7. Environmental Review

The application requests that the Commission find that the proposed transaction is not a project subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Cal. Pub. Resources §§ 21000, et seq., or that the transaction is exempt under CEQA.

CEQA requires that we consider the environmental consequences of projects that are subject to our discretionary approval. (Pub. Resources Code Section 21080.) It is possible that a change of ownership and/or control may alter an approved project, result in new projects, or change facility operations, etc., in ways that have environmental impacts.

In this instance it is our understanding that the change in ownership will not result in any significant effect on the environment because the property will be operated in the same manner as Avista has operated it, and the proposed transfer will result in neither a direct physical change in the environment nor a reasonably foreseeable indirect change in the environment. It can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the transaction before us will have a significant effect on the environment. Accordingly, we find that the transaction is exempt from further review by this Commission pursuant to CEQA
Guideline 15061(b)(3).