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Committee hears testimony to correct timing oversight in Budget Adjustment Act, extend marking window to 72 hours
Summary
The House Appropriations Committee heard testimony supporting an amendment to Budget Adjustment Act Section 71 to align the required marking window for utilities and excavators under Title 30, Chapter 86 to 72 hours, correcting an apparent statutory omission from last session.
The Vermont House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 17 heard testimony supporting a technical correction to the Budget Adjustment Act that would extend the marking timeframe in the state's underground utility damage prevention law from 48 to 72 hours for both utilities and excavators.
Bill Jordan, director of engineering at the Vermont Department of Public Service, told the committee his testimony "is in support of the changes to the Budget Adjustment Act Section 71 which proposes to change Title 30, Chapter 86, utility and underground utility damage prevention system" to make the waiting period consistent across the statute. He said the intent of last session's change was to set a 72-hour timeframe, but the amendment adopted last year inadvertently changed only one provision (section 7004) while leaving related sections (7006 and 7006A) at 48 hours.
Jordan said the longer window is intended to give utilities sufficient time to mark underground facilities and that the wait time for excavators and utilities "should be the same." He told the committee that stakeholders including Vermont Gas Systems, some electric distribution utilities and DigSafe System Incorporated support aligning the statute to 72 hours. Jordan also said he had been told other groups listed as supporters last year back the change but that his direct contacts were with Vermont Gas Systems, certain electric utilities and DigSafe.
Committee members asked whether the department had written confirmations of support from all the organizations Jordan named. Jordan replied he had direct confirmation from Vermont Gas Systems, some electric distribution utilities and DigSafe, and that he had heard through Vermont Gas Systems that other organizations including the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, the Associated General Contractors and the New England Connectivity and Telecommunications Association supported the change.
No formal motion or vote occurred during the meeting. Committee leadership indicated the proposal appeared straightforward and described the item as a research/budget adjustment oversight to be tracked in their work.
Why it matters: the change would harmonize several sections of Title 30, Chapter 86 so excavators do not have to wait longer than utilities to begin work after DigSafe clearance, a point Jordan framed as a safety and operations correction. The committee recessed to continue other Budget Adjustment Act work later in the morning.
