The Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Lucas County spearheaded this project to build a transitional residential mental health rehabilitation center providing supervised continued treatment for individuals leaving inpatient psychiatric care.
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) established the regulations that govern the implementation of the procedures outlined in NEPA (Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500-1508).
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provided partial funding for the project; therefore, a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) study was triggered.
BMI was entrusted by the County and their construction management company to navigate HHS’s NEPA compliance program. The EA was prepared on behalf of HRSA in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S. Code 4321-4347) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) General Administration Manual (GAM) (Part 30, Environmental Protection).
BMI identified the environmental impacts which may have resulted from the development of the project, as well as any alternatives considered. The EA identified several potential environmental impacts associated with the Proposed Action. These impacts were identified as “minor"; mitigation to reduce or eliminate the impacts was cited. Temporary environmental impacts included an increase in on-site erosion from stormwater runoff, an increase in noise, and a slight decrease in air quality due to fugitive dust; all which are associated with construction activities. Other short term impacts included the temporary presence of construction traffic.
Beneficial impacts associated with the Proposed Action include residential mental health rehabilitation services for northwestern Ohio and an increase in jobs. The project broke ground in June 2024.
BMI’s Toledo office and staff are located less than ten (10) miles from the Dani’s Place site; the history of the site and the general area are well known to BMI.
In addition, BMI’s proximity to specialty history collections at the nearby University of Toledo allowed quick response times to much of the research required by NEPA, keeping the project schedule on track. Finally, BMI’s knowledge of and experience with environmental laws translated into a streamlined gathering and assessment of the necessary information.