Kansas Statutes 66-1806. Identification of location of facilities; duties of operator; liability for damages
Terms Used In Kansas Statutes 66-1806
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Excavation: means any operation in which earth, rock or other material below the surface is moved or otherwise displaced by any means, except tilling the soil for normal agricultural purposes, or railroad or road and ditch maintenance that does not change the existing railroad grade, road grade and/or ditch flowline, or operations related to exploration and production of crude oil or natural gas, or both. See Kansas Statutes 66-1802
- Excavator: means any person who engages directly in excavation activities within the state of Kansas, but shall not include any occupant of a dwelling who: (1) Uses such dwelling as a primary residence; and (2) excavates on the premises of such dwelling. See Kansas Statutes 66-1802
- Facility: means any sanitary sewer or underground line, system or structure used for transporting, gathering, storing, conveying, transmitting or distributing potable water, gas, electricity, communication, crude oil, refined or processed petroleum, petroleum products or hazardous liquids. See Kansas Statutes 66-1802
- Marking: means the use of stakes, paint, flags or other clearly identifiable materials to show the field location of underground facilities, in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the state corporation commission in the administration and enforcement of this act. See Kansas Statutes 66-1802
- Operator: means any person who owns or leases an underground tier 1 or tier 2 facility, except for any person who is the owner of real property wherein is located underground facilities for the purpose of furnishing services or materials only to such person or occupants of such property. See Kansas Statutes 66-1802
- Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, franchise holder, state, city, county or any governmental subdivision or instrumentality of a state and its employees, agents or legal representatives. See Kansas Statutes 66-1802
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
- Tolerance zone: means the area not more than 24 inches of the outside dimensions in all horizontal directions of an underground facility, except that a larger tolerance zone for a tier 1, 2 or 3 facility may be established by rules and regulations adopted under Kan. See Kansas Statutes 66-1802
- Working day: means every day Monday through Friday beginning at 12:01 a. See Kansas Statutes 66-1802
(a) Except as provided by subsection (j), beginning on the later of the first working day after the excavator has filed notice of intent to excavate or the first day after the excavator has whitelined the excavation site, an operator served with notice, unless otherwise agreed between the parties, shall inform the excavator of the tolerance zone of the underground facilities of the operator in the area of the planned excavation by marking, flagging or other acceptable method.
(b) If the operator of tier 2 facilities cannot accurately mark the tolerance zone, such operator shall mark the approximate location to the best of its ability, notify the excavator that the markings may not be accurate, and provide additional guidance to the excavator in locating the facilities as needed during the excavation.
(c) The operator of tier 2 facilities shall not be required to provide notification of the tolerance zone for facilities that are at a depth at least two feet deeper than the excavator plans to excavate but does have to notify the excavator of their existence.
(d) (1) If the operator of a tier 1 facility has no underground facilities in the area of the proposed excavation, such operator, before the excavation start date, shall notify the excavator that it has no facilities in the area of proposed excavation by telephone, facsimile, marking the area all clear or by other technology that may be developed for such purposes.
(2) If the operator of a tier 1 facility is a provider of electricity, the duty of the operator to mark shall not extend to another person‘s side of the point where ownership of the facility changes from the operator to another person as determined by the operator’s rules and regulations, tariffs, service or membership agreements or other similar documents.
(e) If the excavator has provided notice to an operator pursuant to Kan. Stat. Ann. § 66-1804, and amendments thereto, and the operator fails to comply with subsections (a), (b) or (c) or notifies the excavator that it has no underground facilities in the area of the planned excavation, the excavator may proceed and shall not be liable to the operator for any direct or indirect damages resulting from contact with the operator’s facilities, except that nothing in this act shall be construed to hold any excavator harmless from liability to the operator in those cases of gross negligence or willful and wanton conduct.
(f) For economic damages in any civil court of this state, failure of an operator to inform the excavator before the excavation start date of the tolerance zone of the underground facilities of the operator in the manner required by Kan. Stat. Ann. § 66-1806(a), and amendments thereto, shall not give rise to a cause of action on the part of the excavator against an operator, except that nothing in this act shall be construed to hold any operator harmless from liability in those cases of inaccurate marking of the tolerance zone, gross negligence or willful and wanton conduct. Such failure may subject an operator to civil penalties as determined by the state corporation commission.
(g) Any person claiming that an operator has failed to inform the excavator within two working days of the tolerance zone of the underground facilities of the operator shall file a complaint with the state corporation commission requesting enforcement of subsection (a) within one year of becoming aware of the violation.
(h) All tier 1 facilities installed by an operator after January 1, 2003, shall be locatable.
(i) All tier 2 facilities installed by an operator after July 1, 2008, shall be locatable.
(j) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the maximum number of days allowed to an operator for providing the location of the tolerance zone may be adjusted by the state corporation commission in accordance with rules and regulations.