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PUB LIC UTILI TIES M UNICIPALITIES

) C OUN TIES - P OLITICAL S UBDIVI SIONS AND S TATE A GENCIES R EQUIRED TO B E M EMBER OF O NE -C ALL S YSTE M U NDER “M ISS U TILI TY L AW ”

November 19, 1998

The Ho nora ble T

hom as L. B rom well Maryland Senate You have requested o ur opinion a bout the en tities that are requ ired to be members of the “one -call ” sy stem under Ma ryland’s “Miss Utili ty

Law.” The Miss Utili ty Law requi res the owners of certain underground faci lities t o be membe r s of a on e- cal l s y st em. You ha ve asked whether the te rm “owner” includes poli tica l subdivisions, municipal iti es and Sta te ag en ci es th at own und erg rou nd faciliti es. Fo r the rea sons which fol low, it is our opinion that

an owner includ e s political s ubd ivision s, mu nicipa l corpo rations , and S tate agencies.
I

The M iss Uti lity Law To protect

certa in undergr ound facil iti es from damage caused byexcavation, the Miss Utili ty law requir es that

the owners of

such facil iti es be m emb ers of a one -call system . Ma ryland C ode, P ublic Utili ties Companies Article (“PU C”), §§1 2-102 a nd 12-1 09(b). Such underground facilities include pipes, sewers, conduits, wires, and other facilities for the storage or c onveyance of w ater, sewage, oil, gas, electricity, or electronic com mun ications PU C §1 2-101(h ). Persons wh o inte nd to undertake an excavati on must noti fy t he own ers of such faci lities ei ther directly or th roug h a on e-call sys tem of their inte ntions . PU C § 12-1 08(a ). Ow ners a re then requ ir ed t o mark the sur fa ce of the location of und erground facilities near a pro pos ed e xca vatio n. P UC §12 -11 0(a ).Gen. 196] 197

1 Article 78, §28A as subsequen tl y amended, was repealed along with the rest of Article 78 when the Public Utility Companies Article was created. Chapter 8, §1, Laws of Mary land, 1998. The repeal of

Article 78 and the enactment of the new Article took effe ct on Octob er 1, 1998

. Chapter 8, §13, Lawsof Maryland, 1998. See alsoChapter 653, Laws of Maryland 1998. For pur pos es of th is law, “owner” m eans a “person” t hat owns and ope rate s an undergr ound facil ity and has the right t o buryan undergroundfacility. PU C §1 2-101(f)(1 ). The general rule i s that the word “person” i n a stat ute does not

include the Stat e, i ts agenci es or subd ivision s unle ss an in tention to inclu de the se en tities is manifest ed by the Le gisla ture

. Unnamed Physici an v. Commission on Medic al D iscip line, 285 M d. 1, 12, 400 A .2d 396 (1 979). How ever, under thi s stat ute, a “person” incl ude s a “munici pal co rporat ion” and “ a gov ernm ental u nit, dep artme nt o r agency ”. PU C §12-10 1(g). Mo re ov er, the statute also specifies that an “ow ner” include s a “ politicalsubdivi sion” and “muni cipal corporati on”. PU C §12-10 1(f)(2). See also PUC § 12-1 11 (“poli tica l subdi visi on or municipalcorporation authorized t o charge marking or re- marking fee). The Miss Utility Law m anifests an intent to encompass governmentalunits within t he defini tion o f ow ner an d to o bligate them to be members of a on e-call sy stem. This intenti on is also re fle cte d i n t he law ’s l eg isl ati ve hi sto ry. The essent ial provisi ons of the present M iss Utility Law w ere enactedin 1990 amendment of Arti cle 78, §28 A. 1 The then exis ting law applie d only

to the under ground faci lities of publ ic ser vice companies. Ho we ver , a s poin ted ou t in a state men t of the Pub lic Service Commission, t

his amendment expande d the appl icat ion of the law f

rom pub lic servic e com panie s to virtu ally all ow ners of u ndergroundfac ilities. See Stat ement f rom Publ ic Se rvic e Co mm issio n to Sen ate F inan ce C om mitte e (Ja nua ry 25, 1 990 ). The broad appli cati on of the M iss U tility Law w as clea rly underst ood by affe cted publ ic au thori ties . In a s tate ment to t he Senat e Fina nce C om mittee d ated Ja nuar y 25, 199 0, the M aryla n d Municipal League declar ed “The Maryland Municipal League opposes S.B. 224 which would re quire munic ipa lit ies and ot her198 [83 O p. Att’y undergroundfacil ity

ow ners t o parti cipat e in a one- call sys tem for facil iti es marking and notific ation. ”
II Conclusion In conclusi on, it i s our opini on that t he Miss Util ity

Law requir es all owners of cert ain underground facil iti es to be me mbers of a one-call sy stem. For purposes o f this requir ement, owner includes polit ical subdivisi ons, municipaliti es and State agencies.
J. Joseph C urran, Jr. AttorneyGeneral Richard E. I srael Assist antA ttor ney G eneral Ro bert N . Mc Do nald Chief Counsel Opinions and Advic e