NOTE:  Always call 811 before you dig. ALABAMA LEGISLATION Alabama's Underground Damage Prevention Legislation was enacted in January 1995. The following link is a pdf of the act. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this document. Alabama Act 94-487 2010 Legislative Session Information: Alabama One Call and its Board of Directors have participated in a group formed to discuss and potentially improve damage prevention efforts across Alabama. This group, Alabama Damage Prevention Committee, has been meeting since last year and the focus the last several meetings concerned potential changes to the legislation. The following is a summary of what is currently being addressed in the 2010 Legislative session: HB187 and HB461 and associated Amendments have been submitted to the Alabama House in the 2010 session by Rep Ron Johnson. HB187 specifies that if a non-member utility with an in-house program is damaged due to excavation activities, that the utility is responsible for the damages incurred if it is shown they were not in compliance with the provisions of the act regarding their in-house program. In practicality it is no different than what the current law includes. HB461 includes the changes that were submitted by the Alabama Damage Prevention Committee The Alabama Damage Prevention Committee, which is representative of the various stakeholders involved,has been working on this legislation and will continue to do some to help improve the damage prevention efforts in Alabama. This is just a starting point.

MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES AOC members should respond to all locate requests by marking the approximate location of their underground facilities in the excavation area within 48 hours. Each utility operator will mark or flag their facilities in accordance with the color code outlined in Alabama Act 94-487. These colors include: RED Electric Power Lines, Cables, Conduit and Lighting Cables YELLOW Gas, Oil, Steam, Petroleum or Gaseous Materials ORANGE Communication, Cable TV, Alarm or Signal Lines, Cables or Conduit BLUE Potable Water GREEN Sewer or Drain Lines WHITE Proposed Excavation The marks or markings shall indicate the name, initials, or logo of the owner and operator of the underground facility and the width of the underground facility if it is greater than two inches. In addition to the color codes listed in Alabama Act 94-487, the following are approved by the American Public Works Association (APWA) to be included: PURPLE Reclaimed Water, Irrigation, or Slurry Lines PINK Temporary Survey Markings

EXCAVATOR RESPONSIBILITIES Conduct excavation or demolition activities so as to avoid damage to or minimize interference with existing underground facilities in and near the excavation or demolition area; Employ detection equipment or non-invasive methods to determine the precise location of an operator's underground facilities when excavation is to be done within the area marked as the approximate location of the operator's underground facilities and maintain a clearance between any underground facility and the cutting edge or point of any mechanized equipment, taking into account the known limit of control of such cutting edge or point, as may be reasonable necessary to avoid damage to such facility; and; Provide such support for underground facilities in and near the excavation or demolition area including during any backfilling operations as may be reasonably necessary for the protection of such facilities. Many excavators mistakenly believe that Alabama One-Call is responsible for the actual marking of the facilities. This is not the case. Alabama One-Call takes the information from the excavator and relays it to the underground facility owner. Facility owners are responsible for ensuring that their facilities are properly marked. When one underground facility owner indicates that there are no facilities in conflict with a specific excavation, the excavator must realize that this does not mean that Alabama One-Call has cleared the site, nor does it mean that other facilities are not at that site. Alabama One-Call is currently a voluntary participation organization except for gas and master meter systems who are required to participate in the AOC under federal guidelines. There are some underground facility owners that elect not to belong to Alabama One-Call. Excavators must make an effort to contact these independent facility owners directly before attempting their excavation. Excavators should not begin excavation until all underground facilities have been marked. NOTE:  Always call 811 before you dig.