizes a person to submit a design locate request to the one-call service. The facility owner or operator must respond to such a request within 15 working days by one of the prescribed methods. This bill allows an operator to respond to such a request by providing to the person submitting the request the best available description of all utility facilities and sewer laterals, which might include drawings of utility facilities and sewer laterals already built in the area, digital locatin g, or other facility records. As used in this bill, ""digital locating"" means the application of a visual indicator to digital imagery or an electronic map to indicate the location of underground utilities ."