Trent Lott: “today I want to advise my colleagues on the implementation of the one-call notification (``call-before-you-dig'') law.…”

“today I want to advise my colleagues on the implementation of the one-call notification (``call-before-you-dig'') law. This legislation, which was enacted into law as part of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21), has taken almost three Congresses to complete. However, this Congress was able to accomplish the goal, thanks to bipartisan support and lots of cooperation among the affected entities: pipeline, telecommunications, cable and electric utility companies, state one-call systems and numerous others of good will. Last week the Department of Transportation's Office of Pipeline Safety announced a public meeting will be held on August 25-26. The purpose of this meeting is to begin organizing a process to collect information on the suggested ``best practices'' in one-call notification. All affected parties--underground facility operators, excavation contractors, railroads, one-call centers, states and municipalities--should participate in this meeting which will be a joint government-industry effort to bring together the best information on one-call notification practices, techniques, technologies and enforcement processes. Information on these best practices would then be shared among the various state one-call programs, in order to improve performance. The ink is barely dry on the law, and already implementation rulemaking has begun. This is great because this is all about the public's safety.…”