As used in Chapter 62, Article 14 NMSA 1978:
A. "advance notice" means two working days;
B. "blasting" means the use of an explosive to excavate;
C. "cable television lines and related facilities" means the facilities of any cable television system or closed-circuit coaxial cable communications system or other similar transmission service used in connection with any cable television system or other similar closed-circuit coaxial cable communications system;
D. "commission" means the public regulation commission;
E. "emergency excavation" means an excavation that must be performed due to circumstances beyond the excavator's control and that affects public safety, health or welfare;
F. "excavate" means the movement or removal of earth using mechanical excavating equipment or blasting and includes augering, backfilling, digging, ditching, drilling, grading, plowing in, pulling in, ripping, scraping, trenching, tunneling and directional boring;
G. "excavator" means a person that excavates;
H. "master meter system and operators" means a pipeline system that distributes natural gas or liquid propane gas within a public place, such as a mobile home park, housing project, apartment complex, school, university or hospital where the operator of the master meter system purchases gas from a distributor through a single large meter and resells the gas through a gas distribution pipeline system. The resale may occur as a payment included in a rental payment or association dues or as a separately metered system;
I. "means of location" means a mark such as a stake, a flag, whiskers or paint that is conspicuous in nature and that is designed to last at least ten working days if not disturbed;
J. "mechanical excavating equipment" means all equipment powered by any motor, engine or hydraulic or pneumatic device used for excavating and includes trenchers, bulldozers, backhoes, power shovels, scrapers, draglines, clam shells, augers, drills, cable and pipe plows or other plowing-in or pulling-in equipment;
K. "one-call notification system" means a communication system in which an operation center provides telephone services or other reliable means of communication for the purpose of receiving excavation notice and damage reporting information and distributing that information to owners and operators of pipelines and other underground facilities;
L. "person" means the legal representative of or an individual, partnership, corporation, joint venture, state, subdivision or instrumentality of the state or an association;
M. "pipeline" means a pipeline or system of pipelines and appurtenances for the transportation or movement of any oil or gas, or oil or gas products and their byproducts subject to the jurisdiction of federal law or regulation, with the exception of master meter systems and operators;
N. "positive response" means a response, within the advance notice period, initiated by owners or operators of pipelines and underground facilities by reliable means of communication, to the one-call notification system's positive response registry system. A positive response allows the excavator to verify whether all affected pipeline and underground facility owners or operators have marked their underground facilities pursuant to Section 62-14-5 NMSA 1978 prior to commuting to the excavation site and commencing excavation;
O. "reasonable efforts" means notifying the appropriate one-call notification center or underground facility owner or operator of planned excavation;
P. "underground facility" means any tangible property described in Subsections C, M and Q of this section that is underground, but does not include residential sprinklers or low-voltage lighting; and
Q. "underground utility line" means an underground conduit or cable, including fiber optics, and related facilities for transportation and delivery of electricity, telephonic or telegraphic communications or water, sewer and fire protection lines, with the exception of master meter systems and operators.
History: 1953 Comp., § 12-32-2, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 252, § 2; 1987, ch. 156, § 2; 1997, ch. 30, § 4; 2001, ch. 150, § 1 2007, ch. 177, § 1; 2011, ch. 103, § 1; 2013, ch. 90, § 1.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, defined "positive response" to require a positive response from the owner or operators of pipelines and underground facilities; and added Subsection N.
The 2011 amendment, effective June 17, 2011, added a definition of "master meter system and operators"; expanded the purpose of one-call notification systems to include receipt of damage reports; and clarified the definitions of "pipeline" and "underground utility line" by excluding master meter systems and operators.
The 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, redefined "pipeline" to include all oil and gas pipelines subject to the jurisdiction of federal law or regulation.
The 2001 amendment, effective July 1, 2001, alphabetized the defined terms; added "and directional boring" in Subsection F; added Subsection G; rewrote Subsection H; added "and other underground facilities" in Subsection I; updated subsection references in Subsection N; and made stylistic changes.
The 1997 amendment, effective October 1, 1997, made stylistic changes throughout the section; added Subsection D and redesignated the remaining subsections accordingly; substituted the language beginning "oil or gas, oil or gas products" for "gas, mixture of gases or petroleum products suitable for domestic or industrial fuel" at the end of Subsection E; added the language beginning "and does not include" in Subsection H; in Subsection I, inserted "the legal representative of or", inserted "or an", and deleted "or any legal representative thereof"; deleted "reasonable" preceding "advance notice" in Subsection K; and added Subsection L.
The 1987 amendment, effective June 19, 1987, in the opening clause substituted "Chapter 62, Article 14 NMSA 1978" for "this act"; in Subsection E, inserted "or cable, including fiber optics, and" following "and underground conduit"; inserted present Subsections F and G; redesignated former Subsection F as present Subsection H; inserted present Subsections I and J; and made minor changes in language throughout the section.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 61 Am. Jur. 2d Pipelines § 2.