BILL NUMBER: AB 825 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 16, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 8, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 18, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 14, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Rendon and Mark Stone
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to add Article 5 (commencing with Section 8548.9.1) to
Chapter 6.5 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and to
amend Sections 311.5, 314.5, 583, 1701, 1706, and 1710 of, to add
Section 468 to, and to add Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 720)
to Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 1 of, the Public Utilities Code,
relating to the Public Utilities Commission.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 825, Rendon. Public Utilities Commission.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has
regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical
corporations, gas corporations, heat corporations, telegraph
corporations, telephone corporations, and water corporations. The
California Constitution authorizes the commission to establish rules,
examine records, and prescribe a uniform system of accounts for all
public utilities. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to
inspect and audit the books and records of electrical corporations,
gas corporations, heat corporations, telegraph corporations,
telephone corporations, and water corporations for regulatory and tax
purposes. An inspection and audit is required to be done at least
every 3 years if the utility has over 1,000 customers and at least
every 5 years if the utility has 1,000 or fewer customers. The act
requires that reports of the inspections and audit and other
pertinent information be furnished to the State Board of Equalization
for use in the assessment of the public utilities.
This bill would delete the requirement that the reports of the
inspections and audit and other pertinent information be furnished to
the State Board of Equalization for use in the assessment of the
public utilities and instead require that the inspections and audit
and other pertinent information be posted on the commission's
Internet Web site.
(2) Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and
charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and
charges be just and reasonable. Existing law, with certain
exceptions, prohibits a public utility from changing any rate, except
upon a showing before the commission and a finding by the commission
that the new rate is justified. With certain exceptions, whenever
any electrical, gas, heat, telephone, water, or sewer system
corporation files an application to change any rate for the services
or commodities furnished by it, existing law requires that the
corporation furnish its customers notice of its application to the
commission for approval of the new rate. This notice requirement does
not apply to any rate change proposed by a corporation pursuant to
an advice letter submitted to the commission filed pursuant to
commission-established procedures for advice letters.
This bill would require each public utility that submits an
application to change its rates to include in its application a
summary of the application that can be understood by the utility's
ratepayers. The bill would require that this summary and the
application be posted on the commission's Internet Web site and, if
the utility has an Internet Web site, to be posted on the utility's
Internet Web site. Each public utility that maintains an Internet Web
site would additionally be required to include on that site contact
information for a utility official who can discuss the nature of the
rate application.
(3) Every public utility is required by existing law to furnish
such reports as the commission may require. No information furnished
to the commission by a public utility, except those matters
specifically required to be open to public inspection, are open to
public inspection or made public except by order of the commission or
a commissioner in the course of a hearing or proceeding. Any present
or former officer or employee of the commission who divulges any
information in violation of these provisions is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
This bill would provide that if in a proceeding before the
commission, a public utility, or subsidiary, affiliate, or holding
company, files a pleading, report, or other document with the
commission that is claimed to contain confidential information, it
would be required to concurrently file a public version of the
pleading, report, or other document with the commission that contains
sufficient information for any other party to the proceeding to
understand the nature of its contents. The bill would authorize any
party to the proceeding to file a motion to make public a pleading,
report, or other document filed under a claim of confidentiality. The
bill would require an administrative law judge assigned to the
proceeding or the assigned commissioner to hold a hearing on the
motion and determine whether the pleading, report, or other document
should be made public. The bill would authorize any party to seek
review of the ruling or order of the administrative law judge or
assigned commissioner on the motion by filing a motion for rehearing
de novo before the full commission within 30 days of the date the
ruling or order on the motion was issued.
(4) Existing law requires the commission to publish and maintain
certain documents and information, including making available on the
commission's Internet Web site, the commission's annual work plan,
general orders, and Rules of Practice and Procedure, the proposed and
alternate proposed decisions and resolutions, the agenda, agenda
item documents, rulings of the commission, and adopted decisions and
resolutions of the commission. Included in the materials that the
commission is required to publish and maintain on its Internet Web
site are docket cards that list by title and date of filing or
issuance all documents filed and all decisions or rulings issued in
those proceedings.
