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: FOR RELEASE: Immediate
: November 15, 2004                                       

: CONTACT:  Jason Butkowski
: Tel: (609) 292-5215
: Fax: (609) 984-1235

: DORIA-SACCO BILL TO AMEND 'CALL BEFORE YOU DIG' LAW APPROVED IN COMMITTEE

: TRENTON - A bill sponsored by Senators Joseph V. Doria and Nicholas J. Sacco which would amend New Jersey's law requiring people to call a hotline before they dig to avoid damage to utility resources or underground facilities was approved by the Senate Economic Growth Committee today by a vote of 4-0.

:             "If a person makes a good faith effort to identify underground facilities and the facility operator doesn't meet them halfway and tell them where it is unsafe to dig, the operator should be liable for the damage and economic impact caused by their inaction, not only to their site, but also to cover the cost of lost time to the digger," said Senator Doria, D-Hudson.  "In those cases where the facility operator is at fault, the operator should have an obligation to cover the costs of the damage to all parties."

:             The bill, S-1748, would require that, in addition to an excavator being required to call before they begin digging on a site to ensure that they won't hit a pipe or other underground facility, the facility operator would also be required to mark, locate or otherwise provide a position for their underground facility.  If the operator fails to locate their facility for an excavator prior to excavation, the operator may be held liable for any costs, labor, parts, equipment and personnel downtime that may be incurred by the excavator who damages the facility.  However, if the operator has properly marked the facility and it still gets damaged, the excavator would be held liable.

:             "The purpose of the call before you dig program is to save the time, money and lives that could be lost when an underground utility line is disrupted," said Senator Sacco, D-Hudson and Bergen, Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.  "At the same time, it is unfair to expect people to wait weeks for the utility companies to show up.  This bill provides a means by which to guarantee that the utility companies handle these requests in a timely manner."

:             The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration.  An identical bill was unanimously approved by the Assembly in June.

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