311.

 (a) The commission, each commissioner, the executive director, and the assistant executive directors may administer oaths, certify to all official acts, and issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers, waybills, books, accounts, documents, and testimony in any inquiry, investigation, hearing, or proceeding in any part of the state.

(b) The administrative law judges may administer oaths, examine witnesses, issue subpoenas, and receive evidence, under rules that the commission adopts.

(c) The evidence in any hearing shall be taken by the commissioner or the administrative law judge designated for that purpose. The commissioner or the administrative law judge may receive and exclude evidence offered in the hearing in accordance with the rules of practice and procedure of the commission.

(d) Consistent with the procedures contained in Sections 1701.1, 1701.2, 1701.3, 1701.4, and 1701.8, the assigned commissioner or the administrative law judge shall prepare and file an opinion setting forth recommendations, findings, and conclusions. The opinion of the assigned commissioner or the administrative law judge is the proposed decision and a part of the public record in the proceeding. The proposed decision of the assigned commissioner or the administrative law judge shall be filed with the commission and served upon all parties to the action or proceeding without undue delay, not later than 90 days after the matter has been submitted for decision. The commission shall issue its decision not sooner than 30 days following filing and service of the proposed decision by the assigned commissioner or the administrative law judge, except that the 30-day period may be reduced or waived by the commission in an unforeseen emergency situation or upon the stipulation of all parties to the proceeding or as otherwise provided by law. The commission may, in issuing its decision, adopt, modify, or set aside the proposed decision or any part of the decision. Where the modification is of a decision in an adjudicatory hearing it shall be based upon the evidence in the record. Every finding, opinion, and order made in the proposed decision and approved or confirmed by the commission shall, upon that approval or confirmation, be the finding, opinion, and order of the commission.

(e) Any item appearing on the commission’s public agenda as an alternate item to a proposed decision or to a decision subject to subdivision (g) shall be served upon all parties to the proceeding without undue delay and shall be subject to public review and comment before it may be voted upon. For purposes of this subdivision, “alternate” means either a substantive revision to a proposed decision that materially changes the resolution of a contested issue or any substantive addition to the findings of fact, conclusions of law, or ordering paragraphs. The commission shall adopt rules that provide for the time and manner of review and comment and the rescheduling of the item on a subsequent public agenda, except that the item shall not be rescheduled for consideration sooner than 30 days following service of the alternate item upon all parties. The alternate item shall be accompanied by a digest that clearly explains the substantive revisions to the proposed decision. The commission’s rules may provide that the time and manner of review and comment on an alternate item may be reduced or waived by the commission in an unforeseen emergency situation.

(f) The commission may specify that the administrative law judge assigned to a proceeding involving an electrical, gas, telephone, railroad, or water corporation, or a highway carrier, initiated by customer or subscriber complaint need not prepare, file, and serve an opinion, unless the commission finds that to do so is required in the public interest in a particular case.

(g) (1) Before voting on any commission decision not subject to subdivision (d), the decision shall be served on parties and subject to at least 30 days public review and comment. Any alternate to any commission decision shall be subject to the same requirements as provided for alternate decisions under subdivision (e). For purposes of this subdivision, “decision” also includes resolutions, including resolutions on advice letter filings.

(2) The 30-day period may be reduced or waived in an unforeseen emergency situation, upon the stipulation of all parties in the proceeding, for an uncontested matter in which the decision grants the relief requested, or for an order seeking temporary injunctive relief, or, in the case of a catastrophic wildfire proceeding, may be reduced to no less than 15 days at the discretion of the assigned commissioner.

(3) This subdivision does not apply to uncontested matters that pertain solely to water corporations, or to orders instituting investigations or rulemakings, categorization resolutions under Sections 1701.1 to 1701.4, inclusive, and Section 1701.8, or orders authorized by law to be considered in executive session. Consistent with regulatory efficiency and the need for adequate prior notice and comment on commission decisions, the commission may adopt rules, after notice and comment, establishing additional categories of decisions subject to waiver or reduction of the time period in this section.

(h) Notwithstanding any other law, amendments, revisions, or modifications by the commission of its Rules of Practice and Procedure shall be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for prior review in accordance with Sections 11349, 11349.3, 11349.4, 11349.5, 11349.6, and 11350.3 of, and subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 11349.1 of, the Government Code. If the commission adopts an emergency revision to its Rules of Practice and Procedure based upon a finding that the revision is necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety, or general welfare, this emergency revision shall only be reviewed by the Office of Administrative Law in accordance with subdivisions (b) to (d), inclusive, of Section 11349.6 of the Government Code. The emergency revision shall become effective upon filing with the Secretary of State and shall remain in effect for no more than 120 days. A petition for writ of review pursuant to Section 1756 of a commission decision amending, revising, or modifying its Rules of Practice and Procedure shall not be filed until the regulation has been approved by the Office of Administrative Law, the Governor, or a court pursuant to Section 11350.3 of the Government Code. If the period for filing the petition for writ of review would otherwise have already commenced under Section 1733 or 1756 at the time of that approval, then the period for filing the petition for writ of review shall continue until 30 days after the date of that approval. This subdivision does not require the commission to comply with Article 5 (commencing with Section 11346) of Chapter 3.5 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. This subdivision is only intended to provide for the Office of Administrative Law review of procedural commission decisions relating to commission Rules of Practice and Procedure, and not general orders, resolutions, regulations, and guidelines related to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), or other substantive regulations.

