AGC and CGA Make Presentation to PHMSA Joint Committee

Former national treasurer of AGC of America, and Common Ground Alliance (CGA) board member Vic Weston (Tri-State Road Boring Inc., Baton Rouge, La.) and Bob Kipp, director of CGA, gave a presentation today at the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Joint Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee meeting to discuss the agency’s regulatory agenda for 2009. In their presentation on federal civil enforcement authority for damage prevention, Kipp and Weston stressed the contributions of AGC and other CGA stakeholders to promote damage prevention efforts. Weston stressed that states with negligent or poor underground infrastructure damage prevention laws should be held responsible by the federal government to ensure the safety of the public, including construction and utility workers.  Weston also highlighted AGC member contributions to damage prevention efforts and noted that if an economic stimulus package is achieved with significant infrastructure investment, there would be an increased need for damage prevention efforts in excavation and construction. Given this potential increase, he stressed that the need was greater than ever for contractors to use and promote the '811 - Call Before You Dig’ campaign to locate utilities before excavating and to prevent damages to underground utilities. Weston emphasized the contributions and importance of construction as an engine of economic stimulus, and vowed that PHMSA, AGC and CGA would continue their work to raise awareness of the 811 program to reduce damages to underground infrastructure.