Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1.1. Findings
The general assembly finds and declares that:
(1) Safety and the need for an effective damage-prevention program for underground utility facilities should include participation from all stakeholders including excavators and utility companies;
(2) To develop a process for fostering and promoting the use of an effective damage-prevention program, by all appropriate stakeholders, technologies need to be improved that enhance communications, underground pipeline-locating capability, and gathering and analyzing information about the accuracy and effectiveness of underground facility-locating programs;
(3) Many public, private, and municipal utilities are located underground, including, but not limited to, gas, water, electric, cable television, telephone, and sewers. Excavation in the vicinity of these utilities can be dangerous and the utilities should be marked appropriately to avoid damage, injury, or public emergency; and
(4) All utilities, whether public, private, or municipal, should strongly consider participation in the utility damage-prevention program known as Dig Safe System, Inc. to ensure the highest level of safety and awareness of utility facility locations.
History of Section.
P.L. 2009, ch. 92, § 2; P.L. 2009, ch. 103, § 2.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1.1
- Damage: means and includes, but is not limited to, the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of a utility line; penetration or destruction of any utility line protective coating, housing, or other protective device; or the severance, partial or complete, of any utility line. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
- Excavation: means an operation for the purpose of movement or removal of earth, rock, or other materials in or on the ground, or otherwise disturbing the subsurface of the earth, by the use of powered or mechanized equipment, including, but not limited to: digging, blasting, auguring, back filling, test boring, drilling, pile driving, grading, plowing in, hammering, pulling in, trenching, and tunneling; excluding the movement of earth by tools manipulated only by human or animal power and the tilling of soil for agricultural purposes. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1