Texas Legislative Update
News from the Regular Session of the 82nd Legislature:
SB 1217 was passed and enrolled by the Texas legislature to amend Utilities Code Title 5, Chapter 251, commonly known as the “one-call law”. It becomes effective September 1, 2011.
To see the bill click here.
This amendment makes it a violation of Chapter 251 for an excavator to “misrepresent a fact or circumstance used in the determination of an emergency excavation.” Although it is said that “false emergencies” are called in by excavators in order to get priority locate requests for routine work, we aren’t aware of objective data that supports this belief.
In the interest of learning what, if any, basis there is for concern regarding “false emergencies,” Texas811 is establishing a simple data collection tool. We hope the use of a brief email questionnaire will help us discover the true extent of the problem.
If you believe you know of an instance of an emergency declaration, when in fact no statutory emergency exists, please click here and fill out the brief form. Data from the reports received will be compiled and made available periodically, or upon request.
