September 27, 2017, Introduced by Rep. Maturen and referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
A bill to amend 2013 PA 174, entitled
"MISS DIG underground facility damage prevention and safety act,"
by amending sections 3, 4, and 7 (MCL 460.723, 460.724, and
460.727).
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 3. As used in this act:
(a) "Additional assistance" means a response by a facility
owner or facility operator to a request made by an excavator during
business hours, for help in locating a facility.
(b) "Approximate location" means a strip of land at least 36
inches wide, but not wider than the width of the marked facility
plus 18 inches on either side of the facility marks.
(c) "Blasting" means changing the level or grade of land or
rendering, tearing, demolishing, moving, or removing earth, rock,
buildings, structures, or other masses or materials by seismic
blasting or the detonation of dynamite or any other explosive
agent.
(d) "Business day" means Monday through Friday, excluding
holidays observed by the notification system and posted on the
notification system website.
(e)
"Business hours" means from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. ,
eastern
standard
time, on business days.
(f) "Caution zone" means the area within 48 inches of either
side of the facility marks provided by a facility owner or facility
operator.
(g) "Commission" means the Michigan public service commission
created in section 1 of 1939 PA 3, MCL 460.1.
(h) "Damage" means any impact upon or exposure of an
underground facility requiring its repair or replacement due to
weakening, partial destruction, or complete destruction of the
facility, including, but not limited to, the protective coating,
lateral support, cathodic protection, or housing of the facility.
(i) "Design ticket" means a communication to the notification
system in which a request for information regarding underground
facilities for predesign, design, or advance planning purposes, but
not marking for excavation or blasting, is made under the
procedures described in section 6a.
(j) "Dig notice" means a communication to the notification
system by an excavator providing notice of intended excavation or
blasting activity as required by this act.
(k) "Emergency" means a sudden or unforeseen occurrence,
including a government-declared emergency, involving a clear and
imminent danger to life, health, or property, or imminent danger to
the environment, that requires immediate correction in order to
restore or to prevent the interruption of essential governmental
services, utility services, or the blockage of public
transportation and that requires immediate excavation or blasting.
(l) "Emergency notice" means a communication to the
notification system to alert the facility owners or facility
operators of the urgent need for marking the location of a facility
due to an emergency.
(m) "Excavation" means moving, removing, or otherwise
displacing earth, rock, or other material below existing surface
grade with power tools or power equipment, including, but not
limited to, grading, trenching, tiling, digging, drilling, boring,
augering, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing, and pile
driving; and wrecking, razing, rending, moving, or removing a
structure or mass of materials. Excavation does not include any of
the following:
(i) Any of the following activities performed in the course of
farming operations:
(A) Any farming operation performed in the public right-of-way
to a depth of not more than 12 inches below the existing surface
grade if the farming operation is not performed within 6 feet of
any aboveground structure that is part of a facility.
(B) Any farming operation performed outside a public right-of-
way and within 25 yards of an existing petroleum or natural gas
pipeline to a depth of not more than 18 inches below the existing
surface grade if the farming operation is not performed within 6
feet of any aboveground structure that is part of a facility.
(C) Any farming operation performed outside a public right-of-
way and not within 25 yards of an existing petroleum or natural gas
pipeline if the farming operation is not performed within 6 feet of
any aboveground structure that is part of a facility.
(ii) Replacing a fence post, sign post, or guardrail in its
existing location.
(iii) Any excavation performed at a grave site in a cemetery.
(iv) Any excavation performed within a landfill unit as that
term
is defined in R 299.4103 of the
Michigan administrative code
Administrative Code during its active life as that term is defined
in
R 299.4101 of the Michigan administrative code Administrative
Code or during its postclosure period as set forth in R 299.4101 to
R
299.4922 of the Michigan administrative code.Administrative Code.
(v) Any of the following activities if those activities are
conducted by railroad employees or railroad contractors and are
carried out with reasonable care to protect any installed
facilities placed in the railroad right-of-way by agreement with
the railroad:
(A) Any routine railroad maintenance activities performed in
the public right-of-way as follows:
(I) Within the track area, either to the bottom of the ballast
or to a depth of not more than 12 inches below the bottom of the
railroad tie, whichever is deeper, if the routine railroad
maintenance activity is not performed within 6 feet of any
aboveground structure that is part of a facility that is not owned
or operated by that railroad.
