[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 102 (Monday, July 27, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S9041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IMPLEMENTING THE ONE-CALL LAW

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today I want to advise my colleagues on the 
implementation of the one-call notification (``call-before-you-dig'') 
law. This legislation, which was enacted into law as part of the 
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21), has taken 
almost three Congresses to complete. However, this Congress was able to 
accomplish the goal, thanks to bipartisan support and lots of 
cooperation among the affected entities: pipeline, telecommunications, 
cable and electric utility companies, state one-call systems and 
numerous others of good will.
  Last week the Department of Transportation's Office of Pipeline 
Safety announced a public meeting will be held on August 25-26. The 
purpose of this meeting is to begin organizing a process to collect 
information on the suggested ``best practices'' in one-call 
notification. All affected parties--underground facility operators, 
excavation contractors, railroads, one-call centers, states and 
municipalities--should participate in this meeting which will be a 
joint government-industry effort to bring together the best information 
on one-call notification practices, techniques, technologies and 
enforcement processes. Information on these best practices would then 
be shared among the various state one-call programs, in order to 
improve performance. The ink is barely dry on the law, and already 
implementation rulemaking has begun. This is great because this is all 
about the public's safety.
  This is enlightened federalism: the federal government working 
together with the states and the private sector to mutually decide how 
to protect our nation's vital underground infrastructure. The federal 
government does not dictate to state and local governments, nor does it 
try to fit private companies into some prescriptive regulatory scheme. 
That never works. Results come by working together.
  I congratulate the Senate Appropriations Committee for including a 
modest but sufficient amount of support for implementing the one-call 
bill in the FY 1999 Transportation Appropriations bill. I hope the 
House appropriators will follow this lead and an agreement can be 
reached in conference for funding to be available in the coming fiscal 
year.
  The one-call bill, which was enacted into law, provides that general 
revenues are to be used to improve our one-call systems. Realizing 
there is such a long list of beneficiaries from better one-call 
notification, this is only fair. I expect the appropriations process to 
reflect this principle of fairness and to fund this program from 
general revenues.
  We have all seen the tragedies and near tragedies that can occur when 
accidents happen at underground facilities. These accidents are 
preventable, and this law provides the surest way to present these 
accidents. I urge all affected parties to join in participating in the 
August 25-26 meeting to begin the cooperative, responsible process 
envisioned in the one-call law.
  Mr. President, I promised my good friend, former Senator Bill 
Bradley, when he left the Senate that his colleagues would continue the 
legislative effort to enact a one-call notification bill. This was 
accomplished this year. The terrible 1994 accident in Edison, New 
Jersey, showed Congress the kind of accident which must be prevented. 
Now a law has been enacted that can do the job. Let's continue to work 
together to carry it out.

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