HomeMy WebLinkAboutD-1.1. Accept or Reject a Recommendation from Safety BoardSCHEDULED ITEM D-1
TO: HONORABLE CHAIRPERSON AND MEMBERS OF THE AZUSA UTILITY BOARD
FROM: TIKAN SINGH, GENERAL MANAGER
DATE: NOVEMBER 28, 2022
SUBJECT: ACCEPT OR REJECT A RECOMMENDATION FROM THE CALIFORNIA UNDERGROUND
SAFETY BOARD REGARDING ACTIONS BY AZUSA LIGHT & WATER DURING A DIG
ALERT INCIDENT
BACKGROUND:
A letter was received from the California Underground Safety Board (“Safety Board”) dated September
27, 2022, which provided notice of a penalty recommendation involving Azusa Light & Water (“ALW”).
The Regional Notification Center System Law was established pursuant to Government Code Section
4216 et seq (“Law”). This Law requires operators of underground utilities, such as ALW, to provide
information to excavators regarding the location of any underground utilities which could be damaged by
excavation. An operator is required to respond to a request for such information once a notice is received
through the Regional Notification Center. Once any underground utilities are marked, a “Dig Alert Ticket”
is issued to permit the excavation to proceed. The Safety Board is charged with enforcing violations of
these requirements.
On November 8, 2021, the Safety Board received a damage notification from the Covina Irrigation
Company alleging that on October 15, 2021, there had been an excavation without a Dig Alert Ticket and
as a result, an unmarked irrigation pipe of the Company was damaged. The pipe is located under a
playground at the Whitcomb School in Glendora where a general and sub-contractor were installing a
canopy. There was evidently a miscommunication and/or misunderstanding as to whether the contractor,
subcontractor, lessee or property owner was responsible for obtaining the Dig Alert Ticket and as a result,
no one obtained a Dig Alert Ticket.
After the damage occurred, the general contractor then contacted the Regional Notification Center on
October 18, 2021 to obtain the required Dig Alert Ticket. ALW did not provide a response to that
notification. The representative of ALW took the position that there was no obligation to respond because
the subject property is not in ALW’s service area. It was also explained that ALW often gets notifications
that are outside of the ALW service area and ALW does not have enough personnel to respond to
notifications that do not involve ALW.
Approved
Utility Board
11/28/2022
Dig Alert Incident
November 28, 2022
Page 2
The Safety Board is taking the position that ALW should have responded that no facilities exist. The
Safety Board also recommended that ALW contact the member services department at the Safety Board
to update the ALW information so that ALW will stop getting out-of-area notifications in the future.
As recommended by the Safety Board, ALW has recently communicated with Dig Alert to update the
ALW information. ALW explained to Dig Alert that there are three departments responsible for
responding to a notification in the City: (1) Public Works; (2) Water Division; and (3) Electric Division.
Each department has its own shape file/information for the area it serves and each department responds
and manages notifications separately. In addition, beginning in August of 2022, the Electric Division has
retained Nobel Inc. to create a Positive Response Platform to manage incoming Dig Alert Tickets. These
actions have greatly reduced the number of out-of-service area requests for Dig Alert Tickets.
It should be noted that the alleged violation of the Dig Alert Ticket process by ALW occurred after the
accident happened and when the general contractor subsequently initiated procedures that should have
been completed before any excavation. In addition, Staff has reached out to the City Attorney Jeff Ferre
for legal guidance and for preparing this report.
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Utility Board take one of the following actions:
1. Under Government Code Section 4216.6(c) and (d), the Utility Board accepts the recommendation of
the Safety Board and requires the appropriate ALW representative to take the Safety Board’s online
education course;
or
2. Under Government Code Section 4216(c) and (d), the Utility Board reject the recommendation of the
Safety Board based on the following findings:
(a) ALW has already communicated with Dig Alert to provide separate shape files for the different
service areas of Public Works, Water Division, and Electric Division since each department
responds and manages notifications separately;
(b) A firm has been retained to create a Positive Response Platform to manage incoming Dig Alert
Tickets; and
(c) Since the omission was not due to a lack of knowledge or experience with Dig Alert Tickets,
requiring an ALW representative to devote time and resources to take the Safety Board’s online
education course would not be useful.
ANALYSIS:
The Safety Board issued a Decision Regarding Notice of Probable Violation to ALW, dated August 8,
2022. The Decision states that ALW failed to provide a required operator response to the notification
submitted by the contractor. The Safety Board referred to Government Code Section 4216.3(a)(1)(A)
which provides that an operator shall do one of the following in response to a Dig Alert Ticket request:
Dig Alert Incident
November 28, 2022
Page 3
(i) Locate and field mark subsurface installations;
(ii) Provide information to an excavator where the operator's active or inactive subsurface
installations are located; or
(iii) Advise the excavator it operates no subsurface installations in the area delineated for
excavation.
The Safety Board takes the position that under subsection (iii), ALW was required to advise the excavator
that ALW operates no subsurface installations in the area delineated for excavation.
Government Code Section 4216.6(d) provides that a local agency governing board may enforce this Law
on local agencies under its jurisdiction. The Safety Board has concluded that ALW is a local agency under
the jurisdiction of the Utility Board for the purposes of this Law and that the Utility Board has the final
say.
As a result, under Section 4216.6, the Utility Board has the authority to accept, amend, or reject the Safety
Board’s recommendation. The Safety Board’s recommendation is that an ALW representative take the
Underground Safety Board’s online education course on the Dig Alert Ticket process. This “sanction” is
based on the Safety Board’s findings that: (1) ALW cooperated with the investigation; (2) the violation
did not result in substantial injury or environment or property damage; and (3) ALW does not have a
history of similar violations.
FISCAL IMPACT:
To date, the fiscal impact has involved the time and expense of responding to the Safety Board’s
investigation and ruling. There will be additional costs if an ALW representative is required to take the
online course.
Prepared by: Reviewed and Approved:
Hien Vuong Tikan Singh
Assistant General Manager - General Manager
Electric Operations
Reviewed and Approved:
Sergio Gonzalez
City Manager