Section 265.100  Reporting of Suspected Violations

a)         Any person may report to the Commission a suspected violation of the Act. A report may be made whether or not the suspected violation resulted in any personal injury or property damage.

b)         Except for suspected violations that occur within the boundaries of a municipality of at least one million persons that operates its own underground facility notice system, facilities operators shall report suspected violations of the Act in the following circumstances:

1)         An underground natural gas utility facilities operator shall report suspected violations when any gas main is damaged causing a gas leak;

2)         An underground telecommunications utility facilities operator shall report suspected violations if the damage causes an outage to a provider of an emergency telephone system (i.e., a 9-1-1 system);

3)         An underground utility facilities operator shall report a suspected violation if the occurrence results in a fatality or in personal injuries requiring hospitalization.

c)         Except for allegations of a violation of Section 11(h) of the Act [220 ILCS 50/11(h)], the Commission Staff will not investigate, and the Commission will not formally proceed with respect to, any alleged violation of Section 11 involving an excavation within the boundaries of a municipality of at least one million persons that operates its own underground facility notice system.

d)         Reports made pursuant to this Section may be submitted in writing, by telephone, electronically, or in person. Reports shall be submitted within 45 days after the discovery of the violation. The Commission shall make available forms necessary for this purpose.  When reports made pursuant to this Section are submitted orally, the party receiving the oral report shall record the information on the above-mentioned form.