(II) Outside the track area, not more than 12 inches below the
ground surface, if the routine railroad maintenance activity is not
performed within 6 feet of any aboveground structure that is part
of a facility that is not owned or operated by that railroad.
(B) Any routine railroad maintenance activities performed to a
depth of not more than 18 inches below the flow line of a ditch or
the ground surface in the railroad right-of-way, excluding the
public right-of-way, if the routine railroad maintenance activity
is not performed within 6 feet of any aboveground structure that is
part of a facility that is not owned or operated by that railroad.
(vi) Routine maintenance or preventative preventive
maintenance as those terms are defined in section 10c of 1951 PA
51, MCL 247.660c, to a depth of not more than 12 inches below the
roadway and any shoulder of a street, county road, or highway.
(n) "Excavator" means any person performing excavation or
blasting.
(o) "Facility" or "underground facility" means an underground
or submerged conductor, pipe, or structure, including, but not
limited to, a conduit, duct, line, pipe, wire, or other device and
its appurtenances used to produce, store, transmit, or distribute a
utility service, including communications, data, cable television,
electricity, heat, natural or manufactured gas, oil, petroleum
products, steam, sewage, video, water, and other similar
substances, including environmental contaminates or hazardous
waste.
(p) "Facility operator" means a person that controls the
operation of a facility. Facility operator does not include the
state transportation department, a county road commission as that
term is defined in section 10c of 1951 PA 51, MCL 247.660c, or a
county drain commissioner's office or drainage board.
(q) "Facility owner" means a person that owns a facility.
Facility owner does not include the state transportation
department, a county road commission as that term is defined in
section 10c of 1951 PA 51, MCL 247.660c, or a county drain
commissioner's office or drainage board.
(r) "Farm" means that term as defined in section 2 of the
Michigan right to farm act, 1981 PA 93, MCL 286.472.
(s) "Farming operations" means plowing, cultivating, planting,
harvesting, and similar operations routine to most farms and that
are performed on a farm. Farming operations do not include
installation of drainage tile, underground irrigation lines, or the
drilling of a well.
(t) "Governmental agency" means the state and its political
subdivisions, including counties, townships, cities, villages, or
any other governmental entity.
(u) "Mark", "marks", or "marking" means the temporary
identification on the surface grade of the location of a facility
in response to a ticket as described in section 7.
(v) "Notification system" means MISS DIG System, Inc., a
Michigan nonprofit corporation formed and operated by each facility
owner and facility operator to administer a 1-call system for the
location of facilities, or any successor to this corporation.
(w) "Person" means an individual, firm, joint venture,
partnership, corporation, association, governmental agency,
department or agency, utility cooperative, or joint stock
association, including any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal
representative thereof.
(x) "Positive response" means the procedure administered by
the notification system to allow excavators to determine whether
all facility owners or facility operators contacted under a ticket
have responded in accordance with this act.
(y) "Public right-of-way" means the area on, below, or above a
public roadway, highway, street, alley, easement, or waterway.
(z) "Railroad" means that term as defined in section 109 of
the railroad code of 1993, 1993 PA 354, MCL 462.109.
(aa) "Safe zone" means an area 48 inches or more from either
side of the facility marks provided by a facility owner or facility
operator.
(bb) "Soft excavation" means a method and technique designed
to prevent contact damage to underground facilities, including, but
not limited to, hand-digging, cautious digging with nonmechanical
tools, vacuum excavation methods, or use of pneumatic hand tools.
(cc) "Start date" means the date that a proposed excavation or
blasting is expected to begin as indicated on a ticket.
(dd) "Ticket" means a communication from the notification
system to a facility owner or facility operator requesting the
marking of underground facilities, based on information provided by
an excavator in a dig notice.
(ee) "White lining" means marking by an excavator of the area
of a proposed excavation or blasting, with white paint or flags, or
both, before giving notice to the notification system.
Sec. 4. (1) Facility owners and facility operators shall
continue to operate and be members of MISS DIG Systems, Inc., a
Michigan
nonprofit corporation, that shall have has the duties and
undertake
undertakes the responsibilities of the notification
system
under this act on and after the effective date of this act.
