Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 39-1.2 - Excavation near Underground Utility Facilities

• Abandoned utility facilities: means any known underground or submerged utility line or facility that has been permanently taken out of service. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
• Administrator: means the administrator of the division of public utilities and carriers. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
• Association: means the group of public utilities formed pursuant to § 39-1. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
• Company: means and includes a person, firm, partnership, corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, association, joint-stock association or company, and his, her, its, or their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damage: means and includes, but is not limited to, the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of a utility line; penetration or destruction of any utility line protective coating, housing, or other protective device; or the severance, partial or complete, of any utility line. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
• Demolition: means the wrecking, razing, rending, moving, or removing of any structure. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
• Division: means the division of public utilities and carriers. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Excavation: means an operation for the purpose of movement or removal of earth, rock, or other materials in or on the ground, or otherwise disturbing the subsurface of the earth, by the use of powered or mechanized equipment, including, but not limited to: digging, blasting, auguring, back filling, test boring, drilling, pile driving, grading, plowing in, hammering, pulling in, trenching, and tunneling; excluding the movement of earth by tools manipulated only by human or animal power and the tilling of soil for agricultural purposes. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
• Immediate danger to life and health: means likely to cause death or immediate or delayed permanent adverse health effects or prevent escape from such an environment. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, or a public utility, including a person engaged as a contractor by a public agency and including a public agency. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
• Public agency: means the state or any political subdivision thereof, including any governmental agency. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
• Public utility: means the owner or operator of underground facilities for furnishing electric, gas, telephone, or water service as defined in § 39-1-2(a)(20); and also means and includes, for the purposes of this chapter only, electric transmission companies and nonregulated power producers, as defined in § 39-1-2(a)(13) and (19); any cable television service; and any water company that voluntarily becomes a member of the association provided for under § 39-1. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
• Public utility facilities: means the underground plant and equipment owned and operated by a public utility for the purpose of furnishing electricity, gas, water, cable television, or telephone service; including the underground plant and equipment owned and operated by any water company, not subject to regulation by the administrator of the division of the public utilities, that voluntarily joins the association provided for under § 39-1. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1.2-1
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9