AN ACT Relating to improving safe excavation practices and preventing damage to underground utilities;
SB 5627 revises Washington’s Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act to strengthen safe excavation practices and reduce damage to buried infrastructure. The bill expands and clarifies definitions, updates notice and marking requirements for excavators and facility operators, and formalizes the role of the one-number locator service and its web-based platform. It also adds specific procedures for emergency excavations, design locating, transmission pipeline work, blind boring, and large projects, while requiring excavators to use reasonable care and safe work methods when digging near underground facilities.
The bill also creates or updates enforcement and accountability mechanisms. It authorizes civil penalties for certain violations, including higher penalties for damage involving hazardous liquid or gas facilities, and establishes misdemeanor liability for some excavation near transmission pipelines without proper notice or confirmation. It requires damage reporting, repair or relocation procedures, and allows prevailing parties to recover reasonable attorney’s fees in enforcement actions. The measure further directs the Utilities and Transportation Commission to contract with a statewide nonprofit to reduce underground utility damage, create a safety committee, review complaints, and recommend training, education, or penalties.
SB 5627 amends multiple sections of Washington law in chapter 19.122 RCW, the state’s underground utility damage prevention framework. It affects excavators, facility operators, pipeline companies, project owners, locators, and the Utilities and Transportation Commission by imposing more detailed duties for notice, marking, locating, and response timelines, and by adding rules for special situations such as emergency work, agricultural tilling, and work near transmission pipelines. It also changes enforcement provisions by expanding civil penalties, creating criminal exposure for certain pipeline-related violations, and establishing a statewide safety and complaint-review structure.
The overall sentiment around the bill appears strongly supportive. It passed the Senate committee unanimously, cleared the Senate on a 48-1 vote, and then passed the House committee and House floor unanimously or near-unanimously before receiving final Senate concurrence. The voting history suggests broad bipartisan agreement that improving excavation safety and preventing utility damage is a worthwhile policy goal.
There was little visible opposition in the recorded votes, but the bill does contain several points that could be contentious in implementation. Excavators and contractors may be concerned about added notice, marking, and compliance obligations, while facility operators may be affected by tighter response deadlines and expanded liability. The bill also draws a line between public safety enforcement and cost recovery, including provisions that prohibit certain fees for locating and marking while allowing compensation in some circumstances, which could create disputes over who bears the cost of compliance. The new criminal penalties for excavation near transmission pipelines and the expanded role of the commission and safety committee may also be areas of concern for regulated entities.