17999_Authority_December

municipalauthorities.org | 25 One Call System when a design drawing is completed, to timely respond to notifications received from excavators in accordance with existing law, to inform a project owner of the project owner’s duties under existing law and to comply with all requests for information by the PUC relating to enforcement authority within 30 days. Š Designers are required to depict lines or facilities with the appropriate quality levels based on the complexity of the design and construction activities obtained through the subsurface utility engineering process in the planning and design phases in accordance with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) published standards. In the event that as-builts are required during the construction phase, designers are required to prepare the as- builts in accordance with the most recently published standards of the ASCE. Š The bill requires excavators to submit a locate request to identify the location and type of facility owner lines at each work site through the One Call System. An excavator shall not misrepresent an emergency excavation and may not delegate the duty to submit a locate request to the One Call System to another person and shall have the sole responsibility to submit requests. Š Project owners may not establish provisions in any contract which attempt to limit the rights of excavators under current law, and any such provisions shall not be valid for any reason. Any attempted waiver of excavator rights shall be void and unenforceable and shall be reported to the PUC. Project owners are required to comply with all requests for information by the PUC relating to enforcement authority within 30 days. Š It requires the damage prevention committee to review reports of alleged violations and damage prevention investigator findings concerning the basis or root cause of an alleged violation and any recommendations proposed to address an alleged violation. If a person who is subject to an informal determination by an investigator opts to reject the informal determination, the person shall do so in writing within 30 days. The matter then shall be referred to the PUC for a formal complaint. An action resulting in a formal complaint before the PUC must be brought within the time limits specified under Title 66. When a written rejection of an informal determination results in a formal complaint, the PUC shall conduct a de novo review of the alleged violation. The informal determination of the damage prevention committee shall not be binding upon the PUC. Š A person or entity violating the Underground Utility Line Protection Law must pay an administrative penalty to the PUC within 60 days of issuance of an informal determination, unless the person or entity subject to the informal determination rejects it within 30 days. The PUC shall assess an additional administrative penalty of $100 per day, not to exceed a total of $5,000, for an administrative penalty not paid within the established time period. A person or entity subject to an informal determination of the damage prevention committee requiring a damage prevention educational program under law shall successfully complete the program within 60 days of issuance of the informal determination. The PUC shall assess an additional administrative penalty of $100 per day, not to exceed a total of $5,000, on a person who fails to comply with this requirement. Š Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the Damage Prevention Committee shall only have the powers and duties enumerated in subsections (B) (duties) and (C) (alleged violations) if the committee completes its review of an alleged violation and issues an informal determination within 270 days of the occurrence of the alleged violation. Š Except as otherwise provided in this act, an action for the recovery of any penalty or forfeiture incurred under the provisions of this act or a prosecution on account of any matter or thing mentioned in this act may not be maintained unless brought within three years from the date at which the liability arose. Š The act takes effect immediately. Regulation Lead and Copper Rule Improvements On October 8, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule requiring water systems to identify and replace lead pipes within 10 years. Systems also must create a service line replacement plan that includes a strategy to prioritize replacement considering community- specific factors, such as populations disproportionately impacted by lead. Water systems are required to make their inventory and replacement plans available to the public. The rule also requires more rigorous testing of drinking water and a lower threshold requiring communities to take action to protect people from lead exposure in water (the lead action level lowered from 15ug/L to 10ug/L). The final rule also improves communication so that people are better informed about the risk of lead in drinking water. The EPA also announced $2.6 billion in newly available funding to support lead pipe replacement projects. S