Court Opinion

ID: 9577260
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:33:30.256369+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:20:13.688070
License: Public Domain

SULLIVAN, J.
I dissent. The opinion of the majority, discarding settled principles of statutory construction and distorting the plain meaning of common English words, adopts an interpretation of the pertinent section of the Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (EQA) (Pub. Resources Code, §§ 21000-21151)1 which in my opinion is not legally supportable. The desired end arrived at by the majority cannot justify such a means. “This court has no power to rewrite the statute so as to make it conform to a presumed intention which is not expressed.” (Seaboard Acceptance Corp. v. Shay (1931) 214 Cal. 361, 365 [5 P.2d 882]; italics added.)
The crucial question before us is, of course, whether Mono County must prepare an environmental impact report, pursuant to section 21151, before it grants a conditional use or building permit for International’s proposed development at Mammoth Lakes. The answer to this question depends in turn on the resolution of a problem of statutory construction—whether the phrase “any project they intend to carry out” (§21151) includes within its scope a private development for which a governmental permit is required. As will appear, I conclude that the applicable rules of interpretation compel a negative answer.
Section 21151 provides: “The legislative bodies of all cities and counties which have an officially adopted conservation element of a general plan shall make a finding that any project they intend to carry out, which may *274have a significant effect on the environment, is in accord with the conservation element of the general plan. All other local governmental agencies shall make an environmental impact report on any project they intend to' carry out which may have a significant effect on the environment and shall submit it to the appropriate local planning agency as part of the report required by Section 65402 of the Government Code.”
In order to construe the statutory phrase “any project they intend to carry out,” it is fundamental that the court “should ascertain the intent of the Legislature so as to effectuate the purpose of the law.” (Select Base Materials v. Board of Equal. (1959) 51 Cal.2d 640, 645 [335 P.2d 672] and cases there cited.) Our endeavor must be to produce a “reasonable result consistent with legislative purpose . . . .” (E.g., Kusior v. Silver (1960) 54 Cal.2d 603, 620 [7 Cal.Rptr. 129, 354 P.2d 657].)
We pointed out many years ago that in ascertaining the will of the Legislature, “[t]he court turns first to the words themselves for the answer. It may also properly rely on extrinsic aids .... Primarily, however, the words, in arrangement that superimposes the purpose of the Legislature upon their dictionary meaning, stand in immobilized sentry, reminders that whether their arrangement was wisdom or lolly, it was wittingly undertaken and not to be disregarded. [11] . . . If the words of the statute are clear, the court should not add to or alter them to accomplish a purpose that does not appear on the face of the statute or from its legislative history. [Citations.] Certainly the court is not at liberty to seek hidden meanings not suggested by the statute or by the available extrinsic aids. [Citation.]” (People v. Knowles (1950) 35 Cal.2d 175, 182-183 [217 P.2d 1]; see also In re Miller (1947) 31 Cal.2d 191, 198-199 [187 P.2d 722]; Code Civ. Proc., § 1858.)
In giving effect to this canon of literal construction we must interpret statutes “according to the usual, ordinary import of the language employed in framing them.” (In re Alpine (1928) 203 Cal. 731, 737 [265 P. 947, 58 A.L.R. 1500]; see also Merrill v. Department of Motor Vehicles (1969) 71 Cal.2d 907, 918 [80 Cal.Rptr. 89, 458 P.2d 33]; Chavez v. Sargent (1959) 52 Cal.2d 162, 203 [339 P.2d 801].) The sweep of the statute should not be enlarged by introduction of language which the Legislature has overtly left out. (E.g., Keeler v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal.3d 619, 632 [87 Cal.Rptr. 481, 470 P.2d 617, 40 A.L.R.3d 420].)
I recognize, of course, that an enactment must be interpreted so as to harmonize its various parts, by considering the particular clause or section in the light of the statutory framework as a whole (Select Base Materials *275v. Board of Equal., supra, 51 Cal.2d 640, 645; Stafford v. L.A. etc. Retirement Board (1954) 42 Cal.2d 795, 799 [270 P.2d 12]); but a special or particular provision qualifies the general, especially where the provisions are inconsistent and cannot be reconciled (People v. Western Air Lines, Inc. (1954) 42 Cal.2d 621, 637 [268 P.2d 723]; Rose v. State of California (1942) 19 Cal.2d 713, 723-724 [123 P.2d 505]; In re Marquez (1935) 3 Cal.2d 625, 629 [45 P.2d 342]; Code Civ. Proc., § 1859) and where the particular provision is later in point of position (Hartford Acc. etc. Co. v. City of Tulare (1947) 30 Cal.2d 832, 835 [186 P.2d 121]).
