9. Environmental Considerations

The five product orders in this application all involve use of available capacity in existing fiber optic cables. SCE is not authorized to undertake any fiber optic construction as part of these five leases. SCE states that, in the event that a future product order would require construction of new fiber optic routes, SCE will not construct the new route until it receives Commission authorization to do so. The Commission then would have the opportunity to consider the environmental impact of future product orders.

As to the approval sought here, the Commission has determined in prior decisions⁴ that agreements involving the use of an electric utility's existing infrastructure with only incidental changes qualify for a categorical exemption under CEQA. Section 15301(b) of the CEQA guidelines provides that such agreements do not pose environmental hazards and thus do not require environmental review. More recently, the Commission has affirmed this position in D.00-01-014, in which Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) sought approval to permit Electric Lightwave, Inc. to install and use fiber optic lines on certain PG&E transmission towers, substations, rights-of-way and other facilities. Because the five product orders here are for existing fiber optic capacity, and the only alteration that will be required is to splice the existing fiber to Sprint's fibers, the categorical exemption of the prior decisions applies here as well.