CALIFORNIA AUTOMOTIVE RESEARCH TEST SITE (CARTS)Proposed Negative Declaration PUBLIC NOTICE UC Davis proposes to construct the California Automotive Research Test Site (CARTS) on the UC Davis campus. This facility would cover approximately 16 acres, including a 2-acre storm water retention pond, and would be located on the west side of County Road 98 north of the campus landfill. The CARTS project would be a joint effort between the University and the California State Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The facility would be used for State and Federal research and development projects focused on the introduction of automatic control, navigation, and electrification technologies in the national highway system and would be used by Caltrans for testing highway safety devices by means of crash tests of mechanically propelled passenger vehicles and trucks. The CARTS facility would include an approximately 500 foot by 1,200 foot oval test track. Surrounded by an earthen berm inside the track would be: a 320 foot diameter central skid pad and paved runway; guidance devices and mechanisms for accelerating vehicles weighing up to 20,000 pounds at speeds up to 65 miles per hour; two crash test areas; and an office and shop building. Approximately one or two crash tests would be conducted each month. The test vehicles would be mechanically propelled, without internal combustion engines, glass or brakes, and would therefore lack the associated noise upon impact. These and additional project elements are described and analyzed in a Tiered Initial Study. In compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and state and University of California guidelines for implementation of CEQA, an Initial Study for the CARTS project has been prepared that identifies and evaluates the environmental impacts of the project. The analyses and conclusions in the Initial Study were tiered under the programmatic Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for the 1994 UC Davis Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) (State Clearinghouse #94022005) in accordance with section 15168 of the CEQA Guidelines. Based on the Tiered Initial Study, it has been determined that the project may incrementally contribute to significant impacts previously identified in the 1994 LRDP EIR and may result in new significant impacts. The project includes appropriate implementation of relevant LRDP EIR mitigation measures, and the Initial Study identified new project specific mitigation measures. The project will incrementally contribute to, but will not exceed, the following impacts previously identified in the LRDP EIR as significant before the implementation of any mitigation measures: loss of prime agricultural lands; traffic, circulation, and parking impacts (reduced level of service at certain intersections); noise impacts (temporary increases from construction activities; increased traffic and other noise associated with cumulative development); air quality impacts (short-term generation of construction dust; and increased criteria air pollutant emissions due to LRDP and cumulative development); hazardous materials and public safety impacts (increased hazardous chemical use and generation of wastes due to LRDP and cumulative development; potential exposure to contaminated soil or groundwater during construction work for LRDP and cumulative development; and increased demand for emergency response capability); biological resource impacts (potential loss of nesting habitat for burrowing owls and raptors, potential interference with nesting and foraging for Swainson's hawk; and cumulative loss of habitat for wildlife); hydrology and water quality impacts (reduced groundwater recharge due to LRDP and cumulative development; potential siltation and sedimentation from construction activities; and increased runoff of urban contaminants); seismic risks related to LRDP and cumulative population growth and development); cultural resources impacts (potential damage to buried cultural resources, during construction; and cumulative loss of cultural resources); visual quality/aesthetics impacts (alteration of rural character of certain campus areas; creation of excessive glare, light, and heat; and cumulative alteration of rural landscape); fire and police protection impacts (decreased levels of service from UC Davis and City of Davis police and fire departments); cumulative impact on area schools; and utilities and infrastructure impacts (increased demand for water from deep aquifer from LRDP and cumulative development; and increased demand on the domestic/fire water emergency system). Most of the effects listed above can be mitigated to a level of less-than-significant by mitigation measures adopted in the LRDP EIR and implemented as part of the proposed project. Impacts related to cumulative loss of prime farmland, seismic hazards, construction dust, criteria air pollutants, traffic noise levels, water demand, reduction in receiving water quality, increased use of hazardous materials, cumulative demand for energy, increases in impervious surface and decreases in groundwater recharge, cumulative alteration of the rural character of the Yolo and Solano counties, cumulative effects on City of Davis fire and police protection, and potential buried cultural resources, to which the project would contribute, would remain significant and unavoidable. Many of these significant unavoidable cumulative impacts can be avoided through implementation of measures by agencies outside the jurisdiction of the University of California. All significant and unavoidable impacts have been addressed in the findings and overriding considerations adopted by The Regents in connection with their approval of the 1994 LRDP. In addition, the analyses in the tiered Initial Study identified two significant impacts associated with the project that were not identified in the 1994 LRDP EIR. These project- specific impacts were associated with constructing the CARTS facility next to the campus landfill where off-site migration of landfill gas has occurred and adjacent to an existing groundwater monitoring well. The proposed project includes adequate mitigation to reduce these impacts to a level that is clearly less than significant. In keeping with this determination, a Draft Negative Declaration has been deemed appropriate for this project. Copies of the Tiered Initial Study and the Draft Negative Declaration and the 1994 UC Davis LRDP EIR may be obtained at the address below and are on file at Shields Library on the UC Davis campus and at the Yolo County Library, 315 East 14th St., Davis, California. Written comments on the proposed action must be received at the address below between July 27, 1995 and August 25, 1995.