HOUSE BILL 908
48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007
INTRODUCED BY
Richard D. Vigil
AN ACT
RELATING TO UNDERGROUND UTILITIES; REVISING A DEFINITION; REVISING THE PIPELINE ONE-CALL NOTIFICATION SYSTEM.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 62-14-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1973, Chapter 252, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"62-14-2. DEFINITIONS.--[For purposes of] As used in Chapter 62, Article 14 NMSA 1978:
A. "advance notice" means two working days;
B. "blasting" means the use of an explosive to excavate;
C. "cable television lines and related facilities" means the facilities of any cable television system or closed-circuit coaxial cable communications system or other similar transmission service used in connection with any cable television system or other similar closed-circuit coaxial cable communications system;
D. "commission" means the public regulation commission;
E. "emergency excavation" means an excavation that must be performed due to circumstances beyond the excavator's control and that affects public safety, health or welfare;
F. "excavate" means the movement or removal of earth using mechanical excavating equipment or blasting and includes augering, backfilling, digging, ditching, drilling, grading, plowing in, pulling in, ripping, scraping, trenching, tunneling and directional boring;
G. "excavator" means a person that excavates;
H. "means of location" means a mark such as a stake, a flag, whiskers or paint that is conspicuous in nature and that is designed to last at least ten working days if not disturbed;
I. "mechanical excavating equipment" means all equipment powered by any motor, engine or hydraulic or pneumatic device used for excavating and includes trenchers, bulldozers, backhoes, power shovels, scrapers, draglines, clam shells, augers, drills, cable and pipe plows or other plowing-in or pulling-in equipment;
J. "one-call notification system" means a communication system in which an operation center provides telephone services or other reliable means of communication for the purpose of receiving excavation notice information and distributing that information to owners and operators of pipelines and other underground facilities;
K. "person" means the legal representative of or an individual, partnership, corporation, joint venture, state, subdivision or instrumentality of the state or an association;
L. "pipeline" means a pipeline or system of pipelines and appurtenances for the transportation or movement of any oil or gas, or oil or gas products and byproducts [but does not include gathering lines or systems operated exclusively for the gathering of oil or gas, oil and gas products and their byproducts, in any field or area; lines or systems constituting a part of any tank farm; plant facilities of any processing plant; or underground storage projects, unless it is located within a municipality or in the boundaries of an established easement or right of way or within the limits of any unincorporated city, town or village or within any designated residential or commercial area such as a subdivision, business or shopping center or community development];
M. "reasonable efforts" means notifying the appropriate one-call notification center or underground facility owner or operator of planned excavation;
N. "underground facility" means any tangible property described in Subsections C, L and O of this section that is underground, but does not include residential sprinklers or low-voltage lighting; and
O. "underground utility line" means an underground conduit or cable, including fiber optics, and related facilities for transportation and delivery of electricity, telephonic or telegraphic communications or water, sewer and fire protection lines."
Section 2. Section 62-14-7.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1997, Chapter 30, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:
"62-14-7.1. PIPELINE ONE-CALL NOTIFICATION SYSTEM.--
A. [Every] An owner or operator of [a pipeline] an underground facility subject to Chapter 62, Article 14 NMSA 1978 shall be a member of a one-call notification system. A one-call notification system may be for a region of the state or statewide in scope, unless federal law provides otherwise.
B. Each one-call notification system shall be operated by:
(1) an owner or operator of pipeline facilities;
(2) a private contractor;
(3) a state or local government agency; or
(4) a person who is otherwise eligible under state law to operate a one-call notification system.
C. If the one-call notification system is operated by owners or operators of pipeline facilities, it shall be established as a nonprofit entity governed by a board of directors that shall establish the operating processes, procedures and technology needed for a one-call notification system. The board shall further establish a procedure or formula to determine the equitable share of each member for the costs of the one-call notification system. The board may include representatives of excavators or other persons deemed eligible to participate in the system who are not owners or operators.
D. Excavators shall give advance notice to the one-call notification system operating in the intended excavation area and provide information established by rule of the commission, except when excavations are by or for a person that:
(1) owns or leases or owns a mineral leasehold interest in the real property on which the excavation occurs; and
(2) operates all underground facilities located in the intended excavation area.
E. The one-call notification system shall promptly transmit excavation notice information to owners or operators of pipeline facilities in the intended excavation area.
F. After receiving advance notice, owners and operators of pipeline facilities shall locate and mark their pipeline facilities in the intended excavation area.
G. The one-call notification system shall provide a toll-free telephone number or another comparable and reliable means of communication to receive advance notice of excavation. Means of communication to distribute excavation notice to owners or operators of pipeline facilities shall be reliable and capable of coordination with one-call notification systems operating in other regions of the state.
H. Operators of one-call notification systems shall notify the commission of its members and the name and telephone number of the contact person for each member and make available to the commission appropriate records in investigations of alleged violations of Chapter 62, Article 14 NMSA 1978.
I. One-call notification systems and owners and operators of pipeline facilities shall promote public awareness of the availability and operation of one-call notification systems and work with state and local governmental agencies charged with issuing excavation permits to provide information concerning and promoting awareness by excavators of one-call notification systems."
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