1. (a) Certification. Filers will certify compliance with subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) as part of electronic filing (or e-filing) with the Commission via the Commission's e-filing system, available on the Commission's website.
2. (b) Personal Identifying Information. Documents filed with the Commission shall not contain personal identifying information that violates state or federal privacy laws, including, but not limited to California Civil Code section 1798 et seq.
3. (c) Signatures. Any document requiring a signature may be signed by any mechanism that does not result in a locked PDF. Commission forms shall be digitally signed, using the digital signature technology and authentication process contained within the Commission forms. The completed digital form shall not be converted to PDF and shall be e-filed separately from any accompanying documents.

4. (d) Formatting.

   1. (1) Formatting For All New Filings and Written Materials. All documents created by the filer for the purpose of providing evidence to the Commission shall conform to all of the following accessibility requirements.

      1. (A) All text shall be written in a sans-serif font with a minimum 12-point font size. The use of Arial font is strongly encouraged.
      2. (B) Color is strongly discouraged, and shall not be used as the sole means to emphasize or convey information. If color is used to emphasize or convey information, there shall be additional distinguishing marks, such as underlining or asterisks, to differentiate areas where color is used.
      3. (C) Lists shall use an ordered or unordered formatting style such as bullet points, letters, or numbers.
      4. (D) Headings shall use heading styles to identify the headings' correct order of diminishing hierarchy.
      5. (E) Hard returns shall not be used to break up lines of text. Instead, space between lines of text shall be made using paragraph spacing or the space after paragraph function.
      6. (F) If columns are used, the columns shall be formatted using the word processing software's columns function.
      7. (G) Tables shall use a simple table structure without split or merged cells, nested tables, or blank columns or rows. Rows shall not be broken across multiple pages. One table header row is allowed per table, which shall be repeated at the top of each page if the table spans multiple pages.
      8. (H) Hyperlinks shall be named in a manner that is clear, concise and meaningful out of context. Bare URLs are not allowed, except as part of a formal citation to a web-based source.
      9. (I) Images shall include alternative text that describes the image, unless the image has no informational value because it is purely decorative or the information it provides is redundant to the main body of text.

   2. (2) Formatting For All E-Filed Documents. All e-filed documents including new filings, written materials, and supporting documents that were not created by the filer or were created for a different purpose than to provide evidence to the Commission shall:

      1. (A) be in unlocked PDF file format, to allow Commission staff to process the filing; and

         1. (B) be in a legible and searchable format using a “true PDF” (i.e., documents digitally created in PDF, converted to PDF or printed to PDF) or optical character recognition (OCR) function, as necessary.
5. (e) E-Filing Large Documents. E-filed documents larger than 500 megabytes shall be e-filed in multiple volumes and labeled as such (i.e., “Volume I, Volume II” etc.) and shall, in that case, include a table of contents with electronic bookmarks which at minimum link to each document within the exhibits, and for documents created for the purpose of filing with the Commission also link to each heading, subheading, and component (including but not limited to the table of contents, declarations, exhibits, proof of service) of the document.

6. (f) E-Filing. Except as provided in subdivision (j) of this section, all new filings and written materials shall be electronically filed (or e-filed) with the Commission via the Commission's e-filing system, available on the Commission's website.

   1. (1) The filer is responsible for maintaining the signed original new filing or written material for the duration of the process for the matter, including any period of appeal.
   2. (2) An automated notice that the document was successfully sent is immediately available to the filer using the Commission's e-filing system and should be saved or printed for the filer's records.
   3. (3) Commission staff shall also reply by e-mail confirming actual receipt of the legible, searchable document by the Commission within two business days of receipt. In the absence of a confirmation e-mail from Commission staff, it is the responsibility of the filer to obtain confirmation that the Commission actually received the filing.
   4. (4) “Failure of e-filing” occurs when the filer receives notification, in any manner, of non-receipt of an e-filed document or of any other inability of Commission staff to access the document, including the failure to meet the requirements of subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of this section.
   5. (5) In the event of failure of e-filing, the filer shall re-file the document no later than the business day after the business day on which notice of the failure of e-filing is received by the filer. The filer may re-file by any means authorized by these rules, in order to maintain the original filing date.
7. (g) Time of Filing. New filings or written materials filed with the Commission before midnight are deemed filed on that business day. New filings or written materials filed with the Commission on a Saturday, Sunday, or state holiday, are deemed filed on the following business day.

8. (h) Review.

