6. CEQA Compliance

Under CEQA and Rule 2.4 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, we are required to consider the environmental consequences of projects that are subject to our discretionary approval. (See Public Resources Code Section 21080.)

We acknowledge that in some cases, it is possible that a change of ownership and/or control may alter an approved project, result in new projects, or change facility operations in ways that have an environmental impact. However, Joint Applicants state that the transaction at issue involves the indirect transfer of ownership of Central Valley as a result of the proposed merger. This transfer of ownership will not result in any direct or indirect change in the environment. Further, Joint Applicants note that Central Valley will continue to be obligated to construct and operate its storage facility in the manner approved in D.10-10-001 and comply with all environmental conditions imposed in its CPCN and the Mitigated Negative Declaration.⁸

We conclude that under these circumstances, the proposed project qualifies for an exemption from CEQA pursuant to § 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA guidelines, inasmuch as it can be seen with certainty that the project will have no significant impact upon the environment. Accordingly, the Commission need perform no further environmental review for this application.

⁸ See Application at 11-12.