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Alabama’s Underground Damage Prevention legislation has been enacted since 1994. Over the years there have been amendments to strengthen and improve the damage prevention program in our state. We will focus on some of the key terms and sections to ensure a thorough understanding of the underground damage prevention as outlined in Alabama state law.
In the underground damage prevention law there are definitions that outlined specifics in the legislation to ensure
the proper context of the terms are understood.
In the legislation, it often refers to “operator” which is what most people refer to as the “utility company” or “underground facility owner”. An Operator is defined as:
“Any person, governmental agency,
or political subdivision, or its agents, who owns or operates a public or private underground facility which furnishes services, information, or materials, or transports or transmits electric energy, light, water, steam, oil, gases, gas, mixture of gases, petroleum,
petroleum products, hazardous or flammable liquids, toxic or corrosive fluids and gases, or items of like
nature and telecommunications, cable television, water, drainage, sewage or other systems of like nature. The term operator does not apply to any entity listed above if all of the underground facilities owned and operated by the entity are for the sole use of the entity and are located solely on the entity’s own property or on property over which the entity has rights of operation.
A person is defined as:
“An individual, joint venture, partnership, association, authority, cooperative, firm, corporation, governmental entity, or any subdivision or instrumentality of that entity
and its employees, agents, or legal representatives.
The Operator reference is often found under sections 37-15-5 “Underground Damage Prevention Program” and 37-15-6 “Response to Notice of intent to Excavator or Demolish” which outlines the requirements on the underground facility owners regarding their needs to
• Participate in an 811 underground damage program;
• Develop public awareness and damage prevention education programs, especially for natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities;
• Respond to notice of intent to excavate or demolish; and
• Guidelines on how to mark underground facilities.
The Person reference is more related to areas associated with:
• Requirements of notifying underground facility owners;
• Outline of liability limitations;
• Design and Survey notifications;
• Emergency notification;
• Precaution to avoid damage;
• Impact of Excavation or demolition damage; and
• Civil Penalties/Enforcement
Additional information on the Underground Damage Prevention law can be found at https://al811.com/law/.
Legislative Corner
2024, Issue 1 Alabama 811 • 9