480.1 DEFINITIONS.
1. "Board" means the board of directors of the notification
center.
2. "Damage" means any impact with, destruction, impairment,
or penetration of, or removal of support from an underground
facility, including damage to its protective coating, housing, or
device.
3. "Emergency" means a condition where there is clear and
immediate danger to life or health, or essential services, or a
potentially significant loss of property.
4. "Excavation" means an operation in which a structure or
earth, rock, or other material in or on the ground is moved, removed,
or compressed, or otherwise displaced by means of any tools,
equipment, or explosives and includes, but is not limited to,
grading, trenching, tiling, digging, ditching, drilling, augering,
tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing, driving, and demolition
of structures.
"Excavation" does not include normal farming operations,
residential, commercial, or similar gardening, the opening of a grave
site in a cemetery, normal activities involved in land surveying
pursuant to chapter 542B, operations in a solid waste disposal site
which has planned for underground facilities, the replacement of an
existing traffic sign at its current location and at no more than its
current depth, and normal road or highway maintenance which does not
change the original grade of the roadway or the ditch.
5. "Excavator" means a person proposing to engage or engaging
in excavation.
6. "Normal farming operations" means plowing, cultivation,
planting, harvesting, and similar operations routine to most farms,
but excludes chisel plowing, sub-soiling, or ripping more than
fifteen inches in depth, drain tile excavating, terracing, digging or
driving a post in a new location other than replacing a post while
repairing a fence in its existing location, and similar operations.
7. "Notification center" means the statewide notification
center established in section 480.3.
8. "Operator" means a person owning or operating an
underground facility including, but not limited to, public, private,
and municipal utilities. An operator does not include a person who
owns or otherwise lawfully occupies real property where an
underground facility is located only for the use and benefit of the
owner or occupant on the property.
9. "Person" means a person as defined in section 4.1,
subsection 20.
10. "Underground facility" means an item of personal property
owned or leased by the operator which is buried or placed below
ground for use in connection with the storage or conveyance of, or
the provision of services supplying water, sewage, electronic,
telephonic, or telegraphic communications, electric energy, hazardous
liquids, or petroleum products including natural gas or other
substances, and includes, but is not limited to, pipes, sewers,
conduits, cables, valves, lines, wires, manholes, and attachments to
such property but does not include sanitary sewer laterals, storm
sewer laterals, and water service lines providing service to abutting
private properties. Section History: Recent Form
87 Acts, ch 135, § 1; 92 Acts, ch 1103, § 1
Referred to in §479.45, 479B.29
480.1A APPLICABILITY -- PROHIBITION.
This chapter applies to any excavation unless otherwise provided
by law. A person shall not engage in any excavation unless the
requirements of this chapter have been satisfied. Section History: Recent Form
92 Acts, ch 1103, § 2
480.2 Repealed by 92 Acts, ch 1103, § 11, 12.
480.3 NOTIFICATION CENTER ESTABLISHED --
PARTICIPATION.
1. a. A statewide notification center is established and
shall be organized as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to chapter
504.
(1) The center shall be governed by a board of directors which
shall represent and be elected by operators, excavators, and other
persons who participate in the center. The board, with input from
all interested parties, shall determine the operating procedures and
technology needed for a single statewide notification center and
establish a notification process.
(2) In addition, the board shall either establish a competitive
bidding procedure to select a vendor to provide the notification
service or retain sufficient and necessary staff to provide the
notification service.
(a) If a vendor is selected, the vendor contract shall be for a
three-year period, which may be extended upon the approval of the
board for a period not exceeding an additional three years. The
terms of the vendor contract may be modified from time to time by the
board and the vendor. The contract shall be reviewed, with an
opportunity to receive new bids, at the end of the term of the
contract.
(b) If the board retains staff to provide the notification
service, the board, at the board's discretion, may review the
notification service at any time and make a determination to use the
competitive bidding procedure to select a vendor.
b. Upon the selection of a vendor pursuant to paragraph
"a", the board shall notify the chairperson of the utilities
board in writing of the selection. The board shall submit an annual
report to the chairperson of the utilities board including an annual
audit and review of the services provided by the notification center
and the vendor.
c. The board is subject to chapters 21 and 22.
