§1749.15. Emergency excavation; notice required; penalty
A. The notice required pursuant to R.S. 40:1749.13 shall not apply to any person
conducting an emergency excavation. Oral or electronic notice of the emergency excavation
shall be given as soon as practicable to the regional notification center or each operator
having underground utilities and facilities located in the area and, if necessary, emergency
assistance shall be requested from each operator in locating and providing immediate
protection to its underground utilities and facilities.
B. The excavator shall certify in the notice required in Subsection A of this Section
that the situation poses an imminent threat or danger to life, health, or property or is the result
of an unplanned utility outage and requires immediate action and that the excavator, owner,
or operator has personnel on site.
C. There is a rebuttable presumption that the excavator failed to give notice as
required pursuant to this Section if the excavator failed to give any notice to the regional
notification center within the following time periods:
(1) Within two hours from the discovery of the need for an emergency excavation.
(2) In the case of a gubernatorially declared state of emergency due to a weather or
homeland security-related event, within twelve hours of the beginning of the emergency
excavation within the parishes to which the emergency declaration applies.
(3) In the case of a wildfire, within twenty-four hours after control of the emergency.
D. The owner or operator of the underground utilities, facilities, or submerged
infrastructure shall respond to an emergency notice as soon as practicable under the
circumstances.
E. Emergency excavation notices are valid for as long as the emergency situation
exists. The type of work and location shall remain consistent with the work described in the
emergency excavation notice. If the type of work and location become inconsistent with the
emergency excavation notice, then a new excavation notice is required.
Acts 1988, No. 923, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1050, §1, eff. July 11, 1997; Acts 1999, No.
506, §1, eff. June 29, 1999; Acts 2011, No. 38, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; Acts 2012, No. 103, §1;
Acts 2022, No. 52, §1; Acts 2024, No. 75, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2025.