This bill would require that each document that the commission
distributes to any service-of-process list be docketed and identified
on the commission's Internet Web site. The bill would require the
commission to adopt rules providing for posting on its Internet Web
site of all comments, workshop reports, hearing exhibits, including
the exhibit number assigned and whether the exhibit has been offered
and received in evidence, hearing transcripts, and other documentary
information included in the record of its proceedings.
(5) Existing law requires the commission to establish an office of
the public advisor and to appoint a public advisor. Existing law
requires the office of the public advisor to assist members of the
public and ratepayers who desire to testify before or present
information to the commission in any hearing or proceeding of the
commission.
This bill would add legislative findings and declarations relative
to improving the transparency of commission regulatory activities.
The bill would require the public advisor to be responsible for
ensuring that the activities of the commission are as transparent to
the public as reasonably possible and consistent with law. The bill
would require the public advisor to work with all divisions of the
commission to ensure that the commission's Internet Web site provides
adequate transparency in the information provided to the public. The
bill would require the commission to post on its Internet Web site a
summary, as specified, of all electricity procurement contracts
entered into by an electrical corporation during the previous 3
years, the expenses of which the commission has approved as being
just and reasonable, a list of all proceedings involving public
utilities then pending before the commission with information, in
summary form, as to the amount of any rate increase being sought,
both in cumulative amount and by unit or other means billed to
ratepayers, transcripts and available summaries of documents,
evidence, testimony and proceedings before the commission or its
administration law judges that are not subject to confidentiality, a
list of all requests submitted to the commission pursuant to the
California Public Records Act, all advice letters approved by the
commission, and the calendars of each commissioner. The bill would
require the public advisor to update, maintain, and post the
commission's service-of-process lists on the commission's Internet
Web site in an electronic form that may be used by any party to
complete service of process. The bill would require the commission to
open a proceeding to reexamine a specified decision relative to
confidentiality of electric procurement data and to modify the
commission's confidentiality practices and procedures consistent with
specified requirements. The bill would establish the Inspector
General for the Public Utilities Commission within the California
State Auditor's Office to conduct oversight review and assess, audit,
investigate, and report on the policies, practices, and procedures
of the commission under the guidance, direction, supervision, and
authority of the State Auditor.
(6) Existing law requires the commission to determine whether a
proceeding requires a hearing and, if so, to determine whether the
matter requires a quasi-legislative, an adjudication, or a
ratesetting hearing. Upon initiating a hearing, the commission is
required to assign one or more commissioners to oversee the case and
an administrative law judge where appropriate. Existing law requires
the assigned commissioner to schedule a prehearing conference and to
issue, by order or ruling, a scoping memo that describes the issues
to be considered and the applicable timetable for resolution.
This bill would, in matters the commission has determined require
a hearing, require the commission to use all-party conferences as a
tool for listening to the parties' perspectives on the most important
issues and to facilitate public discussion between and among parties
and commissioners. The bill would require that discussions at an
all-party conference not rely on evidence outside the evidentiary
record existing at the time of the all-party conference. The bill
would require the assigned commissioner to convene an all-parties
conference as soon as practicable after the prehearing conference,
and before completing the scoping memo, to discuss the substantive
matter to be decided in the proceeding and prospects for resolving
issues that would otherwise be litigated. The bill would require the
commission to hold an all-party conference before a quorum of
commissioners, after a proposed decision is issued in all contested
cases, unless all parties waive this requirement and a majority of
commissioners concur with that waiver. The bill would require that a
transcript be kept for each all-party conference and that the
transcript be made a part of the record of the proceeding.
(7) Existing law prohibits an officer, employee, or agent of the
commission that is personally involved in the prosecution, or in the
supervision of the prosecution, of an adjudication case from
participating in the decision of the case or in the decision of any
factually related adjudicatory proceeding. Existing law permits an
officer, employee, or agent of the commission that is personally
involved in the prosecution, or in the supervision of the
prosecution, of an adjudication case to participate in reaching a
settlement of the case, but prohibits the officer, employee, or agent
from participating in the decision of the commission to accept or
reject the settlement, except as a witness or counsel in an open
hearing or a specified closed hearing.
