On August 18, the TRRC held a meeting to hear ideas to improve the state code Chapter 18 Underground Pipeline Damage Prevention. The open meeting was attended by various stakeholders involved in the one call process, including utilities, municipalities, one call centers, utility contractors, locating contractors, and road builders. All were encouraged to express concerns with the language in the existing code and present suggestions to address the concerns. Specific issues which had the greatest discussion:

• Minimum depth of excavation activity which would necessitate a notification to the One Call Center;
• Structure of penalties when parties are found to be non-compliant with the code;
• An increase in the tolerance zone to reduce damages occurring due to mechanized equipment;
• Accuracy and timeliness of locates for underground facilities;
• Positive response from facility operator;
• Change in the time requirement to submit a damage report form to the Texas Commission;
• Conditions which might merit an emergency one call ticket;
• Maximum scope allowed in a single one call ticket; and
• Dialing 911 when a damage occurs to the pipeline

Editor’s note: I had to leave this meeting before it ended, and I stole this summary from Andrew Lu at AGA because he did such a great job of summarizing everything!