Applying these general principles in construing the phrase “any project they intend to carry out,” I begin with the words themselves. Since no definitions are provided in the EQA, our first guide is the dictionary. Webster’s Third International Dictionary, Unabridged (1963) defines the noun “project” in pertinent part as “(1): a specific plan or design ... a scheme ... (3): a planned undertaking: [as] (a): a definitely formulated piece of research . . . (b) (1): an undertaking devised to effect the reclamation or improvement of a particular area of land” (at p. 1813). The verb “intend” is defined in relevant part thus: “(2) (a)(1): to have in mind as a design or purpose: ... (2) ... as an object to be gained or achieved” (id. at p. 1175). The verb “carry out” is defined thus: “(1): to put into execution (2): to bring to a successful issue (3): to continue to an end or stopping point.” (Id. at p. 344.)
Putting together these definitions, the statutory phrasing at issue takes on meaning: any undertaking, designed to be put into execution and successfully completed. Moreover, the pronoun “they” in the phrase “any project they intend to carry out” sharpens the significance of the words in the context of the case at bench. “They,” of course, refers back to “legislative bodies of all cities and counties” in the first sentence of section 21151, and to “[a]ll other local governmental agencies” in the second sentence.2
In other words, under the first sentence of the section, legislative bodies of cities and counties which have an officially adopted conservation element of a general plan must make a finding that any undertaking they propose to put into execution which may have a significant effect on the environment “is in accord” with such conservation element. Under the second *276sentence, all other local governmental agencies (i.e., cities and counties which do not have an officially adopted conservation element)3 must make an environmental impact report on any undertaking they propose to put into execution which may have a significant effect on the environment.
The meaning of this language is plain and clear. Local agencies (i.e., cities and counties) must make an environmental finding (to use a shorthand expression) or an environmental impact report, as the case may be, in connection with any proposed project which the local "agency itself directly plans to put into effect or execute. To put it another way, such a finding or report is required only with respect to public works projects of local agencies (as described in Gov. Code, § 65401). Nowhere in section 21151 do we find any language to the effect that local agencies shall make such findings or reports with respect to private projects for which they may issue permits, licenses or other regulations. Certainly, if this had been the intention of the Legislature, it could have very easily expressed such intention in a few simple words, coordinated with the plain meaning of the words it had already employed.
This conclusion is buttressed by additional language in the second sentence of section 21151, to the effect that an impact report on “any project . . . which may have a significant effect on the environment” shall be submitted “as part of the report required by section 65402 of the Government Code.” Section 65402 is found in chapter 3 (“Local Planning") of title 7 (“Planning") of the Government Code. It provides in brief that neither a county nor a city shall acquire real property for public purposes nor construct a public building or structure without making a report to the local planning agency so that the latter may ascertain whether the scheme conforms to its general plan. Since section 21151 environmental impact reports , are to be incorporated in reports prepared pursuant to Government Code section 65402, it would make no sense for a section 21151 report to apply to a “project" beyond the scope of the Government Code section. Inasmuch as section 65402 applies only to public acquisition, development, or construction, so too must section 21151 apply only to public works projects, and not as well to private activity, carried out by a developer like International. A contrary result would lead to the admin*277istrative illogic of a local planning agency processing reports on activities beyond its statutory purview.
In sum, I conclude that the environmental finding or impact report requirement of section 21151 is not applicable to private activity for which a governmental permit is necessary, as opposed to “projects” carried out by public entities. I reach this result merely by analysis of the plain meaning of the statutory words “any project they intend to carry out” in the context of the section in which they are found. (See People v. Knowles, supra, 35 Cal.2d 175, 182-183; In re Alpine, supra, 203 Cal. 731, 737.)
