Code of Maine Rules › 65 - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › 407 - PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › Chapter 895 - UNDERGROUND FACILITY DAMAGE PREVENTION REQUIREMENTS › Section 407-895-7 - COMMISSION ACTIVITIES

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A.
Monitoring
. The Commission may require operators, excavators, or
				the Dig Safe System to report information that the Commission determines is
				needed to monitor the operation of the underground facilities damage program,
				or to hear and resolve complaints concerning failure to comply with the
				provisions of
				23 M.R.S.A.
				§3360-A (the Dig Safe Law) or this
				rule.
A-1.
OKTODIG
				database
. The Commission shall develop and maintain a database for
				excavator reference listing the non-member operators that have registered with
				the Commission as having underground facilities and indicating those
				municipalities, townships or other civil divisions or territories of the State
				in which the underground facilities are located, and indicating those in which
				member operators do not have underground facilities.The Commission will make
				the OKTODIG database accessible by telephone and internet or by other
				reasonable means. The Commission will update the OKTODIG database upon
				notification by anoperator of the presence of underground facilities in a
				municipality
B.
Enforcement
				Action Procedure
. The Commission shall use the following process when it
				initiates an enforcement action:
1.
Notice of enforcement investigation
a.
Preliminary incident
				investigation
. The Commission staff shall engage in a preliminary
				investigation regarding any potential violation of the Dig Safe Law or rules.
				The preliminary investigation shall include a good faith effort to contact the
				potential violator and afford that person an opportunity to discuss the matter
				prior to the issuance of a Notice of Enforcement Investigation (NOEI). In
				addition, the preliminary investigation shall include the Commission staff
				assessing the number of excavations and markings undertaken by the potential
				violator within the previous 12 months, including which excavations and
				markings resulted in Dig Safe violations and which excavations or markings
				resulted in successfully completed excavations. Nothing herein shall preclude
				the issuance of a NOEI if a person cannot be located with reasonable effort or
				fails to respond to a communication from the staff.
b.
Potential violation
. If the
				Commission finds evidence of a potential violation of the Dig Safe Law (
				23 M.R.S.A.
				§3360-A ) or this rule, it shall issue a
				NOEI to the respondent. The Commission may delegate the decision concerning the
				issuance of a NOEI to its staff.
c.
Content of notice
. The NOEI shall state the name of the
				respondent, the factual basis for the alleged violation, and the amount of the
				administrative penalty recommended to resolve the matter.
i. the specific subsection of
				23 M.R.S.A.
				§3360-A(6-C) that may
				have been violated;
ii. whether and
				to what extent there was damage to property;
iii. whether and to what extent there was
				injury to a person or persons;
iv.
				the number of violations of the dig safe law or rules by the respondent in the
				past 12 months;
v. whether the
				respondent has been required to attend mandatory training sessions within the
				past 12 months for a violation of the same section of the law or rule that is
				the subject of the NOEI;
vi. where
				applicable, an explanation of the legal basis for determining the respondent
				acted in a negligent or reckless manner;
vii. whether Commission staff is recommending
				mandatory training or an administrative penalty; and
ix. where applicable, the amount of
				administrative penalty recommended to resolve the matter.
d.
Right to contest
. The NOEI
				shall state that the respondent has a right to contest the allegation of
				potential violation by requesting, in writing within 30 days, an informal
				review or a formal hearing.
e.
Default
. If the respondent fails to request an informal review of
				the NOEI within 30 days of its receipt, the respondent shall be deemed, upon
				issuance of an appropriate Commission order, to have defaulted and to have
				committed the violations alleged. A Commission order on default shall be
				treated as a finding of a violation for purposes of future applications of this
				rule.
f.
Penalty
. If
				the respondent is declared to have defaulted by a Commission order, the
				respondent shall, upon issuance of the Commission order be liable to pay the
				administrative penalty or take the action designated in the NOEI unless the
				Commission orders otherwise. The Commission may not impose a greater
				administrative penalty than contained in the NOEI without holding an
				adjudicatory hearing or obtaining the consent of the respondent. The Commission
				may reduce the penalty or modify any required remedial action as it determines
				is warranted.