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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4394 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4394

     To provide for the establishment of mandatory State-operated 
  comprehensive one-call systems to protect natural gas and hazardous 
   liquid pipelines and all other underground facilities from being 
          damaged by any excavations, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 11, 1994

 Mr. Pallone introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly 
  to the Committees on Public Works and Transportation and Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
     To provide for the establishment of mandatory State-operated 
  comprehensive one-call systems to protect natural gas and hazardous 
   liquid pipelines and all other underground facilities from being 
          damaged by any excavations, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Comprehensive One-Call Notification 
Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) since the 1950s, steadily increasing development of 
        infrastructure has resulted in the construction of underground 
        facilities throughout the United States, including natural gas 
        pipelines, hazardous liquid pipelines, water pipelines, steam 
        pipelines, telephone lines, electric lines, fiber optic lines, 
        cable television lines, sewer pipelines, and dedicated traffic 
        control, emergency communication, and alarm lines;
            (2) these underground facilities offer a safe and 
        economical means of providing essential services to the public;
            (3) the vast majority of accidents involving these 
        facilities are caused by nearby excavation, demolition, or 
        tunneling activities, known as third-party damage;
            (4) accidents resulting from third-party damage present an 
        unnecessary risk to public safety and the environment;
            (5) costs arising from third-party damage are ultimately 
        paid by consumers;
            (6) in the case of interstate facilities, consumers in one 
        State may pay for damages incurred in another State;
            (7) to prevent third-party damage, the owners of some 
        underground facilities have initiated one-call (or ``call 
        before you dig'') programs, and some States have mandated one-
        call programs, although the scope and effectiveness of these 
        programs is inconsistent;
            (8) to maximize the effectiveness of one-call programs, 
        national standards are needed;
            (9) these standards should apply, without exception, to all 
        excavation near any underground facilities; and
            (10) these standards should produce one-call systems which 
        are simple to use, with a single telephone number established 
        which excavators must call to obtain information on the 
        location of any type of underground facility anywhere in the 
        United States.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the term--
            (1) ``damage'' means any impact or contact with an 
        underground facility, its appurtenances, or its protective 
        coating, or weakening of the support for the facility or 
        protective housing, which requires repair;
            (2) ``excavation'' means any operation in which earth, 
        rock, or other material in the ground is moved, removed, or 
        otherwise displaced by means of any tools, equipment, or 
        explosive, and includes, without limitation, grading, boring, 
        milling, trenching, tunneling, scraping, tree and root removal, 
        cable or pipe plowing, pile driving, wrecking, razing, rending, 
        or removing any structure or mass material, but shall not 
        include the tilling of soil for agricultural purposes to a 
        depth of 18 inches or less;
            (3) ``facility operator'' means any person who owns or 
        operates an underground facility, except for any person who is 
        the owner of real property wherein are located underground 
        facilities for the purpose of furnishing services or materials 
        only to himself or occupants of such property;
            (4) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Transportation; 
        and
            (5) ``underground facility'' means any underground line, 
        system, or structure used for producing, gathering, storing, 
        conveying, transmitting, or distributing natural gas, hazardous 
        liquids, communication, electricity, petroleum, petroleum 
        products, water, steam, sewerage, or any other commodities the 
        Secretary determines to be similar and appropriate.

SEC. 4. NATIONWIDE DEDICATED NUMBER.

    Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 
Communications Commission shall establish a nationwide dedicated 
telephone number to be used by local or regional underground facility 
location services, and by one-call systems established pursuant to this 
Act.

SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE ONE-CALL SYSTEMS.

    (a) Requirement.--Each State shall, within 3 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act, establish a comprehensive statewide one-call 
notification system, in accordance with this Act, to protect all 
underground facilities from damage due to any excavation.
    (b) State Sanctions for Nonparticipation.--The Secretary may impose 
a prohibition, applicable to a State that does not comply with 
subsection (a), on the approval of any projects or the awarding of any 
grants under title 23, United States Code, other than projects or 
grants for safety where the Secretary determines, based on accident or 
other appropriate data submitted by the State, that the principal 
purpose of the project is an improvement in safety to resolve a 
demonstrated safety problem and likely will result in a significant 
reduction in, or avoidance of, accidents.

SEC. 6. ELEMENTS OF SYSTEM.

