Current Status Bill Number:3959 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19950406 Primary Sponsor:A. Young, All Sponsors:A. Young, Klauber and Robinson Drafted Document Number:bbm\10064jm.95 Residing Body:House Current Committee:Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee 26 HLCI Subject:High Voltage Power Line Safety Act
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
House 19950406 Introduced, read first time, 26 HLCI
referred to Committee
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TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 10 TO CHAPTER 27, TITLE 58 SO AS TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN ACTIVITIES IN PROXIMITY OF HIGH VOLTAGE OVERHEAD LINES AND PROVIDE PENALTIES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 27, Title 58 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 58-27-1410. This article may be cited as the `South Carolina High Voltage Power Line Safety Act.'
Section 58-27-1420. As used in this article:
(1) `Authorized person' means:
(a) an employee of an electric utility which generates, transmits, or delivers electricity;
(b) an employee of state, county, or municipal agencies which have authorized circuit construction on or near the poles or structures of an electric utility;
(c) an employee of an industrial plant whose work relates to the electrical system of the industrial plant but only while working on or near those poles or structures which belong to the plant;
(d) an employee of a cable television or communication services company or an employee of a contractor of a cable television or communication services company if specifically authorized by the owner of the poles to make cable television or communication services attachments;
(e) an employee or agent of state, county, or municipal agencies or electric utilities which have or whose work relates to overhead electrical lines or circuit construction or conductors on poles or structures of any type;
(f) a person or business entity doing work as an independent contractor for those designated in subitems (a) through (e) and their employees while doing that work.
(2) `Unauthorized person' means a person or business entity other than an authorized person performing duties with respect to facilities which he or it owns or operates or on which he or it has contracted to work.
(3) `High voltage' means voltage in excess of six hundred volts measured between conductors or between a conductor and the ground.
(4) `Overhead line' means all bare or insulated utility conductors installed above ground which are considered energized until the owner indicates otherwise and the line has been visibly grounded.
(5) `Electric utility' includes electrical utilities and municipally-owned systems, the South Carolina Public Service Authority, and electric cooperatives.
(6) `Warning sign' means a weather resistant sign of not less than seven inches by ten inches with a yellow background and black lettering reading as follows: DANGER - UNLAWFUL TO OPERATE THIS EQUIPMENT WITHIN A DISTANCE TO HIGH VOLTAGE LINES PROHIBITED BY FEDERAL OSHA REGULATIONS.
Section 58-27-1430. (A) Unless danger against contact with high voltage overhead lines has been effectively guarded against as provided by Section 58-27-1440:
(1) An unauthorized person or business entity may not perform individually or through an agent or employee, or require another person to perform, a function or an activity upon land, a building, a highway, or other premises if at any time during the performance of the function or activity it is possible one or both of the following apply:
(a) The person performing the function or activity may move or be placed within a distance of a high voltage overhead line prohibited by regulations promulgated by the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA.
(b) It is possible part of a tool or material used by the person performing the activity or function may be brought within a distance of a high voltage overhead line, prohibited by federal OSHA regulations, during the performance of the function or activity.
(2) An unauthorized person or business entity individually, through an agent or employee, or as an agent or employee may not operate mechanical equipment or hoisting equipment, part of which is capable of vertical, lateral, or swinging motion within a distance of a high voltage overhead line prohibited by OSHA regulations.
(B) The provisions of the National Electric Safety Code apply in the interpretation of this article.
Section 58-27-1440. (A) If an unauthorized person or business entity desires temporarily to carry on a function, an activity, work, or an operation in closer proximity to a high voltage overhead line than permitted by this article, the person or business entity responsible for performing the work promptly shall notify by certified mail the electric utility operating the line. The notice must be sent to the person or office designated by the utility to receive notice. The notice must be on a form provided by the utility. The form may require information reasonably necessary for the utility to respond to the request for arrangements but at a minimum must require the name of the person whom the utility may contact for further information and an address and phone number at which that person may be contacted. All offices of the electric utility must have available the forms on which notice is to be provided and the name and address of the person or entity to which the notice is to be sent.
(B) The person or business entity may perform the work only after satisfactory mutual arrangements, including coordination of work and construction schedules, have been made between the electric utility operating the liens and the person or business entity responsible for performing the work. Arrangements may include, but are not limited to, placement of temporary mechanical barriers, not attached to the high voltage line, to separate and prevent contact between material, equipment, or persons and the high voltage overhead lines or temporary de-energization and grounding or temporary relocation or raising of the high voltage overhead lines. The utility shall make the final determination as to which arrangements are most feasible and appropriate under the circumstances. However, the utility may determine that no arrangements may be made to allow the proposed activity to be carried out in a reasonably safe manner, and the utility may refuse to enter into an agreement on that basis.
(C) The person or business entity responsible for performing the work in the vicinity of the high voltage overhead lines shall pay actual expenses of the electric utility operating the high voltage overhead lines in providing arrangements as provided in this section, except in instances where the electric utility operating the lines has installed lines within a distance set by federal OSHA regulations of an existing fixture or structure after the fixture or structure has been in place at the permanent location. The utility and the person or business entity responsible for performing the work shall enter into a written agreement specifying the manner in which payment is to be made and the arrangements to be implemented. The electric utility may require that payment be made before providing the arrangements.
(D) Unless otherwise agreed to, the electric utility shall commence construction for providing arrangements within five working days of receipt of payment. Once initiated, the clearance work continues during normal business hours without unreasonable interruption to completion, unless natural causes require emergency work to reestablish service to existing customers. The person or business entity responsible for the work may not commence work until receipt of notice from the utility that the arrangements have been implemented.
Section 58-27-1450. No unauthorized person, firm, corporation, or association, individually, through an agent or employee, or as an agent or employee, may operate or cause to be operated a crane, a derrick, a power shovel, a drilling rig, a pile driver, hoisting equipment, or similar apparatus, part of which is capable of vertical, lateral, or swinging motion, that may reach high voltage overhead electric lines, unless:
(1) The owner, agent, or employer responsible for the operation of the equipment has posted and maintains a warning sign legible at twelve feet and placed:
(a) within the equipment readily visible to the operator of the equipment when at its controls;
(b) on the outside of the equipment in a number and location readily visible to mechanics or other persons engaged in the work operations;
(2) A person must be designated to observe clearance of the equipment and give timely warning for all operations where it is difficult for the operator to maintain the desired clearance by visual means.
Section 58-27-1460. (A) An unauthorized person or business entity or agent of the person or business entity who violates this article may be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars to be imposed by the court in favor of the State to be deposited in the general fund.
(B) A person or business entity responsible for the work who violates the requirements of this article and whose subsequent activities within the vicinity of high voltage lines result in damage to utility facilities or result in injury or damage to a person or property is strictly liable for injury or damage. The person or business entity also shall indemnify the utility which owns or operates the high voltage lines against all claims, if any, for personal injury including death, property, damage, service interruptions, costs and expenses, and attorneys' fees, incurred in defending the claims resulting from work in violation of this article.
Section 58-27-1470. This article does not apply to construction, reconstruction, operation, or maintenance by an authorized person of overhead electrical or communication circuits or conductors and their supporting structures or electrical generating, transmission, or distribution systems or communication systems, to the collection of trash or refuse using equipment designed for that purpose, to highway vehicles or agricultural equipment which in normal use incidentally may pass within the clearance limitation specified by OSHA, or to governmental entities responding to an emergency situation."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.