SC Senate Instructs Underground Utility Safety and Damage Prevention Stakeholders to Develop Compromise Legislation by Mid-Summer

A South Carolina Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing was held on March 18 to address Senate Bill 1068 (S1068), which amends South Carolina's outdated underground utility safety and damage prevention law. Carolinas AGC staff and members testified on behalf of the construction industry supporting S1068 and citing serious flaws in the current law that compromise public and workforce safety, the integrity of vital facilities and cause costly project delays. In addition Federal enforcement intervention is imminent in South Carolina if the state does not improve its program.

Utility Industry representatives who testified admitted the law needs to be updated, but voiced opposition to S1068. They gave no reason for opposing the Bill, but under questioning by the Subcommittee members they testified that the utility industry has been unable to develop a position, or produce suggestions on how to improve the law for over ten years.

Noting differences in the position of the construction and utility industry on how to best update the law and understanding the urgent safety issues associated with updating the law, the Subcommittee instructed the parties to get together and return compromise amendments by mid-summer. They advised the parties that if compromise language could not be developed by mid-summer they would take the matter into their own hands and move forward with S1068.

Carolinas AGC is currently working with Senate staff and utility industry representatives to plan our path forward. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee member Campbell, District 44, Berkeley County, has requested the Senate appoint a moderator to facilitate negotiations between the stakeholder groups. We hope to have a timeline and meeting schedule shortly after the appointment is made.

For those of you who have followed, and/or participated in Carolinas AGC's ongoing efforts to better both South and North Carolinas' underground safety and damage prevention laws, the introduction of S1068 and the SC Senate's subsequent decision to fast track negotiations to develop compromise amendments are long awaited and welcomed events.

South Carolina has the oldest and most outdated law in the nation, compromising public and workforce safety, as well as the integrity of vital facilities. Elements in S1068 that Carolinas AGC will work to keep in compromise legislation include:

• establishing an unbiased oversight authority to determine which party is responsible when a damage or incident occurs;
• defining stakeholder responsibilities in the call before you dig process;
• incorporating Common Ground Alliance Best Practices into the law;
• representation of all stakeholder groups in the governance of the state's one call center - Palmetto Utility Protection Service (PUPS)
• nationally recognized facility marking guidelines;
• compliance with the Nine Elements of an Effective State Damage Prevention Program as set forth in the Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Enforcement and Safety Act (PIPES);
• requiring compliance with the SCDOT's Policy for Accommodating Utilities on Highway Rights-of-Way;
• Identification of abandoned facilities;
• supplying location information on existing facilities to project designers in project design stage;
• producing as-built facility documentation;
• emergency situation protocols;
• a penalty system that will hold the party responsible for a damage accountable when a damage or violation of the law occur.

S 1068 and support documents that highlight SC's program.

• Senate Bill 1068
• a survey sent out by the USDOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) that CAGC responded to on South Carolina's program
• PHMSA's Considerations for Determining the Adequacy of State Damage Prevention Enforcement Programs document detailing the nine elements of an effective program they will use to determine if a state has an "effective" safety and damage prevention program, or whether it is in need of federal intervention and how South Carolina stacks up
• the original draft of Senate Bill 1068 with CGA Best Practice references
• CGA Best Practices

For more information on Carolinas AGC's underground utility safety and damage prevention program please contact, Allen Gray, 704-372-1450, ext. 5231 or AGray@CarolinasAGC.org.