House File 2581 - Enrolled
House File 2581
AN ACT
RELATING TO REQUIRED TIMING FOR NOTICES REGARDING UNDERGROUND
FACILITY EXCAVATIONS AND ENFORCEMENT OF EXCAVATION
PROVISIONS, AND INCLUDING PENALTIES.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1 Section 1. Section 480.1, Code 2024, is amended by adding
2 the following new subsections:
3 NEW SUBSECTION. 5A. “Forty-eight-hour period” means a
4 period of forty-eight consecutive hours beginning at 6:00 a.m.
5 the next business day from the day the notification center
6 receives a notice and excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and legal
7 holidays.
8 NEW SUBSECTION. 5B. “Locator” means a person proposing to
9 engage or engaging in the location and marking of underground
10 facilities under contract with or employed by an operator.
11 Sec. 2. Section 480.3, subsection 1, paragraph a,
12 subparagraph (1), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
13 (1) The center shall be governed by a board of directors,
14 which shall represent and be elected by operators, excavators,
15 and other persons who participate in the center. The board
16 shall include two locators and two excavators to serve as
17 nonvoting members. The board, with input from all interested
18 parties, shall determine the operating procedures and
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19 technology needed for a single statewide notification center
20 and establish a notification process.
21 Sec. 3. Section 480.3, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended
22 to read as follows:
23 2. a. The board shall implement the latest and most
24 cost-effective technological improvements for the center
25 in order to provide operators and excavators with the most
26 accurate data available and in a timely manner to allow
27 operators and excavators to perform their responsibilities with
28 the minimum amount of interruptions.
29 b. The center shall establish a communication system to
30 facilitate the provision of notice by operators, locators, and
31 excavators.
32 Sec. 4. Section 480.3, Code 2024, is amended by adding the
33 following new subsection:
34 NEW SUBSECTION. 4. The center shall provide records to the
35 utilities board upon request as a part of an investigation on
1 behalf of the attorney general’s office.
2 Sec. 5. Section 480.4, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2024,
3 is amended to read as follows:
4 a. Except as otherwise provided in this section, prior to
5 any excavation, an excavator shall contact the notification
6 center and provide notice of the planned excavation occurring
7 after a forty-eight-hour period. This notice must be given
8 at least forty-eight hours prior to the commencement of the
9 excavation, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.
10 Notices received after 5:00 p.m. shall be processed as if
11 received at 8:00 a.m. the next business day. The notice
12 shall be valid for twenty twenty-five calendar days from the
13 date beginning on the day the notice was provided to the
14 notification center forty-eight-hour period concludes. If all
15 locating and marking of underground facilities is completed
16 prior to the expiration of the forty-eight-hour period, the
17 excavator may proceed with excavation upon being notified
18 by the notification center that the locating and marking of
19 all underground facilities is complete. The notification
20 center shall establish a toll-free telephone number to allow
21 excavators to provide the notice required pursuant to this
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22 subsection.
23 Sec. 6. Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph a,
24 subparagraphs (1), (2), and (3), Code 2024, are amended to read
25 as follows:
26 (1) An operator who receives notice from the notification
27 center shall mark the horizontal location of the operator’s
28 underground facility and the excavator shall use due care in
29 excavating in the marked area to avoid damaging the underground
30 facility. The operator shall complete such locating and
31 marking, and shall notify the notification center that the
32 marking is complete within forty-eight hours after receiving
33 the notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays,
34 the forty-eight-hour period unless otherwise agreed by the
35 operator and the excavator. No later than the expiration of
1 the forty-eight-hour period, excluding Saturdays, Sundays,
2 and legal holidays, the notification center shall notify the
3 excavator of the underground facility locating and marking
4 status, or the failure of the operator to notify the center
5 that the locating and marking is complete. The locating and
6 marking of the underground facilities shall be completed at no
7 cost to the excavator. If, in the opinion of the operator, the
8 planned excavation requires that the precise location of the
9 underground facilities be determined, the excavator, unless
10 otherwise agreed upon between the excavator and the operator,
11 shall hand dig test holes or use nondestructive methods to
12 determine the location of the facilities unless the operator
13 specifies an alternate method.
14 (2) (a) The marking required under this subsection shall
15 be done in a manner that will last for a minimum of five
16 working days on any nonpermanent surface, or a minimum of ten
17 working days on any permanent surface. If the excavation will
18 continue for any period longer than such periods, the operator
19 shall remark the location of the underground facility upon the
20 request of the excavator. The request shall be made through
21 the notification center.
