S 10178 NY

0likes☆Favorite🔕SubscribeShare

Skip to main content

New York State Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie

--> --> -->

Assembly Members

Legislative Info

Public Hearings

Speaker's Press

Assembly Reports

Committees & More

Bill Search Home Laws Legislative Calendar Public Hearing Schedule Assembly Calendars Assembly Committee Agenda Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page.

Bill No.: Summary Actions Committee&nbspVotes Floor&nbspVotes Memo Text LFIN Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript S10178 Summary: BILL NO S10178 &nbsp SAME AS SAME AS A11456

&nbsp SPONSOR RYAN C &nbsp COSPNSR &nbsp MLTSPNSR &nbsp Amd §§760 & 764, add §763-a, Gen Bus L; amd §119-b, Pub Serv L &nbsp Establishes standards for newly installed underground facilities related to locatability and mapping; defines terms; requires the public service commission to establish implementation schedules for locatability and as-built location information.

Go to top S10178 Text:

STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________

10178

IN SENATE

May 4, 2026 ___________

Introduced by Sen. C. RYAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection

AN ACT to amend the general business law and the public service law, in relation to protection of underground facilities, mandatory standards for newly installed underground facilities, excavator training and certification, and damage reporting

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows:

1 Section 1. Subdivisions 2, 4 and 5 of section 760 of the general busi- 2 ness law, as amended by chapter 685 of the laws of 1994, are amended and 3 four new subdivisions 10, 11, 12 and 13 are added to read as follows: 4 2. "Excavation" means an operation for the purpose of movement or 5 removal of earth, rock or other materials in or on the ground or in, 6 under, or adjacent to the bed of a waterbody in the course of submerged 7 excavation by use of mechanized equipment or by blasting, and includes, 8 but is not limited to, anchoring, auguring, backfilling, dredging, 9 drilling, grading, pile driving, plowing in, pulling in, trenching and 10 tunneling; provided, however, that the movement of earth by tools manip- 11 ulated only by human or animal power and the tilling of soil for agri- 12 cultural purposes shall not be deemed excavation. 13 4. "Underground facilities" means pipelines, conduits, ducts, cables, 14 wires, manholes, vaults or other such facilities or their attachments, 15 which have been installed underground , including in the bed of a water- 16 body, or submersed by an operator to provide services or materials. Such 17 term shall not include oil and gas production and gathering pipeline 18 systems used primarily to collect oil or gas production from wells. 19 5. "Excavator" means a person who is engaged in a trade or business 20 which includes the carrying out of excavation or demolition[ ; provided, 21 however, that an individual employed by an excavator, and having no 22 supervisory authority, other than the routine direction of employees, 23 over an excavation or demolition, shall not be deemed an excavator for 24 the purposes of this article ]. In construing and enforcing the 25 provisions of this article, the act of any employee or agent of any 26 excavator or covered excavation worker acting within the scope of [ his

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD15707-01-6

S. 10178 2

1 or her ] their official duties or employment , or on behalf of an excava- 2 tor, shall be deemed to be the act of such excavator. 3 10. "Covered excavation worker" means any individual who, for compen- 4 sation, performs excavation or demolition work, including by operating 5 powered equipment, directing excavation activities, or performing exca- 6 vation on behalf of an excavator. 7 11. "Locatable" means capable of being detected, traced, or otherwise 8 located in the field using generally accepted locating equipment and 9 practices, as determined by standards established pursuant to section 10 seven hundred sixty-three-a of this article and regulations adopted by 11 the public service commission. 12 12. "As-built location information" means records or data describing 13 the location of newly installed underground facilities, in a format and 14 with minimum data elements as determined by the public service commis- 15 sion by regulation. 16 13. "Submerged excavation" means excavation or demolition activities 17 occurring in, under, or adjacent to the bed of a waterbody, including 18 dredging, anchoring, pile driving, and related activities, where under- 19 ground facilities may be present. 20 § 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 763-a 21 to read as follows: 22 § 763-a. Standards for newly installed underground facilities; locata- 23 bility and mapping. 1. For any underground facility installed on or 24 after the effective date of this section, each operator shall: 25 (a) install such facility in a manner that is locatable; 26 (b) create and retain as-built location information for such facility; 27 and 28 (c) use as-built location data in executing its duties pursuant to 29 section seven hundred sixty-three of this article. 30 2. The public service commission shall, by regulation, establish mini- 31 mum standards and implementation schedules for locatability and as-built 32 location information under this section, which may include requirements 33 applicable to laterals, service drops, service lines, sewer lines, and 34 appurtenances, and which may provide for reasonable phase-in periods and 35 waivers for demonstrated good cause. 36 § 3. Subdivision 5 of section 764 of the general business law, as 37 amended by chapter 505 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as 38 follows: 39 5. [ In the event of contact with and/or damage to an underground 40 facility ] Whenever any excavator or covered excavation worker acting on 41 behalf of an excavator causes or discovers damage to an underground 42 facility , the excavator shall immediately notify the operator of the 43 facility and [ no ] the one-call notification system serving the area in 44 which the damage occurred. No backfilling shall be done by the excavator 45 until inspection and/or repairs have been made by the operator and no 46 repairs shall be undertaken by the excavator until authorized by the 47 operator. In the event of an electrical short or the escape of gas or 48 hazardous fluids endangering life, the excavator shall immediately noti- 49 fy the operator of the electric, gas or hazardous liquid underground 50 facility and 911, and all persons who might be endangered and assist in 51 the evacuation of such persons. 52 § 4. Paragraphs b, d and e of subdivision 1 of section 119-b of the 53 public service law, as amended by chapter 445 of the laws of 1995, are 54 amended and four new paragraphs i, j, k and l are added to read as 55 follows:

