An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Dig Safe Work Group
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1803
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology
Amends: 23 MRSA §3360-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1803 
H.P. 1329 
House of Representatives, February 2, 2012 
An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Dig Safe Work 
Group 
Reported by Representative FITTS of Pittsfield for the Public Utilities Commission 
pursuant to Public Law 2011, chapter 72. 
Reference to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology suggested and ordered 
printed pursuant to Joint Rule 218. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  23 MRSA §3360-A, sub-§1, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 362, §2, is 
amended to read: 
D.  "Person" means an individual, partnership, municipality, state, including an 
agency or department of the state, county, political subdivision, utility, joint venture 
or corporation and includes the employer of an individual. 
Sec. 2.  23 MRSA §3360-A, sub-§1, ¶E, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 362, §2, is 
amended to read: 
E.  "Underground facility" means any item of personal property buried or placed 
below ground for use in connection with the storage or conveyance of water, sewage, 
electronic, telephonic or telegraphic communications, electric energy, oil, gas or 
other substances and including, but not limited to, pipes, sewers, conduits, cables, 
valves, lines, wires, manholes, attachments, appurtenances and those parts of poles 
below ground. This definition shall does not include liquefied propane gas 
distribution systems that are not included within the scope of 49 Code of Federal 
Regulations, Part 192 and highway drainage culverts or under drains. 
Sec. 3.  23 MRSA §3360-A, sub-§6-C, as amended by PL 2011, c. 72, §6, is 
further amended to read: 
6-C.  Penalties.  In an adjudicatory proceeding, the Public Utilities Commission may, 
in accordance with this subsection, impose an administrative penalty for any violation of 
on any person who violates this subsection.  The administrative penalty may not exceed 
$500, except that, if the person has been found in violation of this subsection within the 
prior 12 months, the administrative penalty may not exceed $5,000.  Administrative 
penalties imposed pursuant to this subsection are in addition to any other remedies or 
forfeitures provided by law and any liability that may result from the act or omission 
constituting the violation.  Before imposing any penalties under this subsection, the 
commission shall consider evidence of the record of the violator, including, to the extent 
applicable, the number of successful excavations undertaken by the violator or the 
number of locations successfully marked by the violator during the prior 12 months.  The 
commission may require a person who violates any provision of this section to 
participate, at the expense of the violator, in an educational program developed and 
conducted by the system. 
The Public Utilities Commission may impose administrative penalties for any of the 
following violations: 
A.  Failure of an excavator to give notice of an excavation as required under 
subsection 3, except to the extent the excavator is exempt from the provisions of 
subsection 3 pursuant to other provisions of this section; 
B.  Excavation by an excavator in a reckless or negligent manner that poses a threat 
to an underground facility; 
C.  Excavation by an excavator that does not comply with the requirements of 
subsection 4-C, except to the extent the excavator is exempt from the provisions of 
subsection 4-C pursuant to subsection 5-C; 
D.  Failure of an underground facility operator to mark the location of the operator's 
underground facilities within the time limits required by subsection 4; 
E.  Marking by an underground facility operator of the location of an underground 
facility in a reckless or negligent manner; or 
F.  Failure of an excavator to comply with the requirements of subsection 5-C, 5-D, 
5-E, 5-I or 5-J. 
The commission shall establish by rule standards for when and at what level penalties 
must be assessed under this subsection.  Rules adopted under this subsection are major 
substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 4.  23 MRSA §3360-A, sub-§6-E is enacted to read: 
6-E.  Use of administrative penalties.  All amounts received by the Public Utilities 
Commission due to the payment of administrative penalties imposed for a violation of 
this section must be allocated and used only for the purposes described in this subsection. 
A.  Amounts may be used solely for the following purposes: 
(1)  Promotion of the system through marketing efforts, including but not limited 
to radio, television and print media and other purposes intended to encourage 
membership in the system; 
(2)  Training of utilities and contractors in the use of the system and methods of 
preventing damage to underground facilities.  Training funded pursuant to this 
subparagraph must be offered by or through a regional or national organization or 
program that provides training in underground facility safety; and 
(3)  Provision of grants to support mapping of underground facilities to facilities 
operators that become first-time members of Dig Safe System, Inc., or its 
successor organization, during the calendar year during which the administrative 
penalties were collected. 
