PROJECTS

UC Merced and University Community Combined Program/Project

Impact Sciences was retained by UC Merced to prepare a joint Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the development of the 10th UC campus and an associated contiguous approximately 2,000-acre University Community that would house 30,000 persons. The University was the lead agency under CEQA and the US Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District was the lead agency under NEPA. The EIS/EIR addressed the program-level impacts of the projected campus growth under the 2009 Long Range Development Plan and the project-level impacts of the second phase of campus development tiered from the program-level analysis. The EIS/EIR also evaluated the effects from the development of a community to house campus-related new population as well as a research park adjacent to the campus. Key issues of concern for the environmental document were traffic and circulation, air quality, climate change, biological resources, agricultural resources, utilities, growth inducement, and cumulative impacts. The joint EIS/EIR was completed in record time (14 months) on schedule.