[Effective 7/1/2024]

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Agricultural purposes,” for purposes of this chapter only, includes surface activities, such as plowing, planting, and combining, but does not include blasting, setting drainage tiles, subsoiling, or other subsurface activities;
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 65-31-102 v2

  • Blasting: means the use of an explosive device for the excavation of earth, rock, or other material or the demolition of a structure. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • Board: means the underground utility damage enforcement board, created by §. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • 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.
  • Damage: includes the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of an underground utility, penetration or destruction of any protective coating, housing or other protective device of an underground utility, the partial or complete severance of an underground utility and rendering any underground utility inaccessible. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • demolition: means any operation by which a structure or mass of material is wrecked, razed, rendered, moved or removed by means of any tools, equipment, or discharge of explosives. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • Excavator: means any person who engages in activities described in subdivisions (A) and (B) in the definition of "excavate" contained in this section. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • Executive committee: means the executive committee created by §. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Location: means the proposed area for which digging or excavating is scheduled within three (3) to ten (10) working days, such area not to exceed two thousand feet (2,000') in length unless an excavator and an operator or an operator's designated representative, such as a one-call service, agree to a larger area. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • Mechanized equipment: means equipment operated by means of mechanical power including trenchers, bulldozers, power shovels, augers, backhoes, scrapers, drills, cable and pipe plows and other equipment used for plowing-in or pulling-in cable or pipe. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • One-Call Service: means a telephone notification service described in §. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • Operator: means any person who owns or operates a utility. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Person: means any individual. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • Proposed area of excavation: means a general surface location which excavators are to furnish to operators of underground utilities or to a one-call service as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Road: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Working day: means every day, except Saturday, Sunday, and national and legal state holidays. See Tennessee Code 65-31-102
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(2) “Blasting” means the use of an explosive device for the excavation of earth, rock, or other material or the demolition of a structure;
(3) “Board” means the underground utility damage enforcement board, created by § 65-31-114;
(4) “Calendar day” means a twenty-four (24) hour period beginning with the date and time that a notification to excavate or demolish is to begin, including Monday through Sunday and all holidays;
(5) “Contract locator” means any person contracted with an operator, or operating on behalf of an operator, specifically to determine and mark the approximate location of the operator’s utility lines that exist within the area specified by a notice served on the one-call service;
(6) “Damage” includes the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of an underground utility, penetration or destruction of any protective coating, housing or other protective device of an underground utility, the partial or complete severance of an underground utility and rendering any underground utility inaccessible;
(7) “Damage notice” means a notification made to the one-call service by a person who has caused damage to an underground facility;
(8) “Demolish” or “demolition” means any operation by which a structure or mass of material is wrecked, razed, rendered, moved or removed by means of any tools, equipment, or discharge of explosives;
(9) “Design locate request” means a communication to the one-call service in which a request for locating existing utility facilities for predesign or advance planning purposes is made;
(10) “Electronic white lining” means the application of a visual indicator to a digital or virtual map marking the boundaries of the area of proposed excavation or the area of ongoing excavation;
(11) “Emergency” means a sudden or unforeseen occurrence involving a clear and imminent danger to life, health, or property; the interruption of utility services requiring repair or restoration; or repairs to transportation facilities that require immediate action;
(12) “Excavate” or “excavation”:

(A) Means an operation for the purpose of the movement, placement, or removal of earth, rock, or other materials in or on the ground by use of mechanized equipment, discharge of explosives, or by hand digging, and includes augering, backfilling, blasting, boring, digging, ditching, drilling, grading, pile-driving, plowing-in, pulling-in, ripping, scraping, sub-soiling, trenching, or tunneling; and
(B) Does not include:

