Procedural Requirements
The Commission's General Order (G.O.) 131-D requires electric utilities to obtain Commission authorization in the form of a "permit to construct" before beginning construction of electric power line facilities such as those PG&E proposes here. G.O. 131-D, Sections IX.B, X, and XI, requires the utility to include in its request, among other things, a project description and map, reasons the route was selected, a listing of the government agencies having undertaken review and their positions, a Proponent's Environmental Assessment or equivalent environmental information in accordance with CEQA,1 and a description of measures to reduce the potential exposure to electric and magnetic fields; the utility also must meet various notice requirements. We have reviewed PG&E's application and find it complete and in compliance with the General Order.
No protests or responses to PG&E's application were filed. 2 The Commission did receive two letters to which PG&E filed a reply as though they were formal responses to the application. Neither objected to granting PG&E a permit to construct. Even though the letters did not qualify as "responses" under the Rules, PG&E's reply was accepted for filing in the interests of having a complete record. The letter from Wilmot McCutchen of Orinda asked for additional information regarding public exposure to EMF and public safety in case of a tower failure in an earthquake or landslide. PG&E responded by providing McCutchen with the requested information, but reports the letter actually concerned a different project unrelated to the subject of this application. The second letter was from the California Native Plant Society, East Bay Chapter, and submitted what it termed "comments for the scoping process." As PG&E notes in its response, the Society's comments seem to assume that CEQA efforts for the project are only beginning, not already completed. Nonetheless, PG&E provided further explanation of how native plant issues were thoroughly covered in its CEQA studies and in the federal and state agency permitting process, and provided appropriate references to the environmental and permitting documents where the Society's issues were addressed.
Under G.O. 131-D, Section IX.B.1.f, applications for a permit to construct power line facilities between 50 kV and 200 kV need not include a detailed analysis of purpose and necessity, a detailed estimate of cost and economic analysis, a detailed schedule, or a detailed description of construction methods, beyond that required for CEQA compliance. Thus, our primary concern here is the proposal's compliance with CEQA.
1 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA, Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.). 2 A protest is a document objecting to the granting in whole or in part of the authority sought in the application, while a response is a document that does not object to the authority sought, but nevertheless presents information that the party tendering the response believes would be useful to the Commission in acting on the application. (Rules of Practice and Procedure, Rule 44). Protests and responses must be formally filed and meet the other requirements of Article 12, Protests and Responses to Applications, of the Rules.
