A draft report on the potential environmental effects of a new building to house the launch phase of the University of California, Davis', Genome Program is available for public review and comment.

The one-story building, to be called the Genome Launch Facility, will provide approximately 21,091 square feet of space for offices and laboratories. It will be located in the central campus, south of Extension Center Drive, east of the Student Farm garden, northeast of the Bowley Center and the Core Greenhouse Complex (under construction) and west of Transportation and Parking Services.

The building will house the Genomics, Bioinformatics and Seed Biotechnology/California Crop Improvement Association research groups during the early phase of the UC Davis Genome Program.

Ultimately, the Genomics and Bioinformatics groups will move to the larger Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility building in the health sciences district of main campus. This building has already been approved and is expected to be ready for occupation in 2004. When these groups move, programs of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will occupy the vacated space in the Genome Launch Facility.

Construction of a fast-track building for the Genome Program will provide the infrastructure and equipment to attract high-quality researchers and help them compete for grants and contracts. The facility will help to bring together research programs in biology and agriculture, and enhance collaborations in genomics research between UC Davis and other organizations.

Five existing buildings on the site housing Plant Science Teaching Center and Student Farm operations will be demolished to make way for the new building. A replacement Student Farm shop and storage yard will be constructed at the western end of Extension Center Drive on the north side of the road. Replacement Student Farm greenhouses will be constructed as part of the Core Greenhouse Complex.

The proposed project is consistent with the land-use designations of the 1994 Long Range Development Plan. The draft study found that most of the potential environmental impacts would be mitigated by measures described in the environmental impact report (EIR) for the LRDP, as updated and amended to date. The draft study sets out mitigation measures for the additional impacts.

Copies of the study are available at: the UC Davis Office of Resource Management and Planning in 376 Mrak Hall on campus; the reserve desk of the Shields Library on campus; the Yolo County Public Library, 315 East 14th St., Davis; the Vacaville Public Library, 1020 Ulatis Drive, Vacaville; and on the Web at .

A brief public notice including a project description and a summary of potential impacts is available on the Web at .

Written comments on the draft study can be submitted up to 5 p.m. on April 24, 2001. Comments should be addressed to John Meyer, Office of Resource Management and Planning, UC Davis.

More information:
--