Title UT, Utilities Code

Sec. 251.059. ENTITLEMENT TO VOTE. The corporation's bylaws must provide that each director is entitled to one vote. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 18.17(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Sec. 251.060. DUTIES OF CORPORATION. The corporation shall develop and implement processes to: (1) maintain a registration of: (A) notification centers as provided by Section 251.101(a)(3); (B) operators who elect to convert facilities to Class A facilities under Section 251.005(…

Sec. 251.061. CONTRACT FOR STATEWIDE TOLL-FREE NUMBER AND CALL ROUTER SYSTEM. (a) The corporation shall solicit proposals for the contract to establish and operate the statewide toll-free telephone number and the call router system by using a request for proposals process that in…

Sec. 251.062. FEES AND RATES. (a) Except as provided by this section, the corporation may not, for any reason, impose an assessment, fee, or other charge, including a charge for inputting data, against an operator. (b) Before January 15 of each year, a Class A facility operator s…

Sec. 251.101. NOTIFICATION CENTER. (a) A notification center is a legal entity that: (1) operates a notification system capable of serving excavators and operators statewide; (2) is created to: (A) receive notification of an intent to excavate and of damage to an underground faci…

Sec. 251.102. GENERAL DUTIES OF NOTIFICATION CENTER. A notification center shall: (1) operate 24 hours a day every day of the year; (2) have the capability to receive emergency information 24 hours a day from excavators and disseminate the information as soon as it is received to…

Sec. 251.103. RECORDS. (a) A notification center shall maintain for not less than four years a record to document: (1) the receipt of a notice of: (A) intent to excavate; (B) damage to an underground facility; (C) an emergency excavation; and (D) an extraordinary circumstance; (2…

Sec. 251.104. INSURANCE. A notification center shall, at all times, maintain a minimum of $5 million professional liability and errors and omissions insurance to cover duties prescribed by this chapter. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 18.17(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Sec. 251.105. FEES AND CHARGES. (a) A notification center that notifies another notification center under Section 251.102(2) or (3) or Section 251.153(b) shall recover an amount not exceeding the actual cost of providing the notice from the notification center receiving the notic…

Sec. 251.106. PAYMENTS TO CORPORATION. Each time a notification center receives a call from an excavator under Section 251.151, the notification center shall pay the corporation five cents. The corporation shall waive this charge for the remainder of any year in which the corpora…

Sec. 251.107. DUTY TO PARTICIPATE IN NOTIFICATION CENTER. (a) Each operator of a Class A underground facility, including a political subdivision of this state, shall participate in a notification center as a condition of doing business in this state. (b) Each operator of a Class …

Sec. 251.151. DUTY OF AN EXCAVATOR. (a) Except as provided by Sections 251.155 and 251.156, a person who intends to excavate shall notify a notification center not earlier than the 14th day before the date the excavation is to begin or later than the 48th hour before the time the…

Sec. 251.152. INFORMATION INCLUDED IN NOTICE. The excavator shall include in the notice required under Section 251.151: (1) the name of the person serving the notice; (2) the location of the proposed area of excavation, including: (A) the street address, if available, and the loc…

Sec. 251.153. DUTY OF NOTIFICATION CENTER. (a) At the time an excavator provides a notification center with the excavator's intent to excavate, the notification center shall advise the excavator that water, slurry, and sewage underground facilities in the area of the proposed exc…

Sec. 251.154. NOTIFICATION BY AN EXCAVATOR. (a) A person required to provide notice under this chapter is considered to have provided the notice when the person delivers the required information and a notification center receives that information within the time limits prescribed…

Sec. 251.155. EXCEPTION IN CASE OF EMERGENCY; OFFENSE. (a) Section 251.151 does not apply to an emergency excavation that is necessary to respond to a situation that endangers life, health, or property or a situation in which the public need for uninterrupted service and immediat…

Sec. 251.156. OTHER EXCEPTIONS TO DUTY OF EXCAVATORS. (a) Section 251.151 does not apply to: (1) interment operations of a cemetery; (2) operations at a secured facility if: (A) the excavator operates each underground facility at the secured facility, other than those within a th…

Sec. 251.157. DUTY OF OPERATOR TO PERSON EXCAVATING. (a) Each Class A underground facility operator contacted by the notification system shall mark the approximate location of its underground facilities at or near the site of the proposed excavation if the operator believes that …

Sec. 251.158. DUTY OF OPERATOR IN EVENT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCE. (a) The deadline prescribed by Section 251.157(a) does not apply if the operator experiences an extraordinary circumstance due to an act of God, including a tornado, a hurricane, an ice storm, or a severe f…

Sec. 251.159. EXCAVATION DAMAGE. (a) If an excavation operation results in damage to an underground facility, the excavator shall immediately contact the underground facility operator to report the damage. (b) If the excavator is not certain of the operator's identity, the excava…

Sec. 251.201. CIVIL PENALTY OR WARNING LETTER. (a) An excavator that violates Section 251.151, 251.152, or 251.159 is liable for a civil penalty of not less than $500 or more than $1,000. If a county attorney or district attorney decides not to bring an action to recover the civi…

Sec. 251.2011. WARNING LETTER AND SAFETY TRAINING COURSE. (a) The board of directors of the corporation shall establish a procedure to ensure that the board verifies that an excavator has violated Section 251.151, 251.152, or 251.159 before giving the excavator a warning letter a…

Sec. 251.202. ALLOCATION OF CIVIL PENALTY. (a) Fifty percent of the civil penalty collected under Section 251.201 shall be transferred to the county treasurer of the county prosecuting the action and 50 percent of the civil penalty collected under Section 251.201 shall be transfe…

