Section 182.8 - Damage prevention committee(a) A damage prevention committee shall be established as follows:(1) The committee shall consist of the following members, appointed by the commission:(i) The chairman, or his designee from the commission's professional staff.(ii) The Secretary of Transportation or the secretary's designee.(iii) The president of the One Call System, or his designee from the One Call System professional staff.(iv) One representative from each of the following nonmunicipally owned or affiliated facility owner industries: electric, natural gas or petroleum pipelines, telephone, water or wastewater and cable television, nominated by facility owners or affiliated organizations.(v) Three representatives of excavators, nominated by excavators or affiliated organizations.(vi) One representative of municipal governments, nominated by municipal governments or affiliated organizations.(vii) One representative of municipal authorities, nominated by municipal authorities or affiliated organizations.(2) A person appointed to the committee must have expertise within the operation of this act related to the industry represented.(3) A nomination under clause (1) (iv), (v) , (vi) and (vii) shall be forwarded to the secretary of the commission. The executive director of the commission shall provide recommended candidates to the commission for approval.(4) Except for an unexpired term or for committee members under clause (1)(i) and (iii) , the following shall apply: (i) An appointment to the committee shall begin January 1.(ii) Except for initial terms under clause (5), a committee member's term shall be for a term of three years.(5) The initial term of committee members shall be as follows:(i) Two representatives of facility owners under clause (1) (iv) shall serve three years, one representative shall serve two years and two representatives shall serve one year.(ii) One representative of excavators shall serve three years, one representative shall serve two years and one representative shall serve one year.(iii) The representative of municipal governments shall serve two years.(iv) The representative of municipal authorities shall serve three years.(6) The commission member shall serve as the chairman of the committee and shall be a nonvoting member, except if the chairman's vote is necessary to break a tie. The chairman's attendance shall not be counted to establish a quorum.(7) At least seven members of the committee who are present shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. A simple majority vote of the committee members present at a meeting shall be deemed to be the position of the committee.(b) The committee shall meet regularly to carry out the following purposes:(1) Review a report of an alleged violation of this act and damage prevention investigator findings concerning the basis or root cause of the alleged violation reported and recommendations proposed to address the alleged violation.(2) Issue a warning letter to a person as deemed appropriate by the committee or as recommended by the damage prevention investigator.(3) Issue an informal determination that imposes an administrative penalty.(4) Require a person to attend a damage prevention educational program.(5) Issue an informal determination that modifies or dismisses a recommendation of the damage prevention investigator.(c) The following shall apply to alleged violations: (1) A person determined, in a report issued by a damage prevention investigator, to have committed an alleged violation shall do one of the following:(i) Provide a written acknowledgment of the findings and administrative penalty contained in the report issued by the damage prevention investigator to the committee.(ii) Appear before the committee to present its position.(2) A person who is subject to an informal determination of the committee may accept or reject the result. If a person who is subject to an informal determination opts to reject the informal determination, the person shall reject the informal determination in writing within thirty days of the date when the informal determination is made by the committee and the matter shall be referred to the commission prosecutor staff for an action resulting in a formal complaint before the commission. An action resulting in a formal complaint before the commission must be brought by commission prosecutor staff within the time limits specified under 66 Pa.C.S. § 3314(a) (relating to limitation of actions and cumulation of remedies).(3) When a written rejection of an informal determination under clause (2) results in a formal complaint before the commission, the commission shall conduct a de novo review of the alleged violation. The informal determination of the committee shall not be binding upon the commission.(d) Except for alleged violations involving injury or death, the provisions of subsection (c) may be applied in advance or instead of filing a formal complaint against a person determined, in a report issued by a damage prevention investigator, to have committed an alleged violation. An informal determination of the committee shall be binding on the commission unless the person rejects the informal determination.(d.1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the committee shall only have the powers and duties enumerated in subsections (b) and (c) if the committee completes its review of an alleged violation and issues an informal determination within two hundred seventy days of the occurrence of the alleged violation.(e) The committee shall have the following additional duties:(1) Upon the request of the commission, the committee shall hold a special meeting to advise the commission on a matter related to damage prevention for underground facilities under this act.(2) As soon as practicable after establishment, the committee, with input from the One Call System, shall develop and implement bylaws. The bylaws shall:(i) Establish a schedule for the frequency of regular meetings.(ii) Delineate the committee's practice and procedure concerning the performance of duties assigned under this act and commission orders and regulations.(iii) Be approved by the commission.(3) Submit an annual report containing relevant damage prevention data to the commission, the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure of the Senate and the Committee on Consumer Protection, Technology and Utilities of the House of Representatives. The report shall include relevant metrics to demonstrate how the damage prevention committee's actions advance the goal of minimizing the occurrence of line hits and enhance public safety.(f) Except for willful misconduct, members of the committee shall be immune, individually and jointly, from civil liability for an act or omission done or made in performance of the members' duties while serving as members of the committee.(g) The commission shall have the following powers to carry out the purposes of this act: (1) To employ individuals.(3) To promulgate regulations. If the commission promulgates regulations that limit reporting to a specific type of incident, including contact with a line, damage to a line or line coating, personal injury, third-party damage and failure to comply with this act, the commission may consider the resources available for enforcement and other factors.(4) For one year following the effective date of this section, to promulgate temporary regulations. Regulations under this clause shall:(i) Expire no later than two years following the effective date of this section.(ii) Be exempt from all of the following: (A) Sections 201, 202 and 203 of the act of July 31, 1968 ( P.L. 769, No.240), referred to as the Commonwealth Documents Law.(B) The act of June 25, 1982 ( P.L. 633, No.181), known as the Regulatory Review Act.Amended by P.L. (number not assigned at time of publication) 2024 No. 127,§ 4, eff. 10/29/2024.Added by P.L. TBD 2017 No. 50, § 5, eff. 4/28/2018.