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An Act
ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 1666 By: Cantrell of the House
and
Frix of the Senate
An Act relating to public health and safety; amending
63 O.S. 2021, Section 142.2, as last amended by
Section 1, Chapter 118, O.S.L. 2024 (63 O.S. Supp.
2024, Section 142.2), which relates to definitions
used in the Oklahoma Underground Facilities Damage
Prevention Act; modifying definition; and providing
an effective date.
SUBJECT: Public health and safety
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2021, Section 142.2, as
last amended by Section 1, Chapter 118, O.S.L. 2024 (63 O.S. Supp.
2024, Section 142.2), is amended to read as follows:
Section 142.2. As used in the Oklahoma Underground Facilities
Damage Prevention Act:
1. "Certified project" means a project where the public agency
responsible for the public project, in consultation with the
statewide one-call notification center, as part of its procedure,
certifies that the project right-of-way is free and clear of
underground facilities or wherein the public agency responsible for
such project, as part of its procedure, notifies all persons
determined by the public agency to have underground facilities
located within the construction right-of-way and certifies that all
known underground facilities are duly located or noted on the
engineering drawings for the project;
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2. "Damage" means any impact upon or removal of support from an
underground facility as a result of explosion, excavation or
demolition which according to the operating practices of the
operator of the underground facilities would necessitate the repair
thereof;
3. "Demolish" means to wreck, raze, render, move or remove a
structure by means of any equipment or explosive;
4. "Demolition" means the act or operation of demolishing a
structure;
5. "Excavate" means to dig, compress or remove earth, rock or
other materials in or on the ground by use of mechanized equipment
or blasting, including, but not necessarily limited to, augering,
boring, backfilling, drilling, grading, pile driving, plowing in,
pulling in, trenching, tunneling and plowing; provided, however,
that neither:
a. the moving of earth by tools manipulated only by human
or animal power, except in a private or public
easement or right-of-way,
b. the moving of earth by tools manipulated only by human
power for burying communication lines of a
communications provider in a private or public
easement or right-of-way when depth is not greater
than twelve (12) inches and within twelve (12) inches
of a communications provider terminal,
c. any form of cultivation for agricultural purposes, nor
any augering, dozing by noncommercial dozer operators
or digging for postholes, farm ponds, land clearing or
other normal agricultural purposes,
d. routine maintenance,
e. work by a public agency or its contractors on a
preengineered project,
f. work on a certified project,
g. work on a permitted project,
h. the opening of a grave in a cemetery,
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i. a solid waste disposal site which is a preengineered
project, nor
j. any individual excavating on his or her own property
and who is not in the excavating business for hire,
except in a private or public easement or right-of-
way, nor
k. any grading or maintenance of county roads that does
not change either the existing road grade or ditch
flow line,
shall be deemed excavation;
6. "Excavation" means the act or operation of excavating;
7. "Excavator" means a person or public agency that intends to
excavate or demolish within this state;
8. "Notification center" means the statewide center currently
known as the Oklahoma One-Call System, Inc., which has as one of its
purposes to receive notification of planned excavation and
demolition in a specified area from excavators, and to disseminate
such notification of planned excavation or demolition to operators
who are members and participants;
9. "Operator" shall mean and include any person or public
agency owning or operating underground facilities;
10. "Permitted project" means a project where a permit for the
work to be performed must be issued by a state or federal agency
and, as a prerequisite to receiving such permit, the applicant must
locate all underground facilities in the area of the work and in the
vicinity of any blasting and notify each owner of such underground
facilities;
11. "Person" includes any individual, partnership, corporation,
association, cooperative, trust or other entity, including a person
engaged as a contractor by a public agency, but not including a
public agency;
12. "Preengineered project" means a public project wherein the
public agency responsible for such project, as part of its
engineering and contract procedures, holds a meeting prior to the
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commencement of any construction work on such project in which all
persons, determined by the public agency, in consultation with the
statewide one-call notification center, to have underground
facilities located within the construction area of the project are
invited to attend and given an opportunity to verify or inform the
public agency of the location of their underground facilities, if
any, within the construction area and where the location of all
known underground facilities are duly located or noted on the
engineering drawing and specifications for the project;
13. "Public agency" means the state, or any board, commission,
or agency of the state;
14. "Routine maintenance" means the grading of roads and barrow
or drainage ditches, the removal and replacement of pavement,
including excavation relating thereto and the installation and
maintenance of drainage and bridge facilities, signs, guardrails,
and electrical and communications facilities in or on the public
rights-of-way by a public agency;
15. "Underground facility" means any underground line, cable,
facility, system and appurtenances thereto, for producing, storing,
conveying, transmitting or distributing communication (including
voice, video, or data information), electricity, power, light, heat,
intrastate and interstate gas pipelines, as described in 49 CFR Part
192.1, intrastate and interstate hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide
pipelines, as described in 49 CFR Part 195.1, water (including storm
water), steam, sewage and other commodities and any oil and gas
pipeline located in a private or public easement or right-of-way;
16. "Design" or "survey" means a notice to facility operators
to provide underground facility information during the design or
engineering phase of a project to mitigate potential impact to
existing underground facilities;
17. "Watch and protect" means an operator or its designated
representative is present to observe an excavation within ten (10)
feet of the operator's marking of its existing underground facility;
18. "Pre-excavation meeting request" means a notice to
underground facility operators to participate in scheduled meetings
for the purpose of planning large projects and coordinate resources
accordingly; and
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19. "Large projects" are those excavation projects that involve
one of the following:
a. exceeds distances defined in paragraph 5 of subsection
D of Section 142.6 of this title, or
b. estimated duration is more than ninety (90) days.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
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Passed the House of Representatives the 12th day of March, 2025.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
Passed the Senate the 8th day of May, 2025.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this ____________________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________