Chemistry Building Project Input Requested

Chemistry Building Project Scoping Letter

UWM ChemistryBuilding ScopingLetter

To Whom It May Concern:

GRAEF has been retained to undertake the Type II Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process on behalf of the Wisconsin Department of Administration for the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Chemistry Building project. The EIA will be prepared in accordance with Wisconsin Statutes 1.11, the Wisconsin Environmental Policy Act (WEPA), and Wisconsin Department of
Administration guidelines. An initial step in developing the EIA is the scoping process whichhelps identify potential negative and positive impacts of the project on the physical, biological, social, cultural/historical, and economic environments. Because you or the group or agency you represent may have an interest in the project, or may be located near the project site, we are soliciting your participation in the scoping process.

Background
UW-Milwaukee (UWM) was founded in 1956 and offers 199 academic programs and isWisconsin’s largest online education program. Major programs include business, engineering, and information studies. UWM has over 26,000 students with more than 300 student organizations. UWM is one of the two Wisconsin top-tier research universities that are recognized by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of higher education and partners with 3,700 businesses and nonprofits, allowing students to explore career opportunities. The Chemistry department enrolls about 5,000 undergraduate students and offers nearly 50 lecture courses and 85 lab sections per semester. The Chemistry department also offers 60 hours a week of extensive tutoring. The former chemistry building, constructed in 1972, is
outdated and not efficient for the high demand infrastructure that a chemistry lab requires. The current conditions limit the capacity and require instructors to place typical experiments with those that do not require a fume hood.

Project Description
Overall, the project entails the development of a new 89,300 ASF/159,220 GSF Chemistry Building that replaces the existing Chemistry building. The new 4-story Chemistry Building will house instructional classrooms, lecture halls, and research laboratories and support spaces for the analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic, and physical focuses research and academics. An underground corridor will connect to the Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Center (KIRC). The project will also extend campus utilities to the site to support the building. The project plans
for demolition of the old chemistry building that is beyond useful life.

2020-0290 September 2020
The total project budget is $129,535,000 funded through General Fund Supported
Borrowing. The replacement Chemistry Building total project cost is estimated at $118,100,000 with remaining funds targeted for demolition of the old Chemistry Building.

Solicitation of Input
An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be completed that will identify both positive and adverse impacts of the UW-Milwaukee Chemistry Building project. If you have an interest in this project, please submit your comments in writing by September 11th, 2020 for consideration in
the draft EIA to:

Alison Kuhne
GRAEF
275 West Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 300
Milwaukee, WI 53203
alison.kuhne@graef-usa.com

Following completion of the draft EIA, a legal notice will be published in local media indicating when and where the draft EIA will be available for a 15-day public review and comment period. The draft EIA public meeting will be held virtually at 5pm on October 12th, 2020, Check our website for office meeting invite. Documents will also be available online at: http://notices.graefusa.com/UWMilwaukeeChemistryBuilding.

Following completion of the comment period andconsideration of submitted comments, a final EIA report will be developed or, if warranted, a
more detailed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) with additional opportunities for public input will be undertaken.

Sincerely,
GRAEF-USA
https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/documents/sop/MMHI.pdf
Alison Kuhne
Environmental Scientist