a clear and immediate danger to life, property and the
environment, including, but not limited to, serious breaks or
defects in a facility owner's lines.
"Excavation work" means the use of powered equipment or
explosives in the movement of earth, rock or other material, and
includes, but is not limited to, anchoring, augering,
backfilling, blasting, boring, digging, ditching, drilling,
driving-in, grading, plowing-in, pulling-in, ripping, scraping,
trenching and tunneling[, but]. The term does not include soft
excavation technology such as vacuum, high pressure air or
water, tilling of soil for agricultural purposes to a depth of
less than eighteen inches, [the direct operations necessary or
incidental to the purposes of finding or extracting natural
resources, political subdivisions] performing minor routine
maintenance up to a depth of less than eighteen inches measured
from the top of the edge of the cartway or the top of the outer
edge of an improved shoulder, in addition to the performance of
incidental de minimis excavation associated with the routine
maintenance and the removal of sediment buildup, within the
right-of-way of public roads or [employes of the Department of
Transportation performing within the scope of their employment]
work up to a depth of twenty-four inches beneath the existing
surface within the right-of-way of a State highway[.], work
performed by persons whose activities must comply with the
requirements of and regulations promulgated under the act of May
31, 1945 (P.L.1198, No.418), known as the Surface Mining
Conservation and Reclamation Act, the act of April 27, 1966 (1st
Sp.Sess., P.L.31, No.1), known as The Bituminous Mine Subsidence
and Land Conservation Act, or the act of September 24, 1968
(P.L.1040, No.318), known as the Coal Refuse Disposal Control
A03987 - 4 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30