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Texas 811, 1 Call Board and damage‑prevention councils describe scale, tech and funding constraints
Summary
Texas 811 and 1 Call Board representatives told the subcommittee the statewide notification center handles millions of requests annually and has new tools and training programs, but that mandating broad new membership (especially among Class B water utilities) would require phased implementation and funding.
William Geisse, a board member of the Underground Facility Notification Corporation (the 1 Call Board of Texas), said the 811 system was created to centralize notifications and reduce accidental strikes. He told the subcommittee the state currently uses a single notification center, Texas 811, and explained the Class A/Class B distinction: Class A facilities (electric, gas, telecom, etc.) are required by law to participate; Class B facilities (water, sewer, slurry) have voluntary participation unless they elect to convert in writing.
Chris Stovall, president of Texas 811, described the center's operational scale: the system processes roughly 4,000,000 locate requests a year; on busy days Texas 811 can receive up to 25,000 inbound requests and sends an average of 5.0–5.4 outbound notifications per request (about 100,000 outbound notifications daily). Stovall said 82.5% of requests come through a web portal and the average speed of answer on phone requests is 28 seconds. He noted recent product investments: a mobile app that reduces ticket submission to five taps, a dig clinic with virtual reality training and a Guardian program that uses fiber sensing for real‑time activity detection.
Scott Sasejima (Damage Prevention Council of Texas) described education and outreach work: the DPC runs 23 chapters aligned with TxDOT districts, hosts excavation safety days and has trained thousands through in‑person events and online courses, including work funded by a PHMSA technical assistance grant. The DPC's recent stakeholder survey indicated broad support among respondents for mandatory 811 participation (92% in favor among those surveyed), though the council noted barriers for many smaller water systems.
On funding, witnesses stated that Texas 811 operates on a per‑notification fee that was recently raised to $1.15 per outbound notification and that Texas 811 receives no ongoing state appropriation; some damage‑prevention councils receive federal or state grants for education and mapping assistance.
Witnesses told members that Texas 811's platform and staffing are built to scale but urged lawmakers to plan phased, funded onboarding for any expansion into many Class B utilities to avoid overwhelming the center and to account for differing operational realities across water utilities.