The above analysis of the plain meaning of the words of section 21151 is supported by the Legislature’s placement of that section in the statutory scheme of the EQA as a whole. Section 21151 is located in chapter 4 of the EQA, which the Legislature has entitled “Local agencies.” Section 21151 is the only operative provision of the chapter—and of the entire act—setting forth the circumstances under which local agencies are required to adopt environmental findings or impact reports. Nowhere within chapter 4 is there mention of private activity or intent to regulate it. Similarly, chapter 3 of the act, labeled “State Agencies, Boards and Commissions," sets forth with almost identical wording requirements of environmental impact reports for projects that state agencies, boards, and commissions “propose to carry out which could have a significant effect on the environment of the state.” (§ 21100.) Section 21100, the operative provision affecting state agencies, again does not indicate any intent to regulate private activity, nor can such indication be found anywhere else within chapter 3. Chapter 2 merely states the short title of the act.
Only in chapter 1, which the Legislature has merely labeled “Policy,” is there any reference to “private interests,” “individuals,” or “corporations” (§ 21000, subds. (f) and (g)) or the general need to “regulate" their activities (§ 21000, subd. (g)). However, those lofty and imprecise references to private activity in chapter 1 pale in importance when compared with the fact of their omission in chapters 3 and 4. Since the latter chapters contain the only operative provisions of the act, their omission of any reference to private “projects” (e.g., for which a governmental permit is necessary) is significant.
Thus it is abundantly clear that the Legislature simply did not intend either section 21100 (environmental impact report on projects to be carried out by state agencies) or section 21151 (environmental impact report on projects to be carried out by local agencies) to apply to projects to be carried out by private persons or corporations. That clarity is apparent in the structure and framework of the EQA, the plain meaning of its opera*278tive language, and a textual examination of the section at issue. The majority make no attempt to interpret those words by accepted rules of literal construction. Instead they draw lavishly from general findings and declarations of the Legislature (concerning maintenance of environmental quality (§ 21000) and the policy of the state in that respect (§ 21001)), refer to similar language in federal law, and trace the course of the EQA through the Legislature. In short, the majority, unable to discover in the words of section 21151 any intent to cover private projects, attempt to persuade us by the elaborate reasoning referred to above, that in some way private projects must be deemed to be included anyhow. I suggest that in this venture they were completely unsuccessful. Plainly private projects are not so included.
The majority initially stress other sections of the EQA to support enlargement of the obviously limited meaning of section 21151. Chief reliance is placed on sections 21000 and 21001, which are said to “expressly set forth" the intent of the Legislature. In particular the opinion quotes section 21000, subdivision (g).4 This subdivision, together with subdivisions (e) and (f) of section 21000 and subdivisions (d) and (f) of section 21001, is employed to support the broad proposition that “the Legislature intended to include the permit-issuing process [for private projects] as a governmental activity for which an environmental impact report is required.” (Ante, at p. 257.)
Such an attempt to infuse these general expressions into section 21151 does not withstand scrutiny. Section 21151, setting forth requirements for environmental findings or impact reports, is the only section of the EQA with actual operative impact insofar as local agencies are concerned, as the parties herein recognize. It is found under a separate chapter 4, which has special reference to local agencies. It is the very last section of the act, separated by various intervening sections from the general “intent” provisions of sections 21000 and 21001. It constitutes a particular, special provision within the more general cast of the act as a whole.
However commendable the general declarations of state policy contained in sections 21000 and 21001, they exert no broadening influence on the clearly limited language of section 21151. They are impotent to make the clear words of that section say more than they actually do. Indeed, the broad declarations of sections 21000 and 21001 are properly harmonized with the particular operative provisions of sections 21100 (state projects) and 21151 (local governmental projects) by treating those particular *279provisions as paramount to the general statements of the preliminary sections. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1859.)
My conclusion that section 21151 does not apply to private projects is supported rather than refuted by the legislative history of the act itself, as it passed from, initial introduction in the Assembly to final enactment. While the “general intent” provisions of sections 21000 and 21001 were retained virtually intact in the course of the legislative process, the operative provision of section 21151 was significantly amended.
When Assembly Bill 2045 was first introduced on April 2, 1970, by members of the Assembly’s Select Committee on Environmental Quality, the proposed section 21151 provided as follows: “All local governmental agencies shall conduct needed environmental impact studies and shall consider alternative methods for any program carried out by them which may have a significant effect on the quality of the environment.” (Italics added.)
