BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 920|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 920
Author: Yee (D), et al
Amended: 5/27/10
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 6-4, 4/20/10
AYES: Padilla, Corbett, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Oropeza,
Simitian
NOES: Dutton, Florez, Strickland, Wright
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-4, 5/24/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Price
SUBJECT : Alphabetical telephone directories:
distribution
SOURCE : California Against Waste
DIGEST : This bill, with respect to any telephone
directory distributed by a telephone corporation or one of
its affiliates, requires each corporation to (1) allow any
telephone service customer to opt-out of receiving a
telephone directory published by a telephone corporation,
(2) not deliver a directory, to any subscriber who has
opted-out of delivery until the subscriber requests
delivery be resumed as specified, and (3) provide on the
front cover of its telephone directory, a clear and
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conspicuous language of the following information (a) a
telephone number or Internet Web site address, or both for
a subscriber to use in submitting a request to opt-out of
delivery of future directories, and (b) a statement that
the directory can be recycled.
Third-party vendors would have to comply with these
provisions as a contractual condition for receiving
telephone subscriber information from a telephone
corporation.
ANALYSIS : Existing law of the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC), for the purpose of protecting
the privacy of customers with unpublished phone numbers,
requires telephone directory publishers to print on the
inside first page of the directory a toll-free number that
a recipient can call to discontinue further directory
deliveries and requires publishers to discontinue delivery
upon request.
This bill codifies that requirement for the purpose of
reducing telephone directory waste and specify the exact
opt-out message that publishers must print on the front
cover of each directory.
Background
Local exchange carriers (LECs) are required to provide each
residential telephone customer a free white pages directory
with an alphabetical listing of subscribers, excluding
subscribers who request an unpublished number. LECs also
are required by statute or CPUC order to include in their
directories information about telephone service during an
emergency, emergency services available by calling 911,
coin- and credit card-activated pay phones,
operator-assisted services, monitoring of telephone
conversations, a list of telephone number prefixes that can
be called without a toll charge, and contact information
for competitive local exchange carriers. The CPUC has
recognized the "customer guide" pages at the front of
directories as "an essential source of information
regarding telephone service rates, terms and conditions."
Directories also routinely include contact information for
government agencies and local services.
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Aside from requiring this information in white pages,
directory publishing is substantially unregulated. LEC
directory subsidiaries and independent publishers are not
required to be certified by the CPUC, although LECs are
required to submit two copies of each directory to the
CPUC's Communications Division. Existing law provides that
the CPUC has no jurisdiction over classified telephone
directories (yellow pages) or commercial advertising in
white pages, except to investigate and consider advertising
revenues and expenses in connection with establishing rates
for other services. Thus, the CPUC generally has no
jurisdiction over the third-party vendors that publish
directories in competition with LEC directories, estimated
to be about 24 companies publishing 244 titles in various
markets statewide.
Opt-Out Requirement . In order to promote a level playing
field in the competitive directory market, the CPUC has
required LECs to provide third-party vendors with
subscriber information to enable directory delivery. In a
1998 order, the CPUC granted the request of third-party
vendors to require LECs to provide address information of
customers with unlisted numbers, but with a condition any
directory publisher, including LECs, that delivers
directories to these "nonpub" customers must provide a
toll-free number printed on the first page of the directory
that the recipient can call to inform the vendor not to
deliver its directory to that address in the future, and
the publisher must discontinue delivery upon request. The
purpose of this "opt-out" requirement is to protect the
privacy of "nonpub" customers.
Customers Choose to Opt-Out . According to the CPUC, a data
request of LECs revealed that 18,737 subscribers have
opted-out of directory delivery for the current year's
directory. However, according to the CPUC, AT&T did not
respond to the data request so the total number of
customers statewide who have chosen to opt-out is unknown
but surely would be substantially higher given AT&T's large
customer base.
Recycling Directories . Since the early 1990s, state law on
minimum content has required persons that use newsprint in
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commercial printing, defined to include directory
publishers, to use at least 50 percent recycled-content
newsprint and to certify compliance with the California
Integrated Waste Management Board, which is authorized to
enforce this requirement, impose a fine for noncompliance,
and refer persons submitting false certifications to the
Attorney General for prosecution for fraud. Existing law
on waste diversion establishes a state goal that 50 percent
of telephone directories be recycled. The California
Department of Resources Recovery and Recycling (CDRRR), the
successor to the board, has no recent data on compliance
with these provisions.
Directory Waste . According to the Product Steward
Institute, telephone books represent significant tonnage in
the waste stream (660,000 tons per year). The CDRRR states
that phone books and directories comprised an estimated
24,149 tons of the total disposed waste stream in
California in 2008, an amount that has increased with the
growth of third-party directory publishers. According to a
report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under
national average landfill, recycling, and manufacturing
conditions, not publishing a phone book reduces greenhouse
gases by about three times as much as recycling.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/1/10)
Californians Against Waste (source)
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees
California Resource Recovery Association
Department of the Environment, City and County of San
Francisco
Environment California
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Planning and Conservation League
Sierra Club California
StopWaste.org
California State Association of Electrical Workers
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/1/10)
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AT&T
CalChamber
California Communications Association
California's independent Telephone Companies
Divine Connections: Christian Yellow Pages and Resource
Book
Frontier Communications
Orange Book Directories
Southwest California Legislative Council
Valley Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
telephone books have become wasteful and obsolete with the
advent of smart phones, Internet search engines, and free
online directory services, and many customers would prefer
to not receive a telephone directory. This bill
strengthens the current opt-out requirement so that the
opt-out phone number would be more prominently displayed on
directory covers. The author's office also claims that
this bill helps reduce waste and consumer utility costs
while conserving resources and protecting the environment.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : CalChamber states that, "State
law requires phones companies to make this information
available. Currently these printed alphabetical directories
are the primary source of telephone number information for
consumers, especially for those over 45 years of age and
those with income under $25,000 annually. The bill
additionally requires phone companies to assure that no
other third party phone directories are delivered to
residents who have opted-out, even if there is no
contractual relationship between the phone company and the
competitive phone directory. This provision is not
workable and prohibits consumer choice for directories.
Lastly, the bill could hinder efforts to promote paper
recycling programs in the state. Phone directories are a
significant source of recycled paper demand. Without a
healthy paper recycling market, fueled by strong demand for
recycled paper, the final leg of the recycle process cannot
occur, diminishing the market for recycled paper."
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DLW:do 6/1/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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