In 2024, the Minnesota Legislature made several changes to the Gopher One Call Statute, creating reporting requirements for large operators and modifying excavation processes to require meetings at the sites of proposed excavations. It also created new safety requirements for underground telecommunications installers, which for the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area take effect on July 1, 2025, and for the rest of the state on January 1, 2026. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) was also provided new authority, effective July 1, 2024, to investigate and bring enforcement actions against telecommunications and cable service providers for damage to facilities owned by public utilities and electric cooperatives.
Reporting Requirements
According to the legislative changes, each operator with at least 5,000 notifications (locate tickets) received during the previous year must now submit a quarterly report to the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) indicating the number and type of notifications received and the number of utility damages, itemized by the cause of the damages. The data collected under this subdivision may not be used to initiate an enforcement action by OPS. Operators with fewer than 5,000 notifications received during the previous calendar year are exempt from this reporting requirement.
Excavations and Land Surveys
Under the new law, the notice period of when an excavator must, and a land surveyor may contact the notification center to provide at least 48 hours of notice before beginning any excavation or survey, now excludes “the day of notification” (the so-called “midnight rule”) along with Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
Also under the new law, an on-site meet may be requested for any excavation at the discretion of the excavator. The meet request must include the entire geographic area of the proposed excavation and the specific location of the meet. An affected operator must attend the meet at the proposed date and time, reschedule it if necessary, or reach an agreement with the excavator that a meet is not required.
The excavator and the operator must then submit documentation of each on-site meet to the notification center, including the date and time of the meet, the names, company affiliations and contact information of the attendees of each meet, a diagram, sketch, or description of the precise excavation locations, dates, and times, and the agreed schedule of any future on-site meets or communications.
Unless agreed otherwise by excavator and operator, an on-site meet is required for an excavation of one mile or more in length, or for any adjacent geographic section that when combined exceed one mile in length. The on-site meet must occur at least 48 hours after the notice, and the excavation start time must be at least 48 hours after the on-site meet.
Precautions to Avoid Damage
Excavators are now required to mark the proposed excavation area prior to on-site meets and prior to excavation. An excavator may use physical or electronic markings for proposed excavations, with the latter providing at least as much information as equivalent physical marking. Electronic marking used prior to January 1, 2026, must be accompanied by equivalent physical markings. Following submission of electronic marking, an operator may require the excavator to use physical markings.
Underground Communications Infrastructure
In a separate but related new law, when an underground telecommunications installation is within 10 feet of an existing underground utility or crosses an existing underground utility, the installation must be supervised by a “safety-qualified underground telecommunications installer,” certified by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) certification program. The standards for the new certification program are to be approved by DLI after consultation with the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development. The new safety certification standards take effect July 1, 2025, for the seven-county metro area, and on January 1, 2026, for the rest of the state. At least one stakeholder group has asserted that the standards must be developed through rulemaking. At least two certified installers are required in projects where telecommunications infrastructure is being installed by directional drilling.
New MPUC Authority Over Underground Construction
Finally, the Legislature also provided the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) new authority, effective July 1, 2024, to investigate, upon complaint or its own motion, and bring enforcement actions against telecommunications and cable service providers for damage to facilities owned by public utilities and electric cooperatives. If the MPUC finds that the conduct damaged or unreasonably interfered with the function of the infrastructure, the MPUC may take any action authorized by the statute with respect to the provider. The fines range from $100 to the maximum of $1,000 per violation.
With $652 million in federal broadband funds coming to Minnesota from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program, compliance with these new laws will make the challenge of deploying that investment within the four-year federal deadline even more challenging. If you have questions about the new laws, or need assistance developing a compliance program, you should consult your legal advisor.
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