HF 4203

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 03/05/2020 01:41pm

A bill for an act
relating to public safety; modifying provisions governing the excavation notice
system; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, sections 216D.01, by adding a
subdivision; 216D.03, subdivision 2, by adding subdivisions; 216D.04, subdivisions
1a, 3; 216D.06, subdivisions 2, 3.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 216D.01, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 7a. new text end

new text begin Locate. new text end

new text begin "Locate" means an approximate horizontal location of an existing or
abandoned underground facility, as determined using guidelines established by the
Construction Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers in document CI/ASCE
38-02, entitled "Standard Guidelines for the Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface
Utility Data."
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 216D.03, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Establishment of notification center; rules.

(a) The notification center services
must be provided by a nonprofit corporation approved in writing by the commissioner. The
nonprofit corporation must be governed by a board of directors of up to 20 members, one
of whom is the director of the Office of Pipeline Safety new text begin and one of whom is the director of
the Public Utilities Commission new text end . The other board members must deleted text begin represent and deleted text end be elected
by operators, excavators, and other persons eligible to participate in the center. In deciding
to approve a nonprofit corporation, the commissioner shall consider whether it meets the
requirements of this paragraph and whether it demonstrates that it has the ability to contract
for and implement the notification center service.

(b) The commissioner shall adopt rules:

(1) establishing a notification process and competitive bidding procedure for selecting
a vendor to provide the notification service;

(2) governing the operating procedures and technology needed for a statewide notification
center; and

(3) setting forth the method for assessing the cost of the service among operators.

(c) The commissioner shall select a vendor to provide the notification center service.
The commissioner may advertise for bids as provided in section 16C.06, subdivisions 1 and
2, and base the selection of a vendor on best value as provided in section 16C.06, subdivision
6. The commissioner shall select and contract with the vendor to provide the notification
center service, but all costs of the center must be paid by the operators. The commissioner
may deleted text begin at any time deleted text end appoint a task force to advise on the renewal of the contract or any other
matter involving the center's operations.

(d) An operator may submit a bid and be selected to contract to provide the notification
center service under paragraph (a) or (c). The commissioner shall annually review the
services provided by the nonprofit corporation approved under paragraph (a) or the vendor
selected under paragraph (c).

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 216D.03, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Locator training. new text end

new text begin A utility operator must be certified to train locators through
a nationally-accredited program that has established minimum oversight and benchmark
standards.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 216D.03, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Performance reporting. new text end

new text begin (a) The notification center must provide a quarterly
report to each utility operator. The report must include:
new text end

new text begin (1) the number of notifications, categorized by type;
new text end

new text begin (2) the percentage of normal tickets, with the electronic status marked by the notification's
start time;
new text end

new text begin (3) the number of damages, categorized by the cause of the damage; and
new text end

new text begin (4) any other information determined by the commissioner or the notification center
board of directors
new text end

new text begin (b) The notification center must make all reports available to the commissioner upon
request. The notification center must publish an annual report that summarizes the operator
performance reporting.
new text end

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 216D.04, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:

Subd. 1a.

Plans for excavation.

(a) Any person, prior to soliciting bids or entering into
a contract for excavation, shall provide a proposed notice to the notification center to obtain
from the affected operators of underground facilities the type, size, and general location of
underground facilities. Affected operators shall provide the information within 15 working
days. An operator who provides information to a person who is not a unit of government
may indicate any portions of the information which are proprietary and may require the
person to provide appropriate confidentiality protection. The information obtained from
affected operators new text begin must include records identified in guidelines established by the
Construction Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers in document CI/ASCE
38-02, entitled "Standard Guidelines for the Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface
Utility Data" and new text end must be submitted on the final drawing used for the bid or contract and
must depict the utility quality level of that information. This information must be updated
not more than 90 days before completion of the final drawing used for the bid or contract.

(b) This subdivision does not apply to bids and contracts for:

(1) routine maintenance of underground facilities or installation, maintenance, or repair
of service lines;

(2) excavation for operators of underground facilities performed on a unit of work or
similar basis; or

(3) excavation for home construction and projects by home owners.

