As used in this chapter:

(1) “Person” means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company or association, including a person engaged as a contractor by a public agency but excluding a public agency.

(2) “Public agency” means the state or any political subdivision thereof, including any governmental agency.

(3) “Public utility” means the owner or operator of underground facilities for furnishing electric, gas, telephone, communications, pipeline, sewage, water, community television antenna, steam, traffic signal, fire signal or similar service, including a municipal or other public owner or operator. A public utility does not include the owner of facilities for utility service solely for such owner's private residence.

(4) “Central clearinghouse” means the organization organized and operated by public utilities pursuant to section 16-348 for the purposes of receiving and giving notice of excavation, discharge of explosives and demolition activity within the state.

(5) “Excavation” means an operation for the purposes of movement or removal of earth, rock or other materials in or on the ground, or otherwise disturbing the subsurface of the earth, by the use of powered or mechanized equipment, including but not limited to digging, blasting, auguring, back filling, test boring, drilling, pile driving, grading, plowing-in, hammering, pulling-in, trenching, tunneling, dredging, reclamation processes and milling; excluding the tilling of soil for agricultural purposes. For the purposes of this subdivision, dredging does not include dredging associated with the production and harvesting of aquaculture crops.

(6) “Demolition” means the wrecking, razing, rending, moving or removing of any structure.

(7) “Damage” includes, but is not limited to, the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of a utility facility such that the continued integrity of such utility facility is imperiled, penetration or destruction of any utility facility protective coating, housing or other protective device or the severance, partial or complete, of any utility facility.

(8) “Approximate location of an underground utility facility” means a strip of land not more than three feet wide centered on the actual location of an underground utility facility or a strip of land extending not more than one and one-half feet on either side of the actual location of an underground utility facility.

(P.A. 77-350, S. 1; P.A. 95-79, S. 53, 189; P.A. 98-28, S. 103, 117; P.A. 99-31, S. 8; P.A. 14-94, S. 38; 14-134, S. 33; P.A. 15-12, S. 3.)

History: P.A. 95-79 redefined “person” to include a limited liability company, effective May 31, 1995; P.A. 98-28 amended Subsec. (c) by changing electric service to electric distribution service, effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 99-31 redefined “public utility” to delete distribution facilities; P.A. 14-94 redesignated existing Subdivs. (a) to (h) as Subdivs. (1) to (8), redefined “public utility” in redesignated Subdiv. (3), redefined “central clearinghouse” in redesignated Subdiv. (4), redefined “excavation” in redesignated Subdiv. (5), redefined “damage” in redesignated Subdiv. (7) and replaced definition of “approximate location of underground facilities” with definition of “approximate location of an underground utility facility” in redesignated Subdiv. (8), effective October 1, 2015; P.A. 14-134 amended Subdiv. (c) by deleting reference to telegraph service, effective June 6, 2014; P.A. 15-12 amended Subdiv. (3) by making a technical change.

Cited. 12 CA 499.