Amends TCA Title 65, Chapter 28 and Title 65, Chapter 31.

Generally, present law requires that a person provide notice to the one-call system or utility operators before excavating in a street, highway, public space, a private easement of an operator, or within 100 feet of the edge of the pavement of a street or highway, or demolishing a building. Subject to certain exceptions, present law requires that the person responsible for the excavation or demolition mark the area that will be affected with safety white color-coded stakes or white paint. Present law also requires utility operators who receive notice of a planned excavation or demolition to mark their underground utilities with color-coded paint. This bill specifies that the same marking standards that apply to utility operators will apply to responsible persons who mark proposed areas of excavation or demolition. This bill also prohibits utility operators from charging the person giving notice to the one-call system, the excavator, or property owner for the marking of its facilities. This bill specifies that a utility operator may recover the costs of the marking of its facilities from customers in an appropriate ratemaking procedure. Present law requires all operators of underground utilities whose total amount of underground facilities constitutes 20 percent or more of their total utility plant in service to join the one-call system. Present law specifies that failure to join the one-call system subjects the utility operator to fines and penalties. This bill changes present law to specify that non-joining utility operators will be subject to civil penalties as described in this Bill Summary, but not fines. Present law requires an excavator to exercise reasonable care to avoid damage caused by an excavation or demolition within the safety zone around the marked location of underground utilities. Present law defines the "safety zone" to mean a strip of land at least four feet wide, but not wider than the width of the utility plus two feet on either side of the utility. This bill adds that, when excavating or demolishing within the safety zone, the excavator must utilize hand digging when practical, pneumatic hand tools, or mechanical or technical methods approved by the utility owner or operator; provided, that hand digging and non-invasive methods will not be required for removal of pavement or concrete. Present law requires that an excavator report any damage to an underground utility to the utility operator. This bill adds a requirement that the excavator also report any damage to the one-call system, except for operations that are excluded from the definition of "excavation" under present law, which are excavations limited to: (1) Pavement milling or pavement repair that does not exceed the depth of the existing base stone and pavement; (2) Routine railroad maintenance activities; (3) Routine road maintenance activities; and (4) The tilling of soil for agricultural purposes or the digging of holes for fence posts on private property in any area that is not located within a recorded easement of an operator or that is not located within 100 feet of the edge of the pavement of a street or highway. Present law requires any underground utility operator whose utility facilities are damaged to report the incident using the Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) utilized by Common Ground Alliance. This bill authorizes operators to file a damage notice with the one-call system. If a report is made by filing a damage notice with the one-call system, then this bill authorizes the one-call system to report the incident to DIRT. This bill increases the maximum civil penalty amount that may be assessed for a second or subsequent violation of the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act from $2,500 to $10,000. This bill increases the maximum civil penalty amount that may be assessed for a violation of the Act that resulted from gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct from $5,000 to $15,000. This bill changes the length of a term for members of the underground utility damage enforcement board's executive board from one year to three years. Present law establishes an underground damage prevention fund within the Tennessee public utility commission. All civil penalties collected pursuant to the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act must be deposited into the fund and used at the discretion of the underground utility damage enforcement board for the following purposes: (1) Providing grants to operators with fewer than 5,000 customers to assist the recipient in complying with the mandatory notification center requirements of the Act. However, no grants may be given for this purpose after January 1, 2018; and (2) Contracting with providers of public awareness, educational, and compliance training. This bill revises the purposes for which funds in the underground damage prevention fund may be used to allow new grants to be issued for the purposes described in (1) and specify that the board is authorized to select vendors to service contracts described in (2). Present law sets the maximum civil amount of a civil penalty that may be assessed for certain violations related to standards for gas pipeline systems at $10,000 for each such violation for each day that such violation persists, not to exceed $500,000 for any continuing series of violations. This bill increases the maximum civil penalty amounts to $100,000 per violation for each day that the violation persists, not to exceed $1,000,000 for any continuing series of violations.