SB 778: Excavations: subsurface installations.

Existing law, commonly referred to as the Dig Safe Act, establishes a regional notification system to provide certain entities, defined as operators, that own, operate, and maintain subsurface installations with advance warning of nearby excavations or other work for the purpose of protecting those installations from damage, removal, relocation, or repair.

Existing law requires an excavator planning to conduct an excavation to notify the regional notification center of their intent before beginning excavation. Existing law requires the regional notification center, in response to this notification, to provide the excavator with a ticket and to notify certain operators who have a subsurface installation in the proposed excavation area. Should a ticket obtained by an excavator expire, existing law requires an excavator to contact the regional notification center, cease all excavation, and wait a minimum of 2 working days before restarting excavation. Existing law authorizes an excavator to use a vacuum excavation device to expose subsurface installations within the tolerance zone if specified conditions are met, including that the excavator has contacted any operator whose subsurface installations may be in conflict with the excavation. Existing law requires an operator to take one of several specified actions before the legal excavation start date and time, including locating and field marking within the delineated area and, where multiple subsurface installations of the same type are known to exist together, marking the number of subsurface installations. Existing law prohibits an excavator from beginning excavation until the excavator receives a response from all known operators of subsurface installations, as specified. Existing law also establishes emergency and notification procedures for an excavator who discovers or causes damage to a subsurface installation.

This bill, among other changes, would revise the procedure an excavator must follow should a ticket expire. The bill would also revise requirements for an excavator to use vacuum equipment. The bill would revise the requirements related to subsurface installation operator responses that an excavator must receive before beginning excavation, and the emergency and notification procedures when an excavator discovers or causes damage to a subsurface installation.

Existing law authorizes a local agency that is required to provide specified services related to field marking to charge a fee to cover the cost of providing the service.

This bill would revise those provisions by, among other things, requiring a local agency to consider specified factors with respect to charging fees, including whether the fee could deter an excavator from contacting the regional notification center. By imposing new duties on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law requires statewide information provided by operators and excavators regarding incident events to be compiled in an annual report by regional notification centers and made available to the board upon request, as specified.

This bill would revoke the requirement that regional notification centers compile and make available the above-described annual reports. The bill would specify the types of events that the board may investigate.

Existing law establishes the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board, also known as the Dig Safe Board, composed of 9 members, for the enforcement and administration of the Dig Safe Act of 2016. Existing law requires the Governor to appoint 7 of the board members and the Senate Committee on Rules to appoint one board member. Existing law imposes certain eligibility requirements upon board members, as specified.

This bill would revise the knowledge and experience requirements for 3 of the members appointed by the Governor. The bill would also allow that the board member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules be employed by an operator.

The bill would also make other conforming changes and nonsubstantive changes.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.