(i) The commission shall immediately notify the Legislature whenever the commission reduces or waives the time period for public review and comment due to an unforeseen emergency situation, as provided in subdivision (d), (e), or (g).

1002.4.

 (a) The commission may, by resolution, adopt successor guidelines to the commission’s Guidelines for Energy Project Applications Requiring CEQA Compliance: Pre-filing and Proponent’s Environmental Assessments (November 2019) at a publicly noticed meeting to address its receipt and review of and actions on applications for the construction of electrical transmission facilities subject to its regulatory jurisdiction. These guidelines shall be designed to mitigate ratepayer costs, lessen the uncertainty of the submittal process, and improve the commission’s review process by increasing applicant understanding of applicable requirements with the intent of advancing the timely resolution of the construction of the facilities and efficient disposition of the applications.

(b) To the extent there is a conflict or inconsistency between the content in the guidelines adopted or revised pursuant to this section and a commission rule of practice or procedure addressing the completeness of applications for electrical transmission facilities, the guidelines shall prevail.

(c) The guidelines adopted pursuant to this section shall supersede the commission’s Guidelines for Energy Project Applications Requiring CEQA Compliance: Pre-filing and Proponent’s Environmental Assessments (November 2019), unless the guidelines adopted pursuant to this section specify otherwise.

(d) Notwithstanding any other law, guidelines adopted pursuant to this section are exempt from the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(e) For purposes of this section, “electrical transmission facilities” means electrical generation facilities, transmission, power, and distribution line facilities, and substations, as described in commission General Order No. 131-D, as it may be amended from time to time.

1731.

 (a) The commission shall set an effective date when issuing an order or decision. The commission may set the effective date of an order or decision before the date of issuance of the order or decision.

(b) (1) After an order or decision has been made by the commission, a party to the action or proceeding, or a stockholder, bondholder, or other party pecuniarily interested in the public utility affected, may apply for a rehearing in respect to matters determined in the action or proceeding and specified in the application for rehearing. The commission may grant and hold a rehearing on those matters, if in its judgment sufficient reason is made to appear. A cause of action arising out of any order or decision of the commission shall not accrue in any court to any corporation or person unless the corporation or person has filed an application to the commission for a rehearing within 30 days after the date of issuance or within 10 days after the date of issuance in the case of an order issued pursuant to either Article 5 (commencing with Section 816) or Article 6 (commencing with Section 851) of Chapter 4 relating to security transactions and the transfer or encumbrance of utility property.

(2) The commission shall notify the parties of the issuance of an order or decision by either mail or electronic transmission. Notification of the parties may be accomplished by one of the following methods:

(A) Mailing the order or decision to the parties to the action or proceeding.

(B) If a party to an action or proceeding consents in advance to receive notice of any order or decision related to the action or proceeding by electronic mail address, notification of the party may be accomplished by transmitting an electronic copy of the official version of the order or decision to the party if the party has provided an electronic mail address to the commission.

(C) If a party to an action or proceeding consents in advance to receive notice of any order or decision related to the action or proceeding by electronic mail address, notification of the party may be accomplished by transmitting a link to an internet website where the official version of the order or decision is readily available to the party if the party has provided an electronic mail address to the commission.

(3) For purposes of this article, “date of issuance” means the mailing or electronic transmission date that is stamped on the official version of the order or decision.

(c) A cause of action arising out of an order or decision of the commission construing, applying, or implementing Chapter 4 of the Statutes of the 2001–02 First Extraordinary Session that (1) relates to the determination or implementation of the department’s revenue requirements, or the establishment or implementation of bond or power charges necessary to recover those revenue requirements, or (2) in the sole determination of the Department of Water Resources, the expedited review of order or decision of the commission is necessary or desirable, for the maintenance of any credit ratings on any bonds or notes of the department issued pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 80000) of the Water Code or for the department to meet its obligations with respect to any bonds or notes pursuant to that division, shall not accrue in any court to any corporation or person unless the corporation or person has filed an application with the commission for a rehearing within 10 days after the date of issuance of the order or decision. The Department of Water Resources shall notify the commission of any determination pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subdivision before the issuance by the commission of any order or decision construing, applying, or implementing Chapter 4 of the Statutes of the 2001–02 First Extraordinary Session. The commission shall issue its decision and order on rehearing within 210 days after the filing of the application.

(d) A cause of action arising out of an order or decision of the commission construing, applying, or implementing Article 5.7 (commencing with Section 849) or Article 5.8 (commencing with Section 850) of Chapter 4 shall not accrue in any court to any entity or person unless the entity or person has filed an application to the commission for a rehearing within 10 days after the date of issuance of the order or decision. The commission shall issue its decision and order on rehearing within 210 days after the filing of that application.

(e) A cause of action arising out of an executive director disposition of a protest to a General Order 131-D notice of proposed construction deemed exempt from the requirement to submit an application for a permit or certificate for an electrical transmission facility shall not accrue in any court to any entity or person unless the entity or person has filed an application to the commission for a rehearing within 10 days after the date of issuance of the disposition. The commission shall issue its decision and order on rehearing within 90 days after the filing of that application.