Montana Code Annotated
Part 5. Excavations Near Underground Facilities
69-4-524. Underground facilities damage -- excavator civil penalties

69-4-524. Underground facilities damage -- excavator civil penalties. (1) Except as provided in 69-4-529(3), within 14 days of receiving an incident report in accordance with 69-4-529, the department shall issue a civil penalty in accordance with this section.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (4), if an excavator damages an underground facility that is not a jurisdictional pipeline, the civil penalty is the greater of $50 or twice the amount of the last civil penalty issued to the excavator, not to exceed $10,000.
(3) Except as provided in subsection (4), if an excavator damages an underground facility that is a jurisdictional pipeline, the civil penalty is the greater of $100 or three times the last civil penalty issued to the excavator, not to exceed $25,000.
(4) If the excavator is also the property owner, the penalties are half the amount established in subsections (2) and (3).
(5) (a) For the purposes of this section and subject to subsections (5)(b) and (5)(c), the last civil penalty is the dollar amount of the civil penalty that would have been issued to the excavator under this part based on incidents occurring in the lesser of:
(i) the last 100 requests for a locate made by the excavator; or
(ii) a rolling 12-month period based on the incident date.
(b) If an incident is subject to subsection (2), the civil penalty must be calculated as if all previous incidents were subject to subsection (2).
(c) If an incident is subject to subsection (3), the civil penalty must be calculated as if all previous incidents were subject to subsection (3).
History: En. Sec. 5, Ch. 326, L. 2017.

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