Amends TCA Title 65, Chapter 31.

NOTICE OF INTENT TO EXCAVATE OR DEMOLISH Before beginning any excavation or demolition operation described in existing law, other than an impending emergency, present law requires each person responsible for such excavation or demolition to serve written, telephonic, or e-mail notice of intent to excavate or demolish at least three working days prior to the actual date of excavation or demolition, but not more than 10 full working days prior to such time, unless a different period has been agreed to in writing by the person responsible for the excavation or demolition and the operator or designated representative. This bill removes the impending emergency exception to giving notice. Present law requires the written, telephonic, or e-mail notice required by the above provision to contain the name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the person filing the notice of intent and, if different, the person responsible for the excavation or demolition, the starting date, the anticipated duration of the excavation or demolition, the type of excavation or demolition operation to be conducted, the specific location of the proposed excavation or demolition, and whether or not explosives are anticipated to be used. Present law provides that if the notification required by the present law is made by telephone, or e-mail, then an adequate record of such notification must be maintained by each notified operator or one-call service to document compliance with the Underground Utility Damages Prevention Act, and a copy of this record must be furnished by any operator or one-call service to the person giving notice of intent to excavate or demolish, when so requested by that person. This bill expands the acceptable types of notice by replacing e-mail notice with electronic notice. RESPONSE TO NOTICE OF INTENT TO EXCAVATE OR DEMOLISH Present law requires each operator notified of an impending emergency to stake or otherwise mark, prior to the noticed time of the proposed excavation or demolition, utilizing the color code set forth in existing law, the surface of the tract or parcel of land affected by the excavation or demolition to indicate the approximate location of all its underground utilities that may be damaged as a result of the excavation or demolition. This bill rewrites this provision to, instead, authorize an excavator submitting a notice of emergency excavation or demolition to provide information that operator response is not required within two hours and provide an alternate emergency operator response time that is more than two hours and less than 72 hours. In such circumstances, the operator receiving such notice must respond before the emergency operator response time submitted in the notice. EMERGENCY EXCAVATION OR DEMOLITION Present law provides that compliance with the notice requirements of intent to excavate or demolish is not required of any person responsible for emergency excavation or demolition, for repair or restoration of service or to ameliorate an imminent danger to life, health, or property; provided, that such person gives, as soon as practicable, oral notice of the emergency excavation or demolition to each operator having underground utilities located in the area or to a one-call service, that serves an operator, where such excavation or demolition is to be performed and requests emergency assistance from each operator so identified in locating and providing immediate protection to the operator's underground utilities. This bill rewrites the above provision to, instead, remove the notice exemption for any person responsible for repair or restoration of service or for any person responsible to ameliorate an imminent danger to life, health, or property. This bill also rewrites the present law by requiring, instead, a person responsible for emergency excavation or demolition to give, as soon as practicable, sufficient written, telephonic, or electronic notice of the emergency excavation or demolition in order to be exempt from the notice requirements. CIVIL PENALTIES AND REMEDIES Present law requires a person who violates the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act, or the rules promulgated under that act, to be subject to a civil penalty as follows: (1) For a first violation, the violator must complete a course of training concerning compliance with the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act as determined by the executive committee; (2) For a second or subsequent violation, the violator must complete a course of training concerning compliance with the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act as determined by the executive committee or pay a civil penalty in an amount set by the executive committee, not to exceed $10,000 per incident, or both; (3) If any violation was the result of gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct as determined by the executive committee, the executive committee must require the violator to complete a course of training concerning compliance with the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act as determined by the executive committee and pay a civil penalty in an amount set by the executive committee, not to exceed $15,000 per incident; and (4) Operators who fail to join the one-call service and utilize the services of the notification center as required by existing law are only subject to the civil penalties described in (2) and (3) above. This bill rewrites the above provisions to provide, instead, that a person who violates the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act, or the rules promulgated under that act, is subject to a civil penalty as follows: (1) The violator must pay a civil penalty in an amount set by the executive committee, not to exceed $10,000 per incident. In addition to a civil penalty, the executive committee may require the violator to complete a course of training concerning compliance with the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act as determined by the executive committee; (2) If a violation was the result of gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct as determined by the executive committee, then the executive committee must require the violator to complete a course of training concerning compliance with the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act as determined by the executive committee and pay a civil penalty in an amount set by the executive committee, not to exceed $15,000 per incident; (3) Operators who fail to join the one-call service and utilize the services of the notification center as required by existing law are subject to the civil penalties for violations of the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act; and (4) Upon issuance of a civil penalty, board investigators may make offers of settlement to the respondent that may include training concerning compliance with this chapter in lieu of payment of civil penalties. UNDERGROUND DAMAGE PREVENTION FUND Present law provides that the expenditure of moneys in the underground damage prevention fund is at the discretion of the 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 Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act. However, grants must not be used for operating expenses; and (2) Providing public awareness, educational programs or materials, and compliance training in a manner and by vendors determined and selected by the board. This bill changes the present law by no longer allowing expenditure of moneys in the underground damage prevention fund, at the discretion of the board, to be used for providing compliance training. This bill adds to the present law by also providing that the expenditure of monies in the underground damage prevention fund, at the discretion of the board, may be used for reducing the amount of its annual operating cost to be assessed to operators for the investigative and administrative services performed by the Tennessee public utility commission.