This bill would prohibit an attorney or other staff member who has
served as a prosecutor or advocate at any stage of an adjudicatory
proceeding before the commission from meeting with any commissioner
regarding the matter in which the attorney or staff member has served
unless all parties are present.
(8) This bill would require the commission to adopt rules
providing for comments from the public, including comments made at
noticed public participation hearings of the commission, to be
included in the record of its proceedings and would require that the
assigned commissioner, or a quorum of the commission, convene and
attend each public participation proceeding.
(9) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Sections
311.5 and 1701 of the Public Utilities Code, proposed by SB 48, to be
operative only if SB 48 and this bill are both chaptered and become
effective on or before January 1, 2016, and this bill is chaptered
last.
(10) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act
or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of
the commission is a crime.
Because certain provisions of this bill would be a part of the act
and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission
implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose
a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 5 (commencing with Section 8548.9.1) is added
to Chapter 6.5 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to
read:
Article 5. Inspector General: Public Utilities
8548.9.1. (a) There is hereby established, within the California
State Auditor's Office, the Inspector General for the Public
Utilities Commission.
(b) For purposes of this article, "inspector general" means the
Inspector General for the Public Utilities Commission and "commission"
means the Public Utilities Commission.
(c) The inspector general shall be appointed by the State Auditor.
8548.9.2. The inspector general shall, at the direction of the
State Auditor, conduct oversight review and assess, audit,
investigate, and report on the policies, practices, and procedures of
the commission. Subject to the approval of the State Auditor, the
inspector general may maintain a permanent office at a commission
location, provided by the commission, and shall be provided with
sufficient staff and support by the State Auditor to carry out the
duties of the position.
8548.9.3. (a) The inspector general shall conduct his or her
duties under the guidance, direction, supervision, and authority of
the State Auditor. In conducting his or her work, the inspector
general is subject to all of the requirements of this chapter,
including, but not limited to, the access and confidentiality
provisions specified in Sections 8545 and 8545.1 and the Government
Auditing Standards published by the Comptroller General of the United
States, as specified in Section 8546.1. However, the inspector
general may decide, without further approval except from the State
Auditor, to audit or investigate and report on commission matters
based on his or her preliminary assessment that commission activities
require his or her investigation.
(b) For any stage of a review, assessment, audit, or
investigation, the inspector general may utilize all of the authority
granted under this chapter, including, but not limited to, the
authority to examine and reproduce records pursuant to Section
8545.2, the authority to administer oaths, certify official acts, and
issue subpoenas pursuant to Section 8545.4, and the authority to
receive confidential reports of improper governmental activities
pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 8547).
8548.9.4. Notwithstanding Section 8544.5, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, the California State Auditor shall recover the costs
for the inspector general's activities from reimbursement fees paid
pursuant to Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 401) of Part 1 of
Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code.
SEC. 2. Section 311.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
311.5. (a) (1) Prior to commencement of any meeting at which
commissioners vote on items on the public agenda, the commission
shall make available to the public copies of the agenda, and upon
request, any agenda item documents that are proposed to be considered
by the commission for action or decision at a commission meeting.
(2) In addition, the commission shall publish the agenda, agenda
item documents, and adopted decisions in a manner that makes copies
of them easily available to the public, including publishing those
documents on the Internet. Publication of the agenda and agenda item
documents shall occur on the Internet at the same time as the written
agenda and agenda item documents are made available to the public.
(b) The commission shall publish and maintain the following
documents on the Internet:
(1) Each of the commission's proposed and alternate proposed
decisions and resolutions, until the decision or resolution is
adopted and published.
(2) Each of the commission's adopted decisions and resolutions.
The publication shall occur within 10 days of the adoption of each
decision or resolution by the commission.
(3) The then-current version of the commission's general orders
and Rules of Practice and Procedure.
(4) Each of the commission's rulings. The commission shall
maintain those rulings on its Internet Web site until final
disposition, including disposition of any judicial appeals, of the
respective proceedings in which the rulings were issued.