   1. (1) All new filings and written materials filed with the Commission will be deemed received until reviewed for compliance with the ban against containing personal identifying information pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section. If personal identifying information is found in the filings or written materials, they will be rejected and no filing date will be assigned.
   2. (2) All new filings and written materials filed with the Commission that have been found to comply with subdivision (b) of this section will be reviewed for compliance with subdivisions (c) and (d) of this section. If the filings or written materials do not comply, they will be deemed to be a failure of e-filing pursuant to subdivision (f)(4) and the filer may correct and refile pursuant to subdivision (f)(5) of this section.
   3. (3) All new filings filed with the Commission that have been found to comply with subdivisions (c) and (d) of this section, will be reviewed for completeness pursuant to these regulations. Any filing deemed incomplete will be returned to the filer who may correct and refile within 30 calendar days to retain the original filing date.
   4. (4) Commission staff will issue its notice of complete filing to the filer for all new filings that have been found to comply with subdivisions (b), (c) and (d) and which have been found to be complete.

9. (i) Service.

   1. (1) Upon review of the e-filed document pursuant to subdivision (h) of this section, Commission staff shall serve all persons who have provided an e-mail address for the mailing list for the matter in accordance with section 1181.4 of these regulations.
   2. (2) For all new filings as defined by section 1181.2(k) of these regulations, Commission staff shall notify all persons on the mailing list, prepared pursuant to section 1181.4 of these regulations, of the availability of those filings on the Commission's website when Commission staff issues its notice of complete filing to the filer.
   3. (3) The Commission may serve any document by e-mail service, or by making it available at a particular URL, unless doing so would be contrary to state or federal law.
   4. (4) The executive director may issue any order consistent with these rules to govern e-mail service for a particular matter.

10. (j) Hard Copy Filing and Service in Cases of Undue Hardship or Significant Prejudice. If e-filing legible and searchable PDF documents, as described in subdivision (d)(2) of this section, would cause the filer undue hardship or significant prejudice, filing may occur as provided below:

    1. (1) Request. The filer shall request permission from the executive director to hard copy file and include a description of the undue hardship or significant prejudice e-filing would cause the filer.
    2. (2) Filing. If the executive director authorizes hard copy filing, the filer shall file the unbound original document with the Commission by first class mail, overnight delivery, or personal service.
    3. (3) Service. All hard copy filings will be served by Commission staff in accordance with subsection (i) of this section.

Note: Authority cited: Sections 16.5, 17527(g), 17553(a), 17570(d) and 11104.5, Government Code. Reference: Sections 1633.1 et seq. and 1798 et seq., Civil Code; and Sections 7405, 11020(a), 17530, 17551, 17557(d), 17558.7, 17570, 17573(b), 17574(c) and 17573(g), Government Code.

History

1. New section filed 5-19-2014; operative 7-1-2014 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(a)(3). Exempt from OAL review and submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Government Code section 17527 (Register 2014, No. 21).

2. Amendment of subsection (a) and Note filed 9-24-2015; operative 10-1-2015 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3). Exempt from OAL review and submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Government Code section 17527(g) (Register 2015, No. 39).

3. Amendment of section heading, new subsection (a), subsection relettering and amendment of newly designated subsection (b)(1) filed 2-27-2018; operative 4-1-2018 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(a). Exempt from OAL review and submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Government Code section 17527(g) (Register 2018, No. 9).

4. Editorial correction of History 3 (Register 2018, No. 18).

5. Amendment of section heading and section filed 1-23-2020; operative 4-1-2020 (Register 2020, No. 4).

6. New subsection (c)(3) and amendment of Note filed 8-16-2021; operative 10-1-2021 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(a). Exempt from OAL review and submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Government Code section 17527 (Register 2021, No. 34).

7. Amendment of subsection (c)(1), new subsections (c)(1)(A)-(c)(1)(C)(ii), subsection relettering, amendment of newly designated subsections (c)(1)(D)-(E) and amendment of Note filed 4-18-2022 as an emergency; operative 4-18-2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11346.1(d). Submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Government Code section 17527 (Register 2022, No. 16). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-17-2022 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

8. Certificate of Compliance as to 4-18-2022 order transmitted to OAL 5-27-2022 and filed 7-11-2022; operative 10-1-2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(a)(4). Submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Government Code section 17527 (Register 2022, No. 28).

9. Amendment of section heading, section and Note filed 5-9-2024; operative 7-1-2024 (Register 2024, No. 19).

10. Amendment of section heading and section filed 11-6-2025; operative 1-1-2026. Submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Government Code section 17527 (Register 2025, No. 45).