CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.

House Bill 1263e1

CS/HB 1263, First Engrossed/ntc 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to underground facilities 3 damage prevention and safety; amending s. 4 556.106, F.S.; specifying liability for damage 5 occurring in certain excavations; amending s. 6 556.108, F.S.; revising certain exemptions from 7 notification requirements; providing an 8 effective date. 9 10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11 12 Section 1. Subsection (5) is added to section 556.106, 13 Florida Statutes, to read: 14 556.106 Liability of the member operator, excavator, 15 and system.-- 16 (5) An excavator who performs any excavation with hand 17 tools pursuant to s. 556.108(5) is liable for any damage to 18 any operator's underground facilities damaged during such 19 excavation. 20 Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 556.108, Florida 21 Statutes, 1996 Supplement, is amended, and subsection (5) is 22 added to said section, to read: 23 556.108 Exemptions.--The notification requirements 24 provided in s. 556.105(1) do not apply to: 25 (4) Any excavation of 18 inches or less for: 26 (a) Surveying public or private property by surveyors 27 or mappers as defined in chapter 472, excluding marked 28 rights-of-way, marked easements, or permitted uses where 29 marked, provided mechanized equipment is not used in the 30 process of such surveying and the surveying is performed in 31 1 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. CS/HB 1263, First Engrossed/ntc 1 accordance with the practice rules established under s. 2 472.027; 3 (b) Locating or protecting underground facilities, 4 provided no mechanized equipment is used in the process of 5 locating or protecting such underground facilities; 6 (c) Extending underground facilities from an easement, 7 right-of-way, or area of permitted use onto the four-family, 8 three-family, two-family, or single-family residential 9 property of the person to be served by such facilities, 10 provided that, in the process of such extension, no mechanized 11 equipment is used on any operator's marked right-of-way, 12 easement, or permitted use; or 13 (b)(d) Maintenance activities performed by a state 14 agency and its employees when such activities are within the 15 right-of-way of a public road, provided, if a member operator 16 has permanently marked facilities on such right-of-way, no 17 mechanized equipment may be used without first providing 18 notification. 19 (5) Any excavation with hand tools by a member 20 operator or an agent of a member operator for: 21 (a) Locating, repairing, connecting, or protecting, or 22 routine maintenance of, the member operator's underground 23 facilities; or 24 (b) The extension of a member operator's underground 25 facilities onto the property of a person to be served by such 26 facilities. 27 (c) The exemption provided in paragraphs (a) and (b) 28 is limited to excavations to a depth of 30 inches if the 29 right-of-way has permanently marked facilities of a company 30 other than the member operator or its agents performing the 31 excavation. 2 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. CS/HB 1263, First Engrossed/ntc 1 Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 1997. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 3