SB 254 forces new statewide planning‑and‑design exchange; board sets accelerated workshop schedule

Senate Bill 254, signed into law as an urgency measure and effective Sept. 19, 2025, expanded the Dig Safe Act to require a statewide planning‑and‑design information exchange and mandatory participation by operators (excluding Caltrans). At the Nov. 18 meeting, board staff briefed members on the law's new duties and proposed a compressed development timetable to meet the statutory mandate.

SB 254 requires the board to adopt regulations by July 1, 2027, that will specify timelines, data requirements and standard processes for exchanging planning and design information among designers, excavators, and operators. The law also requires the regional notification centers to facilitate planning‑and‑design exchanges and to provide excavation notifications to tribes upon request if work occurs in culturally affiliated areas. The board summarized a stakeholder engagement plan that includes a January 2026 workshop on data requirements and formats, a February 2026 workshop on standard ticketing processes, and a February 2026 timeline survey to establish reasonable submission and review timeframes for planning and design requests.

Board members stressed that the work spans technical, financial and policy issues: who pays for collecting and maintaining planning data; how design requests differ from excavation tickets; whether design requests should be free or billed; and how to ensure tribal access to project plans. Staff emphasized the need to engage designers, public‑works agencies, utilities, contractors, and tribal representatives early and often because the regulation will move faster than a typical rulemaking process.

What happens next: staff will convene workshops and surveys in early 2026, coordinate with the regional notification centers on pilot implementations, and return to the board with draft regulatory language shaped by stakeholder input.