Environmental Assessment for Toda America, Incorporated Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative Project, Battle Creek, MI (DOE/EA-1714) - National Energy Technology Laboratory - Bog

The DOE prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to assess the potential for impacts to the human and natural environment of its Proposed Action-providing financial assistance to Toda under a cooperative agreement. DOE's objective is to support the development of the EDV industry in an effort to substantially reduce the United States' consumption of petroleum, in addition to stimulating the United States' economy. More specifically, DOE's objective is to accelerate the development and production of various EDV systems by building or increasing domestic manufacturing capacity for advanced automotive batteries, their components, recycling facilities, and EDV components. This work will enable market introduction of various electric vehicle technologies by lowering the cost of battery packs, batteries, and electric propulsion systems for EDVs through high-volume manufacturing. Under the terms of the cooperative agreement, DOE would provide approximately 50 percent of the funding for Toda to construct a manufacturing plant to produce oxide materials for cathodes for lithium-ion batteries. The plant would be located within the Fort Custer Industrial Park in Battle Creek, Michigan. The project would help meet the growing needs of domestic and global lithium-ion battery cell producers. The total production volume at this facility would be sufficient to supply batteries for around 450,000 HEVs or 125,000 plug-in HEVs. Additionally, the project would create approximately 50 permanent jobs. The environmental analysis identified that the most notable changes to result from the Toda's Proposed Project would occur in the following areas: land use, air quality and greenhouse, noise, geology and soils, surface water and groundwater, vegetation and wildlife, solid and hazardous wastes, utilities and energy use, transportation and traffic, and human health and safety. No significant environmental effects were identified in analyzing the potential consequences of these changes.