700. (a) "Person," in addition to the definition in Section 19,
includes any city, county, public corporation, or public district.
(b) "Utility facility" means any pole, poleline, pipe, pipeline,
conduit, cable, aqueduct, or other structure or appurtenance thereof
used for public or privately owned utility services or used by any
mutual organization supplying water or telephone service to its
members.
(c) "Utility" means any person maintaining any utility facility.
(d) "Freeway" includes any toll bridge, including approaches,
under the jurisdiction of the commission.
701. This article is limited to state highways which are or shall
become freeways. Article 2 (commencing with Section 670), except as
inconsistent with this article, applies to freeways.
702. Whenever the department requires any utility to remove any
utility facility lawfully maintained in the right of way of any
freeway to a location entirely outside the freeway right of way, the
department shall pay the reasonable and necessary cost of such
removal. This includes both the cost of removal and the cost of
relocation in a new location outside of the freeway right of way.
This section does not apply to the relocation of the utility
facility from one point in a freeway to another point in the freeway,
including the relocation in any service road or outer highway of the
freeway or from one point of crossing of the freeway to another and
reasonable point of crossing.
703. Whenever the department requires a publicly owned utility to
relocate within a freeway any utility facility lawfully maintained in
any freeway which was not a state highway at the time such utility
facility was originally installed therein, the department shall pay
the cost of such relocation.
Whenever the department requires a privately owned utility to
relocate within a freeway any utility facility used solely to supply
water, which facility is lawfully maintained in any freeway which was
not a state highway at the time such utility facility was originally
installed therein, the department shall pay the cost of such
relocation.
Whenever the department requires a privately owned utility to
relocate within a freeway any utility facility, other than one used
solely to supply water, which facility is lawfully maintained in any
freeway which was not a state highway at the time such utility
facility was originally installed therein, and it is established by
the utility that it is not under express contractual obligation to
relocate such facility at its own expense, the department shall pay
the cost of such relocation.
A permit containing a contractual obligation which was accepted by
the utility for maintenance or minor improvement of the facility
after such road became a state highway shall not constitute a
contractual obligation within the meaning of this section.
Publicly owned sewers and fire hydrants and any street lighting
structure, whether publicly or privately owned, in any freeway shall
be relocated, where necessary, at the expense of the department.
704. If the department requires the relocation within the right of
way of any utility facility more than once within a period of 10
years, the department shall pay the cost of the second relocation and
any subsequent relocation within such 10-year period.
705. In any case in which the department is required under the
provisions of this article to pay the cost of removal or relocation
of any utility facility, it shall be entitled to credits as follows:
(1) In the amount of any betterment to the utility facility
resulting from such removal or relocation, not in excess of the cost
of the increased capacity of the facility.
(2) The salvage value of any materials or parts salvaged and
retained by the utility.
(3) If a new facility or portion thereof is constructed to
accomplish such removal or relocation, an allowance of an amount
bearing the same proportion to the original cost of the displaced
facility or portion thereof as the age thereof bears to the normal
expected life thereof.
A credit shall not be allowed against any portion of the cost
which is otherwise chargeable to the utility.
A credit allowance for age shall not be applied to publicly owned
sewers.
706. The department and any utility required to remove a utility
facility or to relocate any utility facility may, by agreement,
provide for the respective amounts of the cost to be borne by each.
The department may, without prejudice to its rights under Section
707, advance the cost of removal or relocation and if the department
advances such cost, it is the duty of the utility to move its
facilities as soon as reasonably possible so as not to delay freeway
construction. In the case of any utility which is not financially
able to bear the costs of removal or relocation, the department may
by agreement provide for the work to be done on condition that the
utility's portion of the costs be repaid to the department over a
period of time not exceeding 10 years.
