Nebraska Statutes 76-2323. Underground facilities; mark or identify; excavator; violations
(1) Upon receipt of the information contained in the notice pursuant to section 76-2321, an operator shall advise the excavator of the approximate location of underground facilities in the area of the proposed excavation by marking or identifying the location of the underground facilities with stakes, flags, paint, or any other clearly identifiable marking or reference point and shall indicate if the underground facilities are subject to section 76-2331. The location of the underground facility given by the operator shall be within a strip of land eighteen inches on either side of the marking or identification plus one-half of the width of the underground facility. If in the opinion of the operator the precise location of a facility cannot be determined and marked as required, the operator shall provide all pertinent information and field locating assistance to the excavator at a mutually agreed to time. The location shall be marked or identified using color standards prescribed by the center. The operator shall respond no later than two business days after receipt of the information in the notice or at a time mutually agreed to by the parties.
Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 76-2323
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- Center: means a call center which shall have as its principal purpose the statewide receipt and dissemination to participating operators of information on a fair and uniform basis concerning intended excavations by excavators in areas where operators have underground facilities. See Nebraska Statutes 76-2305
- Excavation: shall mean any activity in which earth, rock, or other material in or on the ground is moved or otherwise displaced by means of tools, equipment, or explosives and shall include grading, trenching, digging, ditching, drilling, augering, tunneling, scraping, and cable or pipe plowing or driving but shall not include (1) normal maintenance of roads if the maintenance does not change the original road grade and does not involve the road ditch, (2) tilling of soil and gardening for seeding and other agricultural purposes, (3) digging of graves or in landfills in planned locations, (4) maintenance or rebuilding of railroad track or facilities located on a railroad right-of-way by the railroad company or its contractors when such maintenance or rebuilding does not change the track grade, or (5) hand digging around the base of a pole for pole inspection as part of routine maintenance or replacement of a pole when the replacement pole is similarly sized and is installed in the existing hole. See Nebraska Statutes 76-2308
- Excavator: shall mean a person who engages in excavation in this state. See Nebraska Statutes 76-2309
- Nonpermanent surface: shall mean any ground consisting of uncovered dirt or rock or ground that is covered by grass or other plant life, crushed rock, gravel, or other similar natural substance. See Nebraska Statutes 76-2311
- Operator: shall mean a person who manages or controls the functions of an underground facility but shall not include a person who is an owner or tenant of real property where underground facilities are located if the underground facilities are used exclusively to furnish services or commodities on the real property. See Nebraska Statutes 76-2313
- Permanent surface: shall mean any ground that is covered by a hard, artificial, weatherproof material such as concrete, asphalt, or other similar artificial substance. See Nebraska Statutes 76-2314
- Ticket: means the compilation of data received by the center in the notice of excavation and the facility locations provided to the center and which is assigned a unique identifying number. See Nebraska Statutes 76-2316.01
- Underground facility: shall mean any item of personal property buried or placed below ground for use in connection with the storage or conveyance of water, sewage, electronic communications, telephonic communications, telegraphic communications, cable television, electric energy, oil, gas, hazardous liquids, or other substances, including pipes, trunk lines, fiber optic cables, sewers, conduits, cables, valves, lines, wires, manholes, and attachments to such personal property. See Nebraska Statutes 76-2317
(2) The marking or identification shall be done in a manner that will last for a minimum of five business days on any nonpermanent surface and a minimum of ten business days on any permanent surface. If the excavation will continue for longer than five business days, the operator shall remark or reidentify the location of the underground facility upon the request of the excavator. The request for remarking or reidentification shall be made through the center.
(3)(a) Beginning September 1, 2024, it shall be a violation of the One-Call Notification System Act for an excavator to (i) serve notice of intent to excavate upon the center for an area in which the excavation cannot be reasonably commenced within seventeen calendar days after the excavation start date indicated pursuant to section 76-2321 or (ii) request remarking or reidentification for any area in which the excavation cannot be reasonably commenced or continued within fourteen calendar days after the date remarking or reidentification is completed.
(b) After receiving notice of any alleged violation of this subsection pursuant to subsection (2) of section 76-2325, the excavator shall in its answer describe the circumstances which prevented the commencement or continuation of excavation within the timeframes set forth in this subsection.
(4) An operator who determines that such operator does not have any underground facility located in the area of the proposed excavation shall notify the center of the determination prior to the date of commencement of the excavation, or prior to two full business days after transmittal of the ticket, whichever occurs sooner. All ticket responses made under this subsection shall be transmitted to the operator and excavator by the center.