Creation of a State Environmental Health Directors Association

Environmental health (EH) programs vary from state to state. Some states' EH programs are housed in environmental protection or other agencies than health departments. Because of this, “State EH Directors” (SEHDs) are challenging to designate in some states and the group as a whole has not had a national “home” though many EH leaders belong to various environmental or public health organizations. In a number of arenas where state directors of programs have joined together, they have benefited from each other's experiences and have gained a national voice (e.g., State AIDS Directors, State Preparedness Directors, National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists). There is considerable value in creating a formal association of SEHDs to build relationships and to create a national identity for state-based environmental health.

Through the leadership of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (ASTHO) and a core group of SEHDs (in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Environmental Protection Agency, National Environmental Health Association, Environmental Council of the States, and the National Association of County and City Health Officials), we created a State Environmental Health Directors' group(SEHD).

It is envisioned that SEHD will help standardize environmental public health systems and approaches, support attainment of national goals such as Healthy People 2010, increase leadership capacity of SEHDs and establish a national identity for state-based EH, save resources and improve effectiveness by sharing information and best practices, and enhance advocacy for needed environmental health protections.