
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 4, 1995                   TAG: 9501040096
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

NEW PROVISIONS GIVE TEETH TO `MISS UTILITY' LAW

A new law imposes tough sanctions for excavators who fail to make sure there are no underground utilities in their way before they dig.

The Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act, also known as the ``Miss Utility'' law, as of the start of the new year requires excavators to call a toll-free line at least 48 hours before digging. Also, public utilities must determine whether lines are in the way and, if so, mark them clearly.

Those provisions are unchanged from when the law was first enacted 15 years ago. But the 1994 General Assembly rewrote the law to allow the State Corporation Commission to assess civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation.

The law also makes excavators liable for punitive damages of three times the cost of replacing a damaged line, up to $10,000, for failing to call the Miss Utility notification center.

- Associated Press

by CNB