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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 exca-
vations, 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-oper-
ated comprehensive one-call systems to protect natural
gas and hazardous liquid pipelines and all other under-
ground facilities from being damaged by any excavations,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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 develop-
ment of infrastructure has resulted in the construc-
tion 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 an-
other State;
(7) to prevent third-party damage, the owners
of some underground facilities have initiated one-call
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 com-
prehensive statewide one-call notification system, in ac-
cordance with this Act, to protect all underground facili-
ties 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 ap-
proval 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 acci-
dent or other appropriate data submitted by the State,
that the principal purpose of the project is an improve-
ment in safety to resolve a demonstrated safety problem
and likely will result in a significant reduction in, or avoid-
ance 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 under-
ground 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 re-
quirements and penalties of the State system relat-
ing to excavations;
(5) require that any person conducting an exca-
vation 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, includ-
ing—
(A) the name of the person contacting the
one-call system;
(B) the name, address, and telephone num-
ber of the excavator; and
(C) the specific location of the intended ex-
cavation, along with the starting date thereof
and a description of the intended excavation ac-
tivity;
(7) inform excavators of the identity of facility
operators who will be notified of the intended exca-
vation;
(8) inform excavators of any procedures that
the State has determined must be followed when ex-
cavating;
(9) inform facility operators of any intended ex-
cavations that may be in the vicinity of their under-
ground 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 ex-
cavation, and to supervise such excavation as nec-
essary;
(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 earli-
est 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 sys-
tem established under section 5(a) shall provide that any
excavator or facility operator who violates the require-
ments 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 viola-
tions 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, seri-
ous 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 sys-
tem may provide for reduced penalties for a violation, that
results in or could result in damage, that is promptly re-
ported by the violator.
(d) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—Each State one-call sys-
tem shall provide for appropriate injunctive relief.
(e) REVOCATION OF LICENSE.—Each State one-call
system shall include procedures for the revocation of a li-
cense or permit to do business of any excavator deter-
mined 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 cita-
tion of violation at the site and time of the violation.
SEC. 8. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.
(a) COORDINATION
WITH
OTHER
RESPONSIBIL-
ITIES.—The Secretary shall coordinate the implementa-
tion of this Act with the implementation of the Natural
Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 and the Hazardous Liq-
uid 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 de-
velop 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 in-
form 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 Depart-
ment of Transportation on the status of their one-call no-
tification 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 under-
ground 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 facili-
ties participate; and
(8) any other relevant information.
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