STATE OF CALIFORNIA
PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

Siskiyou Telephone Company
Nordheimer Flat Line Extension Grant Project

Resolution No. T-17138
 

Welcome to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review of the proposed construction and operation of the Siskiyou Telephone Company (Siskiyou Telephone) Nordheimer Flat Line Extension Grant Project. A Rural Telecommunications Infrastructure Grant Phase 2 Application for this project was submitted to the CPUC on November 7, 2007 (Resolution T-17138). This site provides access to public documents and information relevant to the CEQA review process.

Background

Introduction

Siskiyou Telephone has filed an application with the CPUC to obtain a rural telecommunications infrastructure grant to construct the Nordheimer Flat Line Extension Grant Project. The CPUC is the CEQA lead agency on this project, and the United States Forest Service (USFS) is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) lead agency. NEPA review has already occurred and the project was given a categorical exemption from further federal environmental review for work on USFS lands, including the Nordheimer Flat Campground.

The Nordheimer Flat Line Extension Grant Project involves the installation of a telephone cable line in two conduits within the right-of-way of Salmon River Road between the end of Siskiyou Telephone’s current cable facility two miles southwest of Forks of Salmon, and the terminating telecommunications pedestal at Red Cap Ranch. The length of the proposed line would be 2.77 miles. The telecommunications line would provide telephone and dial-up internet services to two private residences and the USFS Nordheimer Flat campground in Siskiyou County, California.

Due to the topographical constraints of the terrain, cellular and satellite technologies are not feasible and are cost prohibitive. Siskiyou Telephone proposes to utilize conventional landline telecommunications construction consisting of copper and fiber cables, and will utilize Rural Utilities Service (RUS) standards and specifications to be compatible with the existing Siskiyou Telephone telecommunications network.

The facilities to be constructed will provide Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service. The Nordheimer Project is projected to take eight weeks to construct (weather permitting).

The proposed project would consist of the following two parts:

  • Part 1: Construction and installation of telephone lines.
  • Part 2: Service activation. Grant funds would not be used to activate service.

Siskiyou Telephone estimates that a minimum of 50 pairs of copper cable would be installed to allow for any future development in the area. Construction of the telecommunications cable line would involve trenching within the Salmon River Road right-of-way, laying the two conduits within the trench, backfilling the trench, and conducting any associated roadway repairs. Cables would be pulled through the underground conduits, and above-ground pedestals would be placed at key locations along the route for cable access.

Figure 1: Proposed Project Location and Figure 2: Proposed Project show an overview of the proposed project area and route. Figure 3: Topography and the Proposed Project shows the topography in the project area

Application

The Rural Telecommunications Infrastructures Grant Phase 2 Application for the Nordheimer Flat Line Extension Grant Project may be viewed here.

Other Documents Available

None at this time.

Environmental Review

The CPUC expects that an Initial Study (IS)/Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) will be the appropriate CEQA document to be prepared for this project. The Draft IS/MND will be distributed for public review. A Final IS/MND will then be published before the CPUC makes a decision on the proposed project. Each of these documents will be available on this web site at a later date.

For Additional Information

The CPUC, 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: nordheimerflat@rmtinc.com
Project fax number: (650) 373-1211
Project voicemail: (650) 340-4855

The CPUC’s Project Manager is:

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

 

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