Background

On October 5, 2006, the Commission opened this Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR) to consider changes to the Commission`s application of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to telecommunications utilities under its jurisdiction. The scoping memo and ruling was issued on April 18, 2008. The stated goals of this OIR are to develop rules and policies that will:

· Ensure that the Commission's practices comply with the current requirements and policies of CEQA;

· Promote the development of an advanced telecommunications infrastructure, particularly with regard to facilities that provide broadband facilities; and

· To make certain that the application of CEQA in the area of telecommunications does not cause undue harm to competition, particularly intermodal competition.

This proceeding involves consideration of a number of complex issues relevant to the Commission's application of CEQA to telecommunications providers.