§37-15-2. Definitions.

THIS SECTION WAS AMENDED BY ACT 2014-220 IN THE 2014 REGULAR SESSION, EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2015. TO SEE THE AMENDED VERSION, SEE THE VERSION LABELED PENDING.

As used in this chapter unless the context clearly implies a different meaning:

(a) "Approximate Location" of underground facilities means information about an operator's underground facilities which is provided to a person by an operator and must be accurate to within 18 inches measured horizontally from the outside edge of each side of such operator's facility, or a strip of land eighteen inches either side of the operator's field mark or the marked width of the facility plus eighteen inches on each side of the marked width of the facility.

(b) "Blasting" means the use of an explosive device for the excavation of earth, rock, or other material or the demolition of a structure.

(c) "Damage" includes, but is not limited to, the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of an underground facility, penetration or destruction of any underground facility's protective coating, housing, or other protective device, and the severance (partial or complete) of any underground facility, but does not apply to any operator's abandoned underground facility.

(d) "Demolition" means any operation by which a structure or mass of material is wrecked, razed, rendered, moved, or removed by means of any tools, equipment, or explosives.

(e) "Excavate" or "Excavation" means any operation for the purpose of the movement or removal of earth, rock, or other material by mechanized equipment or explosive device and includes, but is not limited to, augering, backfilling, blasting, boring, digging, ditching, drilling, grading, plowing-in, pulling-in, ripping, scraping, sub-soiling, trenching, and tunneling.

(f) "Excavator" means any person who engages in excavation.

(g) "Implied Easement" means any unwritten easement or right-of-way on private property required to provide utility or other services by means of underground facilities on property of the owner requesting such service.

(h) "Mark" or "Marking" means the use of stakes, flags, paint, buoys, or clearly identifiable materials placed on the surface of the ground or water to show the approximate location of underground facilities.

(i) "Mechanized Equipment" means equipment powered or energized by any motor, engine, hydraulic, or pneumatic device and is used for excavation or demolition work including, but not limited to, tractors, trenchers, bulldozers, power shovels, augers, backhoes, scrapers, pile drivers, drills, cable and pipe plows, or other equipment used for plowing-in or pulling-in cable or pipe.

(j) "One-Call Notification System" means a non-profit corporation, a public corporation, or a governmental entity which will provide a statewide notification service, for the purpose of receiving statewide telephonic toll-free notification of any planned excavation or demolition activities by excavators or other persons as set forth in Section 37-15-4 and distributing the required excavation or demolition information to its affected member operators as set forth in Section 37-15-5.

(k) "Operator" means any person, governmental agency, or political subdivision, or their agents, who owns or operates a public or private underground facility which furnishes services, information, or materials, or transports or transmits electric energy, light, water, steam, oil, gases, gas, mixture of gases, petroleum, petroleum products, hazardous or flammable liquids, toxic or corrosive fluids and gases or items of like nature, and telecommunications, cable television, water, drainage, sewage, and traffic control systems or other systems of like nature.

(l) "Person" means an individual, joint venture, partnership, association, authority, cooperative, firm, corporation, governmental entity, or any subdivision or instrumentality of that entity and their employees, agents, or legal representatives; however, the term "person" does not include and no provision of this chapter shall apply to the State Department of Transportation or their officials, employees, agents, or representatives while in the performance of their respective duties. Provided further, that the term does not include, and no provision of this chapter shall apply to, any county or its officials, employees, agents, or representatives while in the performance of their duties. Provided further, that such term does not include and no provision of this chapter shall apply to any railroad which operates, owns, or permits underground facilities under land which the railroad owns or operates or to any excavating done by a railroad when the excavating is done entirely on land which the railroad owns or on which the railroad operates or, in the event of emergency, on adjacent land.

(m) "Underground Facility" means any cable, pipeline, duct, wire, conduit, or other similar installation, installed underground or underwater, by which an operator transports or delivers materials, information, or services.

(n) "Working Day" means a 24-hour period commencing from the time of receipt of the notification, excluding Saturday, Sunday, and the following nine holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day (observed), Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, the Friday following Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. When any of these holidays occur on a Saturday, it will be observed on the preceding Friday and when any of these holidays occur on a Sunday, it will be observed on the following Monday.

(Acts 1994, No. 94-487, p. 911, §2; Act 2012-504, p. 1483, §1.)