As used in this article, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Active subsurface installation” means a subsurface installation currently in use or currently carrying service.

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(b) “Board” means the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board, also known as the “Dig Safe Board.”

(c) “Area of continual excavation” means a location where excavation is part of the normal business activities of agricultural operations and flood control facilities.

(d) “Delineate” means to mark in white the location or path of the proposed excavation using the guidelines in Appendix B of the “Guidelines for Excavation Delineation” published in the most recent version of the Best Practices guide of the Common Ground Alliance. If there is a conflict between the marking practices in those guidelines and other provisions of this article, this article shall control. “Delineation” also includes physical identification of the area to be excavated using alternative marking methods, including, but not limited to, flags, stakes, whiskers, or a combination of these methods, if an excavator makes a determination that standard delineation may be misleading to those persons using affected streets and highways, or be misinterpreted as a traffic or pedestrian control, and the excavator has contacted the regional notification center to advise the operators that the excavator will physically identify the area to be excavated using alternative marking methods.

(e) “Electronic positive response” means an electronic response from an operator to the regional notification center providing the status of an operator’s statutorily required response to a ticket.

(f) (1) “Emergency” means a sudden, unexpected occurrence, involving a clear and imminent danger, demanding immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss of, or damage to, life, health, property, or essential public services.

(2) “Unexpected occurrence” includes, but is not limited to, a fire, flood, earthquake or other soil or geologic movement, riot, accident, damage to a subsurface installation requiring immediate repair, or sabotage.

(g) “Excavation” means any operation in which earth, rock, or other material in the ground is moved, removed, or otherwise displaced by means of tools, equipment, or explosives in any of the following ways: grading, trenching, digging, ditching, drilling, augering, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing and driving, or any other way.

(h) Except as provided in Section 4216.8, “excavator” means any person, firm, contractor or subcontractor, owner, operator, utility, association, corporation, partnership, business trust, public agency, or other entity that, with their own employees or equipment, performs any excavation.

(i) “Hand tool” means a piece of equipment used for excavating that uses human power and is not powered by any motor, engine, hydraulic, or pneumatic device.

(j) “High priority subsurface installation” means high-pressure natural gas pipelines with normal operating pressures greater than 415kPA gauge (60psig), petroleum pipelines, pressurized sewage pipelines, high-voltage electric supply lines, conductors, or cables that have a potential to ground of greater than or equal to 60kv, or hazardous materials pipelines that are potentially hazardous to workers or the public if damaged.

(k) “Inactive subsurface installation” means either of the following:

(1) The portion of an underground subsurface installation that is not active but is still connected to the subsurface installation, or to any other subsurface installation, that is active or still carries service.

(2) A new underground subsurface installation that has not been connected to any portion of an existing subsurface installation.

(l) “Legal excavation start date and time” means two working days, not including the date of notification, unless the excavator specifies a later date and time, which shall not be more than 14 calendar days from the date of notification. For excavation in an area of continual excavation, “legal excavation start date and time” means two working days, not including the date of notification, unless the excavator specifies a later date and time, which shall not be more than six months from the date of notification.

(m) “Local agency” means a city, county, city and county, school district, or special district.

(n) (1) “Locate and field mark” means to indicate the existence of any owned or maintained subsurface installations by using the guidelines in Appendix B of the “Guidelines for Operator Facility Field Delineation” published in the most recent version of the Best Practices guide of the Common Ground Alliance and in conformance with the uniform color code of the American Public Works Association. If there is a conflict between the marking practices in the guidelines and this article, this article shall control.

(2) “Locate and field mark” does not require an indication of the depth.

(o) “Operator” means any person, corporation, partnership, business trust, public agency, or other entity that owns, operates, or maintains a subsurface installation. For purposes of Section 4216.1, an “operator” does not include an owner of real property where subsurface installations are exclusively located if they are used exclusively to furnish services on that property and the subsurface facilities are under the operation and control of that owner.

(p) “Qualified person” means a person who completes a training program in accordance with the requirements of Section 1509 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations Injury and Illness Prevention Program, that meets the minimum locators training guidelines and practices published in the most recent version of the Best Practices guide of the Common Ground Alliance.

(q) “Regional notification center” means a nonprofit association or other organization of operators of subsurface installations that provides advance warning of excavations or other work close to existing subsurface installations, for the purpose of protecting those installations from damage, removal, relocation, or repair.

(r) “State agency” means every state agency, department, division, bureau, board, or commission.

(s) “Subsurface installation” means any underground pipeline, conduit, duct, wire, or other structure, except nonpressurized sewerlines, nonpressurized storm drains, or other nonpressurized drain lines.

(t) “Ticket” means an excavation location request issued a number by the regional notification center.

(u) “Tolerance zone” means 24 inches on each side of the field marking placed by the operator in one of the following ways:

(1) Twenty-four inches from each side of a single marking, assumed to be the centerline of the subsurface installation.

(2) Twenty-four inches plus one-half the specified size on each side of a single marking with the size of installation specified.

(3) Twenty-four inches from each outside marking that graphically shows the width of the outside surface of the subsurface installation on a horizontal plane.

(v) “Working day” for the purposes of determining excavation start date and time means a weekday Monday through Friday, from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except for federal holidays and state holidays, as defined in Section 19853, or as otherwise posted on the internet website of the regional notification center.

(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 307, Sec. 1. (SB 865) Effective January 1, 2021.)