STATE OF OKLAHOMA

1st Session of the 54th Legislature (2013)

SENATE BILL 509	By:	Stanislawski

AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to public health and safety; amending 63 O.S. 2011, Section 142.11, which relates to excavation exemptions; removing exemptions; prohibiting application of certain excavation activities to certain law; specifying excavation activities; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1.     AMENDATORY     63 O.S. 2011, Section 142.11, is amended to read as follows:
Section 142.11.  Notwithstanding anything which may be contained in this act to the contrary, public agencies and their contractors engaged in work within the public right-of-way which work is a preengineered project, certified project or routine maintenance shall be exempt from the provisions of this act.  Provided, a public agency contractor, prior to engaging in routine maintenance, shall take reasonable steps to determine the location of underground facilities in or near the proposed area of work.  Reasonable steps may include utilization of the statewide one-call notification center procedures as provided for in Section 142.6 of this title.
Nothing in this title shall apply to:
1.  Any excavation done by a railroad when the excavation is made entirely on the land which the railroad owns and on which the railroad operates, provided there is no encroachment on any operator's rights-of-way or easements.
2.  An excavation or demolition during an emergency with an emergency being defined as a sudden or unexpected occurrence involving a clear and imminent danger, demanding immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss of or damage to life, health, property, or essential public services, provided all reasonable precaution has been taken to protect any underground facilities. In the case of the state highway system, county road system, or municipal street systems maintained by political subdivisions, officials of the Department of Transportation, the Turnpike Authority or the political subdivision where the use of such highways, roads, streets or other public way is impaired by an unforeseen occurrence, shall determine the necessity of repair beginning immediately after the occurrence.
3.  Any excavation for routine pavement maintenance, including patch type paving or the milling of pavement surfaces, upon the paved portion of any street, road, or highway of the state provided that any such excavation does not exceed a depth of existing pavement or twelve inches, whichever is less.
4.  Any hand digging performed by an operator to locate the operator's utility lines in response to a notice of excavation from the notification center, provided all reasonable precaution has been taken to protect the underground facilities.
5.  Any installation of a sign that does not involve excavation with excavation being defined as any operation in which earth, rock, or other material in the ground is moved, removed, or otherwise displaced by means of any tools, equipment, or explosives and includes, without limitation, grading, trenching, digging, ditching, dredging, drilling, augering, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing and driving, wrecking, razing, rendering, moving, or removing any structure or mass of material. Excavate or excavation shall not include installation of a sign that consists of a metal, plastic, or wooden pole(s) placed in the ground by hand or foot without the use of tools or equipment.
6.  Employees of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, and certain employees of those counties and municipalities which maintain their highways, roads, and streets in accordance with their scope of employment, excavating entirely within the right-of-way of a public highway, road, or street if all reasonable precaution has been taken to protect underground facilities located within the right-of-way either by prior rights or by permit, and such routine maintenance is carried out within the limits of any original excavation on the traveled way, shoulders, or drainage ditches, and does not exceed 18 inches in depth below the grade existing prior to such activities, and, if involving the replacement of existing structures, replacing such structures in their previous locations and at their previous depth.
SECTION 2.  This act shall become effective July 1, 2013.
SECTION 3.  It being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage and approval.

54-1-589	JD	1/15/2013 7:48:54 PM