Certain digging would be exempt from underground facility rules

The proposal says this chapter would not apply to the listed kinds of digging. The listed work includes communications providers connecting a customer's home or business to the provider's own network, as well as the specified air and water-and-vacuum digging methods. Provider work must use only hand tools and stay no deeper than 12 inches. Air work must use only a directed stream of high-pressure air; water work must inject water into soil and remove the resulting mixture with a vacuum. The chapter still applies to blasting, drainage-tile work, subsoiling, and other underground activities. The bill sets July 1, 2026, as its effective date.