Excavation damage continues to be a leading cause of hazardous liquid and natural gas pipeline incidents resulting in death and serious injury .
PRACTICE DAMAGE PROTECTION PROTECT WALLET The U . S . DOT ’ s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration ( PHMSA ) has established criteria for adequate state enforcement of their damage prevention ( one-call ) laws and also a Federal Standard for Excavators . Here ’ s what you need to know :
1 . PHMSA evaluated each state against the enforcement criteria to determine program adequacy . Florida ’ s program was evaluated in December and a decision is pending .
2 . PHMSA will take federal enforcement action against excavators in states with inadequate enforcement when a pipeline regulated by PHMSA or the state is unlawfully damaged . Daily fines max out at $ 200,000 and $ 2 million .
3 . Damage prevention is your best defense .
a . LEARN and FOLLOW Sunshine 811 ’ s High Priority Subsurface Installation ( HPSI ) procedures for working near HPSIs .
b . ALWAYS CONTACT the pipeline operator with the excavation start date and time when you get positive response code 2C-Marked with Exceptions . That means your excavation site is within 15 feet of an HPSI pipeline .
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JANUARY 2017 • DITCHMEN 7