April 1, 2014. The notification system responsibilities and duties
do not include the physical marking of facilities, which is the
responsibility of a facility owner or facility operator upon
notification under this act.
(2)
The notification system and its procedures shall be are
governed by its board of directors and in accordance with its
current
articles of incorporation and bylaws as of the effective
date
of this act, April 1, 2014, with any future changes made in
accordance with the nonprofit corporation act, 1982 PA 162, MCL
450.2101 to 450.3192, and the notification system's articles,
bylaws, and board procedures. The notification system shall request
input regarding its policies from all interested persons, including
facility owners and facility operators, excavators, marking service
providers, and governmental agencies.
(3)
Funding for the notification system operations shall must
be established by the notification system, including through fees
based on a reasonable assessment of operating costs among facility
owners or facility operators. A facility owner or facility operator
shall not charge a fee to excavators for marking facilities under
this act.
(4) Facility owners and facility operators shall be members of
and participate in the notification system and pay the fees levied
by the notification system under this section. This obligation and
the requirements of this act for facility owners and facility
operators do not apply to persons owning or operating a facility
located on real property the person owns or occupies if the
facility is operated solely for the benefit of that person.
(5) Owners of real property on which there is a farm
operation, as that term is defined in section 2 of the Michigan
right to farm act, 1981 PA 93, MCL 286.472, may become a nonvoting
member of the notification system, known as a farm member, upon
providing the notification system with the information necessary to
send the farm member a ticket for purposes of notification under
section 6(1). A farm member is not subject to any fees levied under
subsection (3).
(6) The notification system is exempt from taxes collected
under the general property tax act, 1893 PA 206, MCL 211.1 to
211.155.
Sec. 7. (1) A facility owner or facility operator shall
respond to a ticket by the start date and time for the excavation
or blasting under section 5(1) by marking its facilities in the
area of the proposed excavation or blasting in a manner that
permits the excavator to employ soft excavation to establish the
precise location of the facilities.
(2) A facility owner or facility operator shall mark the
location of each facility with paint, stakes, flags, or other
customary methods using the uniform color code of the American
national
standards institute National
Standards Institute as
follows:
(a) White – used by excavators to mark a proposed excavation
or blasting area.
(b) Pink – temporary survey markings.
(c) Red – electric power lines, cables, conduit, and lighting
cables.
(d) Yellow – gas, oil, steam, petroleum, or gaseous materials.
(e) Orange – communication, cable television, alarm or signal
lines, cables, or conduit.
(f) Blue – potable water.
(g) Purple – reclaimed water, irrigation, and slurry lines.
(h) Green – sewers and drain lines.
(3) A facility owner or facility operator shall provide
notification to the notification system using positive response.
(4) Upon receiving a notification during business hours from
an excavator through the notification system of previous marks
being covered or destroyed, a facility owner or facility operator
shall mark the location of a facility within 24 hours, excluding
all hours on nonbusiness days.
(5) If a facility owner or facility operator receives a
request under section 5(8) or (9), that facility owner or facility
operator shall provide additional assistance to an excavator within
3 hours of a request made by the excavator during business hours.
An excavator and a facility owner or facility operator may agree to
an extension of the time for additional assistance. If a request
for additional assistance is made at a time when the additional
assistance cannot be provided during normal business hours or
assistance is required at a remote rural location, the response
time
shall must be no later than 3 hours after the start of the
next business day or a time based on mutual agreement.
(6) If a facility owner or facility operator receives notice
that a facility has been damaged, that facility owner or facility
operator shall promptly dispatch personnel to the area.
(7) A facility owner or facility operator shall respond within
3 hours to an emergency notice, or before the start day and time
provided in an emergency notice if that start day and time is more
than 3 hours from the time of notice.
(8)
New facilities built after the effective date of this act
shall
April 1, 2014 must be constructed in a manner that allows
their detection when in use.
(9) This section does not apply to the state transportation
department, to a county road commission as that term is defined in
section 10c of 1951 PA 51, MCL 247.660c, or to the marking of a
county or intercounty drain by a county drain commissioner's office
or drainage board.