S. 10178 3

1 b. "Excavation" means an operation for the purpose of movement or 2 removal of earth, rock or other materials in or on the ground or in, 3 under, or adjacent to the bed of a waterbody in the course of submerged 4 excavation by use of mechanized equipment or by blasting, and includes, 5 but is not limited to, anchoring, auguring, backfilling, dredging, 6 boring, drilling, grading, pile driving, plowing in, pulling in, trench- 7 ing and tunneling; provided, however, that the movement of earth by 8 tools manipulated only by human or animal power and the tilling of soil 9 for agricultural purposes shall not be deemed excavation. 10 d. "Underground facilities" means pipelines, conduits, ducts, cables, 11 wires, manholes, vaults or other such facilities or their attachments, 12 which have been installed underground , including in the bed of a water- 13 body, or submersed by an operator to provide services or materials. Such 14 term shall not include oil and gas production and gathering pipeline 15 systems used primarily to collect oil or gas production from wells. 16 e. "Excavator" means a person who is engaged in a trade or business 17 which includes the carrying out of excavation or demolition[ ; provided, 18 however, that an individual employed by an excavator, and having no 19 supervisory authority, other than the routine direction of employees, 20 over an excavation or demolition, shall not himself or herself be deemed 21 an excavator for the purposes of this article ]. In construing and 22 enforcing the provisions of this article, the act of any employee or 23 agent of any excavator , or covered excavation worker acting within the 24 scope of [ his or her ] their official duties or employment , or on behalf 25 of an excavator, shall be deemed to be the act of such excavator. 26 i. "Covered excavation worker" means any individual who, for compen- 27 sation, performs excavation or demolition work, including by operating 28 powered equipment, directing excavation activities, or performing exca- 29 vation on behalf of an excavator. 30 j. "Locatable" means capable of being detected, traced, or otherwise 31 located in the field using generally accepted locating equipment and 32 practices, as determined by standards established pursuant to section 33 seven hundred sixty-three-a of the general business law and regulations 34 adopted by the public service commission. 35 k. "As-built location information" means records or data describing 36 the location of newly installed underground facilities, in a format and 37 with minimum data elements as determined by the public service commis- 38 sion by regulation. 39 l. "Submerged excavation" means excavation or demolition activities 40 occurring in, under, or adjacent to the bed of a waterbody, including 41 dredging, anchoring, pile driving, and related activities, where under- 42 ground facilities may be present. 43 § 5. Section 119-b of the public service law is amended by adding a 44 new subdivision 2-a to read as follows: 45 2-a. The commission shall adopt rules and regulations to implement 46 section seven hundred sixty-three-a and subdivision five of section 47 seven hundred sixty-four of the general business law, including but not 48 limited to: (a) minimum standards for locatability and as-built location 49 information for newly installed underground facilities; (b) training, 50 examination, certification, and renewal requirements for excavators and 51 covered excavation workers; and (c) uniform damage reporting require- 52 ments applicable to excavators and operators, including the content, 53 method, and timeliness of reporting to one-call notification systems. 54 Further, the commission shall adopt requirements governing notice, 55 designation and marking, and related procedures for submerged exca- 56 vation.

S. 10178 4

1 § 6. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 2 it shall have become a law; provided, however, that section two of this 3 act shall apply to underground facilities installed on or after such 4 effective date. Effective immediately, the public service commission is 5 authorized to promulgate, amend and/or repeal any rule or regulation 6 necessary for the implementation of this act on or before such effective 7 date.

Go to top

Sitemap

Request Information

Directions and Maps