Either party may maintain an action in a court of competent
jurisdiction for an adjudication as to the obligations and costs to
be borne by each party under such provisions of said contract at any
time within four years after the cause of action first arose
thereunder. Such a cause of action shall be deemed to arise upon and
at the time of the completion by the utility of the removal or
relocation in question, or at the time of breach of the agreement by
either party. The filing of a claim with any state agency shall not
be deemed a condition precedent to the maintenance by the utility of
any such action.
706.5. In connection with the construction of State Highway Route
86 in Imperial County from Post Miles 58.4 to Post Miles 65.1 and the
relocation of facilities of the Coachella Valley Water District
necessitated by that project, the department may make a loan, for a
term not exceeding 20 years, to the district for the relocation costs
incurred, and to be incurred, by the district as a result of that
project. The loan shall be subject to the terms and conditions that
are mutually agreed upon, but shall require the district, in addition
to making periodic payments on the loan, to annually pay to the
department an amount at least equal to the sum of the pipeline
portion of all development fees collected by the district during the
preceding year in the service area served by the transverse waterline
crossing of State Highway Route 86, less the district's
administrative and collection costs. The amounts so paid shall be
deducted from the outstanding balance of the loan, and the remaining
term of the loan correspondingly reduced.
707. In the event of failure to reach an agreement as provided in
Section 706, the utility or the department may bring an action in a
court of competent jurisdiction for apportionment of the cost between
them in accordance with the provisions of this article. Such an
action may be commenced within three years from the date of
completion by the utility of the removal or relocation in question.
The filing of a claim with any state agency shall not be deemed a
condition precedent to the maintenance by the utility of any such
action.
707.5. (A) The department and any utility as defined in Section 700
of this code may enter into a contract providing for or apportioning
the obligations and costs to be borne by each party as to either or
both of the following subject matters:
(1) Any or all removals or relocations of any utility facilities
completed by the utility prior to the effective date of such contract
as required by notice given by the department wherever necessary to
accommodate any or all state freeways, where: (a) the obligations or
costs in respect thereto to be borne by each party is in dispute; and
(b) the claim of the utility is: (i) founded upon a removal or
relocation completed by the utility not longer than three years
immediately preceding the effective date of such contract; or (ii)
involved in an action pending in a court of competent jurisdiction if
such action was commenced within three years after completion by the
utility of the removal or relocation in question; and
(2) Any or all removals or relocations of any utility facilities
to be undertaken or completed by the utility after the effective date
of such contract as required by notice given by the department
wherever necessary to accommodate any or all state freeways.
(B) Those provisions of any such contract settling the claims of
the parties in respect to any or all removals or relocations of any
utility facilities completed by the utility prior to the effective
date of such contract, as authorized in subdivision (A) (1) of this
section, shall be irrevocable after the execution of such contract,
except as the same may be changed or modified by mutual consent of
the parties in writing; and either party may maintain an action in a
court of competent jurisdiction upon such provisions of said contract
at any time within two years after the effective date of such
contract, and the utility need file no claim with any state agency as
a condition precedent to the maintenance of any such action.
(C) Those provisions of any such contract dealing with any or all
removals or relocations of any utility facilities to be undertaken or
completed by the utility after the effective date of such contract,
as authorized in subdivision (A) (2) of this section, shall be under
and subject to the following limitations and requirements:
(1) While such provisions of said contract remain in effect, such
provisions shall govern exclusively the determination of the
obligations and costs to be borne by each party in regard to every
removal or relocation covered thereby undertaken or completed by the
utility after the effective date of such contract, whether notice in
respect thereto was given by the department to the utility before or
after the effective date of such contract, in lieu of the
determination thereof under the foregoing provisions of this article
as now or hereafter existing and any and all other laws which would
be applicable to said subject matter but for said contract, save to
the extent that any such laws may be referred to, retained, and made
applicable by, such provisions of said contracts; provided: (a) where
before the effective date of a contract entered into under this
section the parties executed an agreement in respect to the
obligations and costs to be borne by each party as to a particular
removal or relocation under a notice given by the department, the
provisions of such last mentioned agreement shall govern as to the
obligations and costs to be borne by each party in respect thereto;
and (b) where a particular notice given by the department before the
effective date of a contract entered into under this section
specifies a removal or relocation to be made at the expense of the
utility, the utility shall be and remain bound thereby unless the
utility advised the department in writing of its disagreement with
such determination within the time specified in any agreement then in
effect between the department and the utility in respect to the
procedure to be followed in such cases, or, if none, within a
reasonable time after receipt by the utility of said notice.