B.  Amounts must be allocated by the commission for the purposes stated in 
paragraph A in the following percentages: 
(1)  Five percent for the purpose stated in paragraph A, subparagraph (1); 
(2)  Fifteen percent for the purpose stated in paragraph A, subparagraph (2); and 
(3)  Eighty percent for the purpose stated in paragraph A, subparagraph (3). 
If, at the end of the calendar year, funds that have been allocated for the purposes 
stated in paragraph A, subparagraphs 1 or 3 remain unspent, the commission shall use 
those funds for additional training pursuant to paragraph A, subparagraph (2). 
A utility or contractor that receives funds pursuant to paragraph A, subparagraph (2) shall 
provide a report to the Public Utilities Commission by February 1st of the year following 
receipt of the funds that includes the number of training sessions provided, the number of 
individuals trained, the names of companies participating in training and a description of 
the training curriculum used. 
Beginning January 15, 2013 and every odd year after that, the Public Utilities 
Commission shall submit to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over public utilities matters its recommendations regarding the allocation of 
administrative penalties collected pursuant to subsection 6-C.  The commission shall also 
provide a recommendation as to whether the funds allocated for training of utilities and 
contractors pursuant to paragraph A, subparagraph (2) should be made available to train 
water and sewer districts regarding the commission’s rules requiring a public utility to 
map its service area and key infrastructure. 
Sec. 5.  Convene a dig safe work group.  The Public Advocate shall convene a 
dig safe work group, referred to in this section as "the work group," to examine, improve 
and enhance the underground facility damage prevention system established in the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 23, section 3360-A, subsection 1-A and referred to in this section 
as "the damage prevention system." 
1.  Chair.  The Public Advocate shall serve as the chair of the work group. 
2.  Convening.  The Public Advocate shall convene the work group no later than 30 
days following the effective date of this section. 
3.  Duties.  The work group, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, 
shall examine ways to facilitate the creation of a centralized one-call system to notify the 
operators of underground facilities of pending excavations.  This examination must 
include, but is not limited to: 
A.  Creating a new apportionment of the costs of membership in the damage 
prevention system so that members could pay a flat fee for each notification of 
pending excavation; 
B.  Authorizing an operator who is not a member of the damage prevention system to 
be subject to administrative penalties for violations of Title 23, section 3360-A; and 
C.  Requiring an operator who is not a member of the damage prevention system to 
maintain insurance when an excavator is working on that operator's underground 
facilities. 
4.  Staff assistance.  The Public Advocate and the Public Utilities Commission shall 
provide necessary staffing services to the work group. 
5.  Report.  No later than January 15, 2013, the Public Utilities Commission and the 
Public Advocate shall jointly submit a report to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over energy, utilities and technology matters that includes 
all findings and recommendations of the work group that are supported by at least 2/3 of 
the appointed members of the work group.  The commission shall submit to the First 
Regular Session of the 126th Legislature by January 15, 2013 any legislation necessary to 
carry out the recommendations of the work group and provisionally adopted rules 
pursuant to Title 23, section 3360-A, subsection 13 necessary to carry out the 
recommendations of the work group. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the so-called dig safe law to exclude liquefied propane gas 
distribution systems that are not included within the scope of safety regulation of the 
Public Utilities Commission in its role as an agent to the United States Department of 
Transportation from the definition of an underground facility.  The bill clarifies that the 
dig safe law applies to state agencies and departments and allows the Public Utilities 
Commission to impose administrative penalties on any person who violates the dig safe 
law, including a state agency or department.  The administrative penalties paid to resolve 
violations of the dig safe law are dedicated to further the prevention of damage to 
underground facilities in specific proportions through funding training by private 
nonprofit groups; dissemination of damage prevention information through the use of 
radio, television and print media advertising; and the creating of grants to assist facilities 
operators in funding mapping of their facilities.  Finally, the bill requires the Public 
Advocate to establish and convene a dig safe work group to facilitate the creation of a 
centralized one-call system to notify the operators of underground facilities of pending 
excavations.