319.015. Definitions. - Missouri Statutes

Definitions.

319.015. For the purposes of sections 319.010 to 319.050, thefollowing terms mean:

(1) "Approximate location", a strip of land not wider than the widthof the underground facility plus two feet on either side thereof. Insituations where reinforced concrete, multiplicity of adjacent facilitiesor other unusual specified conditions interfere with location attempts, theowner or operator shall designate to the best of his or her ability anapproximate location of greater width;

(2) "Design request", a request from any person for facility locationinformation for design purposes only;

(3) "Emergency", either:

(a) A sudden, unexpected occurrence, presenting a clear and imminentdanger demanding immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss or damage tolife, health, property, or essential public services. "Unexpectedoccurrence" includes, but is not limited to, thunderstorms, high winds, iceor snow storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, or other soil or geologicmovements, riots, accidents, water or wastewater pipe breaks, vandalism, orsabotage; or

(b) Any interruption in the generation, transmission, or distributionof electricity, or any damage to property or facilities that causes orcould cause such an interruption;

(4) "Excavation", any operation in which earth, rock or othermaterial in or on the ground is moved, removed or otherwise displaced bymeans of any tools, equipment or explosives and includes, withoutlimitation, backfilling, grading, trenching, digging, ditching, drilling,well-drilling, augering, boring, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipeplowing, plowing-in, pulling-in, ripping, driving, and demolition ofstructures, except that, the use of mechanized tools and equipment to breakand remove pavement and masonry down only to the depth of such pavement ormasonry, the use of pressurized air to disintegrate and suction to removeearth, rock and other materials, the tilling of soil for agricultural orseeding purposes, and the installation of marking flags and stakes for thelocation of underground facilities that are not driven shall not be deemedexcavation. Backfilling or moving earth on the ground in connection withother excavation operations at the same site shall not be deemed separateinstances of excavation;

(5) "Excavator", any person making one or more excavations who isrequired to make notices of excavation under the requirements of sections319.010 to 319.050;

(6) "Marking", the use of paint, flags, stakes, or other clearlyidentifiable materials to show the field location of undergroundfacilities, or the area of proposed excavation, in accordance with thecolor code standard of the American Public Works Association. Unlessotherwise provided by the American Public Works Association, the followingcolor scheme shall be used: blue for potable water; purple for reclaimedwater, irrigation and slurry lines; green for sewers and drain lines; redfor electric, power lines, cables, conduit and lighting cables; orange forcommunications, including telephone, cable television, alarm or signallines, cable or conduit; yellow for gas, oil, steam, petroleum or gaseousmaterials; white for proposed excavation; pink for temporary marking ofconstruction project site features such as centerline and top of slope andtoe of slope;

(7) "Notification center", a statewide organization operatingtwenty-four hours a day, three hundred sixty-five days a year on anot-for-profit basis, supported by its participants, or by more than oneoperator of underground facilities, having as its principal purpose thestatewide receipt and dissemination to participating owners and operatorsof underground facilities of information concerning intended excavationactivities in the area where such owners and operators have undergroundfacilities, and open to participation by any and all such owners andoperators on a fair and uniform basis. Such notification center shall begoverned by a board of directors elected by the membership and composed ofrepresentatives from each general membership group, provided that one ofthe board members shall be a representative of the state highways andtransportation commission so long as the commission is a participant in thenotification center;

(8) "Notification center participant", an underground facility ownerwho is a member and participant in the notification center;

(9) "Permitted project", a project for which a permit for the work tobe performed is required to be issued by a local, state or federal agencyand, as a prerequisite to receiving such permit, the applicant is requiredto notify all underground facility owners in the area of the work forpurposes of identifying the location of existing underground facilities;

(10) "Person", any individual, firm, joint venture, partnership,corporation, association, cooperative, municipality, political subdivision,governmental unit, department or agency and shall include a notificationcenter and any trustee, receiver, assignee or personal representativethereof;

(11) "Pipeline facility" includes, without limitation, new andexisting pipe, rights-of-way, and any equipment, facility, or building usedor intended for use in the transportation of gas or the treatment of gas,or used or intended for use in the transportation of hazardous liquidsincluding petroleum, or petroleum products;

(12) "Preengineered project", a project which is approved by anagency or political subdivision of the state and for which the agency orpolitical subdivision responsible for the project, as part of itsengineering and contract procedures, holds a meeting prior to thecommencement of any construction work on such project and in such meetingall persons determined by the agency or political subdivision to haveunderground facilities located within the excavation area of the projectare invited to attend and given an opportunity to verify or inform anyagency or political subdivision of the location of their undergroundfacilities, if any, within the excavation area and where the location ofall known underground facilities are duly located or noted on theengineering drawing as specifications for the project;

(13) "State plane coordinates", a system of locating a point on aflat plane developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationand utilized by state agencies, local governments, and other persons todesignate the site of a construction project;

(14) "Trenchless excavation", horizontal excavation parallel to thesurface of the earth which does not use trenching or vertical digging asthe primary means of excavation, including but not limited to directionalboring, tunneling, or augering*;

(15) "Underground facility", any item of personal property whichshall be buried or placed below ground for use in connection with thestorage or conveyance of water, storm drainage, sewage, telecommunicationsservice, cable television service, electricity, oil, gas, hazardous liquidsor other substances, and shall include but not be limited to pipes, sewers,conduits, cables, valves, lines, wires, manholes, attachments, orappurtenances, and those portions of pylons or other supports below groundthat are within any public or private street, road or alley, right-of-waydedicated to the public use or utility easement of record, or prescriptiveeasement. If gas distribution lines or electric lines, telecommunicationsfacilities, cable television facilities, water service lines, water system,storm drainage or sewer system lines, other than those used for vehiculartraffic control, lighting of streets and highways and communications foremergency response, are located on private property and are owned solely bythe owner or owners of such private property, such lines or facilitiesreceiving service shall not be considered underground facilities forpurposes of this chapter, except at locations where they cross or liewithin an easement or right-of-way dedicated to public use or owned by aperson other than the owner of the private property. Water and sanitarysewer lines providing service to private property that are owned solely bythe owner of such property shall not be considered underground facilitiesat any location. Water, storm drainage, cross road drainage, or sewerlines owned by the state highways and transportation commission shall notbe considered underground facilities at any location. For railroadsregulated by the Federal Railroad Administration, "underground facility" asused in sections 319.015 to 319.050 shall not include any excavating doneby a railroad when such excavating is done entirely on land which therailroad owns or on which the railroad operates, or in the event ofemergency, on adjacent land;

(16) "Underground facility owner", any person who owns or operatesunderground facilities as defined by this section;

(17) "Working day", every day, except Saturday, Sunday or a legallydeclared local, state or federal holiday.

(L. 1976 S.B. 583 § 2, A.L. 1991 S.B. 214 & 264, A.L. 2001 H.B. 425, A.L. 2008 H.B. 1779)

Effective 1-01-09

*Word "auguring" appears in original rolls.