Legislative Intent

TITLE 55 PROPERTY IN GENERAL CHAPTER 22 UNDERGROUND FACILITIES DAMAGE PREVENTION 55-2201. Legislative intent. It is the intent of the legislature in enacting this chapter to create a system of stakeholder-driven education and enforcement addressing the prevention of damage to underground facilities, to assign responsibilities for locating and keeping accurate records of underground facility locations, for preventing and repairing damage to existing underground facilities, for collecting, storing, analyzing and disseminating data related to underground facility damage and excavator downtime events, and for protecting the public health and safety from great personal harm including death, property damage and interruption in vital services caused by damage to existing underground facilities. It is further the intent of the legislature that the state of Idaho, by adopting this chapter, reaffirms its primacy over underground facility damage prevention programs that protect the health, safety and property of its citizens and that, by adopting this chapter, Idaho precludes the pipeline and hazardous materials safety administration of the United States department of transportation from determining that Idaho’s damage prevention enforcement is inadequate pursuant to 49 CFR part 198, as adopted on July 9, 2015, and effective on January 1, 2016, and prevents any subsequent federal administrative enforcement actions that would result from such a formal determination.