Area of Continual Excavation (ACE)

Starting July 1, 2020, excavators and operators of California’s underground facilities will begin using Area of Continual Excavation (ACE) locate request tickets which are valid for one year as compared to the standard ticket length of 28 days. A 2016 change to CA law created the new ACE ticket which is available to farmers and certain flood control operators. In implementing the law, the Board made it a priority to understand and address barriers to compliance as well as the needs of facility operators. The result is a process that prioritizes safety through communication, consistency, and reasonable accommodation of all parties.

Pursuant to Government Code 4216.10 and CCR Title 19 Division 4 Chapter 4, an excavator working an area of continual excavation (ACE) for agricultural or flood control operations may request a continual excavation ticket valid for a year and renewable on an annual basis. Click here for more information on the ACE ticket process for farmers.

For areas of continual excavation that include or are within 10 feet of a high priority subsurface installation, an onsite meeting between a representative of the excavator and the operator of the high priority subsurface installation is required and must be facilitated by using an Area of Continual Excavation Agreement downloadable below.

An onsite meeting must take place at a mutually agreed upon date and time on the property where the high priority subsurface installation is present. Representatives must be authorized to enter into an agreement and be prepared with all the relevant information of their respective operations.

If there are contrary understandings of the exact location of the high priority subsurface installation, the operator must demonstrate a conflict with the area of continual excavation by providing documentation of the exact location of the facility or by exposing the facility with hand tools or vacuum excavation at a mutually agreed upon date and time.

Click below to download:

Form No. ACE Agreement 01 – Agricultural Operations (07-01-2020)
Form No. ACE Agreement 02 – Flood Control Facilities (07-01-2020)

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If the ACE does not contain a high priority subsurface installation and is more than 10 feet away from any high priority subsurface installation, then the operator or excavator may request an optional onsite meeting regarding using the Area of Continual Excavation Optional Agreement downloadable below.

Click below to download:

Form No. ACE Optional Agreement 03 – Agricultural Operations (07-01-2020)
Form No. ACE Optional Agreement 04 – Flood Control Facilities (07-01-2020)