811 Locate Exemption For County Road Maintenance

An individual or entity must generally notify the statewide notification association of all owners and operators of underground facilities of its intent to engage in excavation so that any underground facilities that the excavation might affect, such as water and sewer pipes, gas lines, and electric or cable lines, can be located and marked before excavation begins. Underground facilities are often located beneath the right-of-way of county gravel and dirt roads, normally at a depth of at least 18 inches below the road surface. Counties maintain the profile and surface condition of county roads and such county road rights-of-way by engaging in routine and emergency maintenance activities that do not disturb more than 6 inches in depth. Before the passage of the act, these maintenance activities triggered the excavation notification requirement, and the related requirement that the location of underground facilities be marked, even though they occur above the levels where underground facilities are located. The act specifies that excavation that is routine or emergency maintenance of the right-of-way of a county-maintained gravel or dirt road and is performed by county employees does not require notification of the notification association or location marking unless the excavation will:

• Lower the existing grade or elevation of the road or any adjacent shoulder or the designed and constructed elevation of any adjacent ditch flowline; or
• Disturb more than 6 inches in depth as it is conducted.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)