(2) Either party may maintain an action in a court of competent
jurisdiction for an adjudication as to the obligations and costs to
be borne by each party under such provisions of said contract at any
time within four years after the cause of action first arose
thereunder. Such a cause of action shall be deemed to arise upon and
at the time of the completion by the utility of the removal or
relocation in question. The filing of a claim with any state agency
shall not be deemed a condition precedent to the maintenance by the
utility of any such action.
(3) Such provisions of said contract shall terminate: (i)
automatically upon the repeal of this section or of subdivisions (A)
(2) and (C) hereof; and (ii) also, unless sooner so automatically
terminated, at such time or in such manner as may be provided in said
contract; and in the event of either such termination, the laws
applicable to the subject matter of such provisions of said contract
as existing at the time of such termination shall thereafter govern,
save as to removals or relocations theretofore required of the
utility by the department under notice mailed or delivered to the
utility prior to such termination, whether work upon such removal or
relocation has theretofore commenced, is in progress, or has been
completed.
708. Every utility is entitled to a permit for such reasonable
crossings of any freeway, as may be required for the proper discharge
of the utility's service to the public.
709. The department shall exercise a reasonable discretion in
acting on applications of utilities for permits to occupy freeways
for longitudinal locations of facilities, as may be required for the
proper discharge of their services to the public. The department may,
however, refuse to grant any applications for any such longitudinal
installation which would be inconsistent with public safety or the
continued unobstructed use of the freeway for vehicular traffic, or
for any type of utility structure inconsistent with the aesthetic
values of any landscaped freeway within, or approaching within one
mile of, the limits of any city.
710. The department, in acting upon applications for utility
permits, shall consider both the interests of the traveling public
upon the freeway and the needs of consumers for public utility
services.
711. Nothing in this article is intended to prevent the department
from making reasonable rules and regulations and requiring reasonable
conditions in permits concerning the place, manner and method of
location of utility facilities in, under, over or along freeways.
Specifically, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the
department may make regulations or require conditions to the end that
the cutting of pavement on freeways and a consequential impairment
of the use thereof by the traveling public, shall be avoided insofar
as possible.
700. (a) "Person," in addition to the definition in Section 19,
includes any city, county, public corporation, or public district.
(b) "Utility facility" means any pole, poleline, pipe, pipeline,
conduit, cable, aqueduct, or other structure or appurtenance thereof
used for public or privately owned utility services or used by any
mutual organization supplying water or telephone service to its
members.
(c) "Utility" means any person maintaining any utility facility.
(d) "Freeway" includes any toll bridge, including approaches,
under the jurisdiction of the commission.
701. This article is limited to state highways which are or shall
become freeways. Article 2 (commencing with Section 670), except as
inconsistent with this article, applies to freeways.
702. Whenever the department requires any utility to remove any
utility facility lawfully maintained in the right of way of any
freeway to a location entirely outside the freeway right of way, the
department shall pay the reasonable and necessary cost of such
removal. This includes both the cost of removal and the cost of
relocation in a new location outside of the freeway right of way.
This section does not apply to the relocation of the utility
facility from one point in a freeway to another point in the freeway,
including the relocation in any service road or outer highway of the
freeway or from one point of crossing of the freeway to another and
reasonable point of crossing.
703. Whenever the department requires a publicly owned utility to
relocate within a freeway any utility facility lawfully maintained in
any freeway which was not a state highway at the time such utility
facility was originally installed therein, the department shall pay
the cost of such relocation.
