Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter:

     (1) "Business day" means any day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a legal local, state, or federal holiday.

     (2) "Damage" includes the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of an underground facility, penetration, impairment, or destruction of any underground protective coating, housing, or other protective device, or the severance, partial or complete, of any underground facility to the extent that the project owner or the affected utility owner determines that repairs are required.

     (3) "Emergency" means any condition constituting a clear and present danger to life or property, or a customer service outage.

     (4) "Excavation" means any operation in which earth, rock, or other material on or below the ground is moved or otherwise displaced by any means, except the tilling of soil less than twelve inches in depth for agricultural purposes, or road and ditch maintenance that does not change the original road grade or ditch flowline.

     (5) "Excavation confirmation code" means a code or ticket issued by the one-number locator service for the site where an excavation is planned. The code must be accompanied by the date and time it was issued.

     (6) "Excavator" means any person who engages directly in excavation.

     (7) "Gas" means natural gas, flammable gas, or toxic or corrosive gas.

     (8) "Hazardous liquid" means: (a) Petroleum, petroleum products, or anhydrous ammonia as those terms are defined in 49 C.F.R. Part 195 as in effect on March 1, 1998; and (b) carbon dioxide. The utilities and transportation commission may by rule incorporate by reference other substances designated as hazardous by the secretary of transportation.

     (9) "Identified facility" means any underground facility which is indicated in the project plans as being located within the area of proposed excavation.

     (10) "Identified but unlocatable underground facility" means an underground facility which has been identified but cannot be located with reasonable accuracy.

     (11) "Locatable underground facility" means an underground facility which can be field-marked with reasonable accuracy.

     (12) "Marking" means the use of stakes, paint, or other clearly identifiable materials to show the field location of underground facilities, in accordance with the current color code standard of the American public works association. Markings shall include identification letters indicating the specific type of the underground facility.

     (13) "Notice" or "notify" means contact in person or by telephone or other electronic methods that results in the receipt of a valid excavation confirmation code.

     (14) "One-number locator service" means a service through which a person can notify utilities and request field-marking of underground facilities.

     (15) "Operator" means the individual conducting the excavation.

     (16) "Person" means an individual, partnership, franchise holder, association, corporation, a state, a city, a county, or any subdivision or instrumentality of a state, and its employees, agents, or legal representatives.

     (17) "Pipeline" or "pipeline system" means all or parts of a pipeline facility through which hazardous liquid or gas moves in transportation, including, but not limited to, line pipe, valves, and other appurtenances connected to line pipe, pumping units, fabricated assemblies associated with pumping or compressor units, metering and delivery stations and fabricated assemblies therein, and breakout tanks. "Pipeline" or "pipeline system" does not include process or transfer pipelines.

     (18) "Pipeline company" means a person or entity constructing, owning, or operating a pipeline for transporting hazardous liquid or gas. A pipeline company does not include: (a) Distribution systems owned and operated under franchise for the sale, delivery, or distribution of natural gas at retail; or (b) excavation contractors or other contractors that contract with a pipeline company.

     (19) "Reasonable accuracy" means location within twenty-four inches of the outside dimensions of both sides of an underground facility.

     (20) "Transfer pipeline" means a buried or aboveground pipeline used to carry hazardous liquid between a tank vessel or transmission pipeline and the first valve inside secondary containment at the facility provided that any discharge on the facility side of that first valve will not directly impact waters of the state. A transfer pipeline includes valves, and other appurtenances connected to the pipeline, pumping units, and fabricated assemblies associated with pumping units. A transfer pipeline does not include process pipelines, pipelines carrying ballast or bilge water, transmission pipelines, or tank vessel or storage tanks.

     (21) "Transmission pipeline" means a pipeline that transports hazardous liquid or gas within a storage field, or transports hazardous liquid or gas from an interstate pipeline or storage facility to a distribution main or a large volume hazardous liquid or gas user, or operates at a hoop stress of twenty percent or more of the specified minimum yield strength.

     (22) "Underground facility" means any item buried or placed below ground for use in connection with the storage or conveyance of water, sewage, electronic, telephonic or telegraphic communications, cablevision, electric energy, petroleum products, gas, gaseous vapors, hazardous liquids, or other substances and including but not limited to pipes, sewers, conduits, cables, valves, lines, wires, manholes, attachments, and those parts of poles or anchors below ground. This definition does not include pipelines as defined in subsection (17) of this section, but does include distribution systems owned and operated under franchise for the sale, delivery, or distribution of natural gas at retail.

[2007 c 142 § 9; 2005 c 448 § 1; 2000 c 191 § 15; 1984 c 144 § 2.]

NOTES:

     Intent -- Findings -- Conflict with federal requirements -- Short title -- Effective date -- 2000 c 191: See RCW 81.88.005 and 81.88.900 through 81.88.902.