4. Environmental Review

The California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code Section 21000, et seq., hereafter "CEQA"), applies to discretionary projects to be carried out or approved by public agencies. A basic purpose of CEQA is to "inform governmental decision-makers and the public about the potential, significant environmental effects of the proposed activities." (Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, hereinafter "CEQA Guidelines," Section 15002.)

Since the proposed project is subject to CEQA and the Commission must issue a discretionary decision without which the project cannot proceed (i.e., the Commission must act on the Section 851 application), this Commission must act as either a Lead Agency or a Responsible Agency under CEQA. The Lead Agency is the public agency with the greatest responsibility for supervising or approving the project as a whole (CEQA Guidelines Section 15051(b)).

Here, TID is the Lead Agency for this project under CEQA because, if this application is approved, TID will own and operate the electric distribution system in the Westside Zone. On July 31, 2001, TID's Board of Directors approved a mitigated negative declaration (MND) and a mitigation monitoring plan (Plan) for the project pursuant to Resolution 2001-61. TID also prepared a Notice of Determination (NOD) and filed it with the County Clerks for Stanislaus, Mariposa, and Tuolumne Counties in August 2001.^{22 23}

The Commission is a Responsible Agency for this proposed project under CEQA. CEQA requires that the Commission consider the environmental consequences of a project that is subject to its discretionary approval. In particular, the Commission must consider the Lead Agency's environmental documents and findings before acting upon or approving the project (CEQA Guideline 15050(b)). The specific activities which must be conducted by a Responsible Agency are contained in CEQA Guideline Section 15096.

We have reviewed and considered the MND, Plan, and NOD prepared by TID and the resolution adopted by TID's Board of Directors and find that these documents are adequate for our decisionmaking purposes under CEQA. We find that TID reasonably concluded that the project, as mitigated, will have no significant environmental effects and that no additional mitigation measures or consideration of alternatives are required.