    Each State one-call system established under section 5(a) shall--
            (1) have a designated system operator;
            (2) operate in all areas of the State containing 
        underground facilities;
            (3) apply to all excavations and to all underground 
        facility operators, except as provided by this Act;
            (4) employ mechanisms, such as the issuance of excavation 
        or building permits, to ensure that the general public, and in 
        particular all excavators, are aware of the one-call telephone 
        number and the requirements and penalties of the State system 
        relating to excavations;
            (5) require that any person conducting an excavation must 
        contact the one-call system at least 3 business days, and not 
        more than 10 business days, before excavation begins;
            (6) receive and record appropriate information from 
        excavators about intended excavations, including--
                    (A) the name of the person contacting the one-call 
                system;
                    (B) the name, address, and telephone number of the 
                excavator; and
                    (C) the specific location of the intended 
                excavation, along with the starting date thereof and a 
                description of the intended excavation activity;
            (7) inform excavators of the identity of facility operators 
        who will be notified of the intended excavation;
            (8) inform excavators of any procedures that the State has 
        determined must be followed when excavating;
            (9) inform facility operators of any intended excavations 
        that may be in the vicinity of their underground facilities;
            (10) require facility operators to locate and mark, in 
        accordance with standards established by the State, their 
        underground facilities in the vicinity of an intended 
        excavation within no more than 3 business days after 
        notification of such intended excavation, and to supervise such 
        excavation as necessary;
            (11) provide for penalties and enforcement as described in 
        section 7;
            (12) maintain records on each notice of intent to excavate 
        for at least 7 years;
            (13) establish procedures to promote the timely acquisition 
        of information on previously unknown underground facility 
        locations;
            (14) provide for an appropriate waiver of timely compliance 
        with system requirements in emergency circumstances in which 
        public safety is endangered, as long as the one-call system is 
        notified at the earliest practicable time;
            (15) establish an appropriate schedule of fees to be 
        imposed on facility operators to cover the costs of 
        establishing, maintaining, and operating the one-call system; 
        and
            (16) provide an opportunity for citizen suits to enforce 
        the requirements of this section.

SEC. 7. PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) General Penalties.--Each State one-call system established 
under section 5(a) shall provide that any excavator or facility 
operator who violates the requirements of the system shall be liable 
for a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for each violation for 
each day that violation persists, except that the maximum civil penalty 
shall not exceed $500,000 for any related series of violations and the 
minimum civil penalty for a violation shall be not less than $250.
    (b) Increased Penalties.--If a violation results in damage to an 
underground facility resulting in death, serious bodily harm, or actual 
damage to property exceeding $50,000, or damage to an underground 
hazardous liquid pipeline facility resulting in the release of more 
than 50 barrels of product, the penalties may be increased, and an 
additional penalty of imprisonment may be assessed.
    (c) Decreased Penalties.--A State one-call system may provide for 
reduced penalties for a violation, that results in or could result in 
damage, that is promptly reported by the violator.
    (d) Injunctive Relief.--Each State one-call system shall provide 
for appropriate injunctive relief.
    (e) Revocation of License.--Each State one-call system shall 
include procedures for the revocation of a license or permit to do 
business of any excavator determined to be a habitual violator of the 
requirements of the system.
    (f) Immediate Citation of Violations.--A State one-call system may 
include procedures for issuing a citation of violation at the site and 
time of the violation.

SEC. 8. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.

    (a) Coordination With Other Responsibilities.--The Secretary shall 
coordinate the implementation of this Act with the implementation of 
the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 and the Hazardous Liquid 
Pipeline Safety Act of 1979.
    (b) Model Program.--Within 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Office of Pipeline Safety of the Department of 
Transportation shall draft and make available to States a model one-
call system program, along with such additional guidance as the 
Secretary considers appropriate, to assist the States in complying with 
this Act. Such model program may be amended in response to reports 
submitted by the States pursuant to section 10.
    (c) Public Education.--The Secretary shall develop public service 
announcements to be broadcast or published to educate the public about 
one-call notification systems, including the national phone number.

SEC. 9. ALTERNATE FORM OF SYSTEM.

    A State that wishes to establish or maintain a one-call system that 
differs from the requirements of this Act may petition the Secretary 
for approval of such system. The Secretary shall approve such a 
petition within 1 month after receipt of the petition, if the proposed 
system is at least as protective of the public health and safety as a 
system described in this Act. The Secretary shall inform a State of the 
reasons for the denial of a petition under this section.

SEC. 10. STATE REPORTS.

    Within 54 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
annually thereafter each State shall report to Congress and the Office 
of Pipeline Safety of the Department of Transportation on the status of 
their one-call notification system and its requirements. The report 
shall contain data on the operation and effectiveness of the one-call 
system including--
            (1) the status of its law establishing the one-call system;
            (2) the number of notification requests received annually;
            (3) the effectiveness of the method of underground facility 
        marking required;
            (4) the degree of excavator compliance;
            (5) the number of incidents where underground facilities 
        were damaged and the type of damage to such facilities;
            (6) the number of deaths and injuries and the estimate 
        amount of property loss resulting from damage to underground 
        facilities;
            (7) the extent to which all underground facilities 
        participate; and
            (8) any other relevant information.

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