SB 1237 — An Act amending the act of December 10, 1974 (P.L.852, No.287), referred to as the Underground Utility Line Protection Law, further providing for definitions, for duties of facility owners, for duties of designers, for duties of excavators, for duties of project owners, for damage prevention committee, for compliance orders and for administrative penalties; providing for action for recovery of penalty or forfeiture; and further providing for expiration of act.

HOUSE AMENDED PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS.

1689, 18891889, 1917 PRINTER'S NO.

19171950 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA SENATE BILL Session of 2024 No.

1237 2024 INTRODUCED BY BAKER, BARTOLOTTA, SANTARSIERO, COSTA, SCHWANK, J.

WARD, MILLER AND CULVER, JUNE 6, 2024 AS AMENDED ON THIRDSECOND CONSIDERATION, SEPTEMBERHOUSE 30,OF REPRESENTATIVES, OCTOBER 8, 2024 AN ACT Amending the act of December 10, 1974 (P.L.852, No.287), entitled "An act to protect the public health and safety by preventing excavation or demolition work from damaging underground lines used in providing electricity, communication, gas, propane, oil delivery, oil product delivery, sewage, water or other service;

imposing duties upon the providers of such service and persons and other entities preparing drawings or performing excavation or demolitionproviding work;for definitions, for duties of facility owners, for duties of designers, for duties of excavators, for duties of project owners, for damage prevention committee, for compliance orders and for administrative penalties ;

and prescribing<-- penalties,"repealing furtherprovisions providingrelating forto definitions,expiration for duties of facilityact.; owners, for duties of designers, for duties of excavators, for duties of project owners, for damage prevention committee, for compliance orders and for administrative penalties ;

and<-- repealingPROVIDING provisionsFOR relatingACTION toFOR expirationRECOVERY ofOF act.PENALTY OR FORFEITURE;

AND FURTHER PROVIDING FOR EXPIRATION OF ACT.

"Excavation work" means the use of powered equipment or explosives in the movement of earth, rock or other material, and includes, but is not limited to, anchoring, augering, 20240SB1237PN1950 - 2 - backfilling, blasting, boring, digging, ditching, dredging, drilling, driving-in, grading, plowing-in, pulling-in, ripping, 20240SB1237PN1917 - 2 - scraping, trenching and tunneling.

* * * ["Horizontal directional drilling" means the use of horizontal boring devices that can be guided between a launch point and a reception point beneath the earth's surface.] "Injury" means a bodily harm to a person, who, as a result of the bodily harm, immediately receives medical attention at a 20240SB1237PN1950 - 3 - health care facility away from the scene of the incident.

* * * 20240SB1237PN1917 - 3 - "Locate request" means a communication or notification between an excavator or designer and the One Call System in which a request for locating facilities is processed.

Section 2(1)(ii) and (iv), (5)(i), (10) and (13) 20240SB1237PN1950 - 4 - of the act are amended, clause (5) is amended by adding subparagraphs and the section is amended by adding a clause to 20240SB1237PN1917 - 4 - read:

Nothing under this clause shall prohibit the One Call System members from voluntarily submitting to the One Call System maps of lines or facilities installed before the effective date of this clause.] (C) A facility owner may not be required to locate lines or facilities installed before theApril effective date of this clause <-- APRIL 30, 2018, unless the facility owner has existing maps of <-- the lines or facilities and the facility owner's existing maps meet the specifications of the One Call System's Member Mapping Solutions.

Nothing under this clause shall prohibit a facility owner as a member of the One Call System from voluntarily submitting to the One Call System 20240SB1237PN1950 - 5 - maps of lines or facilities installed before theApril effective date of this clause APRIL 30, <-- 20240SB1237PN1917 - 5 - 2018.

Standard locating techniques shall include, at the utility owner's discretion, the option to choose available technologies suitable to each type of line or facility being 20240SB1237PN191720240SB1237PN1950 - 6 - located at the work site, topography or soil conditions or to assist the facility owner in locating its lines or facilities, based on accepted engineering and operational practices.

[No report may be required where the cost to repair the damage to the facility owner's lines is less than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), unless the same person damaged the facility owner's lines two or more times within a six-month period.] * * * 20240SB1237PN191720240SB1237PN1950 - 7 - (13) To maintain existing records of main lines abandoned on or after the effective date of this paragraph and to mark, locate [or] and identify the main lines if [possible],possible, based <-- upon the existing records.

