(1) There is hereby created a nonprofit corporation in the state of Colorado, referred to in this article 1.5 as the "notification association", which consists of all owners or operators of underground facilities. All owners and operators shall join the notification association and shall participate in a statewide program that utilizes a single, tollfree telephone number 811 that excavators can use to notify the notification association of pending excavation plans.
(2) All underground facility owners and operators are members of the notification association. The notification association shall provide members that were not tier one members on or before August 8, 2018, with electronic notifications beginning on January 1, 2019, at no cost for twenty-four months. On or before January 1, 2021, all owners and operators become full members of the notification association and are entitled to receive full service benefits as part of membership as specified in this article 1.5. Nothing precludes a tier two member from becoming a tier one member with the two-year waiver of no-cost notifications at any time before January 1, 2021. Until December 31, 2020, membership is organized as follows:
"Tier one" members who shall be full members of the notification association andshall receive full service benefits as part of such membership as specified in this article. Any owner or operator required to be a member of the association who was a member on February 1, 1993, shall be designated a tier one member without further action by such member.
(I) "Tier two" members who shall be limited members and shall receive limited services as a part of such membership as specified in this article. Tier two members shall pay a one-time membership fee of twenty-five dollars to the notification association to partially defray the costs incurred by the association in organizing pursuant to this article. The notification association shall not assess any charges, costs, or fees to any tier two member other than the onetime membership fee.
All tier two members shall provide the association with accurate information regarding the boundaries of such member's service area, the type of underground facility that may be encountered within such service area, and the name, address, and telephone number of a person who shall be the designated contact person for information regarding such member's underground facilities. A tier two member shall also provide geographical information concerning underground facilities it owns or operates which are not located within the designated service area to the notification association.
Not later than January 1, 1994, the notification association shall provide any personwho contacts the association regarding information concerning underground facilities owned or operated by a tier two member with the name of the person specified in subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (b).
The following owners or operators of underground facilities who are not designatedas tier one members pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) shall be designated as tier two members:
Electric cooperative associations;
Special districts organized under title 32, C.R.S.;
Cable television operators;
Municipalities and counties; and
Telecommunications local exchange providers with fewer than fifty thousand accesslines.
(2.1) (a) Subsection (2) of this section and this subsection (2.1) are repealed, effective January 1, 2021.
(b) On or before March 1, 2020, the notification association shall provide a report to the senate transportation committee and the house of representatives transportation and energy committee, or their successor committees, about its efforts to prepare for tier two members transitioning to tier one membership. The report must include, but need not be limited to, the steps that have been implemented to ensure efficiencies in notification procedures and operations, a cost analysis of the transition, and information regarding any new technological advances adopted to improve efficiencies. In preparing the report, the notification association shall solicit input from members.
(2.3) Repealed.
(2.4) Effective January 1, 2021, all underground facility owners and operators are members of the notification association. All members are full members of the notification association and are entitled to receive full service benefits as part of membership as specified in this article 1.5.
(2.5) The notification association may accept any organization, person, or entity which has an interest in the purposes and functions of the association as a member whether specifically enumerated in this article or not. Any such member shall comply with the bylaws of the association.
(2.6) (a) The notification association shall prepare annual reports on its activities, as follows:
A statistical summary of the information reported to it pursuant to section 9-1.5-103
(7)(b); and
An annual, independent financial audit of its operations.
(b) The notification association shall provide a copy of both reports created under paragraph (a) of this subsection (2.6) to its members and shall provide the report created under subparagraph (I) of paragraph (a) of this subsection (2.6) to the public utilities commission of the state of Colorado.
(3) (a) (I) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, each member of the notification association shall provide all of the locations of any underground facilities that the member owns or operates to the notification association, and the association shall maintain the information on file for use by excavators.
(II) This subsection (3)(a) is repealed, effective January 1, 2021.
Effective January 1, 2021, each member of the notification association shall providegeneral information regarding all of the locations of any underground facilities that the member owns or operates, for excavation notification purposes only, and the member's contact information, both of which shall be updated annually, to the notification association, and the association shall maintain the information on file in a manner that ensures the confidentiality and security of the information.
Information regarding the location of underground facilities provided to the notification association by an owner or operator or to the safety commission by the notification association is exempt from the "Colorado Open Records Act", part 2 of article 72 of title 24, pursuant to section 24-72-204 (2)(a)(VIII)(A) regarding specialized details of critical infrastructure.
(4) (a) (I) The notification association is governed by a board of directors, which must be representative of the membership of the association.
(II) (A) Until December 31, 2020, the board must have at least one director that is a tier two member.
(B) This subsection (4)(a)(II) is repealed, effective January 1, 2021.
(b) The board of directors shall be elected by the membership of the association pursuant to the bylaws of the association.
The notification association shall be incorporated and operated as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to the "Colorado Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act", articles 121 to 137 of title 7, C.R.S.
This section does not apply to:
Any owner or occupant of real property under which underground facilities are buried if the facilities are used solely to furnish service or commodities to the real property and no part of the facilities is located in a public street, county road, alley, or right-of-way dedicated to public use; or
Any homeowner.
Source: L. 81: Entire article added, p. 522, § 1, effective October 1. L. 93: Entire article amended, p. 503, § 1, effective September 1. L. 97: (5) amended, p. 761, § 27, effective July 1, 1998. L. 2000: IP(2) amended and (2.6) R&RE, pp. 690, 691, §§ 5, 6, effective May 23. L. 2018: (1), IP(2), (3), (4), and (6) amended, (2.1) and (2.4) added, and (2.3) repealed, (SB 18167), ch. 256, p. 1575, § 6, effective August 8.