7. Adequacy and Certification of the FEIR
The FEIR must be certified by the lead agency under CEQA before a project may be approved. Certification is predicated upon three findings. First, the agency must conclude that the document has been completed in compliance with CEQA. Second, the lead agency must find that the document was (or will be) presented to the decision-making body for review and consideration prior to project approval. Third, the lead agency must find that the FEIR reflects its independent judgment.22
The FEIR must contain specific information according to the CEQA Guidelines, Sections 15120 through 15132. The various elements of the FEIR for the Coastal Water Project satisfy these CEQA requirements. The FEIR consists of the DEIR (volumes 1 through 3, inclusive), with revisions in response to comments and other information received. Volume 4 of the FEIR contains the comments received on the DEIR; individual responses to these comments appear in Volume 5 of the FEIR.23
The Commission must conclude that the FEIR is in compliance with CEQA before determining whether to approve Cal-Am's request for a CPCN. As defined in the CEQA Guidelines, the purposes of CEQA include informing decisionmakers and the public of the potential, significant environmental effects of the proposed activities; identifying ways that environmental damage can be avoided or significantly reduced; preventing significant, avoidable damage to the environment by requiring changes in projects through the use of alternatives or mitigation measures when the governmental agency finds the changes to be feasible; and disclosing to the public the reasons why a governmental agency approves a project in the manner ultimately selected, if significant environmental effects are involved.24
In order to satisfy these requirements, the environmental document must be comprehensive, accurate, and unbiased, so that it can be used by the lead agency and other decisionmakers in assessing the merits of the project. The document should embody "an interdisciplinary approach that will ensure the integrated use of the natural and social sciences and the consideration of qualitative as well as quantitative factors."25 It must be prepared in a clear format and in plain language.26 It must be analytical rather than encyclopedic, and emphasize feasible mitigation measures and alternatives over unnecessary description of the project.27 Most importantly, it must be "organized and written in such a manner that [it] will be meaningful and useful to decision makers and to the public."28
The FEIR for the Coastal Water Project meets these requirements. It is a comprehensive, detailed, and complete document that thoroughly discusses and assesses the environmental impacts of Cal-Am's proposed project, the North Marina alternative, and the Regional Project, Phase 1, as well as other project components and alternatives. We find that the FEIR is the competent and comprehensive informational tool that CEQA requires it to be. The quality of the information therein is such that we are confident of its accuracy. We find that the FEIR was completed in compliance with CEQA; that the FEIR has been presented to the Commissioners (the decision-making body of the Commission), and has been and will be reviewed, considered, and applied prior to action on the project; and that the FEIR reflects the Commission's independent judgment and analysis. Accordingly, the Commission should certify the FEIR.
22 Pub. Resources Code § 21082.1(c)(3).
23 CEQA Guidelines, § 15132.
24 Id., § 15002(a).
25 Id., § 15142.
26 Id., §§ 15006(q) and (r), 15120, 15140.
27 Id., §§ 15006, 15141; Pub. Res. Code § 21003(c).
28 Pub. Res. Code § 21003(b).