(c) A person required by this section to show existing underground facilities on its
drawings shall conduct one or more preliminary design meetings during the design phase
to communicate the project design new text begin , project scope and timeline, new text end and coordinate utility
relocation. Affected facility operators shall attend these meetings or make other arrangements
to provide information new text begin , including start dates, durations, and scope of work new text end .

(d) A person required by this section to show existing underground facilities on its
drawings shall conduct one or more preconstruction meetings to communicate the project
design new text begin , project scope and timeline, new text end and coordinate utility relocation. Affected facility
operators and contractors shall attend these meetings deleted text begin or deleted text end new text begin and new text end make other arrangements to
provide information.

(e) This subdivision does not affect the obligation to provide a notice of excavation as
required under subdivision 1.

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 216D.04, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Locating underground facility; operator.

(a) Prior to the excavation start
time on the notice, an operator shall locate and mark or otherwise provide the approximate
horizontal location of the underground facilities of the operator and provide readily available
information regarding the operator's abandoned and out-of-service underground facilities
as shown on maps, drawings, diagrams, or other records used in the operator's normal course
of business, without cost to the excavator. The excavator shall determine the precise location
of the underground facility, without damage, before excavating within two feet of the marked
location of the underground facility.

(b) Within 96 hours or the time specified in the notice, whichever is later, after receiving
a notice for boundary survey from the notification center, excluding Saturdays, Sundays,
and holidays, unless otherwise agreed to between the land surveyor and operator, an operator
shall locate and mark or otherwise provide the approximate horizontal location of the
underground facilities of the operator, without cost to the land surveyor.

(c) For the purpose of this section, the approximate horizontal location of the underground
facilities is a strip of land two feet on either side of the underground facilities.

(d) new text begin The new text end markers used to designate the approximate new text begin horizontal new text end location of underground
facilities must new text begin be a flag or flags that new text end follow the current color code standard used by the
American Public Works Association. new text begin If the surface being marked is hard, markers that are
not flags may be used, but must comply with the color code standard.
new text end

(e) If the operator cannot complete marking of the excavation or boundary survey area
before the excavation or boundary survey start time stated in the notice, the operator shall
promptly contact the excavator or land surveyor.

(f) After December 31, 1998, operators shall maintain maps, drawings, diagrams, or
other records of any underground facility abandoned or out-of-service after December 31,
1998.

(g) An operator or other person providing information pursuant to this subdivision is
not responsible to any person, for any costs, claims, or damages for information provided
in good faith regarding abandoned, out-of-service, or private or customer-owned underground
facilities.

new text begin (h) new text end new text begin Operators must use GPS or an equivalent technology to "as-build" newly installed,
improved, and repaired facilities.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective September 15, 2020.
new text end

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 216D.06, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Cost reimbursement.

(a) If an excavator damages an underground facility,
the excavator shall reimburse the operator for the cost of necessary repairs, and for a pipeline
the cost of the product that was being carried in the pipeline and was lost as a direct result
of the damage.

(b) Reimbursement is not required if the damage to the underground facility was caused
by the sole negligence of the operator or the operator failed to comply with section 216D.04,
subdivision 3.

new text begin (c) A person or agency is prohibited from entering into an excavation contract that
requires an excavator to bear the costs of downtime directly related to utility work when
the excavator is not at fault for the delays. The utility owner responsible for the delay is
responsible for the cost of the delay in the amount provided for civil penalties under section
216D.08, subdivision 1.
new text end

Sec. 8.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 216D.06, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Prima facie evidence of negligence.

new text begin (a) new text end It is prima facie evidence of the
excavator's negligence in a civil court action if damage to the underground facilities of an
operator resulted from excavation, and the excavator failed to give an excavation notice
under section 216D.04 or provide support as required by section 216D.05.

new text begin (b) new text end new text begin It is prima facie evidence of the operator's negligence in a civil court action if damage
to an operator's underground facilities resulted from the operator's failure to comply with
section 216D.04, subdivisions 1 to 3.
new text end

new text begin (c) It is prima facie evidence negligence by the person soliciting bids or entering into a
contract for excavation in a civil court action if damage to an operator's underground facilities
resulted from the person's failure to comply with section 216D.04, subdivisions 1 to 3.
new text end