UC Davis this week released the environmental report for the proposed new Health and Wellness Center, which would replace the Cowell Student Health Center.

The document concludes that the project's environmental impacts would not be significant, or could be mitigated.

Student fees generated by the Facility and Campus Enhancement Initiative are funding the $50 million project. Students approved the FACE Initiative in 1999.

The project site covers about two acres on the west side of La Rue Road, across from the Activities and Recreation Center. The Health and Wellness Center would go on land now occupied by outdoor basketball courts and the arboretum nursery — these would be relocated on the central campus, the report states.

The site is just south of Parking Lot 35, which would get an additional 41 spaces as part of the Health and Wellness Center project, according to the environmental report. That would boost the lot's space count to 270.

The report describes the proposed Health and Wellness Center as a three-story building encompassing 75,000 gross square feet.

"The new building would provide routine medical treatment, counseling, pharmacy and physical therapy for UC Davis students living on and off campus," according to a public notice in the environmental report.

The existing student health center is at the north edge of the central campus. The center would be converted for academic or administrative use, but that use has not been determined, according to the report.

Nor has the university settled on new sites for the basketball courts and arboretum nursery. The report lists two options for both:

• For the basketball courts — a site within the Segundo student housing complex, or land that is now turf at the south edge of the Dairy Field recreation area.
• For the arboretum nursery — a site on the south side of Garrod Avenue near the arboretum's Shields Grove, or a site on the south side of Old Davis Road and west of the University Club.

The report notes the nursery's role in restocking the arboretum and in fundraising efforts. The nursery is the site of plant sales throughout the year.

The environmental report is available for review on campus at the Office of Resource Management and Planning, 376 Mrak Hall, and in the reserves at Shields Library; and off campus at the Yolo County Library, 315 E. 14th St., Davis, and the Vacaville Library, 1020 Ulatis Drive. The report also is available online, www.ormp.ucdavis.edu/environreview (click on "Current Projects" and then look under "H" for Health and Wellness Center.

Comments are due by 5 p.m. Dec. 7. They should be directed to John Meyer, vice chancellor of Resource Management and Planning, UC Davis, One Shields Ave., 376 Mrak Hall, Davis 95616, or e-mailed to environreview@ucdavis.edu.