Bill Text: IN SB0212 | 2012 | Regular Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: Utility facility relocation.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Enrolled - Dead) 2012-02-23 - Signed by the Governor [SB0212 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2012-SB0212-Engrossed.html
Citations Affected: IC 8-23; noncode.
Synopsis: Utility facility relocation. Requires the Indiana department
of transportation (INDOT) to amend its rules concerning utility facility
relocation to require utilities to provide contact information for
authorized representatives for purposes of highway and local
improvement projects. Requires INDOT to publish and update an
electronic database of authorized utility representatives for purposes of
utility facility relocation. Urges the legislative council to assign to the
regulatory flexibility committee the task of studying utility facility
relocation in local improvement projects.
Effective: Upon passage; July 1, 2012.
(HOUSE SPONSOR _ CHERRY)
January 4, 2012, read first time and referred to Committee on Utilities & Technology.
January 19, 2012, amended, reported favorably _ Do Pass.
January 23, 2012, read second time, ordered engrossed.
January 24, 2012, engrossed. Read third time, passed. Yeas 50, nays 0.
January 31, 2012, read first time and referred to Committee on Roads and Transportation.
February 9, 2012, reported _ Do Pass.
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type, additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
utilities.
(1) develop, continuously update, and implement:
(A) long range comprehensive transportation plans;
(B) work programs; and
(C) budgets;
to assure the orderly development and maintenance of an efficient statewide system of transportation;
(2) implement the policies, plans, and work programs adopted by the department;
(3) organize by creating, merging, or abolishing divisions;
(4) evaluate and utilize whenever possible improved transportation facility maintenance and construction techniques;
(5) carry out public transportation responsibilities, including:
(A) developing and recommending public transportation
policies, plans, and work programs;
(B) providing technical assistance and guidance in the area of
public transportation to political subdivisions with public
transportation responsibilities;
(C) developing work programs for the utilization of federal
mass transportation funds;
(D) furnishing data from surveys, plans, specifications, and
estimates required to qualify a state agency or political
subdivision for federal mass transportation funds;
(E) conducting or participating in any public hearings to
qualify urbanized areas for an allocation of federal mass
transportation funding;
(F) serving, upon designation of the governor, as the state
agency to receive and disburse any state or federal mass
transportation funds that are not directly allocated to an
urbanized area;
(G) entering into agreements with other states, regional
agencies created in other states, and municipalities in other
states for the purpose of improving public transportation
service to the citizens; and
(H) developing and including in its own proposed
transportation plan a specialized transportation services plan
for the elderly and persons with disabilities;
(6) provide technical assistance to units of local government with
road and street responsibilities;
(7) develop, undertake, and administer the program of research
and extension required under IC 8-17-7;
(8) allow public testimony in accordance with section 17 of this
chapter whenever the department holds a public hearing (as
defined in section 17 of this chapter); and
(9) adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to reasonably and cost effectively
manage the right-of-way of the state highway system by
establishing a formal procedure for highway improvement
projects that involve the relocation of utility facilities by
providing for an exchange of information among the department,
utilities, and the department's highway construction contractors.
(b) Rules adopted under subsection (a)(9):
(1) shall not unreasonably affect the cost, or impair the safety or
reliability, of a utility service; and
(2) must require a utility to provide information concerning
all authorized representatives of the utility for purposes of
highway improvement projects and improvement projects
undertaken by local units of government.
(c) A civil action may be prosecuted by or against the department,
a department highway construction contractor, or a utility to recover
costs and expenses directly resulting from willful violation of the rules.
Nothing in this section or in subsection (a)(9) shall be construed as
granting authority to the department to adopt rules establishing fines,
assessments, or other penalties for or against utilities or the
department's highway construction contractors.
(d) Based on information provided by utilities under rules
described in subsection (b)(2), the department shall establish and
publish on the department's Internet web site a searchable
database of authorized representatives of utilities for purposes of
improvement projects that involve the relocation of utility
facilities. A utility that provides information described in
subsection (b)(2) shall:
(1) update the information provided to the department on an
annual basis; and
(2) notify the department of any change in the information not
more than thirty (30) days after the change occurs.
(b) As used in this SECTION, "improvement project" means a project undertaken by a unit of local government that involves the relocation of a utility's facility.
(c) The general assembly urges the legislative council to assign the committee the task of studying the topic of utility facility relocation in improvement projects, including:
(1) the appropriate management of an improvement project, including preconstruction communications and planning, scheduling, development of work plans, and expectations and obligations of parties to the improvement project;
(2) the appropriateness of applying rules of the Indiana department of transportation concerning utility facility relocation codified at 105 IAC 13 to improvement projects; and
(3) the appropriateness of creating a civil right of action for purposes of improvement projects similar to the civil right of action created at IC 8-23-2-5(c) for highway improvement projects undertaken by the Indiana department of transportation.
(d) If the committee is assigned the topic described in subsection
(c), the committee shall issue a final report to the legislative council
containing the commission's findings and recommendations, if any,
not later than November 1, 2012.
(e) This SECTION expires June 30, 2013.
