CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 141-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 2137

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

C.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 2137, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO A ONE CALL CENTER,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this bill is to create a One Call Center. The One Call Center will coordinate the dissemination of information on the location of underground utility, cable service and pipeline facilities. By facilitating communication between the owners of these facilities and the prospective excavators, who may inadvertently damage underground facilities during excavation, the One Call Center will significantly reduce the risk of service disruption and the consequent direct and indirect costs.

Under this bill, excavators will mark the area to be excavated and advise the One Call Center of the location of the proposed excavation site. Using this information, the One Call Center will notify any operator known to have a subsurface installation in the area. Once notified, the operator will advise the excavator of the number and location of subsurface installations and field mark the location. The excavator can then, with due care, excavate in the vicinity of the subsurface installation.

The actual operation of the One Call Center, consistent with the practice in other jurisdictions, will be contracted out to a private entity with appropriate experience in this highly technical undertaking.

The principal amendment made by your Committee on Conference is the designation of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) as the administrator of the One Call Center, whose duties include selection of the One Call Center provider, and a quasi-judicial role in resolving disputes.

The cost of the contract for the One Call Center, and for the administrative costs borne by PUC, will be covered by fees charged to the operators of the underground facilities. Excavators may also be assessed. The fees will be established by PUC and placed into the PUC Special Fund. In addition, government agencies will contribute and can recover this cost through their own fee structure. Civil penalties collected by the PUC, in the exercise of its quasi-judicial responsibilities, will also be deposited into the special fund. Because the startup costs will precede the receipt of any fees, initial funding of $300,000 is included.

Your Committee on Conference, in recognition of the need to review the actual operation of the One Call Center after a suitable period for the acquisition of data, has also amended the bill to establish an effective date of July 1, 2004, coupled with a repeal date of June 30, 2009.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2137, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2137, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, C.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

____________________________

RON MENOR, Co-Chair

____________________________

KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Co-Chair

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Co-Chair

____________________________

MICHAEL Y. MAGAOAY, Co-Chair

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Co-Chair