Whenever the department requires a privately owned utility to
relocate within a freeway any utility facility used solely to supply
water, which facility is lawfully maintained in any freeway which was
not a state highway at the time such utility facility was originally
installed therein, the department shall pay the cost of such
relocation.
Whenever the department requires a privately owned utility to
relocate within a freeway any utility facility, other than one used
solely to supply water, which facility is lawfully maintained in any
freeway which was not a state highway at the time such utility
facility was originally installed therein, and it is established by
the utility that it is not under express contractual obligation to
relocate such facility at its own expense, the department shall pay
the cost of such relocation.
A permit containing a contractual obligation which was accepted by
the utility for maintenance or minor improvement of the facility
after such road became a state highway shall not constitute a
contractual obligation within the meaning of this section.
Publicly owned sewers and fire hydrants and any street lighting
structure, whether publicly or privately owned, in any freeway shall
be relocated, where necessary, at the expense of the department.
704. If the department requires the relocation within the right of
way of any utility facility more than once within a period of 10
years, the department shall pay the cost of the second relocation and
any subsequent relocation within such 10-year period.
705. In any case in which the department is required under the
provisions of this article to pay the cost of removal or relocation
of any utility facility, it shall be entitled to credits as follows:
(1) In the amount of any betterment to the utility facility
resulting from such removal or relocation, not in excess of the cost
of the increased capacity of the facility.
(2) The salvage value of any materials or parts salvaged and
retained by the utility.
(3) If a new facility or portion thereof is constructed to
accomplish such removal or relocation, an allowance of an amount
bearing the same proportion to the original cost of the displaced
facility or portion thereof as the age thereof bears to the normal
expected life thereof.
A credit shall not be allowed against any portion of the cost
which is otherwise chargeable to the utility.
A credit allowance for age shall not be applied to publicly owned
sewers.
706. The department and any utility required to remove a utility
facility or to relocate any utility facility may, by agreement,
provide for the respective amounts of the cost to be borne by each.
The department may, without prejudice to its rights under Section
707, advance the cost of removal or relocation and if the department
advances such cost, it is the duty of the utility to move its
facilities as soon as reasonably possible so as not to delay freeway
construction. In the case of any utility which is not financially
able to bear the costs of removal or relocation, the department may
by agreement provide for the work to be done on condition that the
utility's portion of the costs be repaid to the department over a
period of time not exceeding 10 years.
Either party may maintain an action in a court of competent
jurisdiction for an adjudication as to the obligations and costs to
be borne by each party under such provisions of said contract at any
time within four years after the cause of action first arose
thereunder. Such a cause of action shall be deemed to arise upon and
at the time of the completion by the utility of the removal or
relocation in question, or at the time of breach of the agreement by
either party. The filing of a claim with any state agency shall not
be deemed a condition precedent to the maintenance by the utility of
any such action.
706.5. In connection with the construction of State Highway Route
86 in Imperial County from Post Miles 58.4 to Post Miles 65.1 and the
relocation of facilities of the Coachella Valley Water District
necessitated by that project, the department may make a loan, for a
term not exceeding 20 years, to the district for the relocation costs
incurred, and to be incurred, by the district as a result of that
project. The loan shall be subject to the terms and conditions that
are mutually agreed upon, but shall require the district, in addition
to making periodic payments on the loan, to annually pay to the
department an amount at least equal to the sum of the pipeline
portion of all development fees collected by the district during the
preceding year in the service area served by the transverse waterline
crossing of State Highway Route 86, less the district's
administrative and collection costs. The amounts so paid shall be
deducted from the outstanding balance of the loan, and the remaining
term of the loan correspondingly reduced.
707. In the event of failure to reach an agreement as provided in
Section 706, the utility or the department may bring an action in a
court of competent jurisdiction for apportionment of the cost between
them in accordance with the provisions of this article. Such an
action may be commenced within three years from the date of
completion by the utility of the removal or relocation in question.
