Chapter 17.60 — BLASTING OPERATIONS

This chapter is adopted to provide local control of blasting operations complimentary to the Uniform Fire Code. The particular purpose is to define hours of operation and notification and inspection process to protect nearby residents and residences from damage or injury due to blasting.

For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the following definitions:

(a)

City: The City of San Marcos.

(b)

Building Director: The City of San Marcos Director of Building and Safety.

(c)

Fire Chief: The Chief of the San Marcos Fire Protection District (SMFPD).

(d)

Approved Blaster: A blaster who has been approved by the Fire Chief and the Building Director to conduct blasting operations in the City of San Marcos and who has been placed on the list of approved blasters.

(e)

Blaster: Any person, corporation, contractor or other entity who uses, ignites, or sets off an explosive device or material.

(f)

Blasting Operations: The use of an explosive device or explosive materials to destroy, modify, obliterate, or remove any obstruction of any kind from a piece of property.

(g)

Minor Blasting: Any blasting operation associated with trenching operations, digging holes for utility poles, and other small operations using the Scale of Fifty formula.

(h)

Major Blasting: Any other type of blasting operation.

(i)

Certification of Authorization: A writing or document issued by the San Marcos Building Director accompanied by an Operations Permit issued by the San Marcos Fire Protection District wherein the City of San Marcos under the terms and conditions specified in the certificate and permit.

(j)

Certificate of Insurance: A writing or document issued by an insurance company authorized to do business in the State of California stating that the insurance company has issued a policy of liability insurance covering property damage and bodily injuries resulting from blasting operations occurring in the City of San Marcos.

(k)

Explosive Permit: A writing or document issued by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department pursuant to Section 12000 et seq. of the California Health and Safety Code and the San Marcos Fire Protection District Ordinance adopting the Uniform Fire Code and specifically that Article contained therein regulating Explosives and Blasting Agents, allowing blasting with explosives and blasting agents to be done by permittee under the conditions specified therein, unless otherwise established by specific provisions of this ordinance.

All blasting operations within the City of San Marcos are prohibited unless a Certificate of Authorization is first obtained from the San Marcos Building Director and an Operations Permit issued by the Fire Chief.

No certificate of Authorization shall be granted or obtained unless the prerequisite conditions listed below are complied with and proof provided to the satisfaction of the City.

(a)

The blaster shall obtain an Explosives Permit from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and a copy thereof shall be placed on file with the City Building Department and Fire Department.

(b)

The blaster shall obtain a City Blaster's license issued by the City Clerk and a copy thereof shall be placed on file with the Fire Chief. Exception: businesses which comply with the franchise requirements of the City of San Marcos.

(c)

The property owner/developer or general contractor shall obtain liability insurance covering the blaster's activities in the minimum amount of $1,000,000.00 for property damage and $1,000,000.00 for bodily injury. The City and the Fire District shall be named as co- insured or additional insured for all blasting operations within the City limits. The property owner/developer or general contractor shall file a copy of the Certificate of Insurance with the City Clerk and the Clerk of the Fire District. The blaster shall have liability insurance, property damage, and bodily injury in the amount of $500,000.00 each. A copy of the Certificate of Insurance of the blaster shall also be filed with the City Clerk and the Clerk of the Fire District by the property owner/developer or general contractor.

(d)

The blaster's qualifications and performance record shall be reviewed by the Fire Chief and Building Director. Approval and placement on the list of approved blasters shall be based upon a review of the blaster's qualifications, past safety record, and history of satisfactory job performance. Failure on the part of the blaster to comply with the terms and conditions under which approval is granted may result in suspension from the list of approved blasters for a period not exceeding one year.

(a)

The Certificate of Authorization shall be accompanied by an Operations Permit issued by the San Marcos Fire Protection District and a copy shall be kept on file with the City Building Division, 105 West Richmar Avenue. A copy of the Certificate of Authorization and the

Operations Permit shall be retained by the general contractor or property owner/developer and by the blaster and shall be available at the job site for public or official inspection at all times during blasting operations.

(b)

The Certificate of Authorization shall expire in 30 days if no blasting operations are conducted within that period and must be renewed before any blasting operations are continued or resumed, but in no instance shall the term exceed the period covered by a valid City license.

The blaster shall conform with the following procedures during blasting operations:

(a)

The blaster shall notify the Building Division and the Fire Department no less than 12 hours prior to any blasting at the location or locations of the blasting, number of blasts or explosions, type of explosives to be used, and scheduled time blasting will begin, and name of contractor and Certificate of Authorization date.

(b)

The general contractor or property owner/developer shall give reasonable notice in writing at the time of issuance of a building permit, grading permit or encroachment license to all residences or businesses within 600 feet of any potential blast location. The notice shall be in a form approved by the Building Director. Any resident or business receiving such notice may request of the Building Director that a notice of impending blasting be given by the blaster at the time of the 12-hour advance notice given to the Building Director. The general contractor or property owner/developer shall make all reasonable efforts to contact any and all parties requesting the second notice.

(c)

The blaster shall file a written certification with the Building Director certifying that the general notice required by Section 17.60.060(b) has been given. The certificate shall include addresses and date(s) of notification. A copy shall be retained on file at the Building Division.

