3. Environmental Review

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA, Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.) applies to discretionary projects to be carried out or approved by public agencies. Since the Commission must act on the § 851 application and issue a discretionary decision without which the project cannot proceed, the Commission must act as either a Lead or 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)).

In this application, PG&E seeks authority to grant a permanent, non-exclusive drainage easement to the County of Plumas for the installation of a drainage pipeline.

Here, the County of Plumas is the Lead Agency for the project under CEQA. 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. The specific activities a Responsible Agency must conduct are contained in CEQA Guidelines Section 15096.

The proposed project reviewed by the County consists of storm water drainage improvements consisting of the installation and maintenance of a corrugated metal pipeline, a concrete headwall, a rock-line drainage ditch, and a wooden walkway in the proposed easement. The County exercised discretionary authority over this project by virtue of an approved Storm Water Drainage Improvement Plan.

On July 21, 2004, the County Planning Department prepared and subsequently approved a Negative Declaration #559. We have reviewed the County's Negative Declaration and find it adequate for our decision-making purposes. We also find that the County reasonably concluded that the project would not have a significant negative effect on the environment. Accordingly, we adopt the County's environmental document and conclusions for purposes of our approval.

4. Ratemaking Considerations

PG&E proposes to credit the net revenue received from the County for the easement to Other Operating Revenue and to use the funds to reduce the generation revenue requirement in future general rate cases, consistent with conventional cost-of-service ratemaking.

This treatment of revenues from the proposed easements is unopposed.