Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate advances bill to require marking of sewer laterals to reduce cross‑boring risks
Summary
Lawmakers advanced Senate Bill 94, which would require identification/marking of new or replaced sewer lines so excavators and utility operators can locate them and avoid cross‑boring incidents that can cause gas infiltration and explosions; the bill moved to third reading.
Senate Bill 94, presented by Senator Greiner on Feb. 4, would require that newly installed or replaced sewer laterals be identified and mapped so future excavators and utility crews can find them and avoid dangerous cross‑boring incidents.
Greiner described the public‑safety rationale at length, explaining that plastic sewer laterals have no uniform depth and that cross‑boring by gas or utility crews can damage lines, allowing gas to back up into a home and ignite. He cited a Utah case in which a house exploded and killed a utility worker and noted similar incidents in Oklahoma. "Over the last number of years, people have devised a way to do cross boring ... The problem is that it possibly could clip one of your plastic sewer lines," Greiner said, and urged the body to pass a straightforward marking requirement effective Aug. 1, 2009.
Supporters said the requirement is an inexpensive preventive step and pointed to industry mapping services (Bluestake) to aid identification. Senator Maine spoke in support, saying prior stakeholder feedback had been addressed. The bill passed floor action and was placed on the third‑reading calendar for final passage.
Why it matters: the bill aims to reduce a low‑probability but high‑consequence safety risk by improving the locateability of sewer laterals during excavation and utility work.
What happens next: SB94 will appear on the third‑reading calendar for final consideration.
