Recap of Sunshine 811 Legislative Committee Meeting
By Kari Hebrank , Carlton Fields
Sunshine 811 lobbyist Chris Lyon gave a legislative update focusing on a few bills that are relevant to the Sunshine 811 Board . He discussed legislation that would have increased the threshold for sovereign immunity , i . e ., limited liability , that government entities have currently ; however , the legislation did not pass . He also discussed HB 275 which adds to and increases the penalties for critical infrastructure , including gas pipelines , and SB 366 , the Gas Safety Act , which increases the penalties for striking a pipeline to match the federal penalties . Lastly , Chris spoke about the Sunshine 811 legislative initiative that would have increased the timeline for marking locates from the current 2 days to 3 days and the timeline for response from 2 days to 3 days that was opposed by NUCA of Florida and ultimately did not pass .
The Sunshine 811 Legislative Committee had a brief discussion about the issues surrounding locates and damage prevention , including excessive ticket renewals . There was a suggestion to have contractors estimate when they will start work on a project to give adequate notice to the locate companies , rather than calling in a ticket request on a project that may have a commencement timetable farther out in the future . There was also discussion relating to developing a different timeline for large project tickets and for marine and waterway projects and the problems surrounding enforcement and markings being destroyed prior to a start date on projects .
Discussion also focused on why NUCA of Florida was opposed to extending the timelines for responses and markings . Since the current timelines are not met consistently nor enforced — no consequences to the locate company nor the utility owner when the timelines aren ’ t met-- NUCA of Florida felt strongly that the proposed legislation was merely a “ band-aid ” and would not fix all the issues surrounding the 811 “ Call before you dig ” process . Another suggestion was to have a “ ticket life ” of 30 days . Eventually , the Legislative Committee and NUCA of Florida agreed to develop an ad hoc small group of stakeholders and Board members to evaluate the current statutes relating to damage prevention and make recommendations for legislation that both groups could support . To this end , NUCA of Florida is seeking contractor members to participate in the workgroup . If interested , please reach out to Kari Hebrank at khebrank @ carltonfields . com .
2 DITCHMEN • MAY 2024