STATE OF CALIFORNIA ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor
PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
505 VAN NESS AVENUE
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102-3298
June 20, 2006 Agenda ID #5773
Quasi-Legislative
TO: PARTIES OF RECORD IN RULEMAKING 00-02-003
This is the draft decision of Commissioner Geoffrey Brown. It will not appear
on the Commission's agenda for at least 30 days after the date it is mailed. The Commission may act then, or it may postpone action until later.
When the Commission acts on the draft decision, it may adopt all or part of it as written, amend or modify it, or set it aside and prepare its own decision. Only when the Commission acts does the decision become binding on the parties.
Parties to the proceeding may file comments on the draft decision as provided in Article 19 of the Commission's "Rules of Practice and Procedure," accessible on the Commission's website at http://www.cpuc.ca.gov. Pursuant to Rule 77.3 opening comments shall not exceed 15 pages.
Comments must be filed with the Commission's Docket Office. Comments should be served on parties to this proceeding in accordance with Rules 2.3 and 2.3.1. Electronic copies of comments should be sent to ALJ Allen at pva@cpuc.ca.gov. All parties must serve hard copies on the ALJ and the assigned Commissioner, and for that purpose I suggest hand delivery, overnight mail or other expeditious methods of service. The current service list for this proceeding is available on the Commission's web site, www.cpuc.ca.gov.
/s/ ANGELA K. MINKIN
Angela K. Minkin, Chief
Administrative Law Judge
ANG:eap
Attachment
COM/GFB/eap DRAFT Agenda ID # 5773
Quasi-Legislative
Decision DRAFT DECISION OF COMMISSIONER BROWN (Mailed 6/20/2006)
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Order Instituting Rulemaking on the Commission's own motion into the programs, practices and policies related to implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act as it applies to jurisdictional telecommunications utilities. |
Rulemaking 00-02-003 (Filed February 3, 2000) |
OPINION MODIFYING THE COMMISSION'S APPLICATION
OF THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS UTILITIES
Summary
This decision implements changes to the Commission's application of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to telecommunications utilities. The changes are designed to more closely align the Commission's practices with the current requirements and policies of CEQA, and to ensure that the application of CEQA in the area of telecommunications does not create competitive disparities.
An Assigned Commissioner's Ruling (ACR) issued on April 26, 2006 set forth a proposal for a streamlined environmental review process for all telecommunications carriers, called the CEQA Expedited Treatment Process (ETP) for telecommunications.1 We adopt that process with modifications.
Under the ETP, a carrier will submit a proposal to Commission staff for construction activities it believe is exempt from CEQA, and Commission staff will review that proposal on an expedited basis. Any carrier who wishes to perform construction activity that is not exempt from CEQA must seek a Permit to Construct, similar to the Permit to Construct required under General Order (GO) 131-D for construction of electric transmission facilities.
In this decision we clarify and modify the proposal set forth in the ACR. Specifically, we take the following steps:
o Clarify the relationship between CEQA review and competitive fairness;
o Modify the ETP to reduce the likelihood of "piecemealing" (the improper division of a large project into smaller pieces for purposes minimizing environmental review);
o Create a category of construction, repair, and maintenance activities that are exempt from the ETP because they have no significant environmental impact; and
o Establish a process for the development and issuance of a new General Order.
1 The ACR is attached as Appendix A to this decision.
