Excavation and trenching - District of Columbia

The District of Columbia is under federal OSHA jurisdiction which covers most private sector workers within the state. State and local government workers are not covered by federal OSHA.

Underground facilities

In the District of Columbia, a 1-call center has been established for excavators to give notice of intent to excavate to operators of underground facilities. Upon receipt of a notice to excavate from the call center, the operators must locate and mark their underground facilities to prevent damage, interruption of service, and injury to excavation workers. These rules are contained in D.C. Code §§ 34-2701 – 34-2711.

Damage caused by excavation or demolition

Each person responsible for any excavation or demolition operation which results in damage to an underground facility must, immediately upon discovery of such damage, notify the operator of such facility of the location and the nature of the damage, and must allow the operator reasonable time to accomplish necessary repairs before continuing the excavation or demolition in the immediate area of the damaged facility. Each person responsible for any excavation or demolition operation that results in damage to an underground facility, permitting the escape of any flammable, toxic, or corrosive gas or liquid must, immediately upon discovery of such damage, notify the utility operator, 911, and any other agency identified by the Mayor and take any other action which may be reasonably necessary to protect persons and property.

Mudslide hazards – review of permit applications

The Mayor must review each permit application for any excavation, grading, fill, or construction to determine whether the proposed site and improvements will be reasonably safe from mudslides. If a proposed site and improvements are in a location that may have mudslide hazards, a further review must be made by persons qualified in geology and soils engineering; and the proposed new construction, substantial improvement, or grading must:

• Be adequately protected against mudslide damage; and
• Not aggravate the existing hazard.

Unsafe excavation

If an excavation is reported to the District government as unsafe, from any cause, the Mayor must examine the excavation.

• If the Mayor determines that the condition of the excavation creates an imminent threat to public safety requiring that emergency measures be undertaken immediately, notice to the owner, agent, or other person having an interest in the excavation will not be required.
• Where public safety requires immediate emergency action, the Mayor may enter upon the premises without notice or delay with the necessary number of workmen and assistants to shore-up, take down, or remove, if necessary, or otherwise secure the excavation, including any equipment on the site, and if a necessary safeguard, install a fence or boarding to protect the public.

If the Mayor determines the excavation to be unsafe but not an imminent threat to public safety and does not require immediate emergency action, the Mayor will immediately notify a responsible party and require the responsible party to make the excavation safe by having it shored up, taken down, or removed, if necessary, or otherwise made safe and secure within the time period specified in the notice.

If the responsible party refuses or neglects to comply with the requirements of the notice within the time specified, the Mayor may institute any authorized remedy or corrective action, at the owner’s expense, or impose a penalty or initiate a proceeding.

Unsafe excavation – Failure of owner to make safe

Whenever a responsible party to whom notice has been provided refuses or neglects to abate the unsafe excavation within the time period specified by the notice, upon expiration of that time period, the Mayor must proceed to make the structure or excavation safe, and the responsible party must not enter, or send anyone to enter, the premises to:

• Make repairs;
• Remove or take down the structure; or
• Interfere in any way with the authorized agents of the District taking action to make the excavation safe, including by removing or taking down the structure, without first having obtained the written consent of the Mayor to enter the premises.

Installation of new UST systems

For each underground storage tank (UST) system installation, the owner or operator must sample the soil below the excavation and submit the soil sampling report to the Department before installation. The owner or operator may not place backfill in the excavation until the Department has inspected and approved the installation.