Health aspects of environmental impact assessment a report of the findings of the European Commission’s IMP3 project on IMProving the IMPlementation of.

Health aspects of environmental impact assessment

a report of the findings of the European Commission’s IMP3 project

on IMProving the IMPlementation of environmental IMPact Assessment

in Europe

Presented by Salim Vohra on behalf of the IMP3 team7th International Health Impact Assessment Conference, Cardiff, April 2006

Project background

• European Commission regularly reviews the workings of EU Directives.

• This is the second review of the EIA Directive since its amendment in 1997

• Carried out by six partners from five countries: Austria, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden and the UK

• 1 year research project

Project partners

• ÖIR, Österreichisches Institut für Raumplanung Austria(Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning)

• UBA, Umweltbundesamt (Austrian Federal Environment Agency) Austria

• CITTA, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto Portugal(Research Centre for Territory, Transports and Environment)

• SZAP, Slovenská Agentúra Životného Prostredia Slovakia(Slovak Environmental Agency)

• Nordregio, Nordic Centre for Spatial Development Sweden

• WCfH, Wales Centre for Health UK

Research background

Questionnaires• 970 EIA stakeholders were sent questionnaires• 183 responded from 24 EU countries (19%)

Interviews• 38 stakeholders in 10 EU countries • 26 stakeholders in Canada and the US

Number of responses by country

Definition of health used in EIA

• Majority view - environmental risks to health i.e. air, water, soil and noise pollution

• Minority view - in 12 countries - mental health and social wellbeing recognised in legislation

• Small but significant shifts in recognition of need to assess health more broadly in EIA practice compared to previous studies

Definition of health used in EIA by country

Health impacts assessed in EIA

• Physical health impacts are always or most often considered

• Social and mental health-wellbeing impact are less often or rarely considered

• Inequalities in health impacts between different groups within a community are very rarely, if at all, considered

Influences on health considered in EIA

Barriers to strengthening health

• No or insufficient guidance on how to consider health issues in EIA (65%)

• Insufficient knowledge and understanding of health and health determinants (49%)

• Definition of human health in EIA regulations is inadequate or too narrow or missing(40%)

• Failure to include health experts in EIA teams (34%)

EU-level policy options identified

Overall findings• Human health is being assessed within EIAs in Europe

• Most are health risk assessments of the affect of emissions into the air, water and soil

• or completely separate HIAs carried out after the EIA has already been completed

• Few examples of integrated environmental and health impact approaches and methodologies

• There are signs of small but significant shifts in attitudes among EIA stakeholders about the need to consider human health in a broader way in EIA

Emerging challenges: strengthening health in EIA

• Should we integrate HIA into EIA or keep them separate?

• How do we create better links and more collaboration between environmental impact and health impact practitioners?

• More and better guidance but what precisely on?

• How do we develop better baseline health information and health evidence bases, that fit the EIA legislative framework at EU and national levels?

A team effort and great fun!!!

• Antonia Cornaro, Erich Dallhammer, Valérie Dumont, Ulrike Fasching, Peter Schneidewind, Gregori Stanzer, Gabriele Tatzberger

• Wolfgang Lexer, Sabine Mayer, Bernhard Schwarzl

• Maria Rita Correia, Paulo Pinho, Sara Santos Cruz

• Daniela Bugáňová, Mária Hrnčárová, Zuzana Lieskovská, Katarína Palúchová, František Parišek

• Tuija Hilding-Rydevik, Åsa Pettersson, Arto Ruotsalainen

• Ceri Breeze, John Kemm, Nicola Pearce, Lynnette Thomas, Salim Vohra