(5) A docket card that lists, by title and date of filing or
issuance, all documents filed and all decisions or rulings issued in
those proceedings. The commission shall maintain the docket card
until final disposition, including disposition of any judicial
appeals, of the corresponding proceedings. Each document that the
commission distributes to any service-of-process list shall be
docketed and identified on the commission's Internet Web site.
SEC. 2.5. Section 311.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
311.5. (a) (1) Prior to commencement of any meeting at which
commissioners vote on items on the public agenda, the commission
shall make available to the public copies of the agenda, and upon
request, any agenda item documents that are proposed to be considered
by the commission for action or decision at a commission meeting.
(2) In addition, the commission shall publish the agenda, agenda
item documents, and adopted decisions in a manner that makes copies
of them easily available to the public, including publishing those
documents on the Internet. Publication of the agenda and agenda item
documents shall occur on the Internet at the same time as the written
agenda and agenda item documents are made available to the public.
(b) The commission shall publish and maintain the following
documents on the Internet:
(1) Each of the commission's proposed and alternate proposed
decisions and resolutions, until the decision or resolution is
adopted and published.
(2) Each of the commission's adopted decisions and resolutions.
The publication shall occur within 10 days of the adoption of each
decision or resolution by the commission.
(3) The then-current version of the commission's general orders
and Rules of Practice and Procedure.
(4) Each of the commission's rulings. The commission shall
maintain those rulings on its Internet Web site until final
disposition, including disposition of any judicial appeals, of the
respective proceedings in which the rulings were issued.
(5) A docket card that lists, by title and date of filing or
issuance, all documents filed and all decisions or rulings issued in
those proceedings, including the public versions of all prepared
written testimony and advice letter filings, protests, and responses.
The commission shall maintain the docket card until final
disposition, including disposition of any judicial appeals, of the
corresponding proceedings. Each document that the commission
distributes to any service-of-process list shall be docketed and
identified on the commission's Internet Web site.
(c) The commission shall make the following information available
on the Internet:
(1) Information on how members of the public and ratepayers can
gain access to the commission's ratemaking process and to information
regarding the specific matters to be decided.
(2) Information on the operation of the office of the public
advisor established in Section 321 and how the public advisor can
connect members of the public to persons responsible for specific
cases and matters to be decided.
SEC. 3. Section 314.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
314.5. The commission shall inspect and audit the books and
records for regulatory and tax purposes (a) at least once in every
three years in the case of every electrical, gas, heat, telegraph,
telephone, and water corporation serving over 1,000 customers, and
(b) at least once in every five years in the case of every
electrical, gas, heat, telegraph, telephone, and water corporation
serving 1,000 or fewer customers. An audit conducted in connection
with a rate proceeding shall be deemed to fulfill the requirements of
this section. Reports of the inspections and audits and other
pertinent information shall be posted on the commission's Internet
Web site.
SEC. 4. Section 468 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
468. (a) Each public utility that submits an application to
change its rates shall include in its application a summary of the
application that can be understood by the utility's ratepayers. This
summary and the application shall be posted on the commission's
Internet Web site and, if the utility has an Internet Web site, shall
be posted on the utility's Internet Web site.
(b) Each public utility that maintains an Internet Web site shall
include on that site contact information for a utility official who
can discuss the nature of the rate application. If the rate
application includes different rates depending upon the utility's
service territory, the contact information shall identify a utility
official who can discuss the nature of the rate application for each
separate service territory. The utility official shall also be
qualified to discuss, in general terms, the operation of the utility
in each service territory.
SEC. 5. Section 583 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
583. (a) No information furnished to the commission by a public
utility, or any business that is a subsidiary or affiliate of a
public utility, or a corporation that holds a controlling interest in
a public utility, except those matters specifically required to be
open to public inspection by this part, shall be open to public
inspection or made public except on order of the commission, or by
the commission or a commissioner in the course of a hearing or
proceeding. Any present or former officer or employee of the
commission who divulges that information is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) If in a proceeding before the commission, a public utility, or
any business that is a subsidiary or affiliate of a public utility,
or a corporation that holds a controlling interest in a public
utility, files a pleading, report, or other document with the
commission that is claimed to contain confidential information, a
public version of the pleading, report, or other document that
contains sufficient information for any other party to the proceeding
to understand the nature of its contents shall be concurrently filed
with the commission. An administrative law judge assigned to the
proceeding, the assigned commissioner, or the commission may
determine the sufficiency of the information contained in the public
version of the pleading, report, or other document.