By May 26, 1970, the proposed section 21151 had been almost entirely rewritten, after referral to the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources and Conservation. The bill was reintroduced and passed by the Assembly on July 17, 1970. At that time proposed section 21151 read as follows: “The legislative body of all cities and counties which have an officially adopted conservation element of a general plan shall make a finding that any program they intend to carry out, which may have a significant effect on the environment, is in accord with the conservation element of the general plan. Local governmental units without an officially adopted conservation element shall make environmental impact reports on any program they intend to carry out, which may have a significant effect on the quality of the environment. All other local governmental agencies shall make an environmental impact report on any program they intend to carry out which may have a significant effect on the environment and shall submit it to the appropriate local planning agency as a part of the report required by Section 65402 of the Government Code.” (Italics added.)
The bill was then sent to the Senate, where the Senate Committee on Government Organization amended section 21151 again by striking the first above reference to “program” and replacing it with the words “project or change in zoning,” and by striking the second reference to “program” and replacing it merely with the word “project.”5
*280On August 14, 1970, section 21151 was amended again.6
Finally, and most significantly, section 21151 was again amended, by deleting entirely the above second sentence referring to the environmental effect of any “change in zoningThus on August 20, 1971, the section read as it was finally adopted and reads now: “The legislative bodies of all cities and counties which have an officially adopted conservation element of a general plan shall make a finding that any project they intend to carry out, which may have a significant effect on the environment, is in accord with the conservation element of the general plan. Tfie-legAl-a-tive■bodies-ofiall counties-whieh have-an-uffk-jaljy- adopted -conservation-element-<ff-argener-al-pl-an-.shallmalee a tin-ding-that any change-in zoning they--intend-to carry out, which may have a significant-effect on the-environment,--is -in- ■ accord- with - the-conservation-cle-mc nt-ef-the general-plan, All other local governmental agencies shall make an environmental impact report on any project they intend to carry out which may have a significant effect on the environment and shall submit it to the appropriate local planning agency as part of the report required by Section 65402 of the Government Code.”
Contrary to the majority’s claim, no special significance may be attached to the intermediate amendments which may indeed fairly be summarized as a change from “program” to “project.” That change is not nearly as clear or as broadening as the majority make it out to be, since either *281'‘program.” or "‘project” may connote “planning” or, on the other hand, actual physical alterations in the environment. Nor is the analogy to the federal guidelines under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) helpful in this instance, since, as will be explained, the differences between the federal and state enactments are more significant than the similarities in solving the present problem.
The truly important amendment, in my view, is the last one, which deletes the requirement that any legislative body of a city or county with a conservation element in its general plan make a finding of environmental accordance with that element for any “change in zoning” which it “intends to cany out.” In other words, after the amendment, and as enacted, section 21151 requires the local body to find accordance with the conservation element of its general plan only for a “project” which it intends to cany out. In a strict sense it is arguable that the change is inapplicable to Mono County, since it did not have such conservation, element at the pertinent time; but the change is nevertheless meaningful to show the narrowing process to which section 21151 was subjected in the course of final enactment. The Legislature’s obvious decision to make the requirements of section. 21151 inapplicable to local zoning changes is especially important in the instant case, since zoning amendments and changes are one of the classic means by which a locality regulates private activity. The narrowing of section 21151 in this manner strengthens the conclusion that the Legislature did not intend the operative provisions of that section to apply to private activity for which a governmental permit is necessary, but intended them to apply only to public works projects.
I turn now to consider the majority’s reliance upon the federal act (NEPA) and the interim guidelines of the Council on Environmental Quality (ante, pp. 260-262). Respondents concede in their brief that the NEPA and the council’s interim guidelines are part of the legislative history of the state act, by virtue of their adoption shortly prior to the passage of the state act and because of similarities in provisions (see ante, p. 260). Yet, as respondents point out, the very similarities between the state act and the federal language underscore the fact that the Legislature intended the differences to be meaningful—a well-established rule (City of Port Hueneme v. City of Oxnard (1959) 52 Cal.2d 385, 395-396 [341 P.2d 318]; Estate of Simpson (1954) 43 Cal.2d 594, 600 [275 P.2d 467]; People v. Kuhn (1963) 216 Cal.App.2d 695, 699 [31 Cal.Rptr. 253]) which the majority ignore. Examination of these differences results again in the conclusion that section 21151 does not apply to a private project for which a governmental permit is required.
