Georgia CommonsHouse · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1342: Highways; procedures and remedies when a highway improvement project is delayed due to removal, relocation, or adjustment of utility facilities; provide
Last action February 18, 2026 · House Second Readers
A Georgia House bill would change how the Department of Transportation handles utility companies that block or delay highway construction projects, adding stricter deadlines, a new permit suspension penalty, and eliminating a mediation option for utility damage disputes.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Under current Georgia law, when a highway project requires a utility company to move or adjust pipes, wires, or other facilities, the Department of Transportation and the utility follow a set process for notice, plans, and work schedules. If the utility falls short, it may owe damages or delay costs, but it can request mediation instead of paying. This bill tightens that process. It requires notice to utilities at the time a project is advertised, makes utilities liable (not just potentially liable) for damages and delay costs when they miss deadlines, and adds a new rule letting the department suspend a utility's work permit if relocation work falls 20 percent or more behind schedule, until the utility catches up to 80 percent of the approved plan. The bill also eliminates the option for a utility to request mediation over a damages dispute; instead the utility must pay within 45 days of notice. It repeals the sections creating mediation boards altogether, and it adds a new exemption so a utility that pays the department to fold its relocation work into the highway contract is not subject to these damages or delay costs.
What the bill does
- Requires the Department of Transportation to give utilities relocation notice at the date of project advertisement, rather than only 'normally' doing so.
- Bars the department from approving a utility work plan that would delay a highway project beyond its established completion time frame.
- Lets the department suspend a utility's permit if its relocation work falls 20 percent or more behind the approved schedule, until it catches up to 80 percent.
- Makes utility owners liable (changed from merely 'may be liable') for documented damages and contractor delay costs caused by their failure to meet an approved work plan.
- Eliminates a utility's option to request mediation over a damages or delay cost dispute; it must instead pay within 45 days of notice.
- Repeals the Code sections establishing mediation boards, their procedures, and required department regulations for resolving utility relocation disputes.
Who it affects
Utility companies (power, water, gas, telecommunications, and similar providers) with facilities along Georgia public roads, the Georgia Department of Transportation, highway construction contractors, and indirectly the traveling public affected by construction delays.
Why it matters
Utilities facing highway relocation deadlines would lose their right to mediate damage disputes and instead face direct financial liability and possible permit suspension for falling behind schedule. This could speed up road projects but shifts more legal and financial risk onto utility companies when relocations run late.
Key provisions
- Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 32-6-171(b) to require notice at project advertisement or award rather than only 'normally' at that time.
- Adds a rule that the department cannot approve a work plan that it reasonably believes will delay the project beyond its set completion time frame.
- If a utility fails to submit an acceptable work plan within 30 days of written notice, the department may proceed to let the highway project and hold the utility liable for resulting costs.
- New language lets the department suspend a utility's permit once relocation work falls 20 percent or more behind the approved schedule, lifting the suspension only once work reaches 80 percent completion.
- Subsection (c) changes utility liability for damages and delay costs from discretionary ('may be liable') to mandatory ('shall be liable').
- Removes the utility's option to request mediation of a damages dispute, requiring payment within 45 days of the department's notice instead.
- Adds an exemption so a utility that pays the department to include its relocation work directly in the highway construction contract is not liable for these damages or delay costs.
- Section 1 repeals subsections (d) and (e) of Code Section 32-6-171, eliminating the mediation board process and related department regulations entirely.
From the bill
“No work plan shall be approved when, in the reasonable opinion of the department, it causes a highway improvement project to be delayed beyond the completion time frames established by the department.”
“if such removal, relocation, or adjustment falls behind schedule by 20 percent or more than set forth in the approved work plan, the department shall suspend the permit of such utility until such removal, relocation, or adjustment progresses to at least 80 percent or more of the schedule”
Discussed in meetings (3)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House Transportation Committee, February 19, 2026
From 1:08:48 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1342 would align utility relocation and highway construction schedules, assign documented delay costs to utilities when within their control, and remove mediation provisions. The sponsor said the substitute would make permit denial or suspension discretionary when relocation falls at least 20 percent behind schedule. GDOT’s utilities administrator said restrictions would concern other right-of-way permits, reported 207 delayed projects over three years, and said four mediations had occurred in 17 years. The administrator did not have the total project count. One member questioned effects on unrelated work; another warned that removing mediation could increase litigation and costs. A third questioned protections for unforeseen conditions and suggested risk could raise prices. The administrator described existing coordination and said contractor-led relocation was possible with utility agreement. A Georgia Power witness opposed legislation, citing existing procedures and roughly 95 percent on-time performance. A Georgia EMC witness raised permit, liability and mediation concerns. A Coweta-Fayette EMC witness explained that poles cannot be removed until other providers move their lines. An AT&T witness favored changing existing procedures instead. A Georgia Highway Contractors Association witness supported aligned schedules. Separate Vertical Earth and E.R. Snell witnesses described utility schedules extending beyond construction deadlines. The committee tabled the bill by voice vote, with no opposition heard, for further work.
House Transportation Committee, February 25, 2026
From 0:23:51 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1342 seeks to address utility delays and shifting deadlines, citing upcoming transportation investment as the reason for urgency. GDOT's chief engineer discussed scheduling problems rather than reviewing the bill's language. The chief engineer said about 10% of roughly 600 active construction projects face utility delays, concentrated on larger projects. The chief engineer said current law lets contractors seek damages when utilities fall more than 20% behind their submitted schedules, but some utilities submit inflated timelines that undermine that remedy. As an example, the chief engineer described a 4.5-year road project with eight years of aerial utility work scheduled. The chief engineer said lengthy mediation can jeopardize federal funding deadlines and requested authority to require realistic schedules. One member proposed using preapproved replacement contractors. The deputy chief engineer cited availability and contract-control challenges. A second member proposed earlier schedule submissions, which the engineers said could help despite preliminary design uncertainty. Other members discussed aligned deadlines, incentives and penalties. The engineers said utilities generally pay relocation costs in state rights of way, while GDOT can extend road contracts for utility delays without covering added costs. Members requested project-specific delay data, which the engineers said could be gathered. One member questioned the urgency; the chief engineer said problems had persisted for about a decade. No amendment or vote was recorded.
Status timeline
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Lauren McDonald III (R, HD-26)
- Rick Jasperse (R, HD-11)
- Lee Hawkins (R, HD-27)
- Don Parsons (R, HD-44)
- Brent Cox (R, HD-28)
- Vance Smith (R, HD-138)
Topics
- highway construction
- utility regulation
- transportation department
- infrastructure delays
- road construction disputes