22 (b) A locator shall use for marking a flag that includes the
23 name of the operator and a contact phone number.
24 (3) Unless otherwise agreed by the operator and excavator in
25 writing, no excavation shall be performed within twenty-five
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26 feet of an underground natural gas transmission line as defined
27 in 49 C.F.R. §192.3 pipeline operating at one hundred fifty
28 pounds per square inch or greater and that is equal to or
29 greater than two inches in diameter unless a representative
30 of the operator of the underground natural gas transmission
31 line pipeline is present at the planned excavation area. This
32 requirement shall not apply, however, when a representative of
33 the operator fails to be present at the proposed excavation
34 area at the time work is scheduled to commence or as otherwise
35 agreed by the operator and excavator in writing. In this
1 event, the excavator shall notify the operator that the
2 representative failed to appear, and excavation operations can
3 begin, provided the excavator uses due care to avoid damaging
4 the underground facilities.
5 Sec. 7. Section 480.4, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2024,
6 is amended to read as follows:
7 b. An operator who receives notice from the notification
8 center and who determines that the operator does not have
9 any underground facility located within the proposed area of
10 excavation shall notify the notification center concerning
11 this determination within forty-eight hours after receiving
12 the notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays
13 the forty-eight-hour period. No later than the expiration of
14 the forty-eight-hour period, excluding Saturdays, Sundays,
15 and legal holidays, the notification center shall notify the
16 excavator that the operator does not have any underground
17 facilities within the proposed area of excavation.
18 Sec. 8. Section 480.6, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended
19 by adding the following new paragraph:
20 NEW PARAGRAPH. c. If a locator violates a time limit set
21 forth in this chapter and a complaint relating to the violation
22 is filed with the utilities board, the locator is subject
23 to a civil penalty in an amount determined by the attorney
24 general. If a locator employed by an operator violates this
25 paragraph, the operator employing the locator shall be subject
26 to a civil penalty in an amount determined by the attorney
27 general, which shall be the same as though assessed against the
28 locator. A civil penalty imposed by the attorney general under
29 this paragraph shall not exceed one hundred dollars for each
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30 violation for each day the violation continues, up to a maximum
31 of five thousand dollars.
32 Sec. 9. Section 480.6, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended
33 to read as follows:
34 2. a. The attorney general, upon the receipt of a
35 complaint, may institute any legal proceedings necessary to
1 enforce the penalty provisions of this chapter.
2 b. At the direction of the attorney general, the utilities
3 board shall investigate a violation of this chapter. Upon
4 completion of the investigation, the utilities board
5 shall submit to the attorney general a written summary of
6 the investigation and all evidence acquired during the
7 investigation, except as set forth in subsection 2, paragraph
8 “c”.
9 c. The utilities board may independently receive and
10 investigate complaints alleging a violation of this chapter by
11 a locator.
12 Sec. 10. NEW SECTION. 480.11 Locator enforcement authority.
13 1. A locator who operates in this state shall satisfy all
14 of the following requirements:
15 a. Take responsibility for completing location services as
16 required under section 480.4.
17 b. Correctly notify the notification center that a location
18 service could not be completed due to a lack of response by the
19 excavator and include in the notice the date, time, and method
20 of the attempted contact with the excavator, and the name and
21 contact information of any representative of the excavator.
22 2. A locator operating in this state is subject to
23 enforcement requirements as established in chapter 476. Any
24 enforcement action taken for a violation of this chapter by a
25 locator shall be taken solely against the locator and not the
26 operator except as provided in section 480.6, subsection 1,
27 paragraph “c”.
28 3. Any enforcement action taken against a locator employed
29 by an operator for a violation of this chapter shall not result
30 in the operator being subject to penalties as both a locator
31 and an operator.
32 Sec. 11. UNDERGROUND FACILITY EXCAVATION MEETING. The Iowa
33 utilities board shall convene interested stakeholders before
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34 December 31, 2024, to discuss underground facility excavations,
35 including subjects relating to forecasting and future projects,
1 and operational challenges.
______________________________ ______________________________
PAT GRASSLEY AMY SINCLAIR
Speaker of the House President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 2581, Ninetieth General Assembly.
______________________________
MEGHAN NELSON
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved _______________, 2024 ______________________________
KIM REYNOLDS
Governor


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 480.1, 480.3, 480.4, 480.6
Reprinted: 480.1, 480.3, 480.4, 480.6
Enrolled: 480.1, 480.3, 480.4, 480.6