Date of Hearing: July 29, 2020

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND ENERGY

Chris Holden, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 865

Author:(Hill) – As Amended Ver:July 27, 2020

SENATE VOTE: 39-0

SUBJECT: Excavations: subsurface installations

SUMMARY: Among other things, this bill renames the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board to the “Dig Safe Board” (Board); requires as of January 1, 2023, new subsurface installations be tagged with geographic information systems (GIS) coordinates, as specified; and on or after January 1, 2022, the Board shall be moved to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety.

Specifically, this measure:

Renames the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board as the “Dig Safe Board.” On or after January 1, 2022, the board shall be moved from the Office of the State Fire Marshall to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety within the Natural Resources Agency.
Requires a Regional Notification Center (RNC) to provide notification records quarterly and notification damage within five business days of receipt to the Board.
Authorizes an excavator to contact the RNC to obtain the contact information of the subsurface installation operator and provides for alternative notification if the operator is unknown and the damage or discovery of damage occurs outside the working hours of the RNC.
Requires an excavator to notify the RNC within forty-eight hours of discovering or causing damage.
Provides the Board with the authority to impose more restrictive notification time windows.
Authorizes enforcement of the Act by specified agencies through their own investigations, and authorizes the Board to collect penalties imposed on persons subject to its jurisdiction.
Requires RNCs to make available annual incident event reports to the Board upon request.
Commencing January 1, 2023, requires all new subsurface installations to be tagged with GIS coordinates mapped using a geographic information system and maintained as permanent records by the operator. Operators are required to map any new subsurface installations within a tolerance zone. This requirement does not apply to oil and gas flowlines three inches or less in diameter located within the administrative boundaries of an oil field as designated by the Geologic Energy Management Division.
On or after January 1, 2020, the Board shall be subject to review by the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature at least once every three years.
Requires the Board to offer violators, for violations that are neither egregious nor persistent, the option of completing an educational course in lieu of paying a fine.

EXISTING LAW:

The Dig Safe Act of 2016 (Act), creates the Board within the Office of the State Fire Marshal (SFM). The act subjects the board to review by the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature. (Government Code §4216.12)
Requires the Board to perform various duties relating to the protection of subsurface installations, as specified. (Government Code §4216.18)
Requires an excavator planning to conduct an excavation to notify the appropriate RNC of the excavator’s intent to excavate before beginning that excavation, as specified. (Government Code §4216.3)
Subjects any operator or excavator who violates the Act to a civil penalty, as specified. (Government Code §4216.6)
Requires the Board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to grant the use of the money in the Safe Energy Infrastructure and Excavation Fund to fund prescribed public education and outreach programs designed to promote excavation safety around subsurface installations. (Government Code §4216.17)
Creates the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, within the Natural Resources Agency: The director of Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (OEIS) is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. Effective July 1, 2021, the Office is the successor to the Wildfire Safety Division at the CPUC. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and OEIS shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to work to provide for the coordination of functions among state entities with jurisdiction over other functions of the state’s energy and communication service providers. (Government Code §15470)

FISCAL EFFECT: According to Senate Appropriations, the Dig Safe Board (Board) estimates costs of up to $140,000 Safe Energy Infrastructure and Excavation Fund in the first year and $75,000 ongoing for infrastructure technology improvements to intake quarterly notification records as required by the bill.

Any costs associated with moving the Board from the Office of the State Fire Marshal to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety within the Natural Resources Agency are anticipated to be minor and absorbable.

The California Public Utilities Commission does not anticipate a fiscal impact.

BACKGROUND:

Call Before You Dig. In 1986, a Southern California excavating crew assumed that no subsurface infrastructure existed at their construction site. They were wrong, and during excavation, a gas main was struck and exploded, killing a 23-year old crewmember. That incident, and several others like it across the country, were the impetus for California’s 1989 “Call Before You Dig” law (Gov. Code Sec. 4216 et seq.), which requires most individuals to contact a Regional Notification Center prior to commencing planned excavations and requires any utility or other operator with subsurface installations in the vicinity of a planned excavation to go to the site and clearly identify and mark all underground infrastructures. Despite being a part of California law for almost 30 years, excavators and operators of subsurface installations can damage these installations, either by failing to follow the required notification procedures or by failing to adequately mark underground infrastructure prior to excavation.

