STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5930
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 8, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. FUNKE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to defining exca-
vation for the purposes of the protection of underground facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph b of subdivision 1 of section 119-b of the public
2 service law, as amended by chapter 445 of the laws of 1995, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 b. "Excavation" means an operation for the purpose of movement or
5 removal of earth, rock, pavement or other materials in or on the ground
6 by use of mechanized equipment or by blasting, and includes, but is not
7 limited to, auguring, backfilling, boring, drilling, digging, grading,
8 plowing in, pulling in, fence post or pile driving, tree root removal,
9 saw cutting, jack hammering, trenching and tunneling; provided, however,
10 that the following shall not be deemed excavation:
11 (i) the movement of earth by tools manipulated only by human or animal
12 power [and];
13 (ii) the tilling of soil for agricultural purposes [shall not be
14 deemed excavation];
15 (iii) vacuum excavation;
16 (iv) saw cutting and jack hammering in connection with pavement resto-
17 ration of a previous excavation where only the pavement is involved; and
18 (v) low impact landscaping practices, including lawn aeration, edging
19 planting beds and injection fertilization and air spading of trees and
20 shrubs.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11363-01-7
