Sec.16-345-2. Central clearinghouse

(a) The central clearinghouse shall be Call Before You Dig, Inc., a corporation established under the Connecticut Non stock Corporation Act, membership which is open to all public utilities which file with it the information required by sections 16-345-1 to 16-345-9, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(b) The certificate of incorporation, bylaws and written operating procedures of the central clearinghouse shall be subject to the approval of the Authority, and any changes to these shall be approved by the Authority prior to implementation of such changes.

(c) The central clearinghouse shall maintain written operating procedures, which shall detail the days and hours during which the notification system will be in full operation, and which also shall include procedures for:

(1) receiving, handling and promptly dispatching tickets to public utilities;

(2) determining the size of the proposed excavation or demolition that may be included as one ticket;

(3) advising the caller to contact individual public utilities which the caller suspects might be affected by emergency excavations or emergency blasting, and making available the emergency contact telephone numbers for the affected utilities;

(4) retaining records of all tickets to the central clearinghouse for a reasonable time period;

(5) establishing and maintaining a standard mapping system;

(6) providing for the institution of advertisement and educational programs to advise excavators, public agencies and public utilities affected by Chapter 293 of the Connecticut General Statutes, of the central clearinghouse’s terms and requirements; encouraging educational programs for the benefit of excavators and public utilities; and encouraging public and private agencies planning or undertaking construction projects to require design engineers to obtain underground utility information, identify such data on drawings, resolve facility conflicts with public utilities, and design projects to minimize adverse effects on facilities;

(7) confirming tickets as being processed by issuing a ticket number at the end of the excavator requesting a ticket from the central clearinghouse;

(8) providing for processing of emergency excavation or emergency blasting tickets during the hours when the central clearinghouse is not in operation;

(9) receiving, handling and dispatching tickets of areas of continual excavation; and

(10) such other actions as the Authority shall deem necessary to carry out the objectives of Chapter 293 of the Connecticut General Statutes and to protect public safety.

(d) No less than two months prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, the central clearinghouse shall propose to the Authority for approval an annual budget which shall:

(1) include billing rates that shall equitably allocate the costs of operating the notification system to those public utilities whose facilities are registered with the central clearinghouse; and

(2) be calculated so that the central clearinghouse shall neither make a profit nor suffer a loss, but may include reasonable reserves in accordance with standard accounting practices to address unforeseen circumstances, provided that if such a profit or loss does occur during any year, the budget for the next year shall be adjusted accordingly.

(e) The central clearinghouse shall maintain a current list of public utilities that participate in the central clearinghouse's service, and from time to time, as the Authority may require, file with the Authority the list, which list shall include for each such public utility:

(1) the name and title of the public utility's employee or representative responsible for receiving tickets of proposed excavations or demolitions;

(2) the business address of such employee;

(3) the normal business hours during which such employee may be contacted at the public utility;

(4) The business hours telephone number where such employee or representative may be reached;

(5) an email address to be used to contact such employee or representative during normal business hours;

(6) an emergency telephone number to be used to contact such employee or representative during a non-business hours emergency; and

(7) such other information about each such public utility as the Authority shall deem necessary to carry out the objectives of Chapter 293 of the Connecticut General Statutes and the public safety.

(f) The central clearinghouse shall maintain a list of registered utilities, contact persons or departments, and telephone contact numbers, for the purpose of providing information about underground utility facility locations related to the design of new facilities, surveying, bid preparation and other activities where excavation or demolition is not planned to commence within thirty (30) days or where final construction designs have not been completed such that it is premature to notify the central clearinghouse of a proposed excavation or demolition. Upon request by any parties engaged in design activities, the central clearinghouse shall determine which public utilities are registered in the area of a proposed project and make available the contact information of such public utilities.

(g) The central clearinghouse shall, from time to time, as the Authority may require, file with the Authority a list of the public utilities actually known to the central clearinghouse which have not filed with it the information required to be filed by the public utilities pursuant to sections 16-345-1 to 16-345-9, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(h) The central clearinghouse shall, from time to time, file with the Authority, such information that the Authority may require.

(Effective October 25, 1988; Amended August 23, 2000; Amended August 2, 2016)