Many years ago, Louisiana did not have much, if any, enforcement of the Louisiana Underground Utilities and Facilities Damage Prevention Law (Dig Law). It made it extremely difficult at Louisiana 811 to respond to our stakeholders (members and excavators) when they were confronted with a situation where one party was not abiding by the law. We had to reaffirm that we were not the enforcement agency, therefore, could not cite anyone or impose any corrective action.
Around 2016, PHMSA (the Federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) looked at each state’s enforcement efforts. For those states that had inadequate enforcement, PHMSA mandated that either the state addressed this issue, or they would get involved in enforcement. Our state government reacted and in June 2017, Governor John Bel Edwards signed legislation granting authority to the Commissioner of Conservation to enforce Louisiana’s Dig Law on regulated pipeline rights-of-way. These are pipelines that carry any gas that is flammable, corrosive, or toxic (most are natural gas pipelines) and liquids lines that carry petroleum, petroleum products, anhydrous ammonia and liquid CO2. Their enforcement program, initially, would be a complaint-based program.
When this became law, things changed for the better for our industry. We now had, and continue to have, an agency who will hold the “bad players” accountable, making Louisiana safer. Under the leadership of Interim Commissioner, Steven Giambrone, this organization has made a significant impact on damage prevention.
Interim Commissioner Giambrone’s group today has several agents proactively patrolling our state and oftentimes will stop by an excavation site where pipelines are present to make sure excavators have a valid dig ticket and abiding by the law. They have the authority to issue citations and often do but their primary goal is to protect the public, the environment, and the pipelines used to transport valuable resources. Warning statements are often issued to first-time offenders requiring Louisiana 811 training – either online or in-person.
What is equally impressive about this agency is that they do not discriminate when it comes to issuing citations. They Why is Enforcement of the Dig Law Important? hold the pipeline industry accountable for Dig Law violations such as not responding to a locate request on mismarking a pipeline.
Yes, the Dig Law has provisions for non-pipeline related incidents and MAY be enforced by local law enforcement or the State Police, but we have seen that these agencies are not as apt to respond to violators. Having enforcement across the board would be great and perhaps Louisiana will have this at some point in the future, but enforcement has proven to lead to less damage and makes a difference.
The next time you see a potential violation of the Dig Law around a pipeline, complaints concerning damages to pipelines, excavating without an 811 ticket, unsafe digging practices, mismarking or no marks, those can be submitted to PipelineInspectors@la.gov. According to Interim Commissioner Giambrone, “The more information you provide, the better our enforcement can be. For these types of complaints, we will try to send an agent out to the site.” Interim Commissioner Giambrone’s office can be reached toll free at (833) 726-0410.