Mandatory Damage Reporting in Pennsylvania Helps to Minimize Damages to Utility Assets
By: Jay Rendos, Continuum Capital
Introduction
The Pennsylvania One Call Law, also known as the Underground Utility Line Protection Law, is a cornerstone of excavation safety throughout the Commonwealth. It requires excavators and designers to notify utility operators before digging, ensuring that underground utilities are marked and protected from accidental damage.
The law has been refined and updated at least 10 times in the last 20+ years. In 2017, one of these updates occurred through Senate Bill 242 (SB 242) was introduced and signed into law in 2018, bringing forth sweeping reforms to the One Call Law with the aim of improving safety, accountability, and efficiency. One component of the changes implemented was a mandatory reporting requirement of all damages by all parties involved in the excavation. Prior to this point, the majority of damage reporting occurred through the asset or facility owner or the locator working on behalf of the asset or facility owner. This particular requirement increased dramatically the reporting on each incident, allowed for more accurate root cause analysis, and resulted in a change in perception on contribution to damage.
Case Study
Title: 811 PA ONE CALL LEGISLATIVE CHANGES
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Historically many states do not require Mandatory Damage Reporting by all parties involved in the excavation. In states without Mandatory Damage Reporting, the information describing the damage and root cause is dominated by asset or facility owner or the locator working on behalf of the asset or facility owner yielded results indicating that the root cause of damage existed primarily (more than 50% of the instances) with excavator/excavation non-compliance or poor performance. In the absence of more regular and detailed reporting around any damage, primarily from contractors perspective, there is an absence of comprehensive reporting on each incident, inaccurate root cause analysis, and a lack of comprehensive perception on contribution to damage.
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In 2017, Senate Bill 242 (SB 242) was introduced and signed into law in 2018, bringing forth sweeping reforms to the One Call Law with the aim of improving safety, accountability, and efficiency. One of the major changes of the 2017 One Call Law was to improve transparency and oversight through “Enhanced Recordkeeping and Reporting”. The law requires:
- Detailed recordkeeping of notifications, responses, and excavation activities.
- Mandatory reporting of incidents and damages to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PAPUC).
- Annual reporting on enforcement activities, violations, and trends.
Before the legislation passed, the prior enforcement authority was the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. In the 2017 law change, the enforcement authority was transferred to the PAPUC and is consistent with the current regulatory obligations assigned to the commission. The PAPUC has oversight over many underground facilities of utilities operating in Pennsylvania and conducts safety inspections of underground lines. The PAPUC is dedicated to reducing the number of annual line hits thereby reducing damage to utility facilities that can result in property damage and injuries.
The Mandatory Reporting Requirement enables the PAPUC to provide consistent enforcement, the application of a tiered penalty structure, with higher fines for repeat or egregious violations. First-time offenses result in warnings or moderate fines, but repeated or willful disregard for the law can incur substantial penalties. The enforcement actions of the PAPUC are possible through the additional data and perspectives obtained as part of the Mandatory Reporting Requirement. These measures serve as a deterrent and emphasize the seriousness of compliance.
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The Mandatory Reporting Requirement yielded balanced reporting among asset or facility owner or the locator and contractors enabled the PAPUC to provide consistent enforcement, yielded results indicating that the root cause of damage existed primarily (more than 50% of the instances) with owner or locator participation/compliance, map accuracy, locator performance or marking accuracy. Since SB 242 was signed into law in 2018, the ticket volume has increased approximately 8% from 2018 to 2024 while the damage rate has remained steady below 0.80%. (See Exhibit: . “Damages Reported to PA One Call as a Percentage of Total Tickets 1995 though December 2024”)
Damages Reported to PA One Call as a Percentage of Total Tickets 1995 though December 2024
Conclusion
The “811 Emergency” study published by the Infrastructure Protection Coalition (IPC) highlighted $61 billion annually in waste and excess costs embedded within the underground utility locate process. The report identified 13 Recommendations designed to dramatically reduce the waste and excess costs, including Recommendation 2 - Mandatory Damage Reporting. The IPC recommendation is highly aligned with both the Mandatory Reporting Requirement within SB 242 and the process followed by the PAPUC for enforcement. Refinements to the dig law accomplished the following:
- Increased dramatically the consistent reporting on each incident
- Streamlined the damage reporting process via electronic reporting
- Allowed for more accurate root cause analysis
- Resulted in a change in perception on contribution to damage
All states should follow Pennsylvania’s example of Mandatory Damage Reporting to make possible the achievement of increased reporting on each incident, more accurate root cause analysis, and change perception on contribution to damage. (Download a pdf of this study.)
Jay Rendos is a consultant with Continuum Capital, which provides management consulting, training, and investment banking services to the worldwide energy, utility, industrial, and infrastructure construction industry. Jay brings over thirty years of experience and works primarily with gas/electric utilities, power generators, pipeline companies, and energy companies to support the planning, design, construction, and operation of capital assets. He is a recognized expert in both natural gas utility construction, operations, and maintenance along with power generation facility construction and operations including very specialized experience in reduced and no carbon emission facilities powered by natural gas, nuclear, or renewable sources. Jay can be reached at (630) 981-4612 or