Underground Safety Board recommends education, fines for multiple excavation violations

The Underground Safety Board on April 19, 2025, found violations in a series of excavation-related cases and recommended mandatory completion of the board's education course in each case, and in several cases recommended monetary penalties to be forwarded to the Contractors State License Board.

The board's actions followed staff investigations into incidents that included excavations without an 8-1-1 ticket, failures to call emergency services after hitting natural gas facilities and failures to notify the regional notification center within required time windows. Board members said the measures were intended to reinforce safety practices and prompt better compliance with existing law.

Board members adopted enforcement recommendations case-by-case. In each matter the board first voted that the record showed a violation, then considered corrective action. Where the board recommended a civil penalty it referred the monetary recommendation to the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) and required the respondent to complete the Underground Safety Board's education course.

Votes at a glance (selected items):

- WJ Landscape Maintenance (investigation D231510004): The board found violations including excavating without first contacting the regional notification center and failing to notify emergency services after damaging a subsurface gas facility. The board voted to recommend mandatory completion of the board education course and a $1,000 fine be forwarded to the Contractors State License Board. Will Jamieson, owner of WJ Landscape Maintenance, told the board the company has added monthly safety meetings and weekly tailgate talks and asked the board to limit corrective action to education. "Since then, we now have monthly safety meetings and weekly tailgate talks in which we've incorporated gas line safety as well as excavation safety," Jamieson said.

- Advanced Erosion Services (investigation 23NTS0019): The board found the respondent excavated without a ticket and failed to call emergency services after damage. The board recommended mandatory completion of the board education course and a $1,000 penalty to be presented to CSLB.

- Patriot Construction Services (investigation C232960003): The board found violations for excavating without first contacting the regional notification center and for not notifying emergency services after damage to a gas facility. The board recommended mandatory completion of the board education course and a $1,000 penalty to the Contractors State License Board.

- Novostar Construction Corporation (case CAS-01557/related file): The board found multiple violations, including failing to call emergency services and failing to notify the regional notification center within required time windows, and recommended mandatory completion of the board education course and a $1,500 penalty to CSLB. (Board discussion noted repeated contact attempts and the respondent's lack of cooperation during parts of the investigation.)

- City of Huntington Beach / Huntington Beach Fire Department (investigations 23NTS024 and related): The board found failures to provide an electronic positive response prior to the legal start date/time and failures to cooperate with staff. The board recommended mandatory completion of the board education course, a $1,000 recommendation to the Huntington Beach City Council, and directed staff to draft a letter asking the city to explain its EPR procedures and to provide updated contact information.

- Pasha Real Estate Brokerage and related respondents (investigations C2499906 and related): One NOPD was withdrawn; on other related matters the board accepted respondents' offers to enroll in the board education course and required corrective action. For examples where real estate signage required excavation, the board ordered respondents to provide a written corrective-action plan describing future procedures for sign installation that requires excavation and to include 8-1-1 notification; the board set a 30-day deadline for that plan.

Why it matters: The board's findings reiterate the legal obligation to call the regional notification center (the 8-1-1 system) before excavation, to call emergency services when damage to a gas facility occurs, and to notify the regional center within statutory timeframes after damage. Board members repeatedly emphasized that education alone had not produced sufficient change in some parts of the industry and that monetary penalties need to be part of the enforcement mix to prompt compliance.

What the board did: For each contested matter the board (1) deliberated whether the record supported one or more violations; (2) if the board found violations, it considered sanctions under the board's authority and state regulations; and (3) when appropriate, it recommended financial penalties to the Contractors State License Board or to local jurisdictions and required mandatory completion of the board's education course.

Public and industry voices: Contractors and industry representatives spoke during the enforcement comment periods. James ("Jim") Wingate urged the board to account for precedent when deciding whether to treat buried vaults as requiring tickets; Steve Cleaver of Pacific Gas & Electric's damage prevention and compliance team urged the board to account for emergency-response needs in its sanctions; and Armando Loera, president of Advanced Erosion Services, said his firm had implemented revised reporting policies and asked the board to consider the nature of grading versus excavation when making findings.

Next steps: Monetary recommendations and sanctions that are outside the Underground Safety Board's direct fine authority were forwarded to the Contractors State License Board or to local governing bodies as appropriate for final disposition. The board required completion of its education course and, in some cases, corrective-action plans with specified deadlines. Staff will monitor compliance and report back as required.