2. The board shall implement the latest and most cost-effective
technological improvements for the center in order to provide
operators and excavators with the most accurate data available and in
a timely manner to allow operators and excavators to perform their
responsibilities with the minimum amount of interruptions.
3. Every operator shall participate in and share in the costs of
the notification center. The financial condition and the
transactions of the notification center shall be audited at least
once each year by a certified public accountant. The notification
center shall not provide any form of aid or make a contribution to a
political party or to the campaign of a candidate for political or
public office. In addition to any applicable civil penalty, as
provided in section 480.6, a violation of this section constitutes a
simple misdemeanor. Section History: Recent Form
87 Acts, ch 135, § 3; 92 Acts, ch 1103, § 3; 95 Acts, ch 112, § 1;
98 Acts, ch 1049, §1; 2002 Acts, ch 1054, §1; 2004 Acts, ch 1049,
§191; 2004 Acts, ch 1175, § 393
Referred to in § 423.3, 480.1
480.4 REQUIRED NOTICE -- LOCATION AND MARKING OF
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES -- EXCEPTION.
1. a. Except as otherwise provided in this section, prior to
any excavation, an excavator shall contact the notification center
and provide notice of the planned excavation. This notice must be
given at least forty-eight hours prior to the commencement of the
excavation, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The
notification center shall establish a toll-free telephone number to
allow excavators to provide the notice required pursuant to this
subsection.
b. A notice provided pursuant to this subsection for a
location within a city shall include the following information:
(1) A street address or block and lot numbers, or both, of the
proposed area of excavation.
(2) The name and address of the excavator.
(3) The excavator's telephone number.
(4) The type and extent of the proposed excavation.
(5) Whether the discharge of explosives is anticipated.
(6) The date and time when excavation is scheduled to begin.
(7) Approximate location of the excavation on the property.
(8) If known, the name of the housing development and property
owner.
c. A notice provided pursuant to this subsection for a
location outside a city shall include the following information:
(1) The name of the county, township, range, and section.
(2) The name and address of the excavator.
(3) The excavator's telephone number.
(4) The type and extent of the proposed excavation.
(5) Whether the discharge of explosives is anticipated.
(6) The date and time when excavation is scheduled to begin.
(7) Approximate location of the excavation on the property.
(8) If known, the quarter section, E911 address and global
positioning system coordinate, name of property owner, name of
housing development with street address or block and lot numbers, or
both.
d. For purposes of the requirements of this section, an
excavation commences the first time excavation occurs in an area that
was not previously identified by the excavator in an excavation
notice.
2. The notification center, upon receiving notice from an
excavator, shall immediately transmit the information contained in
the notice to each operator in the area of the proposed excavation
and provide the names of all operators in that area to the excavator.
The notification center shall assign an inquiry identification number
to each notice and shall maintain a record of each notice for at
least six years from the date the notice is received. The
notification center shall not assess an operator who requests in
writing not to receive a notification of its own excavations for any
portion of the costs associated with such excavations.
3. a. (1) An operator who receives notice from the
notification center shall mark the horizontal location of the
operator's underground facility and the excavator shall use due care
in excavating in the marked area to avoid damaging the underground
facility. The operator shall complete such locating and marking
within forty-eight hours after receiving the notice, excluding
Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, unless otherwise agreed by
the operator and the excavator. The locating and marking of the
underground facilities shall be completed at no cost to the
excavator. If, in the opinion of the operator, the planned
excavation requires that the precise location of the underground
facilities be determined, the excavator, unless otherwise agreed upon
between the excavator and the operator, shall hand dig test holes to
determine the location of the facilities unless the operator
specifies an alternate method.