The filing of a claim with any state agency shall not be deemed a
condition precedent to the maintenance by the utility of any such
action.
707.5. (A) The department and any utility as defined in Section 700
of this code may enter into a contract providing for or apportioning
the obligations and costs to be borne by each party as to either or
both of the following subject matters:
(1) Any or all removals or relocations of any utility facilities
completed by the utility prior to the effective date of such contract
as required by notice given by the department wherever necessary to
accommodate any or all state freeways, where: (a) the obligations or
costs in respect thereto to be borne by each party is in dispute; and
(b) the claim of the utility is: (i) founded upon a removal or
relocation completed by the utility not longer than three years
immediately preceding the effective date of such contract; or (ii)
involved in an action pending in a court of competent jurisdiction if
such action was commenced within three years after completion by the
utility of the removal or relocation in question; and
(2) Any or all removals or relocations of any utility facilities
to be undertaken or completed by the utility after the effective date
of such contract as required by notice given by the department
wherever necessary to accommodate any or all state freeways.
(B) Those provisions of any such contract settling the claims of
the parties in respect to any or all removals or relocations of any
utility facilities completed by the utility prior to the effective
date of such contract, as authorized in subdivision (A) (1) of this
section, shall be irrevocable after the execution of such contract,
except as the same may be changed or modified by mutual consent of
the parties in writing; and either party may maintain an action in a
court of competent jurisdiction upon such provisions of said contract
at any time within two years after the effective date of such
contract, and the utility need file no claim with any state agency as
a condition precedent to the maintenance of any such action.
(C) Those provisions of any such contract dealing with any or all
removals or relocations of any utility facilities to be undertaken or
completed by the utility after the effective date of such contract,
as authorized in subdivision (A) (2) of this section, shall be under
and subject to the following limitations and requirements:
(1) While such provisions of said contract remain in effect, such
provisions shall govern exclusively the determination of the
obligations and costs to be borne by each party in regard to every
removal or relocation covered thereby undertaken or completed by the
utility after the effective date of such contract, whether notice in
respect thereto was given by the department to the utility before or
after the effective date of such contract, in lieu of the
determination thereof under the foregoing provisions of this article
as now or hereafter existing and any and all other laws which would
be applicable to said subject matter but for said contract, save to
the extent that any such laws may be referred to, retained, and made
applicable by, such provisions of said contracts; provided: (a) where
before the effective date of a contract entered into under this
section the parties executed an agreement in respect to the
obligations and costs to be borne by each party as to a particular
removal or relocation under a notice given by the department, the
provisions of such last mentioned agreement shall govern as to the
obligations and costs to be borne by each party in respect thereto;
and (b) where a particular notice given by the department before the
effective date of a contract entered into under this section
specifies a removal or relocation to be made at the expense of the
utility, the utility shall be and remain bound thereby unless the
utility advised the department in writing of its disagreement with
such determination within the time specified in any agreement then in
effect between the department and the utility in respect to the
procedure to be followed in such cases, or, if none, within a
reasonable time after receipt by the utility of said notice.
(2) Either party may maintain an action in a court of competent
jurisdiction for an adjudication as to the obligations and costs to
be borne by each party under such provisions of said contract at any
time within four years after the cause of action first arose
thereunder. Such a cause of action shall be deemed to arise upon and
at the time of the completion by the utility of the removal or
relocation in question. The filing of a claim with any state agency
shall not be deemed a condition precedent to the maintenance by the
utility of any such action.
(3) Such provisions of said contract shall terminate: (i)
automatically upon the repeal of this section or of subdivisions (A)
(2) and (C) hereof; and (ii) also, unless sooner so automatically
terminated, at such time or in such manner as may be provided in said
contract; and in the event of either such termination, the laws
applicable to the subject matter of such provisions of said contract
as existing at the time of such termination shall thereafter govern,
save as to removals or relocations theretofore required of the
utility by the department under notice mailed or delivered to the
utility prior to such termination, whether work upon such removal or
relocation has theretofore commenced, is in progress, or has been
completed.
