HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 9048INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9048
NATri?, May 19, 2009
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
Page 1 of 2
N rx" SUBJECT: UNDERGROUND FACILITY DAMAGE
PREVENTION AND SAFETY ACT
The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the Underground Facility Damage
Prevention and Safety Act notification requirements and to provide a recommendation
pertaining to its use. This is pursuant to a suggestion during a City Council and Gas Drilling
Task Force workshop held last summer to pursue alternatives to minimize third-party damage
• pipelines which is the leading cause of pipeline incidents.
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In 1997 the Texas Legislature passed the Underground Facility Damage Prevention and
Safety Act (Utilities Code Chapter 251). Under the code a statewide "one call" system was
created to allow excavators to contact one entity that would provide notification to all utility
companies (except water and sewer) with underground lines in the area.
The utilities that are required to participate under the code are categorized as a Class A
underground facility and are used "to produce, store, convey, transmit, or distribute electrical
energy, natural or synthetic gas, petroleum or petroleum products, steam, telecommunications
• any other form • liquid not defined under a "Class B underground facility'. Class B
underground facilities include water, sewer or slurry facilities and are essentially exempt from
participation.
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in most cases excavators planning to dig 16 inches or deeper using mechanical equipment
are required to make contact with either the statewide number (800-545-6005) or one of the
three statewide Notification Centers directly via phone, fax, or electronically between two and
fourteen working days before they intend to begin excavating. The notification centers then
notify their member utility companies. The utility companies, once notified, have two working
days to send their personnel or contract locators to the excavation site to mark the
approximate location of their underground facilities to help the excavator avoid accidental
damage.
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ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS