# 753-3.9 Discovery of unknown underground facilities.

**Citation:** 16 NYCRR 753-3.9  
**Type / status:** regulation / current  
**Agency:** New York State Public Service Commission  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** Not stated

Protection of Underground Facilities. Where an undesignated or otherwise unknown underground facility is discovered within a work area, the excavator shall report such discovery as follows:

(a) If the identity of the operator of the discovered underground facility is known or is obvious, the excavator shall report the discovery to such operator. The operator shall respond immediately and, in ac

## Document text

Where an undesignated or otherwise unknown underground facility is discovered within a work area, the excavator shall report such discovery as follows:

(a) If the identity of the operator of the discovered underground facility is known or is obvious, the excavator shall report the discovery to such operator. The operator shall respond immediately and, in accordance with section 753-4.9(d) of this Part, take any necessary action and advise the excavator as to whether he or she may proceed in the immediate area.

(1) If the identity of the operator of the discovered underground facility is not known or obvious, the excavator shall report the discovery to the one-call notification system and each operator notified by the one-call notification system shall respond immediately and, in accordance with section 753-4.9(d) of this Part, determine whether or not such discovered facility is his or hers.

(2) While awaiting a determination of ownership, the excavator may proceed with the excavation or demolition taking reasonable care to protect and prevent damage to such underground facility.

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://govt.westlaw.com/nycrr/Document/I50698f35cd1711dda432a117e6e0f345?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)>
- Source ID: `ny-dps-nycrr`
- SHA-256: `4689e28e8e505d1583d5aa8feb087792263e12975dd46ba4c40e206579dbbeeb`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-12T06:20:40.894Z
- Exported: 2026-08-23T12:40:03.990Z
- Document slug: `ny-nycrr-753-3-9`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "jurisdiction": "US-NY",
  "title": 16,
  "part": "753",
  "partTitle": "Protection of Underground Facilities",
  "scopeKind": "underground-damage-prevention",
  "tocPath": [
    "Part 753 Protection of Underground Facilities",
    "Subpart 753-3 Duties of Excavators"
  ],
  "legalScope": "Complete current terminal legal unit exposed by the DPS-designated Title 16 NYCRR pipeline-safety part inventory.",
  "applicabilityCaveat": "Applicability depends on the part and section, Commission jurisdiction, commodity and facility type, intrastate or interstate status, operator and activity, exemptions, waivers, federal preemption, Commission orders, and incorporated law. DPS inspects portions of interstate systems for PHMSA, but PHMSA retains federal enforcement authority. DPS states that all jurisdictional Part 256 gas-holder and Part 257 LPG-plant facilities have been decommissioned even though those regulations remain unrepealed.",
  "incorporationCaveat": "These parts incorporate or rely on federal pipeline regulations, federal and New York statutes, Commission rules and orders, and privately authored technical standards. Part 10 supplies incorporation details. References metadata preserves explicit citations but does not reproduce external material, determine licensing rights, or decide whether a particular incorporation is static or dynamic.",
  "publicationCaveat": "The New York Department of Public Service identifies these eleven Title 16 NYCRR parts as its state pipeline-safety regulations and links to the public DOS/Westlaw NYCRR reading copy. That site labels the online text unofficial and directs users needing evidentiary accuracy to the Official NYCRR maintained by the Department of State Division of Administrative Rules. Each section's 'Current through' date is the most recent official NYCRR supplement covering that section, not a uniform corpus-wide amendment date.",
  "rights": "New York government-edict text is preserved with DPS, Department of State, and publisher attribution. The public reading site's presentation and enhancements, agency marks, forms, annotations, and incorporated federal or privately authored standards require separate rights review; this connector does not claim rights in those materials.",
  "rightsReviewRequired": true,
  "currentThrough": "2023-02-28",
  "historyEvents": "No event is emitted because the section reading copy does not supply an explicit adoption, filing, or effective-date history.",
  "publisherCitation": "16 CRR-NY 753-3.9",
  "identityAnomaly": null,
  "references": [
    {
      "citation": "16 NYCRR 753",
      "referenceType": "new-york-administrative-code",
      "url": "https://govt.westlaw.com/nycrr/Browse/Home/NewYork/UnofficialNewYorkCodesRulesandRegulations?guid=I2db73820ba3811dd9496ee88430c6cd4&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)"
    }
  ],
  "region": "NY"
}
```