STATE OF CALIFORNIA
PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

Channel Islands Telephone Company
Channel Islands Telecommunication Infrastructure Grant Project
 

Welcome to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website for the environmental review of the proposed Channel Islands Telephone Company (CITC) Channel Islands Telecommunication Infrastructure Project (Project). The proposed Project would include installation of telecommunication infrastructure within and upon existing structures on 17 sites scattered over five of the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. These five islands include San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Barbara, Anacapa, and Santa Cruz Islands, all of which are part of the Channel Islands National Park.

CITC has filed a grant application with the CPUC to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct telecommunication facilities and to provide local exchange and interexchange services to and with these five previously underserved Channel Islands. The CPUC is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Lead Agency on this Project, and the National Park Service (NPS) is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Lead Agency. A joint NEPA/CEQA review will be performed to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of this Project.

The objective of the CITC-proposed Project is to provide high-quality, reliable telephone communication services between locations on the islands and between the islands and the mainland. In addition, the system would have broadband data capability that could be used by the NPS employees, other island residents, and the public to access the internet, communicate by email, and utilize other broadband applications.

The proposed Project is subject to review under both NEPA and CEQA. This website provides access to public documents and information relevant to the NEPA/CEQA environmental review process.

Application

The CPUC Application of Channel Islands Telephone Company for the Channel Islands Telecommunication Infrastructure Project may be viewed here.

 

Project Description

The Channel Islands Telephone Company proposes to install cellular telecommunications infrastructure at 17 locations on 5 of the Channel Islands, including:

  • Anacapa Island
  • San Miguel Island
  • Santa Barbara Island
  • Santa Cruz Island
  • Santa Rosa Island

The project would be located on National Park Service (NPS) land in the Channel Islands National Park. The five Channel Islands under NPS jurisdiction that would be involved with the proposed project are largely maintained in a natural state, but contain a limited amount of development, including research stations, campgrounds, trails, and several residences.

The proposed project is needed because NPS staff currently has limited ability to communicate between locations on the Channel Islands and with personnel and other contact points on the mainland. The islands have a very high frequency (VHF) radio system that allows communication among radio-equipped ranger stations on the five islands. There is also satellite internet service at some ranger stations that allows secure access to government internet provider (IP) addresses on the mainland. NPS personnel also possess cellular telephones; however, the cellular service is unreliable because the islands are at the outer limits of the cellular service area. The location of the islands makes the cellular telephone service unreliable on some parts of the islands and wholly absent on others. Recreational visitors to the islands have no land-line telephone access, and little to no cellular telephone reception on the five islands.

The proposed project would provide cellular telephone service at all ranger stations, fire stations, campground sites, resident homes, and runways on the five islands, as well as all portions of the islands within an approximately 0.5-mile radius of each of the 17 facility locations. This new service is intended to be consistent and reliable, with a reliability of 99.99999 percent, meaning that service will be available at these locations 99.99999 percent of the time.

The purpose of the proposed telephone service is to provide:

  • Improved communications for NPS staff, researchers, residents, and recreational visitors between the islands and the mainland;
  • Communications in the case of an emergency or accident to allow for swifter emergency response; and
  • Improved real time weather reporting data to allow for more accurate travel predictions to reduce unnecessary and/or aborted boat and aircraft trips to and from the islands, both for NPS and commercial/recreational vehicles.

 

Environmental Review

The CPUC expects that an Environmental Assessment/Initial Study (EA/IS) will be the appropriate NEPA/CEQA joint document to be prepared for this project.

Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration

The CPUC and the NPS, through its Environmental Review Team, is conducting an environmental review of the project. To request additional information or to be added to the mailing list, please contact us by email, fax, or phone, as follows:

Project email: channelislands@rmtinc.com
Project fax number: (650) 373-1211
Project voicemail: (650) 340-4875

The CPUC’s Project Manager is:

Jensen Uchida, CPUC Project Manager
California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Avenue, 3rd Floor
San Francisco CA 94102
Tel (415) 703-5484
Fax (415) 703-2200

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