[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 5, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H3171-H3172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NATIONAL SAFE DIGGING MONTH

  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the 
rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1278) in support and 
recognition of National Safe Digging Month, April, 2010, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1278

       Whereas each year there are over 200,000 incidences of 
     unintentional damage to underground utility infrastructure 
     (including pipelines, electrical, telecommunications, water, 
     and sewer lines), many as a result of an individual who fails 
     to have underground utilities lines located before digging;
       Whereas there are 2,534,000 miles of pipelines, of which 
     2,036,800 are for distribution of natural gas, 323,600 for 
     transmission of natural gas, and 173,500 for hazardous 
     materials including oil;
       Whereas some utility lines are buried only a few inches 
     underground, making them easy to strike even during shallow 
     digging projects;
       Whereas failure to locate underground utility lines before 
     digging may have unintended consequences such as service 
     interruption, environmental damage, property damage, personal 
     injury, and even death;
       Whereas State one-call notification programs allow 
     homeowners and excavators to have underground utilities 
     located and marked before conducting digging or excavation 
     activities;
       Whereas Congress first established minimum standards for 
     State one-call notification programs and authorized 
     appropriations for Federal grants to improve State one-call 
     notification programs in the Transportation Equity Act for 
     the 21st Century in 1998;
       Whereas Congress required a 3-digit, nationwide toll-free 
     number be established to be used by State one-call systems in 
     the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002;
       Whereas in 2005, ``811'' was designated as the nationwide 
     one-call number for homeowners and excavators to call before 
     conducting digging or excavation activities;
       Whereas in the Pipeline Inspection, Protection, 
     Enforcement, and Safety Act of 2006 Congress authorized the 
     Secretary of Transportation to issue civil penalties to any 
     owner or operator of a pipeline facility who fails to respond 
     to a request to mark an underground pipeline facility, any 
     individual who fails to use a State's one-call system prior 
     to digging or excavation activities, or any individual who 
     disregards location information or markings while digging or 
     excavating;
       Whereas the one-call system has helped reduce the number of 
     digging damages caused by failure to locate underground 
     utilities prior to digging from 57 percent in 2004 to 37.5 
     percent in 2009;
       Whereas the 1,400 members of the Common Ground Alliance, 
     who are dedicated to ensuring public safety, environmental 
     protection, and the integrity of services by promoting 
     effective damage prevention practices, promote the national 
     ``Call Before You Dig'' campaign to increase public awareness 
     about the importance of calling 811 to identify the exact 
     location of underground utility lines;
       Whereas the Common Ground Alliance has designated April as 
     National Safe Digging month in order to increase awareness of 
     safe digging practices across the country and to celebrate 
     the anniversary of the designation of 811 as the national 
     ``Call Before You Dig'' number; and
       Whereas April is the beginning of the peak of excavation 
     projects around the Nation: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports the 
     goals and ideals of National Safe Digging Month, and 
     encourages all homeowners and excavators throughout the 
     country to call 811 before conducting any digging or 
     excavation activities.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Shuster) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on 
H. Res. 1278.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1278, a resolution to designate 
the month of April as National Safe Digging Month. The Pipeline and 
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, PHMSA, along with many 
States and stakeholders across the Nation, have come together to 
support this designation. If approved, it will also mark the 3-year 
anniversary of 811 as the national ``Call Before You Dig'' telephone 
number.
  This year, throughout the entire month of April, PHMSA is encouraging 
all homeowners and contractors to call 811 before they dig to prevent 
fatalities, injuries, environmental dangers, and other possible loss of 
critical infrastructure and services. According to PHMSA, excavation 
damage continues to be a leading cause of serious pipeline incidents. 
In fact, each year there are hundreds of thousands of underground 
utility lines damaged through excavation in the United States, 35 
percent of which occur as a direct result of people not calling before 
digging.
  According to PHMSA, the one-call notification system has helped 
reduce the percentage of excavation damages caused by failure to locate 
underground utilities prior to digging, from 57 percent in 2004 to 35 
percent in 2009. Clearly, these numbers speak for themselves. Indeed, 
it is extremely important to call 811, the Call Before You Dig line, 
and it is such an easy way for individuals and companies to save lives, 
the environment, our Nation's infrastructure, and even save money and 
investments. I encourage my colleagues to support this resolution.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

[[Page H3172]]