(2) The marking required under this subsection shall be done in a
manner that will last for a minimum of five working days on any
nonpermanent surface, or a minimum of ten working days on any
permanent surface. If the excavation will continue for any period
longer than such periods, the operator shall remark the location of
the underground facility upon the request of the excavator. The
request shall be made through the notification center.
b. An operator who receives notice from the notification
center and who determines that the operator does not have any
underground facility located within the proposed area of excavation
shall notify the excavator concerning this determination prior to the
indicated date of commencement of excavation.
c. For purposes of this chapter, the "horizontal location
of any underground facility" is defined as including an area
eighteen inches on either side of the underground facility.
4. An excavator is responsible for preserving the markings
required in subsection 3 at all times during the excavation. If the
markings will be destroyed or otherwise altered during the
excavation, the excavator must establish suitable reference points
which will enable the excavator to locate the underground facility at
all times during the excavation.
5. The operator shall mark the location of any underground
facility to conform with the uniform color code established by the
American public works association's utility location and coordination
council.
6. The only exception to this section shall be when an emergency
exists. Under such conditions, excavation operations can begin
immediately, provided reasonable precautions are taken to protect the
underground facilities. The excavator shall notify the notification
center of the excavation as soon as practical. Section History: Recent Form
92 Acts, ch 1103, § 4; 98 Acts, ch 1049, §2
480.5 DAMAGE TO UNDERGROUND FACILITY -- REPORT TO
OPERATOR.
An excavator shall as soon as practical notify the operator when
any damage occurs to an underground facility as a result of an
excavation. The notice shall include the type of facility damaged
and the extent of the damage. If damage occurs, an excavator shall
refrain from backfilling in the immediate area of the underground
facilities until the damage has been investigated by the operator,
unless the operator authorizes otherwise.
If the damage results in an emergency, the excavator shall take
all reasonable actions to alleviate the emergency including, but not
limited to, the evacuation of the affected area. The excavator shall
leave all equipment situated where the equipment was at the time the
emergency was created and immediately contact the operator and
appropriate authorities and necessary emergency response agencies.
Section History: Recent Form
92 Acts, ch 1103, § 5
480.6 CIVIL PENALTIES.
1. A person who violates a provision of this chapter is subject
to a civil penalty as follows:
a. For a violation related to natural gas and hazardous
liquid pipelines, an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars for
each violation for each day the violation continues, up to a maximum
of five hundred thousand dollars.
b. For a violation related to any other underground facility,
an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars for each violation for
each day the violation continues, up to a maximum of twenty thousand
dollars.
2. The attorney general, upon the receipt of a complaint, may
institute any legal proceedings necessary to enforce the penalty
provisions of this chapter.
3. All amounts collected pursuant to this section shall be
remitted to the treasurer of state, who shall deposit the amount in
the general fund of the state. Section History: Recent Form
92 Acts, ch 1103, § 6
Referred to in § 480.3
480.7 INJUNCTION.
Any affected person may make application to the district court for
injunctive relief from any violation of this chapter. Section History: Recent Form
92 Acts, ch 1103, § 7
480.8 LOCAL ORDINANCES AND REGULATIONS UNAFFECTED.
This chapter does not affect or impair any local ordinances or
other provisions of law requiring permits to be obtained before
excavation. However, a permit issued by any governing body does not
relieve the excavator from complying with the requirements of this
chapter, unless the governing body is the excavator and the governing
body and the operator have agreed in writing to waive notification
under this chapter. However, such an agreement shall not be
considered in the issuance of any required permit. Section History: Recent Form
92 Acts, ch 1103, § 8
480.9 LIABILITY FOR OWNER OF FARMLAND.
An owner of farmland used in a farm operation, as defined in
section 352.2, who complies with the requirements of this chapter
shall not be held responsible for any damages to an underground
facility, including fiber optic cable, if the damage occurred on the
farmland in the normal course of the farm operation, unless the owner
intentionally damaged the underground facility or acted with wanton
disregard or recklessness in causing the damage to the underground
facility. For purposes of this section, an "owner" includes a
family member, employee, or tenant of the owner. Section History: Recent Form
95 Acts, ch 192, §59