Committee advances bill to tighten utility locate response for designers and surveyors

A Senate committee on Transportation and Energy approved SB 340, a bill aimed at improving responsiveness in the state's one-call utility‑locate system for designers and surveyors.

The sponsor told the committee that the excavator side of the one-call system generally functions, but the design and survey side routinely fails to produce timely locates. The sponsor said designers sometimes request locates multiple times — in some cases one to a dozen requests — and receive no response, forcing project teams to guess where buried utilities lie and later redesign in the field when contractors obtain accurate locates.

Why it matters: The sponsor said the current disconnect slows projects, drives up costs, and increases the risk of missing utilities during construction. SB 340 would set a clearer timetable for responding to design/survey locate requests and impose penalties if locates are not provided within a specified multiple of the current allotment (the transcript describes penalty thresholds but does not list a statutory citation or exact penalty amounts).

Procedure and outcome: Senator Weaver moved the bill and Senator Livingston seconded. The sponsor invited stakeholders to a 1:30 p.m. meeting for further input. The clerk recorded a roll call and the committee approved the bill; the transcript records individual 'present' responses but does not provide a numeric vote tally.

Next steps: The sponsor encouraged stakeholder participation in the follow-up meeting; the hearing record did not list a floor schedule or precise statutory language for penalties.