Oral

This session will examine the role that health impact assessment can play in affecting policy at the national and state level. Speakers will discuss the wide array of issues for which health impact assessment can be relevant. The session will explore the differences between the process for environmental impact analysis in the US, which is mandated, and health impact assessment, which is not, and examine what could be gained by integrating health impact assessment into environmental impact assessments at the federal level. It will also discuss strategies that states have used. A case study will consider specific issues about the impact of decisions about funding for transportation on public health, using the recent reduction in funding for public transportation in California as an example. A second case study will present methods for considering multiple attributes of the built environment as they pertain to public health. Time will be reserved for group discussion of the most promising approaches to broaden the applicability of health impact assessment.

Session Objectives: 1. To understand the differences between the current policy framework in the US for environmental impact assessment and health impact assessment and the scope of issues for which health impact assessment may be relevant; 2. To discuss opportunities to integrate elements of health impact assessment into state and federal policy decisions, through comments to environmental impact reviews and other approaches; 3. To identify the ways that decisions about funding for transportation can affect public health and methods for assessment of multiple elements of the built environment.