Curbs on New Area Codes Gain Support : Capital: Key legislators doubt the necessity for increasing the number of splits. Among the proposals is a plan to rescind the 310 overlay.

Support intensified Wednesday for proposed state legislation that would require phone number conservation measures and block future area code splits and overlays, such as those being proposed for the San Fernando Valley, West Los Angeles and the South Bay.

Four of the six state legislators on a committee to draw up a compromise plan voiced skepticism about phone company assertions that additional area codes are needed.

The committee will submit its plan to both houses by Friday, officials said. Supporters of the bill (AB 818) hope that it will be signed by Gov. Gray Davis before the legislative session ends Sept. 10.

Although it is too early to predict the measure’s final form, Assemblyman and committee member Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) said he will push for a provision to rescind the 310 overlay (which allows new area codes for new numbers only).

“I am moving every piece of heaven and earth to get it done before we adjourn,” he said.

Last month, state utilities regulators released a draft decision to resume plans for an area code overlay in the 310 region despite strong opposition from residents and businesses in West Los Angeles and the South Bay.

The ruling, written by PUC Commissioner Henry Duque, said opposition came too late to avoid a change in the 310 area, where many phone companies have acquired numbers with the new 424 area code designation. The Public Utilities Commission is set to hear the matter Sept. 16.

But Knox said that “if state and federal regulators think that residents of 310 will be content in knowing that their heroic struggle helped to reform area code plans in the state and across the country--and they will not benefit from that--they have another think coming. I will be focused on saving the 310 area code.”

The legislation would send a strong message to the Federal Communication Commission that state regulators need broader authority--beyond implementing splits and overlays--to resolve numbering issues, said state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar), also a member of the committee. Alarcon’s district lies within the 818 area code, where a split has been recommended by an administrative law judge.

Alarcon said he supports provisions calling for a reduction in the amount of phone numbers allocated at one time from 10,000 to 1,000 and the creation of specific area codes for pagers, cellular phones, modems and fax machines.

Likewise, Assemblyman Bill Campbell (R-Villa Park) agreed that steps must be taken to place stricter controls on overlays and splits. His district is in the 714 area code, which is targeted for an overlay in October 2000.

“The FCC, PUC and the industry itself has taken a ‘head in the sand’ approach to this issue,” Campbell said. “They have continued to dish out numbers and split area codes instead of trying to control the problem.”

Assembly Speaker and committee member Antonio R. Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) blamed the rapid pace of code changes not on a surge in consumer demand for phone lines but on inefficient distribution.

“There may come a day when overlays are truly necessary,” Villaraigosa said in a statement. “In the meantime, the state Legislature [is insisting] that the Federal Communications Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission take the necessary steps to apportion phone numbers using some common sense.”