(i) Pavement milling or pavement repair that does not exceed the depth of the existing base stone and pavement;
(ii) Routine railroad maintenance activities, including removal and replacement of base material up to twenty-four inches (24″) below the flow line of the ditch or ground surface of the railroad right-of-way adjacent to the existing track structure if the work is conducted by railroad employees or railroad contractors and is carried out with reasonable care so as to protect any installed underground facilities placed in the railroad right-of-way by agreement with the railroad;
(iii) Routine road maintenance activities; and
(iv) The tilling of soil for agricultural purposes or the digging of holes for fence posts on private property in any area that is not located within a recorded easement of an operator or that is not located within one hundred feet (100′) of the edge of the pavement of a street or highway;
(13) “Excavator” means any person who engages in activities described in subdivisions (A) and (B) in the definition of “excavate” contained in this section;
(14) “Executive committee” means the executive committee created by § 65-31-114(f);
(15) “Hand dig” or “hand digging”:

(A) Means any movement, placement, or removal of earth, rock, or other materials in or on the ground by use of non-mechanized tools or equipment, including, but not limited to, shovels, picks, post hole diggers, vacuum excavation, or soft digging; and
(B) Does not include the following:

(i) A property owner utilizing non-mechanized tools or equipment on their own property; or
(ii) The use of non-mechanized tools or equipment by or on behalf of a member operator to a depth not greater than twelve (12) inches for locating, repairing, connecting, protecting, or routine maintenance of the member operator’s underground facilities;
(16) “Location” means the proposed area for which digging or excavating is scheduled within three (3) to ten (10) working days, such area not to exceed two thousand feet (2,000′) in length unless an excavator and an operator or an operator’s designated representative, such as a one-call service, agree to a larger area;
(17) “Mechanized equipment” means equipment operated by means of mechanical power including trenchers, bulldozers, power shovels, augers, backhoes, scrapers, drills, cable and pipe plows and other equipment used for plowing-in or pulling-in cable or pipe;
(18) “One-Call Service” means a telephone notification service described in § 65-31-107 that provides services to its members for the purposes of receiving and distributing notification regarding planned excavations or demolitions that are required under this chapter;
(19) “Operator” means any person who owns or operates a utility;
(20) “Person” means any individual; any corporation, partnership, association, or any other entity organized under the laws of any state; any state; any subdivision or instrumentality of a state; and any employee, agent, or legal representative thereof;
(21) “Proposed area of excavation” means a general surface location which excavators are to furnish to operators of underground utilities or to a one-call service as defined in § 65-31-106. The proposed area of excavation does not constitute a specified depth for the purpose of complying with this chapter;
(22) “Routine road maintenance activities”:

(A) Means activities carried out by or for those responsible for publicly-maintained roadways if the activities:

(i) Occur entirely within the right-of-way of a public road, street, or highway;
(ii) Are carried out with reasonable care so as to protect any utility-owned facilities and laterals placed in the right-of-way;
(iii) Are carried out within the limits of any original excavation on the traveled way, shoulders, or drainage ditches of a public road, street, or highway, and do not exceed eighteen inches (18″) in depth below the flow line of the ditch or the grade existing prior to the activities; and
(iv) If involving the replacement of existing structures at a depth greater than eighteen inches (18″), replace those existing structures in their previous locations and at their previous depths; and
(B) Does not include work on a roadway done pursuant to a contract awarded by a state or local government through a bid process for which plan drawings have been developed in advance;
(23) “Utility”:

(A) Means any line, system, or facility used for producing, storing, conveying, transmitting, or distributing communications, electricity, gas, petroleum, petroleum products, hazardous liquids, water, steam, sewerage, and other underground facilities; and
(B) Does not include any railroad, the Tennessee department of transportation, or any natural flowing runoff systems;
(24) “Willful noncompliance” means the intentional refusal or failure to perform, or comply with, a duty created or imposed by this chapter or by rules promulgated pursuant to this chapter; and
(25) “Working day” means every day, except Saturday, Sunday, and national and legal state holidays. For purposes of measuring any period of time that requires notice under this chapter, a working day shall commence at the time the written notice or telephone call is received and shall expire at the same time on the next working day.
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