First, the NEPA provides in section 102(2)(C) (42 U.S.C. § 4332(21(C)) *282that: “The Congress authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent possible: ... (2) all agencies of the Federal Government shall .... [11] (C) include in every recommendation or report on proposals for legislation and other major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, a detailed [environmental impact] statement by the responsible official . . . .” (Italics added.)
Next, the interim guidelines of the Council on Environmental Quality, promulgated on May 11, 1970 (before any significant amendments to the EQA) stated:
“5. Actions included [under the NEPA] ....
“(a) ‘Actions’ include but are not limited to:
“(i) Recommendations or reports relating to legislation and appropriations;
“(ii) Projects and continuing activities;
“— Directly undertaken by Federal agencies;
“—Supported in whole or in part through Federal contracts, grants, subsidies, loans or other forms of funding assistance;
“— Involving a Federal lease, permit, license, certificate or other entitlement for use;
“(iii) Policy—and procedure-making.” (35 Fed.Reg. 7390, 7391; see also 36 Fed.Reg. 7724, 7724; italics added.)
In light of this tri-partite federal categorization of “projects,” which, as the majority remind us, the Legislature had in mind when it enacted the EQA, what are we to make of the now-familiar phrasing of section 21151, “any project they intend to carry out,” i.e., any project which local agencies intend to carry out?
To me two crucial points are clear. First, the very use of the word “project” by the Législature in the first place shows that the Legislature intended section 21151 to have narrower scope than the federal provisions, since “project” is manifestly a subcategory of “actions” according to the federal guideline No. 5. This difference in wording indicates that the Legislature desired to limit the coverage of section 21151 to “projects” only (subcategory (ii)) as opposed to “[recommendations or reports relating to legislation and appropriations” or “[p]olicy—-and procedure-making.”
Second, when we scrutinize the type of “project” covered by section *28321151 —any project local bodies or agencies intend to carry out — the analogy between the federal and state language is evidently not the one urged by the majority. Examination of the three federal types of “[pjrojects and continuing activities,”7 supra, compels the conclusion that the Legislature was analogizing to “[pjrojects and continuing activities; [f] [d]irectly undertaken by federal agencies” when it adopted section 21151. The phrase “any project [local agencies] intend to carry out” in the EQA is clearly similar to the phrase “[djirectly undertaken by federal agencies” in the federal guidelines. These two types of “projects” can be readily analogized and their similarity is pronounced, when we consider the marked difference between the phrasing of section 21151 and the other two types of federal projects: those “[sjupported in whole or in part through Federal contracts, grants ... or other forms of funding assistance,” or those “[ijnvolving a Federal lease, permit, license, certificate or Other entitlement for use.”
In light of these differences, which we must deem significant, the phrase “any project they intend to carry out” again takes on the meaning of a project actually executed or carried forward by local agencies (a public works project)—just like projects directly undertaken by Federal agencies. Moreover, under the rule of “expressio unius est exclusio alterius” the Legislature was evidently not including within the coverage of section 21151 private projects for which a governmental permit is required. If the Legislature had intended such a result, it would indeed have included language similar to that used in the description of the counterpart type of Federal project: “[ijnvolving a Federal lease, permit, license, certificate or other entitlement for use.” There is simply no basis for the majority’s facile conclusion to the contrary.
Nor is there any justification, let alone constructional value, to the majority’s “parenthetical” use of the statement of Assemblyman Knox in an attempt to shore up its interpretation of the Legislature’s intent. It is a settled principle that such statements are inadmissible to show the intent of the Legislature as a whole in construction of statutes. (In re Lavine (1935) 2 Cal.2d 324, 327 [41 P.2d 161, 42 P.2d 311]; Rich v. State Board of Optometry (1965) 235 Cal.App.2d 591, 603 [45 Cal.Rptr. 512].) I see no reason to depart from this rule of law in the instant case, even *284“parenthetically”; there has been no adequate showing that the statement of Assemblyman Knox (or, for that matter, the contrary declaration of Assemblyman Porter) falls within the sole exception to the rule, where the legislator’s testimony consists only of a reiteration of legislative discussion leading to adoption of proposed amendments, which “amounts to a report of the [legislative] committee’s activity . . . and is certainly part of the legislative history . . . .” (Rich v. State Board of Optometry, supra, 235 Cal.App.2d 591, 603.)
