New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 18 - TRANSPORTATION AND HIGHWAYS
Chapter 60 - PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
Part 5 - PIPELINE SAFETY EXCAVATION DAMAGE PREVENTION
Section 18.60.5.15 - EXCAVATION PROCEDURES
Universal Citation: 18 NM Admin Code 18.60.5.15
Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A. Pre-excavation: Before excavating, an excavator shall determine whether all underground facilities have been marked.
(1) If all underground facilities have been
marked or cleared through a positive response system and the advance notice
marking period has expired, the excavator may begin excavating.
(2) If one or more underground facilities
have not been marked and positive response has not been provided, an excavator
shall, prior to commencing excavation, call the one-call notification system
for verification that advance notice was transmitted to the UFO and to provide
notice that the underground facilities have not been located or cleared via a
warning locate request. UFOs shall promptly respond to warning locate requests
ideally within two hours.
B. Excavation:
(1) If, while excavating, an excavator
observes evidence that an unmarked underground facility may exist, the
excavator shall, before excavating in the immediate area of such evidence:
(a) make a reasonable effort to identify and
contact the UFO and wait until the UFO marks or clears the immediate area of
the evidence; the UFO shall mark or clear the area within two hours of contact
or as expeditiously as possible if the excavation site is in a rural
area;
(b) expose the underground
facility by non-mechanical means or mechanical vacuum excavation
methods.
(2) If
excavation activity encroaches within 18 inches either side of a marking made
by a UFO, an excavator shall, prior to excavating, expose the underground
facility by non-mechanical means or mechanical vacuum excavation
methods.
(3) If the exact
subsurface location of the underground facility or utility cannot be determined
by non-mechanical means or mechanical vacuum excavation methods as required in
Subparagraph (a) of Paragraph (1) and (2) of Subsection B of 18.60.5.15 NMAC,
the excavator shall contact the UFO directly and UFO shall work with the
excavator to locate and expose the actual subsurface location of the
underground facility or utility. If the UFO must resort to performing
excavation to locate the facility, the UFO shall perform such excavation within
five working days of notice from the excavator. If requested, the local
one-call notification center shall provide the excavator with the contact
telephone number of the UFO.
(4) If
excavation activity cannot proceed without obliterating all or some of the
markings made by a UFO, an excavator shall provide temporary offset marks or
stakes to retain the information regarding the location of each UFO's
underground facilities.
(5) The
requirement to provide positive response for a facility does not apply to the
homeowner of a residential property.
(6) The commission encourages excavators to
notify the UFO when excavation activity will be within twenty-five feet of the
actual utility marking provided or as agreed upon by a right of way
encroachment agreement or permit for infrastructure identified by the UFO as
critical (i.e., transmission and trunk line pipelines, fiber optic, power, 911,
etc.).
C. Temporary suspension of excavation activity: If staff determines that an excavation activity is not in compliance with the requirements of this rule, and that continued noncompliance may result in injury to persons or damage to property, staff may suspend the excavation activity until the excavation activity is brought into compliance with the requirements of this rule and excavation conditions are safe.
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