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Bill

H 3571

Underground Facility Damage Prevention

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Brandon Guffey and 5 co-sponsors

SC's Underground Facility Damage Prevention Act tightens rules: requires large-project location agreements, notices, periodic damage reporting, and updated emergency procedures.

Act No. 65
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Bill Summary · H 3571

Summary — H 3571: Underground Facility Damage Prevention (Act No. 65)

Status: Enacted (Act No. 65). Signed by Governor 05/22/2025; effective date 05/22/2026. Introduced: 02/27/2025.

Purpose

The act revises South Carolina’s underground facility damage prevention law (S.C. Code Sections 58-36-20 through 58-36-120). Its purpose is to clarify definitions and procedures, strengthen notification and emergency response requirements, create a tailored process for large, long-duration excavations, improve reporting and enforcement, and reduce incidents of damage to underground infrastructure.

Key provisions and changes

  • Definitions added/updated (Section 58-36-20): adds or clarifies terms including “large project,” “notice,” “pre-marking,” “private facility,” “project initiator,” “soft digging,” and revises “excavate,” “excavator,” “operator,” and “facility.”
    • Notable threshold: a “large project” is work expected to exceed 90 days and that involves more locating work than can be completed under standard locate rules; for highway/utility projects it generally applies to projects >1 mile linear or >2-square-mile polygon in areas with existing underground facilities.
  • New process for large projects (Section 58-36-75): requires a “large project facility location agreement” between excavators, locators, and facility owners setting out coordination, locating schedules, responsibilities, and other project-specific protocols.
  • Notification center / operator obligations (Section 58-36-50 & 58-36-60):
    • Clarifies duties of the operators’ association notification center and consequences if an operator fails to be a member.
    • Provides for additional notice timing for certain excavations/demolitions and defines “commencement date” for notices.
    • Confirms “positive response” and pre-marking expectations.
  • Operator reporting and civil penalties (Section 58-36-70 & 58-36-120):
    • Operators must submit quarterly reports of damage caused by an excavation/demolition.
    • Clarifies payment obligations for civil penalties and establishes a complaint/enforcement process through the Attorney General’s office.
  • Emergency excavations (Section 58-36-80):
    • Establishes additional notification and response requirements in emergencies.
    • Makes knowingly false claims of an emergency a violation of the chapter.
  • Damage reporting (Section 58-36-90): excavators must immediately report any known damage to both the notification center and the facility operator.
  • Design requests (Section 58-36-100): adds references to large projects when requesting facility information for planning.
  • Exemptions (Section 58-36-110): some current exemption language is struck/updated (e.g., clearer treatment of governmental right-of-way maintenance and limits for single-family property owners).

Who is affected

  • Operators (utilities, communications, municipalities, cooperatives, etc.): new reporting, membership and locate coordination obligations.
  • Excavators (contractors, developers, public agencies, and in limited cases property owners): stricter notice, immediate damage reporting, and participation in large-project agreements where applicable.
  • Locators and notification center(s): expanded duties and coordination for large projects and emergencies.
  • Attorney General’s Office: receives complaint authority for enforcement actions under the statute.

Procedural/timeline notes

  • The bill underwent committee amendments (Judiciary; Labor, Commerce & Industry) and passed both chambers (unanimous House roll calls recorded).
  • Act No. 65 was signed 05/22/2025 and becomes effective 05/22/2026, providing approximately one year for affected parties to prepare for new requirements.

Practical impact

The act is intended to reduce underground utility strikes by improving clarity (definitions and roles), increasing pre‑project coordination—especially for complex, long-duration “large projects”—tightening emergency protocols, and strengthening reporting and enforcement mechanisms. Operators and contractors should review internal procedures, update notice/locate workflows, and prepare for the required large‑project agreements and quarterly damage reporting before the 05/22/2026 effective date.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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