  I rise in support of House Resolution 1278, a resolution expressing 
support of the goals and ideals of National Safe Digging Month.
  I introduced this resolution to encourage people to call 811, the 
nationwide Call Before You Dig number, before conducting any digging or 
excavating activities and to help draw attention to the problem of 
excavators and homeowners unintentionally damaging underground 
utilities.
  Throughout the month of April, U.S. Department of Transportation, 
State utility regulators, and damage prevention stakeholders such as 
the Common Ground Alliance took part in public awareness campaigns to 
alert people of the dangers of not having underground utilities located 
before digging.
  Each year more than 256,000 utility lines are unintentionally damaged 
during excavation activities resulting in fatalities, injuries, loss of 
utility service, and environmental damage. Many of these unintentional 
strikes could have been easily avoided if somebody had dialed 811 and 
had all of the underground utility lines in the area marked.
  When a homeowner or contractor calls 811, he is connected to a call 
center that works with all of the local utility companies to have any 
underground utilities in the vicinity of the project located and 
marked. Many utilities, such as cable and telephone lines, are buried 
only a few inches underground, so even a project that involves only a 
shallow digging can result in damage to a utility line.
  Every weekend, hundreds of homeowners lose cable or telephone service 
because they unintentionally cut a line while putting in a new mailbox 
or planting a new tree. While loss of cable or telephone service can be 
inconvenient, unintentionally striking an underground pipeline or 
electrical line can be deadly. There are more than 2 million miles of 
pipelines and more than 1 million of underground electric lines in the 
United States. These utilities are usually buried deeper than 
telecommunication lines, but they can be easily struck during road 
construction and home improvement projects.
  Spring marks the beginning of the construction season and the time of 
year when most homeowners are taking on home improvement and 
landscaping projects. As contractors and homeowners move forward with 
their projects, it is important that they remember to call 811 and have 
underground utilities located before they begin any activity that 
involves digging or excavating.
  Since I will be home this weekend planting trees in my yard, I have 
called my family, and I hope they have made the call to 811. So if my 
son, Garrett, is listening to me, make sure you dial 811 before I get 
home so when we plant the trees this weekend, we are doing all of the 
right things. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this 
resolution.
  I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1278, 
introduced by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), which 
expresses support and recognizes April as National Safe Digging Month. 
H. Res. 1278 also celebrates the third anniversary of 8-1-1, the 
nationwide telephone number that all homeowners and contractors must 
use before conducting digging or excavation activities.
  According to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 
Administration (PHMSA), excavation damage continues to be a leading 
cause of serious pipeline incidents. More than 256,000 underground 
utility lines are damaged during excavation each year in the United 
States; 35 percent of those incidents are due to homeowners and 
contractors not calling 8-1-1 before they dig.
  We created this one-call notification system in 2002 in the Pipeline 
Safety Improvement Act (P.L. 107-355), which directed the Secretary of 
Transportation and the Federal Communications Commission to establish a 
three-digit, nationwide toll-free telephone number for excavators to 
call to dispatch companies that operate underground utilities in the 
area to mark the exact location of their utilities. This helps 
excavators avoid hitting the utilities when digging and any fatalities, 
injuries, environmental damage, or loss to critical infrastructure and 
services that could occur.
  According to PHMSA, 8-1-1 has helped reduce the number of excavation 
damages caused by failure to locate underground utilities prior to 
digging from 57 percent in 2004 to 35 percent in 2009.
  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House 
Resolution 1278, to recognize April as National Safe Digging Month. The 
Common Ground Alliance, an association dedicated to ensuring public 
safety, environmental protection, and the integrity of services by 
promoting effective damage prevention practices, has designated April 
as National Safe Digging Month in order to increase awareness of safe 
digging practices across the country. This resolution also celebrates 
the anniversary of the designation of 811 as the national `Call Before 
You Dig' number.
  I would like to recognize Congressman Shuster for his hard work 
authoring this resolution and bringing it to the Floor. The United 
States has over 2,500,000 miles of pipelines, of which 2,200,000 are 
for distribution of natural gas, 320,500 for transmission of natural 
gas, and 168,900 for hazardous materials including oil. Unfortunately, 
each year there are over 200,000 incidences of unintentional damage to 
underground utility infrastructure (including pipelines, electrical, 
telecommunications, water, and sewer lines). Many of these incidents 
are a result of an individual who fails to have underground utilities 
lines located before digging, as some utility lines are buried only a 
few inches underground.
  To prevent these accidents, Congress required a 3-digit, nationwide 
toll-free number be established to be used by State one-call systems in 
the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002. These one-call 
notification programs allow homeowners and excavators to have 
underground utilities located and marked before conducting digging or 
excavation activities. I am pleased to say that the one-call system has 
helped reduce the number of digging damage caused by failure to locate 
underground utilities prior to digging from 57 percent in 2004 to 37.5 
percent in 2009. And as April is the beginning of the peak of 
excavation projects around the Nation, I am pleased to join Congressman 
Shuster and the Common Ground Alliance in raising awareness about this 
topic.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my distinguished 
colleagues join me in supporting H. Res. 1278.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1278, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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