* * * (4.1) To depict lines or facilities with the appropriate quality levels based on the complexity of the design and 20240SB1237PN191720240SB1237PN1950 - 8 - construction activities obtained through the SUE process in the planning and design phases in accordance with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) most recently published standard CI/ASCE 38.

20240SB1237PN191720240SB1237PN1950 - 9 - * * * (8) To immediately notify 911 and the facility owner if the damage results in the escape of any flammable, toxic or corrosive gas or liquid [which endangers life, health or property].

After giving such notice, the excavator shall be entitled to 20240SB1237PN191720240SB1237PN1950 - 10 - compensation from the project owner for this additional work as provided in the latest edition of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Form 408 specifications for extra work performed on a force account basis.

An excavator may not begin excavating in the affected area of the work site until after receiving sufficient information from the facility owner to 20240SB1237PN191720240SB1237PN1950 - 11 - safely excavate.

Provisions in any contract, public or private, which attempt to limit the rights of excavators under section 5 shall not be valid for any reason, and any attempted waiver of section 5 shall be void and unenforceable as against public policy and any such attempted 20240SB1237PN191720240SB1237PN1950 - 12 - waiver shall be reported to the commission prosecutor staff for appropriate action, including the imposition of an administrative penalty under section 7.10.

Section 7.8(a)(2) and (5)(i), (b)(1) and (5), (c) <-- (1)(ii) and (2), (d) and (e)(3) of the act are amended and subsection (c) is amended by adding a clause to read:

SECTION 4.

SECTION 7.8(A)(2) AND (5)(I), (B)(1) AND (5), (C) <-- (1)(II) AND (2), (D) AND (E)(3) OF THE ACT ARE AMENDED, SUBSECTION (C) IS AMENDED BY ADDING A CLAUSE AND THE SECTION IS AMENDED BY ADDING A SUBSECTION TO READ:

* * * (2) A person appointed to the committee must have expertise within the operation of this act related to the industry 20240SB1237PN1950 - 13 - represented.

20240SB1237PN1917 - 13 - (i) Two representatives of facility owners under clause (1) (iv) shall serve three years, one representative shall serve two years and two representatives shall serve one year.

If [an informal determination is rejected,] a person who is subject to an informal determination opts to reject the informal 20240SB1237PN1950 - 14 - determination, the person shall reject the informal determination in writing within thirty days of the date when the informal determination is made by the committee and the matter shall be [returned to the damage prevention investigator for 20240SB1237PN1917 - 14 - further action, if appropriate, including referring the matter] referred to the commission prosecutor staff for [the purpose of issuing a formal complaint.] an action resulting in a formal complaint before the commission.

(e)(D.1) TheNOTWITHSTANDING committeeANY shallOTHER havePROVISION theOF followingTHIS additionalACT, duties:THE <-- COMMITTEE SHALL ONLY HAVE THE POWERS AND DUTIES ENUMERATED IN SUBSECTIONS (B) AND (C) IF THE COMMITTEE COMPLETES ITS REVIEW OF AN ALLEGED VIOLATION AND ISSUES AN INFORMAL DETERMINATION WITHIN TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY DAYS OF THE OCCURRENCE OF THE ALLEGED VIOLATION.

20240SB1237PN1950 - 15 - (e) The committee shall have the following additional duties:

The report shall include relevant metrics to demonstrate how the damage prevention committee's actions advance the goal of minimizing 20240SB1237PN1917 - 15 - the occurrence of line hits and enhance public safety.

(4) A person or entity subject to an informal determination 20240SB1237PN1950 - 16 - of the committee requiring a damage prevention educational program under section 7.8(b)(4) shall successfully complete the program within sixty days of issuance of the informal determination.

<-- [Section 39.

This act shall expire on December 31, 2024.] 20240SB1237PN1917SECTION -6. 16 - Section 7.

ThisTHE actACT shallIS takeAMENDED effectBY inADDING 60A daysSECTION <--TO IMMEDIATELY.READ:

<-- 20240SB1237PN1917SECTION -7.11. 17 -

EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THIS ACT, AN ACTION FOR THE RECOVERY OF ANY PENALTY OR FORFEITURE INCURRED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT OR A PROSECUTION ON ACCOUNT OF ANY MATTER OR THING MENTIONED IN THIS ACT MAY NOT BE MAINTAINED UNLESS BROUGHT WITHIN THREE YEARS FROM THE DATE AT WHICH THE LIABILITY AROSE.

SECTION 7.

SECTION 39 OF THE ACT IS AMENDED TO READ:

SECTION 39.