JAR/oma 1/21/2009
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Order Instituting Rulemaking on the Commission's Own Motion to Revise General Order 103. |
Rulemaking 07-12-015 (Filed December 20, 2007) |
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE'S RULING INVITING COMMENTS ON THE DIVISION OF WATER AND AUDITS' GENERAL ORDER 103 WORKING GROUP REPORT AND ADDITIONAL ISSUES
On December 20, 2007, the Commission adopted the above-captioned proceeding in order to "revise and update General Order (GO) 103, Rules Governing Water Service Including Minimum Standards for Design and Construction." As noted in the Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR), GO 103 sets forth the Commission's rules controlling water and sewer service and the minimum standards for design and construction of the systems. It applies to all water and sewer system utilities operating under the jurisdiction of the Commission.
From February through August 2008, the respondents and interested parties worked collaboratively to analyze and modify the proposed revisions to GO 103. In February 2008, pursuant to the OIR, the Water and Audits Division staff conducted a workshop in order to "coordinate the evaluation process of the proposed GO 103 changes." At the workshop, the participants agreed to form five working groups (WGs)1 that would focus on segmented issue areas of the OIR, analyze them, and submit consensus recommendations to the Commission. The WGs met from March through June 2008, and created a working draft of their combined recommended GO 103 revisions. On June 24, 2008 and June 26, 2008, the Water and Audits Division staff held a workshop so that WG participants could collectively review the draft report and determine whether a consensus could be reached on several outstanding issues. While the participants reached agreement on some issues, on other issues the participants expressed conflicting views.
On September 12, 2008, the Water and Audits Division staff submitted for consideration the final WG Report2 which contained the WG's recommended changes to GO 103 that came out of the WG evaluation process.3 By this ruling, the September 12 WG Report and attachments become a part of the record of this proceeding. While the Water and Audits Division staff has received a number of informal comments on the GO 103 WG Report,4 respondents and interested parties are requested herein to again review the appended final WG Report, address the issues set forth below, and either supplement and/or revise the comments already submitted to staff, and file their comments no later than February 10, 2009.
Additional Issues for Comment
1 The WGs divided responsibility for the analysis of the General Order as follows: 1) WG1-Sections I (Definitions only), II (Standards of Service: Water Supply Requirements and Quantity of Water), III (Standards of Design and Construction), and IV (Fire Protection Standards); 2) WG2-Sections I (Definitions only) and II (Standards of Service: Water Quality, Testing of Water; 3) WG3-Sections I (Definitions only), IV (Measurement of Service), and VII (Operation and Maintenance); 4) WG 4-Sections I (All), V (Rates and Billing), and VII (Customer Relations - Performance Standards); and 5) WG5-(GO 103 sewer standards).
2 Attached as Appendix A.
3 Appended as Attachment 1, revisions to the GO 103 are shown in italicized font.
4 On August 8, 2008, Division of Water and Audits issued for review and informal comment to the Rulemaking and WG service list a draft of the GO 103 WG Report and revised GO 103. Comments were submitted on August 22, 2008.
