Bill Text: TX HB3293 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to requirements for addressing and preventing damage to underground utility facilities; imposing a fee; creating an offense.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-25 - Referred to Energy Resources [HB3293 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB3293-Introduced.html

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83R8356 DDT-D
By: Martinez H.B. No. 3293

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requirements for addressing and preventing damage to
underground utility facilities; imposing a fee; creating an
offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 251.002, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (16) to read as follows:
(16) "Approximate location" means a strip of land not
wider than the width of the underground facility plus two feet on
either side.
SECTION 2. Section 251.062(b), Utilities Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Before January 15 of each year, a Class A or Class B
facility operator shall pay to the corporation a fee of $50 for
services to be performed by the corporation during that calendar
year. A fee for a part of a year may not be prorated.
SECTION 3. Section 251.105(b), Utilities Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The notification center shall charge a Class A or Class
B underground facility operator not more than $1.25 for a call made
to the system that affects the operator. The board may increase or
decrease the maximum charge only on an affirmative vote of at least
two-thirds of the total number of votes entitled to be cast. A
notification center may petition the corporation for an increase in
the maximum charge and is entitled to the increase on proof that
costs exceed the maximum charge.
SECTION 4. Sections 251.107(a) and (b), Utilities Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Each operator of a Class A or Class B underground
facility, including a political subdivision of this state, shall
participate in a notification center as a condition of doing
business in this state.
(b) Each operator of a Class A or Class B underground
facility shall provide to the notification center:
(1) maps or grid locations or other identifiers
determined by the operator indicating the location of the
operator's underground facilities;
(2) the name and telephone number of a contact person
or persons; and
(3) at least quarterly but, if possible, as those
changes occur, information relating to each change in the
operator's maps or grid locations or other identifiers or in the
person or persons designated as the operator's contact person or
persons.
SECTION 5. Section 251.151(b), Utilities Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), if an excavator makes a
Saturday notification, the excavator may begin the excavation the
following Wednesday [Tuesday] at 11:59 a.m. [unless the intervening
Monday is a holiday. If the intervening Monday is a holiday, the
excavator may begin the excavation the following Wednesday at 11:59
a.m.]
SECTION 6. Section 251.156(a), Utilities Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Section 251.151 does not apply to:
(1) interment operations of a cemetery;
(2) operations at a secured facility if:
(A) the excavator operates each underground
facility at the secured facility, other than those within a
third-party underground facility easement or right-of-way; and
(B) the excavation activity is not within a
third-party underground facility or right-of-way;
(3) routine railroad maintenance within 15 feet of
either side of the midline of the track if the maintenance will not
disturb the ground at a depth of more than 18 inches;
(4) activities performed on private property in
connection with agricultural operations;
(5) operations associated with the exploration or
production of oil or gas if the operations are not conducted within
an underground facility easement or right-of-way; or
(6) excavations by or for a person that:
(A) owns, leases, or owns a mineral leasehold
interest in the real property on which the excavation occurs; and
(B) operates all underground facilities located
at the excavation site[; or
[(7) routine maintenance by a county employee on a
county road right-of-way to a depth of not more than 24 inches].
SECTION 7. Sections 251.157(a) and (d), Utilities Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Each Class A or Class B underground facility operator
contacted by the notification system shall mark the approximate
location of its underground facilities at or near the site of the
proposed excavation if the operator believes that marking that
[the] location is necessary. The operator shall mark the location
not later than:
(1) the 72nd [48th] hour after the time the excavator
gives to the notification system notice of intent to excavate,
excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays;
(2) 11:59 a.m. on the Wednesday [Tuesday] following a
Saturday notification [unless the intervening Monday is a holiday];
or
(3) [11:59 a.m. on the Wednesday following a Saturday
notification if the intervening Monday is a holiday; or
[(4)] a time agreed to by the operator and the
excavator.
(d) Not later than the 72nd [48th] hour after the time the
excavator gives to the notification center notice of intent to
excavate, an operator contacted by the notification center shall
notify the excavator of the operator's plans to not mark the
approximate [proximate] location of an underground facility at or
near the site of the proposed excavation. The operator must provide
the notification by e-mail or facsimile or by another verifiable
electronic method approved by the board.
SECTION 8. Section 251.203(a), Utilities Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if:
(1) the person without authorization from the owner or
operator of the facility intentionally removes, damages, or
conceals a marker or sign giving information about the location of a
Class A or Class B underground facility; and
(2) the marker or sign gives notice of the penalty for
intentional removal, damage, or concealment of the marker or sign.
SECTION 9. Section 251.153(a), Utilities Code, is repealed.
SECTION 10. (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply
only to conduct occurring on or after the effective date of this
Act. Conduct occurring before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct occurred, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The operator of an underground facility that is used to
produce, store, convey, transmit, or distribute water, slurry, or
sewage is not required to participate in a notification center as a
condition of doing business in this state or to provide materials
required by law to a notification center until January 1, 2014.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.