PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Legal Division San Francisco, California Date: January 11, 2018 Resolution No. L-560 R E S O L U T I O N RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING DISCLOSURE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS COMPANY’S SP-1101 QUALITY PLAN FOR PSEP FOR PIPELINE SAFETY ENHANCEMENT PLAN (“PSEP”) BACKGROUND The California Public Utilities Commission (“Commission”) received a Public Records Act (“PRA”) request seeking disclosure of Southern California Gas Company’s “SP-1101 Quality Plan for PSEP for Pipeline Safety Enhancement Plan,” or Commission “PSEP”. staff could not make the PSEP public without the formal approval of the full Commission. The PRA request is treated as an appeal to the full Commission for release of the requested record pursuant to Commission General Order (G.O.) 66C § 3.4. DISCUSSION The requested records are records” as defined by the California Public Records “public Act (“CPRA”). The California Constitution, the CPRA, and discovery law favor disclosure of public records. The public has a constitutional right to access most government information. Statutes, court rules, and other authority limiting access to information must be broadly construed if they further the people’s right of access, and narrowly construed if they limit the right of access. New statutes, court rules, or other authority that limit the right of access must be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need to protect that interest. The CPRA provides that an agency must base a decision to withhold a public record in response to a CPRA request upon the specified exemptions listed in the CPRA, or a showing that, on the facts of a particular case, the public interest in confidentiality clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The Commission has exercised its discretion under Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 583, and implemented its responsibility under Cal. Gov’t. Code § 6253.4(a), by adopting guidelines for public access to Commission records. These guidelines are embodied in G.O. 66-C. General Order 66-C § 1.1 provides that Commission records are public, except otherwise excluded by this General Order, statute, or other order, decision, or “as rule.” General Order 66-C § 2.2 precludes Commission staff’s disclosure of or “[r]ecords
PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Legal Division San Francisco, California Date: January 11, 2018 Resolution No. L-560 R E S O L U T I O N RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING DISCLOSURE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS COMPANY’S SP-1101 QUALITY PLAN FOR PSEP FOR PIPELINE SAFETY ENHANCEMENT PLAN (“PSEP”) BACKGROUND The California Public Utilities Commission (“Commission”) received a Public Records Act (“PRA”) request seeking disclosure of Southern California Gas Company’s “SP-1101 Quality Plan for PSEP for Pipeline Safety Enhancement Plan,” or “PSEP”. Commission staff could not make the PSEP public without the formal approval of the full Commission. The PRA request is treated as an appeal to the full Commission for release of the requested record pursuant to Commission General Order (G.O.) 66C § 3.4. DISCUSSION The requested records are “public records” as defined by the California Public Records Act (“CPRA”). The California Constitution, the CPRA, and discovery law favor disclosure of public records. The public has a constitutional right to access most government information. Statutes, court rules, and other authority limiting access to information must be broadly construed if they further the people’s right of access, and narrowly construed if they limit the right of access. New statutes, court rules, or other authority that limit the right of access must be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need to protect that interest. The CPRA provides that an agency must base a decision to withhold a public record in response to a CPRA request upon the specified exemptions listed in the CPRA, or a showing that, on the facts of a particular case, the public interest in confidentiality clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The Commission has exercised its discretion under Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 583, and implemented its responsibility under Cal. Gov’t. Code § 6253.4(a), by adopting guidelines for public access to Commission records. These guidelines are embodied in G.O. 66-C. General Order 66-C § 1.1 provides that Commission records are public, except “as otherwise excluded by this General Order, statute, or other order, decision, or rule.” General Order 66-C § 2.2 precludes Commission staff’s disclosure of “[r]ecords or
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