§ 12-121. Emergency excavation or demolition

West's Annotated Code of MarylandPublic UtilitiesEffective: April 12, 2022

West's Annotated Code of Maryland
Public Utilities (Refs & Annos)
Division I. Public Services and Utilities [Titles 1-15] (Refs & Annos)
Title 12. Underground Facilities (Refs & Annos)
Subtitle 1. Excavation or Demolition near Underground Facilities (Refs & Annos)
Part IV. Excavation and Demolition (Refs & Annos)
Effective: April 12, 2022
MD Code, Public Utilities, § 12-121
Formerly cited as MD PUBLIC UTIL COMP § 12-105
§ 12-121. Emergency excavation or demolition
Currentness
Application
(a)(1) This section applies to any action taken to address an emergency from the time the emergency arises until a standard ticket is initiated and valid under § 12-124 of this subtitle, including any work associated with stopping or mitigating the emergency.
(2) Subject to § 12-120(b) of this subtitle, if all reasonable precautions have been taken to protect underground facilities, § 12-120(a) of this subtitle and §§ 12-122 through 12-135 of this subtitle do not apply to an emergency excavation or demolition being performed to prevent danger to life, health, or property.
Duty of primary contractor or persons performing emergency excavation or demolition
(b) A primary contractor or a person performing an emergency excavation or demolition to prevent or mitigate loss of or injury to life, health, property, or an essential public service shall:
(1) identify the location and extent of work, as stated in § 12-124(b)(1) of this subtitle, in a clear and concise manner;
(2) take all reasonable precautions to protect underground facilities in and near the excavation or demolition area; and
(3) immediately notify the one-call system serving the geographic area where the emergency excavation or demolition is performed to inform the appropriate owner-members of the excavation or demolition area.
Duties of owner-member or contract locator
(c)(1) The owner-member or its contract locator shall:
(i) respond to an emergency notice as soon as possible but not later than 2 hours from the transmission of the ticket from the one-call system; and
(ii) except for circumstances beyond an owner-member's or contract locator's control and for municipal corporations, considering the hours of operation and availability of employees:
1. begin the locating process to mark their respective underground facility or facilities within 3 hours after the transmission of the ticket; or
2. if the facility owner has no underground facilities within the delineated excavation area, clear the ticket within 3 hours after the transmission of the ticket.
(2) The person responsible for the excavation shall be on site or in communication with the owner-member, their contract locator, or their representative within 3 hours after the transmission of the ticket by the one-call system, or a mutually agreed response time.
(3) The owner-member or its contract locator shall respond to the underground facilities information exchange system as soon as:
(i) the extent of work is marked; or
(ii) it is determined that no underground facilities are in the delineated area.
Penalties for abuse of emergency excavation and demolition procedures
(d) A person that abuses the emergency excavation and demolition procedure set forth in this section is subject to penalties under § 12-135 of this subtitle.

Credits

Added as Public Utility Companies § 12-105 by Acts 1998, c. 8, § 2, eff. Oct. 1, 1998. Renumbered as Public Utilities § 12-121 by Acts 2010, c. 635, § 2, eff. Oct. 1, 2010. Amended by Acts 2010, c. 635, § 3, eff. Oct. 1, 2010; Acts 2021, c. 18, § 1, eff. March 13, 2021; Acts 2022, c. 135, § 1, eff. April 12, 2022.
Formerly Art. 78, § 28A.
MD Code, Public Utilities, § 12-121, MD PUBLIC UTIL § 12-121
Current through legislation effective through April 9, 2023, from the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
End of Document