House Bill 1044

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 77-13-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE EXCAVATORS TO MARK THE PROPOSED EXCAVATION AREA WITH WHITE PAINT, FLAGS OR STAKES PRIOR TO PROVIDING ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF THE PROPOSED EXCAVATION TO MISSISSIPPI 811; TO PROVIDE THAT PROPOSED EXCAVATION AREAS MARKED WITH A SINGLE WHITE STAKE OR MARKER WILL BE CONSIDERED TO EXTEND NO FURTHER THAN FIFTY FEET IN ANY DIRECTION FROM THE WHITE STAKE OR MARKER; TO AMEND SECTION 77-13-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT WHERE THE PROPOSED EXCAVATION AREA DESCRIBED IN THE NOTIFICATION TO MISSISSIPPI 811, INCORPORATED IS NOT CONSISTENT WITH THE AREA DESIGNATED BY WHITE LINE PRE-MARKINGS, THE OPERATOR SHALL MARK THE AREA DESCRIBED IN THE ONE-CALL SERVICE LOCATION TICKET, OR IF DEEMED NECESSARY, CONTACT THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EXCAVATION TO RESOLVE SUCH INCONSISTENCY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 77-13-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

77-13-5. (1) In addition to complying with all other applicable regulations and requirements of federal, state, county and municipal authorities, no person shall engage in excavation of any kind, before meeting the notification requirements of this chapter. Under this chapter the excavator shall:

(a) Inform himself/herself of the presence and location of any underground utility lines and underground facilities in or near the area where excavation is to be conducted;

(b) Plan and conduct the excavation to avoid or minimize interference with or damage to underground utility lines and underground facilities in or near the excavation area; maintain a clearance between any underground utility line or underground facility and the cutting edge or point of any mechanical excavating equipment, taking into account the known limit of control of such cutting edge or point, as may be reasonably necessary to avoid damage to such facility; and provide such support for underground utility lines or underground facilities in and near the excavation area, including during any backfilling operations, as may be reasonably necessary for the protection of such facilities.

(c) Except as provided in Section 77-13-11, provide not less than two (2) and not more than ten (10) working days' advance written, electronic or telephonic notice of the commencement, extent, location and duration of the excavation work to Mississippi 811, Incorporated, so that Mississippi 811, Incorporated, operator(s) may locate and mark the location of underground utility lines and underground facilities in the excavation area.

The written, electronic or telephonic notice required by this paragraph (c) shall contain the name, address and telephone number of the person filing the notice of intent, the person responsible for the excavation, the starting date, anticipated duration, type of excavation to be conducted, the location of the proposed excavation and whether or not explosives are to be used.

(d) With the exception of design information requests, prior to providing advance notice to Mississippi 811, Incorporated as required by subsection 1(c), the excavator shall pre-mark the approximate boundary of the proposed excavation area with white paint, flags, or stakes. Where an excavator pre-marks the proposed excavation area with a single stake or other single point indicator, that excavator represents that the proposed excavation area does not exceed fifty (50) feet in any direction from the pre-mark.

(2) The markings provided by operators and the locate request number shall only be valid for a period of fourteen (14) calendar days from the date and time the locate request ticket is processed or entered into the system by Mississippi 811, Incorporated The person responsible for the excavation project shall renew the notification with Mississippi 811, Incorporated, at least two (2) and not more than three (3) working days prior to this expiration date and shall continue to renew such notification in the same manner throughout the duration of the excavation. Such renewal notice shall be valid for a period of fourteen (14) calendar days from the date and time the renewal locate request is processed or entered into the system by Mississippi 811, Incorporated

(3) Compliance with the notice requirements of this section shall not be required of: (a) persons plowing less than twenty-four (24) inches in depth for agricultural purposes; (b) persons who are moving or otherwise displacing, by hand, earth, rock or other material or mass of material on or below the ground at a depth of less than twelve (12) inches on property they own; and (c) persons, other than the property owner, who are moving or otherwise displacing, by hand, earth, rock or other material or mass of material on or below the ground at a depth of less than twelve (12) inches, except when such excavation is in a clearly marked underground facility right-of-way.

