Sec. 3.

As used in this act:

(a) "Additional assistance" means a response by a facility owner or facility operator to a request made by an excavator during business hours, for help in locating a facility.

(b) "Approximate location" means a strip of land at least 36 inches wide, but not wider than the width of the marked facility plus 18 inches on either side of the facility marks.

(c) "Blasting" means changing the level or grade of land or rendering, tearing, demolishing, moving, or removing earth, rock, buildings, structures, or other masses or materials by seismic blasting or the detonation of dynamite or any other explosive agent.

(d) "Business day" means Monday through Friday, excluding holidays observed by the notification system and posted on the notification system website.

(e) "Business hours" means from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., eastern standard time, on business days.

(f) "Caution zone" means the area within 48 inches of either side of the facility marks provided by a facility owner or facility operator.

(g) "Commission" means the Michigan public service commission created in section 1 of 1939 PA 3, MCL 460.1.

(h) "Damage" means any impact upon or exposure of an underground facility requiring its repair or replacement due to weakening, partial destruction, or complete destruction of the facility, including, but not limited to, the protective coating, lateral support, cathodic protection, or housing of the facility.

(i) "Design ticket" means a communication to the notification system in which a request for information regarding underground facilities for predesign, design, or advance planning purposes, but not marking for excavation or blasting, is made under the procedures described in section 6a.

(j) "Dig notice" means a communication to the notification system by an excavator providing notice of intended excavation or blasting activity as required by this act.

(k) "Emergency" means a sudden or unforeseen occurrence, including a government-declared emergency, involving a clear and imminent danger to life, health, or property, or imminent danger to the environment, that requires immediate correction in order to restore or to prevent the interruption of essential governmental services, utility services, or the blockage of public transportation and that requires immediate excavation or blasting.

(l) "Emergency notice" means a communication to the notification system to alert the facility owners or facility operators of the urgent need for marking the location of a facility due to an emergency.

(m) "Excavation" means moving, removing, or otherwise displacing earth, rock, or other material below existing surface grade with power tools or power equipment, including, but not limited to, grading, trenching, tiling, digging, drilling, boring, augering, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing, and pile driving; and wrecking, razing, rending, moving, or removing a structure or mass of materials. Excavation does not include any of the following:

(i) Any of the following activities performed in the course of farming operations:

(A) Any farming operation performed in the public right-of-way to a depth of not more than 12 inches below the existing surface grade if the farming operation is not performed within 6 feet of any aboveground structure that is part of a facility.

(B) Any farming operation performed outside a public right-of-way and within 25 yards of an existing petroleum or natural gas pipeline to a depth of not more than 18 inches below the existing surface grade if the farming operation is not performed within 6 feet of any aboveground structure that is part of a facility.

(C) Any farming operation performed outside a public right-of-way and not within 25 yards of an existing petroleum or natural gas pipeline if the farming operation is not performed within 6 feet of any aboveground structure that is part of a facility.

(ii) Replacing a fence post, sign post, or guardrail in its existing location.

(iii) Any excavation performed at a grave site in a cemetery.

(iv) Any excavation performed within a landfill unit as defined in R 299.4103 of the Michigan administrative code during its active life as defined in R 299.4101 of the Michigan administrative code or during its postclosure period as set forth in R 299.4101 to R 299.4922 of the Michigan administrative code.

(v) Any of the following activities if those activities are conducted by railroad employees or railroad contractors and are carried out with reasonable care to protect any installed facilities placed in the railroad right-of-way by agreement with the railroad:

(A) Any routine railroad maintenance activities performed in the public right-of-way as follows:

(I) Within the track area, either to the bottom of the ballast or to a depth of not more than 12 inches below the bottom of the railroad tie, whichever is deeper, if the routine railroad maintenance activity is not performed within 6 feet of any aboveground structure that is part of a facility that is not owned or operated by that railroad.

(II) Outside the track area, not more than 12 inches below the ground surface, if the routine railroad maintenance activity is not performed within 6 feet of any aboveground structure that is part of a facility that is not owned or operated by that railroad.

(B) Any routine railroad maintenance activities performed to a depth of not more than 18 inches below the flow line of a ditch or the ground surface in the railroad right-of-way, excluding the public right-of-way, if the routine railroad maintenance activity is not performed within 6 feet of any aboveground structure that is part of a facility that is not owned or operated by that railroad.

(vi) Routine maintenance or preventative maintenance as those terms are defined in section 10c of 1951 PA 51, MCL 247.660c, to a depth of not more than 12 inches below the roadway and any shoulder of a street, county road, or highway.

(n) "Excavator" means any person performing excavation or blasting.

(o) "Facility" or "underground facility" means an underground or submerged conductor, pipe, or structure, including, but not limited to, a conduit, duct, line, pipe, wire, or other device and its appurtenances used to produce, store, transmit, or distribute a utility service, including communications, data, cable television, electricity, heat, natural or manufactured gas, oil, petroleum products, steam, sewage, video, water, and other similar substances, including environmental contaminates or hazardous waste.

(p) "Facility operator" means a person that controls the operation of a facility.

(q) "Facility owner" means a person that owns a facility.

(r) "Farm" means that term as defined in section 2 of the Michigan right to farm act, 1981 PA 93, MCL 286.472.

(s) "Farming operations" means plowing, cultivating, planting, harvesting, and similar operations routine to most farms and that are performed on a farm. Farming operations do not include installation of drainage tile, underground irrigation lines, or the drilling of a well.

(t) "Governmental agency" means the state and its political subdivisions, including counties, townships, cities, villages, or any other governmental entity.

(u) "Mark", "marks", or "marking" means the temporary identification on the surface grade of the location of a facility in response to a ticket as described in section 7.

(v) "Notification system" means MISS DIG System, Inc., a Michigan nonprofit corporation formed and operated by each facility owner and facility operator to administer a 1-call system for the location of facilities, or any successor to this corporation.

(w) "Person" means an individual, firm, joint venture, partnership, corporation, association, governmental agency, department or agency, utility cooperative, or joint stock association, including any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof.

(x) "Positive response" means the procedure administered by the notification system to allow excavators to determine whether all facility owners or facility operators contacted under a ticket have responded in accordance with this act.

(y) "Public right-of-way" means the area on, below, or above a public roadway, highway, street, alley, easement, or waterway.

(z) "Railroad" means that term as defined in section 109 of the railroad code of 1993, 1993 PA 354, MCL 462.109.

(aa) "Safe zone" means an area 48 inches or more from either side of the facility marks provided by a facility owner or facility operator.

(bb) "Soft excavation" means a method and technique designed to prevent contact damage to underground facilities, including, but not limited to, hand-digging, cautious digging with nonmechanical tools, vacuum excavation methods, or use of pneumatic hand tools.

(cc) "Start date" means the date that a proposed excavation or blasting is expected to begin as indicated on a ticket.

(dd) "Ticket" means a communication from the notification system to a facility owner or facility operator requesting the marking of underground facilities, based on information provided by an excavator in a dig notice.

(ee) "White lining" means marking by an excavator of the area of a proposed excavation or blasting, with white paint or flags, or both, before giving notice to the notification system.

History: 2013, Act 174, Eff. Apr. 1, 2014