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Board hears public comment on AB 825, ticketing challenges and notification-center updates
Summary
Public commenters and industry representatives told the board that AB 825 and high ticket volumes will require clearer regulations. Regional notification centers reported ticket-volume increases and introduced an automatic no-response feature; USA North and Dig Alert outlined outreach and Spanish-language education efforts.
At its July 14 meeting the California Underground Safety Board heard public comment on pending state legislation and received updates from the regional notification centers (Dig Alert/Big Alert and USA North). The board also completed routine business including election of a vice chair and assignment of a member to the ticket-processing committee.
Public comment focused on AB 825 and operational burdens that may follow if the Legislature enacts requirements for additional ticket types and tribes' pre-excavation access to information. Mike Donlin, a consultant for United Contractors, told the board that the legislation "sounds like it's gonna make there'll be cases where contractors will have to pull a ticket more than 48 hours prior to digging" and urged clarity to avoid excessive complexity for small excavators: "we gotta make this clear or it's just not gonna work." Todd Bloemstein of the Southern California Contractors Association described the bill as having "essentially 3 parts": tribal access to information, regulatory requirements for high-volume ticket situations, and creation of a separate "design ticket" for engineers and designers outside the 8-1-1 system.
Board procedure items: the board elected Member Lawson as vice chair (roll-call vote adopted as recorded in the meeting minutes). The board also addressed committee membership and assigned the newest board member, John Simonian, to the ticket-processing committee after members discussed committee balance. Industry commenters voiced concern about committee composition: James Wingate of USA North urged the board not to place two utility-operator representatives on the same ticket-processing committee and said, "I think 1 of them should be an excavator in my opinion." Board members discussed tradeoffs between staff facilitation of workshops and the desire for excavator perspective on committees.
Notification-center and outreach updates: Dig Alert and USA North reported year-to-date ticket volume increases and described operational changes:
- USA North said ticket volume was up 10.9% year to date through June 30, and noted staffing challenges that temporarily lengthened average speed of answer; the center recently hired additional agents.
- Dig Alert/Big Alert said new-ticket volume is up about 6% versus last year through June, and noted that many tickets are created online; staff highlighted an automatic "no-response" process (a 05:00 daily auto-response when no electronic positive response has been received) that affects reporting of online ticket totals.
Both centers described outreach and education efforts. USA North highlighted a Spanish-language outreach specialist and a joint pipeline-safety presentation program with Paradigm for first responders; they also noted community outreach at events such as the LA County Fair and a San Jose Earthquakes soccer match. Board members asked whether the northern notification center's outreach model could be replicated in Southern California; staff and industry representatives cited budget and staffing constraints as the primary barrier.
Why it matters: AB 825, as discussed by commenters, would add obligations the board will eventually need to implement through rulemaking if enacted. The committee assignment discussion matters because ticket-processing rules are the subject of the anticipated regulatory work the board will carry out to implement any statutory changes and to manage high-volume ticketing problems cited by industry.
Next steps: staff said it will continue to coordinate with operators and notification centers on public education, will report back on committee membership adjustments if needed, and will track AB 825 as it moves through legislative committees. The board recessed and planned to reconvene the next morning to finish its agenda.
Ending: the board emphasized outreach and education (including Spanish-language materials) and signaled that committee composition will be revisited if industry feedback shows a need for stronger excavator representation.