708. Every utility is entitled to a permit for such reasonable
crossings of any freeway, as may be required for the proper discharge
of the utility's service to the public.
709. The department shall exercise a reasonable discretion in
acting on applications of utilities for permits to occupy freeways
for longitudinal locations of facilities, as may be required for the
proper discharge of their services to the public. The department may,
however, refuse to grant any applications for any such longitudinal
installation which would be inconsistent with public safety or the
continued unobstructed use of the freeway for vehicular traffic, or
for any type of utility structure inconsistent with the aesthetic
values of any landscaped freeway within, or approaching within one
mile of, the limits of any city.
710. The department, in acting upon applications for utility
permits, shall consider both the interests of the traveling public
upon the freeway and the needs of consumers for public utility
services.
711. Nothing in this article is intended to prevent the department
from making reasonable rules and regulations and requiring reasonable
conditions in permits concerning the place, manner and method of
location of utility facilities in, under, over or along freeways.
Specifically, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the
department may make regulations or require conditions to the end that
the cutting of pavement on freeways and a consequential impairment
of the use thereof by the traveling public, shall be avoided insofar
as possible.
700. (a) "Person," in addition to the definition in Section 19,
includes any city, county, public corporation, or public district.
(b) "Utility facility" means any pole, poleline, pipe, pipeline,
conduit, cable, aqueduct, or other structure or appurtenance thereof
used for public or privately owned utility services or used by any
mutual organization supplying water or telephone service to its
members.
(c) "Utility" means any person maintaining any utility facility.
(d) "Freeway" includes any toll bridge, including approaches,
under the jurisdiction of the commission.
701. This article is limited to state highways which are or shall
become freeways. Article 2 (commencing with Section 670), except as
inconsistent with this article, applies to freeways.
702. Whenever the department requires any utility to remove any
utility facility lawfully maintained in the right of way of any
freeway to a location entirely outside the freeway right of way, the
department shall pay the reasonable and necessary cost of such
removal. This includes both the cost of removal and the cost of
relocation in a new location outside of the freeway right of way.
This section does not apply to the relocation of the utility
facility from one point in a freeway to another point in the freeway,
including the relocation in any service road or outer highway of the
freeway or from one point of crossing of the freeway to another and
reasonable point of crossing.
703. Whenever the department requires a publicly owned utility to
relocate within a freeway any utility facility lawfully maintained in
any freeway which was not a state highway at the time such utility
facility was originally installed therein, the department shall pay
the cost of such relocation.
Whenever the department requires a privately owned utility to
relocate within a freeway any utility facility used solely to supply
water, which facility is lawfully maintained in any freeway which was
not a state highway at the time such utility facility was originally
installed therein, the department shall pay the cost of such
relocation.
Whenever the department requires a privately owned utility to
relocate within a freeway any utility facility, other than one used
solely to supply water, which facility is lawfully maintained in any
freeway which was not a state highway at the time such utility
facility was originally installed therein, and it is established by
the utility that it is not under express contractual obligation to
relocate such facility at its own expense, the department shall pay
the cost of such relocation.
A permit containing a contractual obligation which was accepted by
the utility for maintenance or minor improvement of the facility
after such road became a state highway shall not constitute a
contractual obligation within the meaning of this section.
Publicly owned sewers and fire hydrants and any street lighting
structure, whether publicly or privately owned, in any freeway shall
be relocated, where necessary, at the expense of the department.
704. If the department requires the relocation within the right of
way of any utility facility more than once within a period of 10
years, the department shall pay the cost of the second relocation and
any subsequent relocation within such 10-year period.
705. In any case in which the department is required under the
provisions of this article to pay the cost of removal or relocation
of any utility facility, it shall be entitled to credits as follows:
(1) In the amount of any betterment to the utility facility
resulting from such removal or relocation, not in excess of the cost
of the increased capacity of the facility.
