Our Mission

The Damage Prevention Action Center advocates for public policies and industry practices that protect our Nation’s critical underground utility infrastructure and those who work and live near these important assets.

BECOME A FOUNDING MEMBER

Focus Areas

DPAC focuses on educating policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels on the importance of:

Updating and enacting laws and regulations to meet the needs of today by implementing effective damage prevention policies based on CGA’s consensus-based Best Practices to safeguard the public, improve worker safety and protect critical underground infrastructure.
Understanding the significant economic, environmental, safety and social impacts of dig-ins on communities.

Founding Members

- American Pipeline Contractors Association
- Black Hills Energy
- Equix, Inc
- Google Fiber
- Indiana 811
- James Holland, Board Member, Common Ground Alliance
- Kentucky 811
- M&L Construction
- Marathon Pipeline

Become a Founding Member

Interested in becoming a Founding Member of the Damage Prevention Action Center? Show your commitment to protecting vital underground assets through your $5,000 donation. Your participation as a founding member is crucial to the success of the Damage Prevention Action Center, and we appreciate your dedication to advancing the cause of damage prevention.

Become a Founding Member

Message from the Chair

Jerrod Henschel
Chair
President, Mears Broadband

Hundreds of times a day, critical underground utility lines that we depend on every day are damaged due to breakdowns in the damage prevention process. That’s hundreds of opportunities each day for injuries, disruption of business and community operations and in the most devastating situations – loss of life. The impacts on the public at large are staggering, with costs of damages estimated at more than $30 billion annually. Inevitably, the chain reaction of dig-ins results in exponential economic impacts on local economies.

The United States is experiencing an unprecedented level of investment in building out our Nation’s infrastructure, resulting in increased excavation and construction. The laws governing U.S. damage prevention and the state-based 811 systems created by them are in many instances decades old, and fail to meet the demands of modern construction and infrastructure development. Strengthening federal, state and local legislation is critical to keeping Americans safe and connected.

The Damage Prevention Action Center (DPAC)’s mission is to advocate for data-driven legislative and regulatory policies and industry practices that protect our Nation’s critical underground utility infrastructure and those who work and live near these important assets.

I would like to thank the founding members of DPAC’s Board of Directors for their dedication to improving utility safety and reliability and their commitment to this important work. Click here to learn more about DPAC.