Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 515-9-4-.02
515-9-4-.02 Definitions
Terms used in these rules have the following meaning:#
(a)"Act" means the Georgia Underground Facility Protection Act (O.C.G.A. § 25-9-1 et seq.).#
(b)"Advisory committee" means the committee appointed by the Governor pursuant to O.C.G.A. 25-9-13(g)(1).#
(c)"Business days" means Monday through Friday, excluding the following holidays: New Year's Day, Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and the following Friday, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. Any such holiday that falls on a Saturday shall be observed on the preceding Friday. Any such holiday that falls on a Sunday shall be observed on the following Monday. If Christmas Eve falls on a Friday, it shall be observed on the preceding Thursday. If Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, it shall be observed on the following Tuesday.#
(d)"Business hours" means the time from 7:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. local time on business days.#
(e)"Commission" means the Georgia Public Service Commission.#
(f)"Effective date" means the calendar day on which blasting or excavating is anticipated to begin as indicated by the excavator in the locate request.#
(g)"Facility owner or operator" means any person or entity that owns, operates or controls the operation of an underground facility.#
(h)"Person" means an individual, firm, joint venture, partnership, association, municipality, state or other governmental unit, authority, department, agency, or a corporation and shall include any trustee, receiver, assignees, employee, agent or personal representative thereof.#
(i)"Underground facility" means an underground or submerged fiber, conductor, pipe, 199 or structure used or installed for use in providing traffic control, traffic management, 200 electric service, or communications service, or in carrying, providing, or gathering gas, 201 oil or oil products, sewage, wastewater, storm drainage, or water or other liquids. All 202 underground facilities shall be considered to extend up to the connection to the customer's 203 facilities. Such terms shall not include sewer laterals or publicly or privately owned 204 railroad facilities.#
(j)"Utilities Protection Center" or "UPC" means the corporation or other organization formed by facility owners or operators to provide a joint telephone number notification service for the purpose of receiving advance notification from persons planning to blast or excavate and distributing such notifications to its affected facility owner or operator members.#
(k)O.C.G.A. § 25-9-3(21) defines "Large Project" as an excavation that involves more work to locate underground facilities than can reasonably be completed within the requirements of subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. Section 25-9-7. This requires a facility owner or operator to locate and mark its facilities prior to 7:00 A.M. on the effective date. For simplicity of administration by the Commission, a "large project" shall include at a minimum, any single mechanized excavation or blasting, as those terms are defined by O.C.G.A. § 25-9-3(15) and § 25-9-3(4), at a contiguous geographical site or area that exceeds or will exceed one linear mile or that reasonably requires or will require more than ninety (90) days to complete. Nothing in this rule shall prohibit any person from requesting a large project ticket for any other project.#