Title 56, Title 56. Public Service Companies

This chapter shall apply to every certificated water or sewer public utility company or water and sewer public utility company (i) with gross annual operating revenues of less than one million dollars or (ii) that is owned by the property owners' association of the subdivision se…

A small water or sewer utility shall be required to furnish reasonably adequate services and facilities, subject to the regulation of the Commission. The charges made by any small water or sewer utility for any service rendered shall be (i) uniform as to all persons or corporatio…

A. A small water or sewer utility shall make a copy of its current rates, charges, fees, rules and regulations available for public inspection during regular business office hours in its designated business office where bills can be paid. B. Unless a small water or sewer utility …

A. Upon application to the Commission by at least 25 percent of all customers affected by a rate change or by 250 affected customers, whichever number is lesser, or by the small water or sewer utility itself, or by the Commission, upon its own motion, a hearing shall be held afte…

A. The Commission may, either upon petition of two-thirds of the affected customers or upon petition of its staff or upon a petition of the Board of Health, appoint a receiver to operate a small water or sewer utility which is unable or unwilling to provide adequate service to it…

A. Every small water or sewer utility subject to this chapter shall be subject only to the following provisions: §§ 56-234.4, 56-236, 56-239, 56-245, 56-245.1, 56-246, 56-247.1 through 56-248, 56-249 through 56-249.2, 56-250, 56-254, 56-256 through 56-265, and Chapters 1 (§ 56-1 …

This chapter may be cited as the "Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act."

A. As used in this chapter: "Abandoned" means no longer in service and physically disconnected from a portion of the underground utility line that is in use for storage or conveyance of service. "Contract locator" means any person contracted by an operator specifically to determi…

Nothing in this chapter shall apply to: 1. Any hand digging performed by an owner or occupant of a property. 2. The tilling of soil for agricultural purposes. 3. Any excavation done by a railroad when the excavation is made entirely on the land which the railroad owns and on whic…

A. Every operator, including counties, cities and towns, but excluding the Department of Transportation, having the right to bury underground utility lines shall join the notification center for the area. B. Every notification center shall be certified by the Commission. The Comm…

A. No person shall make or begin any excavation or demolition without first submitting a locate request to the notification center. Submission of a locate request shall be deemed to be notice to each operator who is a member of the notification center. The notification center sha…

A. Each designer, who prepares drawings and plans for projects requiring excavation or demolition work, may notify the notification center and provide the center with the information required by § 56-265.18 and the designer's professional license number. B. If a designer notifies…

The project owner shall provide copies of those portions of the drawings that affect the respective operator with underground utility lines in the project area who have responded in accordance with § 56-265.17:3.

An operator, upon notification by a designer in accordance with § 56-265.17:1, shall: 1. Respond to the designer's request for underground utility line information within 15 working days in accordance with subdivisions 2, 3, and 4; 2. Provide designers with the operator's name, t…

Every locate request and designer notice served by any person on the notification center shall contain the following information: 1. The name of the individual serving such notice. 2. The specific location of the proposed excavation or demolition. If a specific description of the…

A. If a proposed excavation or demolition is planned in such proximity to the underground utility line that the utility line may be destroyed, damaged, dislocated, or disturbed, the operator shall mark the approximate horizontal location of the underground utility line on the gro…

A. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, the protection of sewer system laterals and private sewer laterals shall be implemented as provided in this section. When an excavation is to take place within a public right-of-way or public sewer easement, the se…

A. 1. Subject to the provisions of subdivision 2, it shall be unlawful for any public utility to construct, enlarge or acquire, by lease or otherwise, any facilities for use in public utility service, except ordinary extensions or improvements in the usual course of business, wit…

Notwithstanding the provisions of § 56-257.1, any plastic or other nonmetallic utility lines installed underground on and after July 1, 2002, shall be installed in such a manner as to be locatable by the operator for the purposes of this chapter.

In marking the approximate location of underground utility lines or proposed excavation if required pursuant to subsection E of § 56-265.17 the American Public Works Association color codes shall be used.

