(a) Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, whenever the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall determine that the construction or modification of a project, on or a part of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways within the District of Columbia under Title 23 of the United States Code, necessitates the relocation, adjustment, replacement, removal, or abandonment of utility facilities, the utility owning such facilities shall relocate, adjust, replace, remove, or abandon the same, as the case may be. The cost of relocation, adjustment, replacement, or removal, and the cost of abandonment of such facilities, shall be paid to the utility by the District of Columbia, as a part of the cost of such project.

(b) As used in this section:

(1) The term “utility” means any gas plant, gas company, natural gas supplier, electric company, electricity supplier, telephone corporation, telephone line, telegraph corporation, telegraph line, and pipeline company, whether publicly or privately owned, as those terms are defined in Chapter 2 of Title 34.

(2) The term “utility facility” means all real and personal property, buildings, and equipment owned or held by a utility in connection with the conduct of its lawful business.

(3) The term “cost of relocation, adjustment, replacement, or removal” means the entire amount paid by such utility properly attributable to such relocation, adjustment, replacement, or removal, as the case may be, less any increase in value on account of any betterment of the new utility facilities over the old utility facilities, and less any salvage value derived from the old utility facilities.

(4) The term “cost of abandonment” means the actual cost to abandon any utility facilities which are not to be used, relocated, adjusted, replaced, removed, or salvaged, together with the original cost of such abandoned facilities, less depreciation.

(Oct. 14, 1972, 86 Stat. 812, Pub. L. 92-495, § 4; May 9, 2000, D.C. Law 13-107, § 303, 47 DCR 1091; Mar. 16, 2005, D.C. Law 15-227, § 16, 51 DCR 10549.)

1981 Ed., § 7-135.

1973 Ed., § 7-135a.

This section is referenced in § 9-401.03.

D.C. Law 15-227, in par. (1) of subsec. (b), substituted “gas company, natural gas supplier” for “gas corporation”.

D.C. Law 13-107, in par. (b)(1), substituted “company, electricity supplier” for “plant, electrical corporation”.

Housing redevelopment, relocation assistance, see § 6-333.01.

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 11 of Prevention of Unauthorized Switching of Customer Natural Gas Accounts Temporary Act of 2001 (D.C. Law 14-13, July 10, 2001, law notification 48 DCR 6589).

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to the District of Columbia Council and to a Commissioner of the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.