(2) The salvage value of any materials or parts salvaged and
retained by the utility.
(3) If a new facility or portion thereof is constructed to
accomplish such removal or relocation, an allowance of an amount
bearing the same proportion to the original cost of the displaced
facility or portion thereof as the age thereof bears to the normal
expected life thereof.
A credit shall not be allowed against any portion of the cost
which is otherwise chargeable to the utility.
A credit allowance for age shall not be applied to publicly owned
sewers.
706. The department and any utility required to remove a utility
facility or to relocate any utility facility may, by agreement,
provide for the respective amounts of the cost to be borne by each.
The department may, without prejudice to its rights under Section
707, advance the cost of removal or relocation and if the department
advances such cost, it is the duty of the utility to move its
facilities as soon as reasonably possible so as not to delay freeway
construction. In the case of any utility which is not financially
able to bear the costs of removal or relocation, the department may
by agreement provide for the work to be done on condition that the
utility's portion of the costs be repaid to the department over a
period of time not exceeding 10 years.
Either party may maintain an action in a court of competent
jurisdiction for an adjudication as to the obligations and costs to
be borne by each party under such provisions of said contract at any
time within four years after the cause of action first arose
thereunder. Such a cause of action shall be deemed to arise upon and
at the time of the completion by the utility of the removal or
relocation in question, or at the time of breach of the agreement by
either party. The filing of a claim with any state agency shall not
be deemed a condition precedent to the maintenance by the utility of
any such action.
706.5. In connection with the construction of State Highway Route
86 in Imperial County from Post Miles 58.4 to Post Miles 65.1 and the
relocation of facilities of the Coachella Valley Water District
necessitated by that project, the department may make a loan, for a
term not exceeding 20 years, to the district for the relocation costs
incurred, and to be incurred, by the district as a result of that
project. The loan shall be subject to the terms and conditions that
are mutually agreed upon, but shall require the district, in addition
to making periodic payments on the loan, to annually pay to the
department an amount at least equal to the sum of the pipeline
portion of all development fees collected by the district during the
preceding year in the service area served by the transverse waterline
crossing of State Highway Route 86, less the district's
administrative and collection costs. The amounts so paid shall be
deducted from the outstanding balance of the loan, and the remaining
term of the loan correspondingly reduced.
707. In the event of failure to reach an agreement as provided in
Section 706, the utility or the department may bring an action in a
court of competent jurisdiction for apportionment of the cost between
them in accordance with the provisions of this article. Such an
action may be commenced within three years from the date of
completion by the utility of the removal or relocation in question.
The filing of a claim with any state agency shall not be deemed a
condition precedent to the maintenance by the utility of any such
action.
707.5. (A) The department and any utility as defined in Section 700
of this code may enter into a contract providing for or apportioning
the obligations and costs to be borne by each party as to either or
both of the following subject matters:
(1) Any or all removals or relocations of any utility facilities
completed by the utility prior to the effective date of such contract
as required by notice given by the department wherever necessary to
accommodate any or all state freeways, where: (a) the obligations or
costs in respect thereto to be borne by each party is in dispute; and
(b) the claim of the utility is: (i) founded upon a removal or
relocation completed by the utility not longer than three years
immediately preceding the effective date of such contract; or (ii)
involved in an action pending in a court of competent jurisdiction if
such action was commenced within three years after completion by the
utility of the removal or relocation in question; and
(2) Any or all removals or relocations of any utility facilities
to be undertaken or completed by the utility after the effective date
of such contract as required by notice given by the department
wherever necessary to accommodate any or all state freeways.
