(1) The requirements specified in RCW 19.122.030 do not apply to any of the following activities:

(a) An emergency excavation, but only with respect to boundary marking and notice requirements specified in RCW 19.122.030 (1) and (2), and provided that the excavator provides notice to a one-number locator service at the earliest practicable opportunity;

(b) An excavation of less than twelve inches in depth on private noncommercial property, if the excavation is performed by the person or an employee of the person who owns or occupies the property on which the excavation is being performed;

(c) The tilling of soil for agricultural purposes less than:

(i) Twelve inches in depth within a utility easement; and

(ii) Twenty inches in depth outside of a utility easement;

(d) The replacement of an official traffic sign installed prior to January 1, 2013, no deeper than the depth at which it was installed;

(e) Road maintenance activities involving excavation less than six inches in depth below the original road grade and ditch maintenance activities involving excavation less than six inches in depth below the original ditch flowline, or alteration of the original ditch horizontal alignment;

(f) The creation of bar holes less than twelve inches in depth, or of any depth during emergency leak investigations, provided that the excavator takes reasonable measures to eliminate electrical arc hazards; or

(g) Construction, operation, or maintenance activities by an irrigation district on rights-of-way, easements, or facilities owned by the federal bureau of reclamation in federal reclamation projects.

(2) Any activity described in subsection (1) of this section is subject to the requirements specified in RCW 19.122.050.

Report—Effective date—2011 c 263: See notes following RCW 19.122.010.