(4) A person may make a written, electronic or telephonic design information request to Mississippi 811, Incorporated, so that owners and operators of utilities may locate underground utility lines and underground facilities in the design information area. The design information request shall contain the name, address, and telephone number of the person making the request, the type of project planned, and a description of the area to be located with sufficient particularity to enable the utility owner or operator to ascertain the precise tract or parcel of land involved.

SECTION 2. Section 77-13-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

77-13-9. (1) Every person owning or operating underground utility lines or underground facilities shall, upon receiving advance notice of the commencement of excavation, in accordance with Section 77-13-5, make an investigation, and shall report through the use of the PRIS the status of the work performed, within two (2) working days from the time notice is provided in accordance with this chapter to Mississippi 811, Incorporated, to determine the approximate location of its underground utility lines or underground facilities in the area of the proposed excavation, and shall either: (a) mark the approximate location of underground utility lines and underground facilities in or near the area of the excavation, so as to enable the person engaged in excavation work to locate the lines and facilities in advance of and during the excavation work and notify the excavator through the PRIS that the facilities have been marked; (b) advise through the PRIS that it has no underground utility lines or underground facilities in the excavation area; or (c) advise through the PRIS that it can locate its underground utility lines or underground facilities in the excavation area only by excavation. If an operator can locate its underground utility lines or underground facilities in the excavation area only by excavation and has given proper notice of such, that operator shall be allowed a reasonable amount of additional time, not to exceed four (4) working days from the day the original notice was provided in accordance with this chapter, to mark the approximate location of the underground utility lines or underground facilities. Where the proposed excavation area described in the notification to Mississippi 811, Incorporated is not consistent with the area designated by white line pre-markings, the operator shall mark the area described in the one-call service location ticket, or if deemed necessary, contact the person responsible for the excavation to resolve such inconsistency.

(2) In lieu of such marking, the operator may request to be present at the site upon commencement of the excavation, so long as the operator complies within two (2) working days of the receipt of the notice.

(3) When an excavator, upon arriving at an excavation site, sees evidence of unmarked underground utility lines or underground facilities or encounters an unmarked underground utility line or underground facility on an excavation site after excavation has commenced where notice of intent has been made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, that excavator must immediately contact Mississippi 811, Incorporated All operator(s) thus notified must contact the excavator within four (4) hours and inform the excavator of any of their known underground facilities, active or abandoned, at the site of the excavation.

(4) When marking the approximate location of the facilities, the operator shall follow the color code designated and described herein, unless otherwise provided for by specific administrative rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to this chapter, namely:

UTILITY OR TYPE OF FACILITY GROUP IDENTIFYING COLOR

Electric Safety Red

Petroleum Product/Hazardous/

Flammable/Corrosive/Toxic

Materials, Product and Steam

Lines, Gas or Gaseous Material High Visibility Safety

Yellow

Telecommunications (including fiber

optics) and CATV Safety Alert Orange

Potable Water Safety Precaution Blue

Reclaimed Water, Irrigation,

Slurry Lines Purple

Sewer and Drain Lines Safety Green

Temporary Survey Markings High Visibility Pink

Proposed Excavation White

(5) All utility facilities installed by owners or operators of utilities on or after January 1, 2010, shall be installed in such manner that the utility facility may be located by using a generally accepted electronic locating method.

(6) Except for emergency excavations, if, before the expiration of the two (2) working days' waiting period, all identified facility owners or operators have responded to the locate request and all have indicated that their facilities are either not in conflict or have been marked as indicated through the use of the PRIS, then the person planning to perform excavation or blasting shall be authorized to commence work, subject to the other requirements of this section, without waiting the full two (2) working days.

(7) Upon receiving a design information request, the utility owner or operator shall within seven (7) working days from the time notice is provided in accordance with this chapter to Mississippi 811, Incorporated, respond by one (1) of the following methods: (a) marking the approximate location of its underground utility lines and underground facilities in the area in accordance with subsection (1) of this section; (b) providing to the person making the design information request the best available description of its underground utility lines and underground facilities in the area which may include drawings or other records maintained by the utility owner or operator; or (c) allowing the person making the design information request or any other authorized person to inspect or copy the drawings or other records for all underground utility lines and utility facilities in the area.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.