AT&T Yolo 1B (T-17907) Last Mile Infrastructure Project
Summary
SCH Number
2026050084
Public Agency
California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC)
Document Title
AT&T Yolo 1B (T-17907) Last Mile Infrastructure Project
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
5/4/2026
Document Description
The Yolo 1B Project is located near the Yolo-Colusa County line in and around the unincorporated community of Dunnigan in Yolo County. The project alignment is within an area that is largely rural with some residential and commercial development and is located on eastern and western sides of Interstate 5 (I-5). The terrain is mostly flat. The project alignment includes construction of new aerial cable as well as conduits for installation of fiber optic cable.
The project applicant, AT&T, proposes to place approximately 33 miles total of buried, underground, and aerial fiber-optic cable. Some facilities in the project alignment are existing, and new facilities would be installed as part of the project. Aerial fiber would be placed on existing poles, where possible, which would include lashing fiber to existing AT&T strands and attachments. Where new buried (i.e., existing conduit not present) or new underground (i.e., existing conduit present) fiber would be installed, directional boring, micro-trenching, and/or open trenching methods would be used. Most work is planned for the right-of-way, except for some areas that are adjacent to the right-of-way.
In some cases, the project mapping slightly deviates from the public rights-of-way (e.g., roads). For the purposes of this analysis, it is assumed that these mapping discrepancies are errors (i.e., that the project alignment mapping was approximate), and that fiber installation would indeed use existing infrastructure (i.e., aerial, underground) and existing rights-of-way in or along roads (i.e., buried). In other cases, segments of the project alignment are located a substantial distance from existing disturbed rights-of-way, and in these cases, the mapping is considered to be accurate. These segments include proposed buried fiber crossings of Buckeye Creek, Dunnigan Creek and a tributary, Bird Creek, and the Tehama–Colusa Canal as well as a freshwater pond, freshwater emergent wetlands, and undisturbed natural vegetation (e.g., annual grassland, blue oak woodland).
Contact Information
Name
Cesar Alvarado
Agency Name
California Public Utilities Commission
Job Title
Public Utilities Regulatory Analyst
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
unincorporated community of Dunnigan
Counties
Yolo
Regions
Countywide
Cross Streets
eastern and western sides of Interstate 5
Other Information
These segments include proposed buried fiber crossings of Buckeye Creek, Dunnigan Creek and a tributary, Bird Creek, and the Tehama–Colusa Canal as well as a freshwater pond, freshwater emergent wetlands, and undisturbed natural vegetation (e.g., annual grassland, blue oak woodland).
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Statutory Exemption
Type, Section or Code
SB 131 (2025) Statutory Exemption, PRC sec. 21080.51
Reasons for Exemption
Under Resolution T-17907 CPUC determined that this project falls within statutory exemption under CEQA.
(a) [CEQA] does not apply to a project undertaken by any entity, including a public entity or private or nonprofit corporation, that consists of linear broadband deployment in a right-of-way, including a right-of-way of a local street or road, if the project meets all of the following conditions:
(1) The project is constructed along, or within 30-feet of, the right-of-way of any public road or highway.
(2) The project is either deployed underground where the surface area is restored to a condition existing before the project or placed aerially along an existing utility pole right-of-way.
(3) The project incorporates, as a condition of project approval, measures developed by the Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Transportation, or the city, county, or city and county responsible for the right-of-way to address potential environmental impacts. At minimum, the project shall be required to include monitors during construction activities and measures to avoid or address impacts to cultural and biological resources.
(4) The project applicant agrees to comply with all conditions otherwise authorized by law, imposed by a city, county, or city and county as part of a local agency permit process, that are required to mitigate potential impacts of the proposed project, and to comply with the Keene-Nejedly California Wetlands Preservation Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 5810) of Division 5), the California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code), as applicable, other applicable state laws, and all applicable federal laws.
(Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 24, Sec. 12. (SB 131) Effective June 30, 2025.)