This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Georgia Underground Facility Protection Act.” History. Code 1981, § 25-9-1 , enacted by Ga. L. 2000, p. 780, § 1; Ga. L. 2022, p. 325, § 1/HB 1372. The 2022 amendment, effective September 1, 2022, substituted “Underground” for “Utility”. Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 2000, […]
This chapter does not affect and is not intended to affect any right, title, power, or interest that any facility owner or operator may have with relation to any underground facility or to any easement, right of way, license, permit, or other interest in or with respect to the land on which the underground facility […]
On and after July 1, 2023, the Department of Transportation shall participate in and cooperate with the UPC for purposes of receiving locate requests in the Department of Transportation’s right of way for underground facilities following a process consistent with Code Sections 25-9-6, 25-9-7, and 25-9-8 and subsection (a) of Code Section 25-9-9. The Department […]
This chapter does not affect and is not intended to affect any rights, powers, interest, or liability of the state or the Department of Transportation with respect to the state highway system, the county road system, or the municipal street system, or of a county with respect to the county road system or of a […]
No local governing authority shall enforce any ordinance or resolution which imposes fines for a violation of a local ordinance or resolution that establishes requirements for white lining, marking of underground facilities, re-marking of underground facilities, or otherwise locating underground facilities or sewer laterals for any locate request or large project. History. Code 1981, § […]
The appropriate notice requirements prescribed by Code Section 25-9-6 shall not be required of persons performing emergency excavations; provided, however, that any person that engages in an emergency excavation shall take all reasonable precautions to avoid or minimize damage to any existing underground facilities and sewer laterals; provided, further, that any person that engages in […]
The appropriate notice requirements prescribed by Code Section 25-9-6 shall be required of persons performing nonemergency excavations in an area where one or more facility owners or operators has declared extraordinary circumstances in accordance with subsection (d) of Code Section 25-9-7. When a situation of extraordinary circumstances has been declared, the excavator shall be responsible […]
Any person that violates the requirements of subsection (a), (f), or (g) of Code Section 25-9-6 and when resultant blasting or excavating damages underground facilities or sewer laterals such person shall be strictly liable for: All costs incurred by the facility owner or operator in repairing or replacing its damaged facilities, excluding betterments. An investigation […]
The purpose of this chapter is to protect the public from physical harm, prevent injury to persons and property, and prevent interruptions of service resulting from damage to underground facilities and sewer laterals caused by blasting or excavating operations by providing a method whereby the location of underground facilities and sewer laterals will be made […]
As used in this chapter, the term: “Abandoned underground facility” means an underground facility taken out of service by a facility owner or operator on or after January 1, 2001. “Appropriate notice” means a notice period that: Is associated with an effective date; Begins at 7:00 A.M. on the first business day following receipt by […]
Any person may submit a design locate request to the UPC. Such design locate request shall: Describe the tract or parcel of land for which the design locate request has been submitted with sufficient particularity, as defined by policies developed and promulgated by the UPC, to enable the facility owner or operator to ascertain the […]
Except as otherwise provided by subsection (b) of this Code section, all facility owners or operators operating or maintaining underground facilities within the state shall participate as members in and cooperate with the UPC. No duplicative center shall be established. The activities of the UPC shall be funded by all facility owners or operators. Persons […]
No person shall commence, perform, or engage in blasting or in excavating with mechanized excavating equipment on any tract or parcel of land in any county in this state unless and until the person planning the blasting or excavating has submitted a locate request to the UPC that provides appropriate notice. Any person performing excavation […]
Prior to 7:00 A.M. on the effective date, each facility owner or operator shall determine whether or not underground facilities are located on the tract or parcel of land upon which the blasting or excavating is to occur. If underground facilities are determined to be present, the facility owner or operator shall designate, through stakes, […]
Persons engaged in blasting or in excavating with mechanized excavating equipment shall not strike, damage, injure, or loosen any underground facility or sewer lateral which has been staked, flagged, or marked in accordance with this chapter. When blasting or excavating is to take place within the tolerance zone, the excavator shall exercise reasonable care for […]
For the purposes of this chapter, the location of underground facilities provided by a facility owner or operator in accordance with subsection (a) of Code Section 25-9-7 to any person engaging in scheduled blasting and excavating shall be accurate to within 18 inches, measured horizontally from the outer edge of either side of such underground […]