The majority also ignore the fact that two new bills were introduced in the Assembly in March 1972 precisely for the purpose of expanding the scope of section 21151 from “any project they intend to carry out” to “any major action,” as that term is almost identically explicated in the federal guidelines referred to above. The introduction of these new bills indicates that many legislators do not believe that the present section 21151 carries the broad impact assigned to it by the majority.
On March 2, 1972, 46 members of the Assembly, together with 14 members of the Senate as co-authors, introduced A.B. 681. This bill would, inter alia, add a fifth chapter to the EQA concerning environmental review of actions by public agencies. The new chapter would institute a Department of Environmental Impact Review as an administrative subdivision of the State Environmental Quality Board. Section 99 of the bill would amend the present section 21151 to read as follows (deletions shown by strike-outs, additions by italics): “The legislative bodies of all cities and counties which have an officially adopted conservation element of a general plan shall make a finding that any •preje€t-ffiey--iatend----t-0- - ear-ry—e-aF, major action which-m-ay’-could have a significant effect on the environment, is in accord with the conservation element of the general plan. All other local governmental agencies including districts shall make an environmental impact report on any p'roje-Gt-tlie-y-4Bte-n4-to-€-ariy--eut- major action which •may- could have a significant effect on the environment and shall submit it to the appropriate local planning agency as part of the report required by Section 65402 of the Government Code and to the State Environmental 5Quality Board. ...”
Section 98 of the bill would institute a new section 21102 which would define the term “action” as follows:
“(a) Recommendation or reports relating to legislation and appropriation.
“(b) Projects and continuing activities: -
“(1) Directly undertaken by public agencies. [<fc] (2) Supported, in whole *285or in part through public contracts, grants, subsidies, loans or other forms of funding assistance, [ij] (3) Involving a public lease, permit, license, certificate or other entitlement for use.
“(c) Policy and procedure making.” (Italics added.)
This terminology is, of course, identical to the federal guideline No. 5 quoted supra, except for the immaterial substitution of the word “public" for the word “federal” to render the language relevant to the state setting. First, the proposed amendment would plainly widen the scope of section 21151 to cover not only “projects and continuing activities” but other subcategories of “actions” as well; second, the proposed amendment would also broaden the meaning of the word “project” itself, from the type now covered (projects which public agencies “intend to carry out,” i.e., “[djirectly undertaken by public agencies”) to include as well those projects “[ijnvolving a public lease, permit ... or other entitlement for use.” The proposed amendment, in light of the directly analogous, federal wording, cannot be explained merely as an attempt to clarify but not broaden the present meaning of “project” as that word appears in section 21151. The suggested change shows that 60 members of the Legislature do not believe that the present section 21151 covers purely private activity for which a public permit is necessary. That so many legislators co-authored the proposed amendment contained in A.B. 681 is further evidence of the inaccuracy of the majority’s interpretation of the present section 21151.
Moreover, on March 13, 1972, A.B. 889 was introduced (by Assemblyman Knox himself). This bill proposes many of the same amendments to the EQA included in A.B. 681 (e.g., by adding a new chapter 2.5 defining certain terms such as “project” (substantially identical to the above wording of A.B. 681) and “public agency” (any “state agency, board, or commission, any county, city and county, city, regional agency, public district, or other political subdivision”)). In addition, A.B. 889 would amend section 21151 to read as follows (deletions shown by strike-outs, additions by italics): “The legislative bodies of all cities and counties which have an officially adopted conservation element of a general plan shall make a finding that any project they intend to carry out, which may have a significant effect on the environment, is in accord with the conservation element of the general plan. All -ether local governmental, agencies shall make an environmental impact report on any project they intend to carry out which may have a significant effect on the environment -ané-shaíf <snbmit4t-te-4he-apprepriate4eeal-^lanfting--agen&y--ae--par;t-ef-th&-fepert Tequifed-by Seetien~65402-ef-4he-Gr>vc»>ment--<Sode-. When a report is required by Section 65402 of the Government Code, the environmental impact report may be submitted as a part of that report.”
*286Once again, the thrust of these proposed changes is evident: Section 21151 would expressly cover the type of “project” which plaintiffs herein wish were covered now. Environmental impact reports would be submitted for projects other than the public works type of projects for which a report is required under Government Code section 65402. A.B. 889 and A.B. 681 together constitute additional support for respondents’ basic contention: that the present section 21151 does not apply to private activity involving a use permit, such as International’s proposed development at Mammoth Lakes.