(c) Any party to a proceeding before the commission may file a
motion to make public a pleading, report, or other document filed by
a public utility, or any business that is a subsidiary or affiliate
of a public utility, or a corporation that holds a controlling
interest in a public utility, under a claim of confidentiality. An
administrative law judge assigned to the proceeding or the assigned
commissioner shall hold a hearing on the motion and determine whether
the pleading, report, or other document should be made public. In
determining the motion, the administrative law judge or assigned
commissioner shall make written findings and conclusions.
(d) At any public hearing, an assigned administrative law judge
may provide direction to the parties in a proceeding as to what types
of information may be filed with the commission under a claim of
confidentiality.
(e) No ruling or order entered pursuant to subdivision (c) shall
be considered a ruling or order of the commission or a commissioner
unless it reflects an examination of the specific information or
documents to be made public or opened to public inspection. Any party
may seek review of a ruling or order issued pursuant to subdivision
(c) to the full commission by filing a motion for rehearing de novo
by the full commission within 30 days of the date the ruling or order
on the motion was issued, and the pleading, report, or other
document shall remain confidential while the motion for rehearing is
pending. When a motion for rehearing de novo is filed, the full
commission shall make the final determination of the motion to make
public a pleading, report, or other document filed under claim of
confidentiality.
SEC. 6. Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 720) is added to
Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
Article 1.5. Transparency of Commission Regulatory Activities
720. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Transparency in how the commission operates and makes its
decisions is critical to gaining and retaining the confidence of the
public at large and serving the public utility ratepayers affected by
the commission's decisions.
(b) The activities of private entities that provide essential
services to the public and that have dedicated their property to the
service of the public are defined as public utilities in the
California Constitution, subject to the control by the Legislature.
(c) The services provided by public utilities are essential to the
proper operation of our economy and fundamentally affect every
California family and business.
(d) Under the California Constitution, the commission is granted
authority to establish its own procedures subject to statute and due
process and to establish rules for public utilities, and the
Legislature has plenary authority to confer additional authority and
jurisdiction upon the commission and to establish the manner and
scope of review of commission action in a court of record.
(e) Because the California Constitution provides special
consideration to public utilities and to the commission that
regulates those public utilities, it is essential to give the public
the ability to monitor the functioning of the commission and its
actions.
(f) The greater and more unfettered the public official's power,
the greater the public's interest in monitoring the exercise of that
power.
(g) Access to information concerning the conduct of the public's
business by the commission is a fundamental and necessary right for
every person in the state.
(h) Information concerning services provided by public utilities
is of the highest public interest, including information about
quality and reliability of service to the public and information
about costs and profits.
(i) While confidentiality of information submitted by a public
utility may be necessary in some cases, as provided in Section 583,
the activities and decisions of the commission should remain as
transparent as reasonably possible.
721. The commission shall open a proceeding to reexamine Decision
06-06-066 (June 29, 2006) Interim Opinion Implementing Senate Bill
1488, Relating to Confidentiality of Electric Procurement Data
Submitted to the Commission, as modified by Decision 07-05-032 (May
3, 2007), Order Modifying Decision (D.) 06-06-066 and Denying
Rehearing of the Decision, as Modified, and shall modify the
commission's confidentiality practices and procedures consistent with
the requirements of Section 724.
722. (a) The public advisor of the commission, appointed pursuant
to Section 321, shall have responsibility for ensuring that the
activities of the commission are as transparent to the public as
reasonably possible and consistent with law.
(b) The public advisor shall develop and make available
easy-to-understand guides for the public to participate in commission
proceedings.
