Alabama Administrative Code › Title 910 - ALABAMA UNDERGROUND DAMAGE PREVENTION AUTHORITY ADMINISTRATIVE CODE › Chapter 910-X-1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 910-X-1-.02 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) Terms in these
			 rules shall be the same definition as found in
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, §
								37-15-2,
			 et seq., or defined below:
(a) Authority - The
			 Underground Damage Prevention Authority created under
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, §
									37-15-10.1,
			 et seq.
(b) Authority Board - The
			 Underground Damage Prevention Board created under
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, §
									37-15-10.1,
			 et seq.
(c) Damage - Includes, but
			 is not limited to, the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support
			 of an underground facility, penetration or destruction of any underground
			 facility's protective coating, housing or other protective device, and the
			 severance (partial or complete) of any underground facility, but does not apply
			 to any operator's abandoned underground facility.
(d) Emergency Excavation or Demolition - An
			 excavation or demolition that is required to eliminate an imminent danger to
			 life, health, property, or the environment or required for the repair or
			 restoration of operator service that is required to be performed before the
			 notification and response procedures required in
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, §
									37-15-4 and §
									37-15-6,
			 et seq. may be fully utilized.
(e)
			 Excavate or Excavation - Operation for the purpose of the movement or removal
			 of earth, rock, or other material by mechanized equipment or explosive device
			 and includes, but is not limited to, augering, backfilling, blasting, boring,
			 digging, ditching, drilling, grading, pile-driving, plowing-in, pulling-in,
			 ripping, scraping, sub-soiling, trenching and tunneling. Excavate or excavation
			 does not include routine roadway maintenance activities carried out by or for
			 those responsible for publicly-maintained roadways, provided that the
			 activities occur entirely within the right of way of a public road, street, or
			 highway; are carried out with reasonable care so as to protect any utility
			 facilities placed in the right-of-way by permit; are carried out within the
			 limits of any original excavation on the traveled way, shoulders or drainage
			 ditches of a public road, street, or highway; and, if involving the replacement
			 of existing structures, including traffic control devices, replace such
			 structures in their approximate previous locations and at their approximate
			 previous depth. Excavate or excavation shall not include routine railroad
			 maintenance activities conducted within the track structure and its adjacent
			 right of way, provided the activities are performed by railroad employees or
			 railroad contractors and are carried out with reasonable care so as to protect
			 any underground facilities placed in the railroad right-of-way by agreement
			 with the railroad. Nothing in this chapter shall modify or abrogate any
			 contractual provision entered into between any railroad and any other party
			 owning or operating an underground facility or underground utility lines within
			 the railroad's right-of-way.
(f)
			 Excavator - Any person who engages in excavation.
(g) Executive Committee - The executive
			 committee created under
Code of Ala. 1975
, §
									37-15-10.1,
			 et seq.
(h) Frivolous Complaint - A
			 complaint filed with the Authority that is entirely without merit and is made
			 with the intention of causing inconvenience, harassment or expense.
(i) Mark or Marking - The use of stakes,
			 flags, paint, buoys, or clearly identifiable materials placed on the surface of
			 the ground or water to show the approximate location of underground
			 facilities.
(j) Mechanized
			 Equipment - Equipment powered or energized by any motor, engine, hydraulic or
			 pneumatic device and is used for excavation or demolition work including, but
			 not limited to, tractors, trenchers, bulldozers, power shovels, augers,
			 backhoes, scrapers, pile drivers, drills, cable and pipe plows, or other
			 equipment used for plowing-in or pulling-in cable or pipe.
(k) Near Miss - An event where damage did not
			 occur, but a clear potential for damage was identified.
(l) Noninvasive Method of Excavation - A
			 method of excavation that does not compromise the integrity of the underground
			 facility. These methods include, but are not limited to, hand digging, pot
			 holing, soft digging, vacuum excavation methods, or other methods approved by
			 the operator.
(m) Notification Area
			 - An area or territory which an operator designates as the area where the
			 operator wishes to receive notifications for any excavation in that area. The
			 notification area should encompass the underground distribution system or
			 network of the operator.
(n)
			 Operator - Any person, governmental agency, or political subdivision, or its
			 agents, who owns or operates a public or private underground facility which
			 furnishes services, information, or materials, or transports or transmits
			 electric energy, light, water, steam, oil, gases, gas, mixture of gases,
			 petroleum, petroleum products, hazardous or flammable liquids, toxic or
			 corrosive fluids and gases, or items of like nature and telecommunications,
			 cable television, water, drainage, sewage or other systems of like nature. The
			 term operator does not apply to any entity listed above if all of the
			 underground facilities owned and operated by the entity are for the sole use of
			 the entity and are located solely on the entity's own property or on property
			 over which the entity has rights of operation.
(o) Person - An individual, joint venture,
			 partnership, association, authority, cooperative, firm, corporation,
			 governmental entity, or any subdivision or instrumentality of that entity and
			 its employees, agents, or legal representatives.
(p) Tolerance Zone - The width of the
			 underground facility plus 18 inches on either side of the outside edge of the
			 underground facility on a horizontal plane.
(q) Underground Facility - Any cable,
			 pipeline, duct, wire, conduit, or other similar installation, installed
			 underground or underwater, by which an operator transports or delivers
			 materials, information, or services.
(r) Willful Noncompliance - The intentional
			 refusal or failure to perform, or comply with, a duty created or imposed by
			 this chapter or by the rules promulgated pursuant to this chapter.