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Board advances planning-and-design exchange work and seeks input on locator workload thresholds
Summary
Staff briefed the board on workshops and surveys to build a planning-and-design information exchange and presented findings that ticket count alone is an unreliable locator-workload metric; staff asked the board to weigh thresholds, eligible submitters, and coordination tools ahead of rulemaking.
Board staff on April 13 updated members on progress developing a planning-and-design information exchange and on analysis to support locator-workload threshold rulemaking.
Miss Hastings summarized stakeholder feedback from two workshops and surveys: attendees want a predictable, well-defined process with clear minimum information requirements for design requests, uniform (or scoped) response times, and qualified-user verification or nondisclosure agreements for sensitive utility data. Staff presented research recommending that regulations align with recognized standards (for example, ASCE 38) and asked the board for direction on who should qualify to submit design requests and where thresholds should apply.
On locator workload, staff reported results from a 50-state scan and a stakeholder survey showing that no single numeric threshold is widely adopted. Instead, respondents preferred hybrid approaches and flexible tools such as additional working days, phasing, and project coordination. Staff noted backlog duration and near-term operating data as more useful indicators than raw ticket counts.
James Wingate of USA North provided a field example: a small rural telephone company received 63 tickets in February but then 470 tickets in a single day for pole work — "obviously, they can't handle that," he said, illustrating volatility risks and the need for project-level coordination or scheduling tools.
Board members discussed options including phased reporting, thresholds tied to project complexity or area, and design-request eligibility limited to qualified designers or project sponsors. Members emphasized balancing useful information access for designers with operator concerns about data security and the costs of responding. Staff will continue stakeholder outreach and conduct targeted analysis to develop proposed regulatory language ahead of statutory deadlines.