(c) The public advisor shall update, maintain, and post the
commission's service-of-process lists on the commission's Internet
Web site in an electronic form that may be used by any party to
complete service of process.
723. (a) The public advisor of the commission shall work with all
divisions to ensure that the commission's Internet Web site provides
adequate transparency in the information provided to the public.
(b) The commission shall make available to the public on its
Internet Web site all of the following information:
(1) A summary of all electricity procurement contracts entered
into by an electrical corporation during the previous three years,
the expenses of which the commission, if applicable, has approved as
being just and reasonable. The summary shall include information as
to the name of the generating facility, its location, the electricity
or electricity products procured, the fuel or energy source used to
generate the electricity, the estimated total expense that the
electrical corporation will incur pursuant to the contract, the
estimated cost by unit of energy that the electrical corporation will
incur pursuant to the contract, when, if applicable, the contract
was approved by the commission, and, if applicable, the decision or
resolution approving the contract. Information on costs and expenses
of the contract shall not be posted until the later of when the
electrical corporation has completed the legal transactions required
to acquire the electricity or electricity products, or one year after
the commission approves the contract, if applicable.
(2) A list of all proceedings involving public utilities then
pending before the commission with information, in summary form, as
to the amount of any rate increase being sought, both in cumulative
amount and by unit or other means billed to ratepayers.
(3) Transcripts and available summaries of documents, evidence,
testimony, and proceedings before the commission or its
administrative law judges that are not subject to confidentiality
pursuant to Section 583, or with confidential portions redacted,
consistent with Section 1706.
(4) A list of all requests submitted to the commission pursuant to
the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(5) Advice letters approved by the commission.
(6) Calendars of each commissioner.
724. (a) In matters requiring a hearing pursuant to Section
1701.1, the commission shall use all-party conferences as a tool for
listening to the parties' perspectives on the most important issues
and to facilitate public discussion between and among parties and
commissioners. Discussion at all-party conferences may rely on
evidence in the record and shall not rely on evidence outside the
evidentiary record existing at the time of the all-party conference.
(b) The assigned commissioner, and not the assigned administrative
law judge, shall convene an all-party conference as soon as
practicable after the prehearing conference, and before completing
the scoping memo, to discuss the substantive matter to be decided in
the proceeding and prospects for resolving issues that would
otherwise be litigated. This requirement may be satisfied by a
pre-hearing conference convened by the assigned commissioner.
(c) The commission shall hold an all-party conference on the
record before a quorum of commissioners, after the proposed decision
is issued in all contested cases, unless all parties waive this
requirement and a majority of commissioners concur with that waiver.
An all-party conference held pursuant to Section 1701.2 may satisfy
the requirement of this subdivision.
(d) A transcript shall be kept for each all-party conference and
made a part of the record of the proceeding.
(e) The commission shall establish rules providing for all-party
conferences. The rules shall provide for the broadest participation
by parties to the proceeding that the commission can reasonably
accommodate, consistent with the commission's other duties and
responsibilities.
725. An attorney or other staff member who has served as a
prosecutor or advocate at any stage of an adjudicatory proceeding
before the commission shall not meet with any commissioner regarding
the matter in which the attorney or staff member has served unless
all parties are present.
SEC. 7. Section 1701 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
1701. (a) All hearings, investigations, and proceedings shall be
governed by this part and by rules of practice and procedure adopted
by the commission, and in the conduct thereof the technical rules of
evidence need not be applied.
(b) No informality in any hearing, investigation, or proceeding or
in the manner of taking testimony shall invalidate any order,
decision or rule made, approved, or confirmed by the commission.
(c) The commission shall adopt rules providing for comments from
the public, including comments made at noticed public participation
hearings of the commission, to be included in the evidentiary record
of its proceedings. The assigned commissioner, or a quorum of the
commission, shall convene and attend each public participation
proceeding. The rules, consistent with due process, shall provide for
the submission of comments from the public prior to submission of
the issues to be decided to the commission for its decision and
permit consideration by the commission of the public comments in
reaching its decisions. The rules shall provide for the parties to
the proceeding to have one opportunity to respond to any public
comments included in the record of proceedings.