To recapitulate, the majority opinion in my view ignores the plain meaning and usual import of the particular words of section 21151 which are applicable to Mono County’s decision to grant the conditional use pennit to International. The opinion cites legislative history and analogous federal language which in fact negate rather than support an expansive interpretation of section 21151. The opinion relies on general declarations of legislative policy at the beginning of the EQA which simply are not effectuated in section 21151 in the manner urged. I, as well as the majority, am conscious of the profound need to improve and maintain the quality of California’s environment (see, e.g., People ex rel. Younger v. County of El Dorado (1971) 5 Cal.3d 480, 485-488, 491-494 [96 Cal.Rptr. 553, 487 P.2d 1193]), but settled principles of statutory construction cannot be set aside by the judiciary in order to achieve that high purpose.
I conclude that the action taken by the Mono County Planning Commission and the Mono County Board of Supervisors was in all respects regular and lawful. The pertinent ordinance did not require said bodies to make specific findings of fact in respect to the issuance of the use permit. (Cf. Schumm v. Board of Supervisors (1956) 140 Cal.App.2d 874, 878, 880-881 [295 P.2d 934].) The record discloses that the issuance of the permit was supported by substantial evidence and did not constitute an abuse of discretion.
I would affirm the order.
The petition of the defendants and respondents for a rehearing was denied November 6, 1972. Sullivan, J., was of the opinion that the petition should be granted.

Hereafter, unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Public Resources Code.

I recognize that Mono County did not have a conservation element at the time of the decisions of the planning commission and the board of supervisors, and thus only the second sentence of section 21151 is strictly applicable herein. Nevertheless, it is instructive to analyze both sentences to discern legislative intent, since both contain the crucial words “project they intend to carry out.”

Clearly the phrase “[a]ll other local governmental agencies” in this context means cities and counties which have not officially adopted a conservation element in a general plan; it does not mean governmental entities other than cities and counties. (Compare section 50001 of the Government Code, which defines “local agencies” under the context of title 5 (“Local agencies"), division 1 (“Cities and Counties”), part 1 (“Powers and Duties Common to Cities and Counties”), chapter 1 (“GeneraV’) as follows: “ ‘Local agency’ as used in this division means county, city, or city and county, unless the context otherwise requires.”)

“It is the intent of the Legislature that all agencies of the state government which regulate activities of private individuals, corporations, and public agencies which are found to affect the quality of the environment, shall regulate such activities so that major consideration is given to preventing environmental damage.” (Italics added.)

Thus the Senate’s version of section 21151 on August 4, 1970, read as follows, deletions being shown by strike-outs and additions by italics: “The legislative body of all cities and counties which have an officially adopted conservation element of a general plan shall make a finding that any-program- project or change, in zoning they *280intend to carry out, which may have a significant effect on the environment, is in accord with the conservation element of the general plan. Local governmental units without an officially adopted conservation element shall make environmental impact reports on .any program- project they intend to carry out which may have a significant effect on the quality of the environment. All other local governmental agencies shall make an environmental impact report on any program they intend to carry out which may have a significant effect on the environment and shall submit it to the appropriate local planning agency as part of the report required by Section 65402 of the Government Code.”

“The legislative body- bodies of all cities and counties which have an officially adopted conservation element of a general plan shall make a finding that any project -or-eha-nge in zoning they intend to carry out, which may have a significant effect on the environment, is in accord with the conservation element of the general plan, -feeeal ■a significant- effect ■■OT>-the--quafity-of-The--env-i-r-omnent- The legislative bodies of all counties which have an officially adopted conservation element of a general plan shall-make a finding that any change in zoning they intend to carry out, which may have a significant effect on the environment, is in accord with the conservation element of the general plan. All other local governmental agencies shall make an environmental impact report on any-pregr-am project they intend to carry out which may have a significant effect on the environment and shall submit it to the appropriate local planning agency as part of the report required by Section 65402 of the Government Code."

The EQA omits the federal reference to “continuing activities” as well as “projects.” This is one difference which is not significant in the instant context, since the distinction between “projects” and “continuing activities” would appear to be one of time duration, having nothing to do with the distinction between public and private activity at issue herein. Of course, the omission of “continuing activities” in the EQA may indeed he important in other cases.