3. Discussion

PPS maintains that this Commission has no oversight responsibility pursuant to CEQA because the Application involves USFS land:

Since it was part of the original pipeline project, is addressed in the certified EIS/SEIR, is located on federal lands that are within the sole jurisdiction of the Angeles National Forest, and will be performed by [PPS] under its existing Forest Service special use permit, [PPS] does not require further permission from the Commission to complete the fiber optic cable. The current application before the Commission does not seek permission to install such facilities because such action was previously reviewed and approved in D.96-04-056.¹⁴

We disagree. We have an obligation to apply CEQA to all California "projects" planned by utilities we regulate regardless of who owns the land. Our jurisdiction over such projects stems from our regulatory authority over the applicant, not the land. It is true that a party must obtain federal approval pursuant to NEPA if a project requires a federal permit or will occur on federal land. However, federal NEPA review and state CEQA review are parallel processes.

By the same token, we do not believe it is our responsibility as Lead Agency under CEQA to conduct a full review that completely duplicates one conducted by the agency whose land is principally affected by the project. This is what occurred here: because virtually all of the project area is on USFS land, USFS conducted a thorough NEPA review of PPS' project. The Forest Service imposed stringent mitigation requirements on PPS' work both on and off USFS lands. We understand that PPS complied with those conditions. Had we completed our own, duplicative review, we would have reached the same result and imposed the same conditions. Thus, under the specific circumstances presented here, we find it unnecessary to duplicate the USFS' efforts by conducting an entirely separate environmental analysis.

This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that the Commission performed a CEQA review and prepared an EIR at the time PPS first installed the Pacific System Pipeline in 1996. At that time, PPS installed the fiber optic cable and conduit it now plans to lease to third parties. All that the Commission would be doing for this project would be determining whether to perform a subsequent EIR or a Supplement or Addenda to the EIR for the installation of the pullboxes and handholes in the Angeles National Forest. Given the high standards set forth in Public Resources Code Section 21166 and CEQA Guideline 15162 that must be satisfied for preparation of a subsequent or supplemental EIR, combined with the stringent mitigation measures imposed by the Forest Service, the need for an additional CEQA document does not appear to be triggered here.

However, it was not up to PPS to choose which agency should conduct the necessary environmental analysis. Rather, it should have sought Commission authorization and CEQA review. To the extent PPS violated the law or our rules by not seeking Commission authorization to complete the work, we will resolve that issue in the second, penalty phase of this proceeding.

We find adequate the conditions the USFS imposed on PPS, and adopt those conditions both for purposes of the work in the National Forest and on the two parcels of private land. Therefore, we will grant the Application subject to all USFS conditions, whether set forth in the USFS permit or elsewhere. The conditions of which we are aware are contained in Appendix A to this decision.

Moreover, since we regulate Qwest, and the construction is for the benefit of Qwest, we also impose conditions previously imposed on Qwest on Qwest-related PPS work. In D.97-09-011, we issued Qwest a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) and a Negative Declaration for Qwest's project to install fiber optic cable-the same project which PPS' construction will facilitate. In an investigation issued earlier this year, we stated that,

The Commission has received information that Qwest allegedly has not complied with Decision 97-09-011, the certificate of public convenience and necessity granted by the decision and the Negative Declaration issued for Qwest's project to install fiber optic cable. Qwest has allegedly undertaken design and construction for the placement of underground fiber optic telecommunications facilities, and proceeded with the construction or installation phase, without initiating and completing a review of the impact of the project on Native American cultural resource areas.¹⁵

The Commission's Energy Division issued a "stop work" order on December 16, 1999, directing Qwest to halt construction on its fiber optic network pending further notice. Ultimately, the Energy Division allowed Qwest to proceed with construction, subject to certain conditions designed to ensure CEQA compliance. Those conditions are set forth in the document appended hereto as Appendix B, and shall be binding on Qwest or its agents with regard to any work on its fiber optic lines, including those located within the Pacific System pipeline. We incorporate those conditions into the permission we grant here.

¹⁵ Investigation into the Operations And Practices Of Qwest Communications Corporation, et al. Concerning Compliance With Statutes, Commission Decisions, and Other Requirements Applicable to the Utility's Installation of Facilities in California for Providing Telecommunications Service, Investigation (I.) 00-03-001 (filed March 2, 2000).