Section 54-5-853 - Notification of owners - Response - Failure to reply(a) Before beginning construction, the department shall identify and notify the owners of utility facilities that occupy or may occupy the rights-of-way of all highways described in the notice on which construction is proposed to be performed either by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by electronic transmission of a digital copy in the format, and subject to such restrictions on use, as the department may specify, addressed to the designated representative of the owners. The department shall make every reasonable effort to identify the current and correct mailing address for each such owner in order to give actual notice to the appropriate personnel responsible for planning the relocation or adjustment of utility facilities of each owner.(b) Within sixty (60) days following the receipt of notice from the department, the owner shall inform the department, in care of the person sending the notice at the address listed in the notice, whether or not it is the owner of the utility facilities and if so, the type of utility service, description and general location of each facility.(c) For each owner to whom a notice is sent and for whom no response is received by the department within sixty (60) days as to whether or not the owner has utility facilities at the highway location described in the notice, the department shall provide a second notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by electronic transmission of a digital copy.(d) Within ten (10) days following the receipt of the second notice from the department, any owner so notified shall inform the department, in care of the person sending the second notice at the address listed in the notice, whether or not it is the owner of the utility facilities and if so, the type of utility service, description and general location of each facility.(e) The failure of an owner to comply with this section shall create a presumption that it is not such an owner, and the department and its contractor may then undertake construction without liability to the owner for damages to the owner's utility facilities, and in addition, the owner shall be liable to the department's contractor for damages resulting from the failure.Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 221, s 2, eff. 7/1/2021.Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 221, s 1, eff. 7/1/2021.