WSR 97-08-036
PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
UTILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION
COMMISSION
[Filed March 27, 1997, 11:15 a.m.]
Subject of Possible Rule Making: Rules relating to pay telephones and alternate operator service providers, Docket No. UT-970301. Provisions that might be affected are currently codified in WAC 480-120-137, 480-120-138, 480-120-141 and 480-120-142, especially in WAC 480-120-137 and 480-120-141. Other sections relating to these topics might also be affected.
Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: RCW 80.01.040(4), 80.36.520.
Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: (1) The Telecommunications Act of 1996 imposed requirements on these services and state rules should be made consistent with requirements of the federal law and federal rules promulgated thereunder; (2) if warranted by information about specific consumer problems, additional consumer protection provisions may be considered; and (3) housekeeping provisions such as conforming descriptive names will be considered.
Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: Federal Communications Commission regulates comparable interstate service and preempted aspects of intrastate service. The major reason for this rule making is to bring state rules into conformity with federal requirements to the extent feasible. This will be done by a review and study of pertinent federal laws, federal rules, and other resources.
Process for Developing New Rule: Agency study; and the commission will call for written comments, and may provide the opportunity for additional written comments. The commission will schedule an informal workshop with interested persons in a manner designed to develop consensus regarding any rule proposal. See below.
Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication. Interested persons may contact the Secretary, Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, P.O. Box 47250, Olympia, WA 98504-7250, (360) 753-6451, FAX (360) 586-1150. Such persons may submit comments, as specified below, or may ask to be included in the commission's list of interested persons for the proceeding.
Written Comments: Written comments in response to the CR-101 from persons interested in the subject matter of this proposed rule making may be filed with the commission secretary, referencing Docket No. UT-970301, not later than April 30, 1997. All commenters are asked, but not required, to file an original and ten copies of their written comments. The commission also requests, but does not require, that comments be provided on a 3 1/2 inch IBM formatted high-density disk, in WordPerfect version 51. [5.1], 6.0 or 6.1, labeled with the docket number of this proceeding and the commenter's name and type of software used. The commission may offer additional opportunities to provide written comments. Interested persons may file additional written comments in response to any such invitation. Interested persons may also attend and participate in the workshop described below and in any other workshop that may be schedule. The commission will provide written notice of any additional preproposal workshops to all commenters and to any other persons specifically asking to receive notice in this rule-making proceedings.
Notice of Workshop: A workshop will be held on May 5, 1997, beginning at 9:30 a.m., in Room 206 of the Commission's Headquarters Office, 1300 South Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, WA. The commission's teleconference bridge line will be available for this workshop. A limited number of teleconference ports will be available for the Olympia workshop and will be assigned one to an organization, first come first served. Remaining open ports on the day of the workshop will be assigned to provide more ports per organization if they are requested. Persons wishing to attend via the teleconference bridge line must contact Vicki Elliott, (360) 753-2126, no later than 3:00 p.m., Thursday, May 1, 1997. If interest warrants doing so, the commission will schedule additional workshops in other locations, such as Seattle, Spokane, or Yakima.
March 26, 1997
Steve McLellan
Secretary