The California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board. SB 661 (Hill, Chapter 809, Statutes of 2016) enacted the Dig Safe Act of 2016, amending the existing “Call Before You Dig” statute in response to a series of fatal incidents. The California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board is also known as the Dig Safe Board (Board), was created by the Dig Safe Act of 2016 to investigate accidents, develop excavation safety standards, and coordinate education and outreach programs. The Board is made up of nine members appointed by the Governor and Legislature and is housed within the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Members are charged with overseeing the safety of excavations around buried utilities by coordinating the state's education and outreach efforts, investigating accidents to determine their causes, setting standards for safe excavation, and ensuring the state's safe excavation laws are followed.

Regional Notification. Existing law generally requires individuals to contact a Regional Notification Center prior to planned excavations, and requires any utility or other operator with subsurface installations in the vicinity of a planned excavation to go to the site and clearly identify and mark all underground infrastructure. In California, the two RNCs are Underground Service Alert of Northern California and Nevada, also known as USA North 811; and, Underground Service Alert of Southern California, also known as DigAlert. Collectively, the two centers are commonly referred to as 811 centers. As noted above, damage to subsurface infrastructure can lead to catastrophic and deadly emergencies. Existing law requires an excavator to call “911” emergency services upon discovering or causing damage to either of the following: natural gas or hazardous liquid pipeline in which the damage results in the escape of any flammable, toxic, or corrosive gas or liquid; or a high priority subsurface installation of any kind.

Geographic Information Systems. A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data. The keyword to this technology is geography, this means that some portion of the data is spatial. In other words, data that is in some way referenced to locations on the earth. GIS is more than just software. Geospatial software and tools are combined, to enable spatial analysis, manage large datasets, and display information in a map/graphical form. This information provides organizations and individuals the ability to analyze, visualize, manage, disseminate, and interpret geographical data, and the complex geographic relationship between them. RNCs must be able to accurately and precisely identify the dig site location, which often includes areas of recent construction and GIS will aid in that activity.

Notification Requirements. On July 10^th, 2020 the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board issued a notice of probable violation when a solar installer pierced a natural gas service line with a grounding rod in Murrieta, resulting in an explosion. Due to the explosion, there was one fatality (a Southern California Gas employee) and three other individuals suffered physical injuries requiring medical attention. The subject property and the adjacent home located at were both declared total losses and several of the surrounding homes suffered broken windows and damaged facia.^[1] The solar installer acknowledged in an interview that they failed to call 811 and request a ticket prior to commencing excavation. A check of the DigAlert database confirmed the admission made by the solar installer. The incident is also currently under investigation, the Public Utilities Commission, and the Contractors State License Board, among others. Subsequently, DigAlert has begun to see excavation tickets submitted by the involved solar company, indicating a change in the company’s awareness and practices.

The Board suspects rooftop solar installers to be one of the groups who have not historically thought of the work they do as “excavation” and thus have not notified a one-call center prior to performing underground work. The Board expects that other sub-types of excavators similarly fall through the cracks when it comes to participation in one-call notification. To be proactive rather than just reactive, the Board is obligated to identify excavator groups most in need of fundamental safety and compliance education, particularly those actors who do not call in tickets. However, the Board has limited access to data to make those determinations.

Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety. In 2019, the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (OEIS) was created in (AB 111, Chapter 81) in recognition of the critical nature of its energy and communication infrastructure and its importance in driving the engine of the state’s prosperity. The statute also acknowledges the hardships placed on the state’s residents in the absence of the services the infrastructure provides, and in the devastation that can occur when the operators of the infrastructure lose operational control of the infrastructure. The OEIS, effective July 1, 2021, is the successor to and invested with all of the duties, powers and responsibilities of the Wildfire Safety Division, including but not limited to, the power to compel information and conduct investigations. The statute further mandates that the Office and CPUC shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to work to provide for the coordination of functions among state entities with jurisdiction over other functions of the state’s energy and communication service providers.

COMMENTS:

Author’s Statement. “SB 865 builds upon my previous work to strengthen safe excavation practices in our state. When a pipeline exploded in San Bruno, in my district, nearly ten years ago – claiming 8 lives and injuring 58 others – it became clear that our state’s infrastructure safety was grossly inadequate. I have spent my time in the legislature pushing for real reform in utility operator oversight, and creating a forum for cooperative safety in the excavation community.

Despite these efforts, there is still work to be done to position our state agencies in a way that protects the public, utility operators, and excavators alike. Excavation safety relies on the cooperation of many different individuals, and there are common-sense reforms we can enact to better facilitate that cooperation and communication. Most importantly, these simple reforms will save lives.”

Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety. This bill renames the “California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board” as the “Dig Safe Board” and moves the Dig Safe Board from the Office of the State Fire Marshal to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (OEIS). Existing law moves the Wildfire Safety Division out of the CPUC and into the OEIS on July 1, 2021. The OEIS had not been created at the time the CA Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board was established. As prescribed in SB 865, commencing on January 1, 2022 – the Dig Safe Board will also come under the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety within the Natural Resources Agency. The Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety better aligns with the Board’s mission and operational functions including overseeing the safety of excavation around buried utilities, investigating accidents to determine their causes, setting standards for safe excavation, and ensuring the state’s safe excavation laws are followed.

Geographic information systems. GIS is a system of computer software, hardware, data, procedures, and personnel combined to help manipulate, analyze, and present information tied to a geographic location. This information provides organizations and individuals the ability to analyze, visualize, manage, disseminate, and interpret geographical data, and the complex geographic relationship between them. RNCs must be able to accurately and precisely identify the dig site location, which often includes areas of recent construction. Under the provisions of this measure, commencing January 1, 2023, all new subsurface installations must be tagged with GIS coordinates and maintained as permanent records of the operator. Existing law requires operators to amend, update, maintain, and preserve all plans and records for its subsurface installations as that information becomes known, and requires that the records be turned over to the new operator in the instance of a change in ownership.

This bill adds the requirement, commencing January 1, 2023, that all new subsurface installations be tagged with GIS coordinates and maintained as permanent records of the operator. This measure exempts from the new GIS tagging and record keeping requirements oil and gas flowlines three inches or less in diameter that are located within the administrative boundaries of an oil field. Small diameter flowlines located in active oil fields are frequently moved to accommodate new drilling and facility installation, which could result in the development of a database with outdated and inaccurate information, thus increasing the potential for incidents to occur.

Proactive vs Reactive. Currently, the Board does not have ready access to comprehensive ticket data to develop regulations and targeted educational tools to carry out their fundamental duties to protect the safety of workers and the public. As provided in this measure, the Board will have a comprehensive ticket data to determine who is and is not calling in tickets. The additional information will equip the Board to analyze economic, industry, and land-use information to understand what companies should be showing up on tickets. If companies do not appear at the levels predicted, that is likely an indication of an excavator group that lacks awareness of one-call laws. Electricians, plumbers, HVAC installers, concrete and hardscape specialists, carpenters, fencers, irrigation installers, and landscapers are examples of less obvious excavator types the Board expects should be—but may not be—calling in tickets.

The volume of annual tickets, with each ticket containing several informative data points, would generate a robust dataset to inform the Board’s education and outreach efforts by identifying who to target. Just as important, a ticket management system with access to ticket data would also provide the Board with a powerful tool for understanding the effectiveness of educational campaigns, delivering snapshots of one-call participation, which can be monitored over time.

Without the data required by SB 865, the Board will continue operate with a limited data, reacting to incidents and not fully understanding what entities are not complying with requirement of the Dig Safe Act.

The Dig Safe Board. SB 865 is a significant step toward the author and Legislature’s decade-long push for stronger infrastructure safety oversight, SB 865 moves the Dig Safe Board from the Office of the State Fire Marshal into the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (OEIS). The mission of the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety and the Dig Safe Board is to strengthen energy infrastructure safety. For that reason, it is fitting that the Dig Safe Board be transferred to OEIS. Additionally, this bill makes various conforming changes to the Dig Safe Act. To secure the data needed by the Board to do their job, SB 865 would require regional notification centers to share information – which they already collect – with the Board quarterly, and collect and share damage reports with the board within five days of receipt. These common sense reforms may not only save lives but will also prevent costly damage to infrastructure and potential emergencies that may ensue as the result of that damage.

Related Legislation:

AB 754 (Grayson, Chapter 494, Statutes of 2019) authorized the California Department of Technology to provide access to Geographic Information Systems data to an RNC, as specified.

AB 1166 (Levine, Chapter 453, Statutes of 2019) required every operator of a subsurface installation to supply an electronic positive response through the RNC before the excavation start date, as specified.

SB 661 (Hill, Chapter 809, Statutes of 2016) enacted the Dig Safe Act of 2016 and modified laws governing excavations near subsurface installations.

AB 73 (Elder, Chapter 928, Statutes of 1989) established California’s “Call Before You Dig” program, and generally required individuals to contact a regional notification center prior to planned excavations.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

League of California Cities

Underground Service Alert of Northern California and Nevada (USA North)

Support If Amended

Desert Water Agency

Oppose Unless Amended

Underground Service Alert of Southern California

Analysis Prepared by: Mary McDonald / U. & E. /

California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board; Notice of Probable Violation, July 10, 2020. ↑

SB 865: Excavations: subsurface installations.

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