A. The notification center shall, upon receiving notice by a person, notify all member operators whose utility lines are present in the area of the proposed project, excavation, or demolition. The notification center shall also indicate the names of those operators being notified…

A. Any person planning excavation or demolition in such proximity to the underground utility lines that the utility lines may be destroyed, damaged, dislocated, or disturbed may request a meeting with the operator whose underground utility lines are located in the area of the pro…

Employees of the Virginia Department of Transportation acting within the scope of their employment, and certain employees of those counties, cities, and towns which maintain their streets or roads in accordance with § 33.2-319 or § 33.2-366 performing street or roadway maintenanc…

A. No excavator shall begin any excavation or demolition before reviewing and heeding the positive response marking status of the excavation area. Any person excavating within two feet on either side of the staked or marked location of an operator's underground utility line or de…

Notwithstanding the provisions of § 56-265.15:1, any person, as defined in § 56-265.15, who knowingly and intentionally excavates after being notified by a representative of the Commission of a determination that such excavation constitutes an immediate threat to safety or proper…

A. 1. If any underground utility line is damaged as a proximate result of a person's failure to comply with any provision of this chapter, that person shall be liable to the operator of the underground utility line for the total cost to repair the damaged facilities as that cost …

Every operator having the right to install underground utility lines shall install such underground utility lines at depths required by accepted industry standards. Such standards shall include, as applicable, standards established by the National Electrical Safety Code, Bellcore…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to abrogate the immunity from suit accruing to the Commonwealth, her political subdivisions, agencies, officers or employees, or the officers or employees of her political subdivisions and agencies, as exists prior to July 1, 1980.

Compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall not exempt any operator or person from the operation of any other applicable laws, ordinances, regulations, or rules of governmental and regulatory authorities having jurisdiction, unless exempted by such other laws, ordinances…

A. Whenever a certificate is required pursuant to § 56-265.2 for the construction of a pipeline for the transmission or distribution of manufactured or natural gas, the Commission shall consider the effect of the pipeline on the environment, public safety, and economic developmen…

A. No public utility shall begin to furnish public utility service within the Commonwealth without first having obtained from the Commission a certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing it to furnish such service. Any company engaged in furnishing a public utilit…

A. The Commission shall enforce the provisions of the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act as set out in this chapter. The Commission may promulgate any rules or regulations necessary to implement the Commission's authority to enforce this chapter. B. Nothing in this chapter…

A. The Commission shall establish an advisory committee consisting of representatives of the following entities: Commission staff, utility operator, notification center, excavator, municipality, Virginia Department of Transportation, Board for Contractors, and underground line lo…

A. The Commission may, by judgment entered after a hearing on notice duly served on any person not less than 30 days before the date of the hearing, impose a civil penalty not exceeding $10,000 for each violation of subsection A of § 56-265.17 and $5,000 for all other violations …

A. Any company proposing to construct facilities after January 1, 1995, ultimately intended to make water or sewer service available to more than fifty residential building lots shall, prior to construction or financial commitments therefor, organize a public service corporation …

Except as provided in § 56-265.4:4, no certificate shall be granted to an applicant proposing to operate in the territory of any holder of a certificate unless and until it shall be proved to the satisfaction of the Commission that the service rendered by such certificate holder …

If any municipal corporation or other governmental body, having legal authority by charter or other law, shall desire to supply electric public utility service, or construct, enlarge or acquire, by lease or otherwise, any electric utility facilities, outside its political boundar…

A. Any city or town in the Commonwealth which provides electric utility service for the use of its residents may, at any time following annexation of additional territory to such city or town, acquire the distribution system facilities of the electric utility serving the annexed …

A. The Commission may grant certificates to competing telephone companies, or any county, city or town that operates an electric distribution system, for interexchange service where it finds that such action is justified by public interest, and is in accordance with such terms, c…

A. Any company desiring to make an exempt sale, transmission or service under subdivision (b) (4) of § 56-265.1 shall notify the Commission of its plans for furnishing such gas service. The Commission shall make a determination of whether the customers' facilities are located wit…

A. In this section the following terms shall have the following meanings: "Affiliated interest" shall have the same meaning as set forth in § 56-76 and shall be applied in this statute to non-utility gas service providers. "Commercial customer" means any person that purchases non…

A. No municipal corporation that provides natural gas service shall discontinue such service to any residential, commercial, or industrial customer prior to satisfying the following requirements: 1. Provide at least three years' notice, both by bill insert and by publication in a…

Certificates issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be effective from the date of issuance unless a different date be specified therein and shall remain in effect until terminated as herein provided. 1950, p. 600.

The Commission may, by its order duly entered after hearing, held after due notice to the holder of any such certificate and an opportunity to such holder to be heard, at which hearing it shall be proved that such holder has willfully made a misrepresentation of a material fact i…

From any order of the Commission suspending, revoking, altering or amending any certificate, the holder thereof shall have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia, as a matter of right, as in other cases of appeals from the Commission. 1950, p. 601.

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to or in any way affect any proceeding before the State Corporation Commission on or before July 1, 1950, and shall not confer on said Commission any jurisdiction not now vested in it with respect to any such proceeding. 1950, p. 601…