(B) Those provisions of any such contract settling the claims of
the parties in respect to any or all removals or relocations of any
utility facilities completed by the utility prior to the effective
date of such contract, as authorized in subdivision (A) (1) of this
section, shall be irrevocable after the execution of such contract,
except as the same may be changed or modified by mutual consent of
the parties in writing; and either party may maintain an action in a
court of competent jurisdiction upon such provisions of said contract
at any time within two years after the effective date of such
contract, and the utility need file no claim with any state agency as
a condition precedent to the maintenance of any such action.
(C) Those provisions of any such contract dealing with any or all
removals or relocations of any utility facilities to be undertaken or
completed by the utility after the effective date of such contract,
as authorized in subdivision (A) (2) of this section, shall be under
and subject to the following limitations and requirements:
(1) While such provisions of said contract remain in effect, such
provisions shall govern exclusively the determination of the
obligations and costs to be borne by each party in regard to every
removal or relocation covered thereby undertaken or completed by the
utility after the effective date of such contract, whether notice in
respect thereto was given by the department to the utility before or
after the effective date of such contract, in lieu of the
determination thereof under the foregoing provisions of this article
as now or hereafter existing and any and all other laws which would
be applicable to said subject matter but for said contract, save to
the extent that any such laws may be referred to, retained, and made
applicable by, such provisions of said contracts; provided: (a) where
before the effective date of a contract entered into under this
section the parties executed an agreement in respect to the
obligations and costs to be borne by each party as to a particular
removal or relocation under a notice given by the department, the
provisions of such last mentioned agreement shall govern as to the
obligations and costs to be borne by each party in respect thereto;
and (b) where a particular notice given by the department before the
effective date of a contract entered into under this section
specifies a removal or relocation to be made at the expense of the
utility, the utility shall be and remain bound thereby unless the
utility advised the department in writing of its disagreement with
such determination within the time specified in any agreement then in
effect between the department and the utility in respect to the
procedure to be followed in such cases, or, if none, within a
reasonable time after receipt by the utility of said notice.
(2) Either party may maintain an action in a court of competent
jurisdiction for an adjudication as to the obligations and costs to
be borne by each party under such provisions of said contract at any
time within four years after the cause of action first arose
thereunder. Such a cause of action shall be deemed to arise upon and
at the time of the completion by the utility of the removal or
relocation in question. The filing of a claim with any state agency
shall not be deemed a condition precedent to the maintenance by the
utility of any such action.
(3) Such provisions of said contract shall terminate: (i)
automatically upon the repeal of this section or of subdivisions (A)
(2) and (C) hereof; and (ii) also, unless sooner so automatically
terminated, at such time or in such manner as may be provided in said
contract; and in the event of either such termination, the laws
applicable to the subject matter of such provisions of said contract
as existing at the time of such termination shall thereafter govern,
save as to removals or relocations theretofore required of the
utility by the department under notice mailed or delivered to the
utility prior to such termination, whether work upon such removal or
relocation has theretofore commenced, is in progress, or has been
completed.
708. Every utility is entitled to a permit for such reasonable
crossings of any freeway, as may be required for the proper discharge
of the utility's service to the public.
709. The department shall exercise a reasonable discretion in
acting on applications of utilities for permits to occupy freeways
for longitudinal locations of facilities, as may be required for the
proper discharge of their services to the public. The department may,
however, refuse to grant any applications for any such longitudinal
installation which would be inconsistent with public safety or the
continued unobstructed use of the freeway for vehicular traffic, or
for any type of utility structure inconsistent with the aesthetic
values of any landscaped freeway within, or approaching within one
mile of, the limits of any city.
710. The department, in acting upon applications for utility
permits, shall consider both the interests of the traveling public
upon the freeway and the needs of consumers for public utility
services.
711. Nothing in this article is intended to prevent the department
from making reasonable rules and regulations and requiring reasonable
conditions in permits concerning the place, manner and method of
location of utility facilities in, under, over or along freeways.
Specifically, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the
department may make regulations or require conditions to the end that
the cutting of pavement on freeways and a consequential impairment
of the use thereof by the traveling public, shall be avoided insofar
as possible.