(d) Upon request of a local elected official in the region
affected by a contested matter, the commission shall convene a public
participation hearing in that region.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 11425.10 of the Government Code,
Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 11400) of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code does not apply to a hearing by the
commission under this code.
SEC. 7.5. Section 1701 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
1701. (a) All hearings, investigations, and proceedings shall be
governed by this part and by rules of practice and procedure adopted
by the commission, and in the conduct thereof the technical rules of
evidence need not be applied.
(b) No informality in any hearing, investigation, or proceeding or
in the manner of taking testimony shall invalidate any order,
decision or rule made, approved, or confirmed by the commission.
(c) The commission shall adopt rules providing for comments from
the public, including comments made at noticed public participation
hearings of the commission, to be included in the record of its
proceedings. The assigned commissioner, or a quorum of the
commission, shall convene and attend each public participation
proceeding. The rules, consistent with due process, shall provide for
the submission of comments from the public prior to submission of
the issues to be decided to the commission for its decision and
permit consideration by the commission of the public comments in
reaching its decisions. The rules shall provide for the parties to
the proceeding to have one opportunity to respond to any public
comments included in the record of proceedings.
(d) Upon request of a local elected official in the region
affected by a contested matter, the commission shall convene a public
participation hearing in that region.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 11425.10 of the Government Code,
Articles 1 through 15, inclusive, of Chapter 4.5 (commencing with
Section 11400) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code do not apply to a hearing by the commission under this code. The
Administrative Adjudication Code of Ethics (Article 16 (commencing
with Section 11475) of Chapter 4.5 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2
of the Government Code) shall apply to administrative law judges of
the commission.
SEC. 8. Section 1706 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
1706. (a) A complete record of all proceedings and testimony
before the commission or any commissioner on any formal hearing shall
be taken down by a reporter appointed by the commission, and the
parties shall be entitled to be heard in person or by attorney. The
commission shall adopt rules providing for posting on its Internet
Web site of all comments, workshop reports, hearing exhibits,
including the exhibit number assigned and whether the exhibit has
been offered and received in evidence, hearing transcripts, and other
documentary information included in the record of its proceedings.
(b) In case of an action to review any order or decision of the
commission, a transcript of that testimony, together with all
exhibits or copies thereof introduced, and of the pleadings, record,
and proceedings in the cause, shall constitute the record of the
commission, but if the petitioner and the commission stipulate that
certain questions alone and a specified portion only of the evidence
shall be certified to the Supreme Court or the court of appeal for
its judgment, the stipulation and the questions and the evidence
therein specified shall constitute the record on review. The
provisions of this section shall not apply to hearings held pursuant
to Section 1702.1.
SEC. 9. Section 1710 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
1710. (a) Except as otherwise provided for by Section 1701, no
documents or records of a public utility or person or corporation
which purport to be statements of fact shall be admitted into
evidence or shall serve as any basis for the testimony of any
witness, unless the documents or records have been certified under
penalty of perjury by the person preparing or in charge of preparing
them as being true and correct. If the person preparing them is dead
or has been declared incompetent, any other person having knowledge
of such statements of fact may certify the records. If certification
pursuant to this section is not possible for any reason, the
documents or records shall not be admitted into evidence unless
admissible under the Evidence Code.
(b) This section shall not apply to any documents not prepared,
directly or indirectly, by, or under the supervision or direction of,
the public utility or person or corporation offering the documents
into evidence.
SEC. 10. Section 2.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to
Section 311.5 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by both this bill
and Senate Bill 48. It shall only become operative if (1) both bills
are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2016, (2)
each bill amends Section 311.5 of the Public Utilities Code, and (3)
this bill is enacted after Senate Bill 48, in which case Section 2 of
this bill shall not become operative.
SEC. 11. Section 7.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to
Section 1701 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by both this bill
and Senate Bill 48. It shall only become operative if (1) both bills
are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2016, (2)
each bill amends Section 1701 of the Public Utilities Code, and (3)
this bill is enacted after Senate Bill 48, in which case Section 7 of
this bill shall not become operative.
SEC. 12. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.