La. Admin. Code tit. 55 § I-2103

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024
Section I-2103 - Definitions
A. For the purposes of these rules, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this Section.

Damage-any defacing, scraping, gorging, breaking, cutting, or displacement of, impact upon or removal of an underground facility or utility or its means of primary support.

Demolisher-any person engaged in the act of demolishing as defined in R. S. 40:1749.12(2).

Demolition-the total or partial wrecking, razing, rendering, moving, or removing of any building or structure, movable or immovable.

Department-the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Public Safety Services.

Emergency-any crisis situation which poses an imminent threat or danger to life, health, or property and requires immediate action.

Excavation or Excavate-any operation for the purpose of movement or removal of earth, rock, or other materials in or on the ground by the use of powered or mechanical or manual means, including pile driving, digging, blasting, auguring, boring, back filling, dredging, compressing, plowing-in, trenching, ditching, tunneling, land-leveling, grading, and mechanical probing.

Excavator-any person who engages in excavation operations.

Inclement Weather-weather that prohibits or impedes a worker's use of his locating equipment or causes undue risk to himself or his equipment such as lightning, heavy rain, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, sleet, snow, or flooding conditions.

Locator-any person employed to determine the specific location of the operator's underground facility or utility within the area specified through a notice served by a regional notification center.

Mark by Time-the date and time provided by the regional notification center by which the utility operator is required to mark the location or provide information to enable an excavator, using reasonable and prudent means, to determine the specific location of the facility as provided for in R.S. 40:1749.14(D).

Operator-any person, individual, governmental agency or political subdivision or their agents, joint venture, firm, partnership, association, or corporation who owns or operates, a public or private underground facility or utility which furnishes a service or material or stores, transports, or transmits electric energy, steam, oil, natural gas, gas, mixture of gases, petroleum, petroleum products, hazardous or flammable fluids, toxic or corrosive fluids/gases, including telephone or telegraph system, fiber optic electronic communication systems, or water or water systems, or drainage, sewer systems, or traffic control systems or other items of like nature.

Person-an individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, joint venture, municipality, governmental agency, political subdivision, or agent of the state or any legal representative, thereof.

Regional Notification Center-may be any one of the following:

a. an entity designated as nonprofit by the Internal Revenue Service under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code and which is organized to protect its members from damage and is certified by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections in accordance with the Chapter; or

b. an organization of operators, consisting of two or more separate operators who jointly have underground facilities or utilities in three or more parishes in Louisiana, which is organized to protect its own installation from damage, and has been certified by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections in accordance with this Chapter; or

c. an operator who has underground facilities or utilities in a majority of parishes in Louisiana and is organized to protect its own installation from damage, and has been certified by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections in accordance with this Chapter.

Service Line or Lines-underground facilities or utilities which provide power, gas, natural gas, communication or water capabilities to a building or structure of buildings or group of structures.

Underground Facility or Utility-any pipe, conduit, duct, wire, cable, valve, line, fiber optic equipment, or other structure which is buried or placed below ground or submerged for the use in connection with storage, conveyance, transmission or protection of electronics communication system, telephone or telegraph system, or fiber optic, electric energy, oil, natural gas, gases, steam, mixture of gases, petroleum, petroleum products, hazardous or flammable fluids/gases, toxic or corrosive fluids/gases, hazardous fluids/gases or other substances of like nature or water or water systems, sewer systems, or traffic, drainage control systems, or other items of like nature.

La. Admin. Code tit. 55, § I-2103

Promulgated by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Office of State Police, LR 26:92 (January 2000), amended LR 40:1111 (June 2014).
AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 40:1749.11 et seq.