N.Y. General Business Law § 760: Definitions

§ 760. Definitions. When used in this article, the following terms

shall have the following meanings.

1. "Person" means any individual, firm, corporation, association or

partnership, cooperative association, joint venture, joint stock

association, business trust, their lessees, trustees or receivers,

governmental unit or public authority whether or not incorporated.

2. "Excavation" means an operation for the purpose of movement or

removal of earth, rock or other materials in or on the ground by use of

mechanized equipment or by blasting, and includes, but is not limited

to, auguring, backfilling, drilling, grading, plowing in, pulling in,

trenching and tunneling; provided, however, that the movement of earth

by tools manipulated only by human or animal power and the tilling of

soil for agricultural purposes shall not be deemed excavation.

3. "Demolition" means the wrecking, razing, rending, moving or

removing of any structure.

4. "Underground facilities" means pipelines, conduits, ducts, cables,

wires, manholes, vaults or other such facilities or their attachments,

which have been installed underground by an operator to provide services

or materials. Such term shall not include oil and gas production and

gathering pipeline systems used primarily to collect oil or gas

production from wells.

5. "Excavator" means a person who is engaged in a trade or business

which includes the carrying out of excavation or demolition; provided,

however, that an individual employed by an excavator, and having no

supervisory authority, other than the routine direction of employees,

over an excavation or demolition, shall not be deemed an excavator for

the purposes of this article. In construing and enforcing the provisions

of this article, the act of any employee or agent of any excavator

acting within the scope of his or her official duties or employment

shall be deemed to be the act of such excavator.

6. "Operator" means a person who operates an underground facility or

facilities to furnish any of the following services or materials:

electricity, gases, steam, liquid petroleum products, telephone or

telegraph communications, cable television, sewage removal, traffic

control systems, or water.

7. "Damage" means an impact upon or removal of support from an

underground facility consequent to excavation or demolition which,

according to the operating practices of the operator, would necessitate

repair of such facility, destruction of any underground facility or its

protective coating, housing or other protective device, and impact with

or severance of an underground facility.

8. "One-call notification system" means an organization among whose

purposes is establishing and carrying out procedures and programs to

protect underground facilities from damage due to excavation and

demolition including, but not limited to, receiving notices of intent to

perform excavation and demolition, and transmitting the notices to one

or more of its member operators of underground facilities in the

specified area.

9. "Local government" means a county, town, city or village.