SCH Number 2021030143

Project Info

Title

Zayo Prineville-to-Reno Fiber Optic Project

Description

Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the State of California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is preparing an EIR for the Project identified below and is requesting comments on the scope and content of the EIR. Zayo Group, LLC, a California telephone corporation, in its CPUC application (A.20-10-008), filed on October 1, 2020, seeks to modify its Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) in connection with its proposed construction and operation of an underground fiber optic network from Prineville, Oregon, to Reno, Nevada, spanning 433.8 miles. The portion of the project that crosses California would extend 193.9 miles across portions of Modoc, Lassen, and Sierra counties. Along the majority of the route, conduit to house the new fiber optic cable would be buried using a combination of plowing or trenching construction techniques. Alternatively, horizontal directional drilling would be used to cross water bodies and roads, and where necessary to avoid existing infrastructure or biological or cultural resources. For some water- or road-crossing locations, the conduit may be affixed to the side or underside of bridges. Ancillary equipment would be installed at three small buildings that would serve as amplifier sites (ILAs). Fiberglass vaults would be installed flush to the ground along the running line to provide maintenance access and at splice locations. According to the applicant, the purpose of this Project is to improve the quality of rural broadband in south-central Oregon, northeastern California, and northwestern Nevada, and to make affordable broadband internet services available to currently underserved communities in these areas. The CPUC is the lead agency under CEQA and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the federal lead agency for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, which will be conducted separately from the CEQA process.

2 documents in project