(d)

Inspections of all structures within 300 feet of the blast site shall be made before blasting operations. The persons inspecting shall obtain the permission of the building owner to conduct an inspection. The inspections shall be done by a registered structural engineer employed by the blaster or project contractor. The inspection shall be only for the purpose of determining the existence of any visible or reasonably recognizable pre-existing defects or damages in any structure. Inspection refusal shall be at the discretion of the property owner.

(e)

The structural engineer shall file a written report identifying all findings of the inspections with the Building Division. The report shall be signed by the engineer and countersigned by the contractor/developer or his agent receiving the report.

(f)

The blaster shall confirm with the Building Division and Fire Department scheduled blasts no less than one hour prior to the scheduled blast.

(g)

The blaster shall permit Fire Department personnel to inspect the blast site and blast materials or explosives at any reasonable time prior to any blasting. The general contractor and blaster shall request and arrange 12 hours in advance of the blast to have a Fire Department official present during the blast. The Fire Department shall, whenever possible and practicable, assign a Department member to be present to observe the blast.

(h)

Blasting shall only be permitted between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. during any weekday, Monday through Friday, exclusive of City recognized holidays unless special circumstances warrant another time or day and special approval is granted by the Building

Director and Fire Chief.

(i)

Possession, storage, transportation and use of explosives and blasting agents shall be in accordance with the Uniform Fire Code as adopted by Ordinance of the San Marcos Fire Protection District.

All complaints regarding blasting operations shall be filed with the Building Division.

(a)

Blaster License and Site Approval and Inspection Fee. The Blaster License fee shall be paid annually as established by Resolution. The annual San Marcos Fire Protection District Operations Permit fee shall be collected by the City Clerk in conjunction with the collection of the City License in the amount established by the San Marcos Fire Protection District. Such funds as are collected for the San Marcos Fire Protection District shall be disbursed to that agency quarterly.

(b)

Certificate of Authorization. Each Certificate of Authorization issued by the Building Director pertaining to individual, scheduled blasting occurrences shall require payment of a fee in an amount established by Resolution, to cover incidental and administrative expenses.

The Fire Chief may impose such additional conditions and procedures as it deems are reasonably necessary to protect the public health and safety based upon the peculiar and individual facts and circumstances of a particular blasting operation and in keeping with provisions of the Uniform Fire Code. The Fire Department should provide the blaster with any additional conditions or procedures in writing and the blaster shall comply with those requirements until such time as the Fire Department is satisfied they are no longer required and cancels the additional requirements.

(a)

It shall be unlawful and a violation of this Code for any person, firm, corporation, blaster, contractor or otherwise to provide false or misleading information or documentation to the City of San Marcos or to the San Marcos Fire Protection District during any phase of the permit process or blasting operations.

(b)

Any person, firm, corporation, blaster, contractor, property owner or other violating or causing the violation of any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punishable in accordance with the provisions of Section 1.12.010.

(c)

In addition to the penalties provided in Paragraph (b) of this section, any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a public nuisance, and may be, by the City, abated as such or remedied in any court of competent jurisdiction and in any manner provided by law.

(Amend. of 2-5-2025(1))

This chapter shall apply to any project or construction where a grading permit is required unless the blast is determined to be a minor blast in which case the inspection requirements of this chapter shall not apply. Those persons or entities conducting major blasting shall comply with all the requirements of this chapter. The Fire Chief and Building Director shall determine if the blast is minor by using the blast effects scale and formula referred to as the "Scale of Fifty" formula (see Scaled Distance Table Supra).

SCALED DISTANCE TABLE

DISTANCE is the actual distance in feet to the nearest man-made structure.

WEIGHT is the maximum weight of explosives to be used on a single delay in pounds.

Distance Weight Distance Weight in feet Scaled 50 in feet Scaled 50

5* - 10 1/8 300 34

11 - 15 1/4 350 49

16 - 20 1/2 400 64

21 - 25 3/4 500 100

26 - 30 1.00 600 144

40 2.25 700 196

50 3.50 800 256

60 4.75 900 324

70 6.00 1000 400

80 7.25 1100 484

90 8.50 1200 576

100 9.75 1300 676

110 11.00 1400 784

130 13.50 1500 900

150 16.00 1600 1024

170 18.50 1700 1156

190 21.00 1800 1296

210 23.50 1900 1444

230 26.00 2000 1600

250 28.50 2500 2500

270 31.00 3000 3600

290 33.50 3500 4900

4000 6400

4500 8100

5000 10000

*Less than five feet the total charge should not exceed one-eighth pound.

For distances not in the table, use whichever formula is required in your operation:

Weight - (Distance) 2 ( 50 )

Scaled distance (D s ) is defined as: D s =  D  W

Where D is the actual distance in feet and W is the weight of explosives in pounds per delay period of eight milliseconds or greater.

Regulations established herewith shall apply with the following exceptions:

Certificates of Authorization shall be issued to cover a 12-month period rather than on a per occurrence basis. Notification requirements shall apply to each occurrence of major blasting as otherwise provided.

This chapter shall apply only to projects for which Certificate of Authorization to blast are obtained on or after the effective date of this Ordinance. Certificates of Authorization issued prior to that date shall be subject only to such regulations as were in effect at the time the certificate was issued.