6. Further Compliance With D.00-09-034 and other Commission Rules

The settlement agreement approved in D.00-09-034 required SoCalGas to mail the notice of rescission within 60 days of a final Commission decision adopting the agreement. On the 60^th day, pursuant to Rule 48(b) of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, SoCalGas requested from the Commission's Executive Director an extension of time to fulfill this requirement. The Executive Director denied the request upon several grounds, including that it was untimely under the Commission's rules. The Executive Director also admonished SoCalGas to endeavor to comply with D.00-09-034 as soon as possible in order to mitigate any sanctions the Commission may impose. SoCalGas sent the notice of rescission to affected landowners on November 22.

The correspondence attached to CSD's petition for modification indicates that SoCalGas' attempt to resolve its dispute with CSD concerning the proper interpretation of D.00-09-034, at least in part, caused its failure to comply with D.00-09-034. We therefore will not impose sanctions for SoCalGas' failure to timely mail the notices of rescission. However, in the future, if SoCalGas believes an extension of time is necessary to comply with a Commission decision, it should request one within the time constraints provided by Rule 48.

Similarly, because of the important issue involved, we do not dismiss this petition because CSD did not comply with the technical requirements of Rule 47(b) to propose specific wording to carry out all requested modifications to the decision. However, we caution parties filing such petitions to comply with our rules in the future, in order that we and interested parties can better understand the precise nature of the requested relief.