Page 3 - Arkansas 811 Magazine 2021 Issue 4

Publisher’s Perspective
Welcome to 2021’s final edition of the Arkansas 811 Magazine. It has been our privilege to work with stakeholders in Arkansas to promote safe digging in our state. It shouldn’t be that difficult to bring people together to discuss best practices or even next practices when it comes to keeping our communities safe or protecting our underground infrastructure, but often it is.
Discussions from an earlier meeting at the 2021 Damage Prevention Summit in Rogers were held in part to determine if there was interest in working together to create a path forward to achieve the common goal of effective enforcement for the state.
Time will tell how valuable the effort really was but an agreed-upon timeline was set for a draft version of the enforcement process to be developed, reviewed by stakeholders by June 2022 and then the expectation would be that it would be introduced at the 2023 legislative session.
We expect to share the draft proposal in upcoming issues of the 811 Magazine. Obviously, not everyone will have the time to attend meetings to discuss the proposal, but we believe you should have the opportunity to review it and ask relevant questions regarding the process.
Questions like, what will the enforcement process look like? Who will be administering the enforcement, will it be the PSC or an enforcement board? What will the penalties look like? Will it include penalties for violating the Arkansas dig law or will it be just for damages?
Obviously, there are still lots of questions and if you have strong thoughts about these or other associated issues, send them to digsafely@arkansas811.com.
Perhaps you want to stay up with this important issue or other relevant damage prevention issues in Arkansas. If so, go to www.arkansas.811magazines.com and click on subscriptions. All magazines are mailed quarterly at no cost to U.S. addresses only.
The Arkansas 811 Magazine Team sincerely thanks the supporters of this effort. I don’t know if the goal of zero damages is possible... I only know it is necessary!
Be safe and enjoy the Holiday season with your family!
Roger Cox President ACTS Now, Inc.
2021, Issue 4
Arkansas 811 Magazine • 1