Sec. 251.203. CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person commits an offense if: (1) the person without authorization from the owner or operator of the facility intentionally removes, damages, or conceals a marker or sign giving information about the location of a Class A underground facility…

Sec. 252.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: (1) "Abandoned pole attachment" means a pole attachment: (A) for which a cable operator has not paid, for a period of 90 consecutive days or more, an invoice for rental charges presented by an electric cooperative, unless there is a bon…

Sec. 252.002. APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter applies to a pole attachment affixed by a cable operator to a pole owned and controlled by an electric cooperative. This chapter does not apply to a pole attachment regulated by the Federal Communications Commission under 47 U.S.C. Se…

Sec. 252.003. LIMITATION. (a) This chapter does not constitute state certification under 47 U.S.C. Section 224(c). If a court determines that this chapter constitutes certification under that section, this chapter is not enforceable and has no effect. (b) This chapter may not be …

Sec. 252.004. CONSTRUCTION. Unless defined by Section 252.001, the technical terms and phrases in this chapter shall be construed using their usual and customary meanings in the electric and cable industries. Added by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1077 (H.B. 3355), Sec. 1, eff.…

Sec. 252.005. POLE ATTACHMENT CONTRACTS; ACCESS REQUIREMENTS. (a) A cable operator and an electric cooperative shall establish the rates, terms, and conditions for pole attachments, including the cooperative's application and permitting processes by a written pole attachment cont…

Sec. 252.006. TRANSFER OF ATTACHMENTS. (a) An electric cooperative shall provide a cable operator with notice when the electric cooperative is installing a new pole to replace an existing pole to which a pole attachment is affixed due to the rerouting, maintenance, or upgrading o…

Sec. 252.007. ABANDONED POLE ATTACHMENTS; REMOVAL. (a) A cable operator shall remove the operator's abandoned pole attachment from an electric cooperative's pole not later than the 60th day after the date the cable operator receives from the electric cooperative a written request…

Sec. 252.008. EASEMENTS; INDEMNITY. (a) A cable operator is responsible for obtaining all rights-of-way and easements necessary for the installation, operation, and maintenance of the operator's pole attachments. (b) An electric cooperative is not required to obtain or expand a r…

Sec. 253.0001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: (1) "Broadband provider" means an entity that provides broadband service either directly or through an affiliate that uses the entity's communications facilities, regardless of whether the entity: (A) provides additional services in ad…

Sec. 253.0002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies to a pole attachment that is used wholly or partly to provide broadband service and affixed by a broadband provider to a pole owned and controlled by an electric cooperative. This chapter does not apply to a pole attachment regul…

Sec. 253.0003. CONSTRUCTION OF CHAPTER. (a) This chapter does not abrogate or affect a right or obligation of a party to a pole attachment contract entered into by a broadband provider and an electric cooperative before September 1, 2021. (b) This chapter does not limit a right o…

Sec. 253.0004. NO STATE CERTIFICATION; NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY. (a) This chapter does not constitute state certification under 47 U.S.C. Section 224. If a court determines that this chapter constitutes certification under that section, this chapter is not enforceable and has no e…

Sec. 253.0005. CONSTRUCTION OF TERMS AND PHRASES. Technical terms and phrases in this chapter, other than those defined by Section 253.0001, shall be construed using the term's or phrase's usual and customary meanings in the electric and broadband industries. Added by Acts 2021, …

Sec. 253.0006. COST-BASED NONRECURRING CHARGES. Nonrecurring charges authorized by this chapter must be cost-based. Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 659 (H.B. 1505), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2021. SUBCHAPTER B. ACCESS TO POLES

Sec. 253.0101. APPLICATION FOR POLE ACCESS. A broadband provider may not access a pole owned by an electric cooperative for the purpose of placing a pole attachment unless the provider applies for that access. Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 659 (H.B. 1505), Sec. 3, eff.…

Sec. 253.0102. USE OF POLE ATTACHMENTS FOR MULTIPLE SERVICES. A broadband provider that attaches a pole attachment under this chapter may use the attachment for any service delivered over the provider's facilities, including cable service. Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch.…

Sec. 253.0103. NONDISCRIMINATORY ACCESS; MODIFICATION OR REPLACEMENT TO ACCOMMODATE ATTACHMENT. (a) Except as provided by this chapter, an electric cooperative shall provide a broadband provider with nondiscriminatory access to a pole that the cooperative owns or controls. (b) Ex…

Sec. 253.0201. CONTRACTS FOR POLE ATTACHMENTS. (a) An electric cooperative that owns a pole may require a broadband provider that attaches a pole attachment to the pole under this chapter to enter into a contract for access to the pole. (b) The terms and conditions of a contract …

Sec. 253.0202. RATES, TERMS, AND CONDITIONS FOR POLE ATTACHMENT. (a) A broadband provider and an electric cooperative shall establish the rates, terms, and conditions for pole attachments by a written pole attachment contract executed by both parties. (b) The rates, terms, and co…

Sec. 253.0203. CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS AND MEDIATION. (a) If a broadband provider and an electric cooperative are unable to agree to a new pole attachment contract before the expiration date of an existing contract, the rates, terms, and conditions of the existing contract and the …

Sec. 253.0401. TRANSFER OF ATTACHMENTS. (a) Before an electric cooperative installs a new pole to replace an existing pole due to the rerouting, maintenance, or upgrading of the electric distribution system, the cooperative shall provide notice of the replacement to each broadban…

Sec. 253.0402. ABANDONED POLE ATTACHMENTS; REMOVAL. (a) A broadband provider that receives a written request from an electric cooperative to remove an abandoned pole attachment owned by the provider from a pole owned by the cooperative shall remove the attachment not later than t…