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Health Impact Assessment (Hia) and Enviroatlas: Integrating Ecosystem Services Into the Decision-Making Process-Guide (2015, Final)
Citation:
Yngve, L. AND P. Barclay. Health Impact Assessment (Hia) and Enviroatlas: Integrating Ecosystem Services Into the Decision-Making Process-Guide (2015, Final). U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC, EPA/600/RR-15-128, 2015.
Impact/Purpose:
To broaden awareness among HIA practitioners about: 1) the many health benefits provided by urban green infrastructure; 2)the added societal value of considering green infrastructure in HIAs; and 3) the availability of relevant spatial data, analysis tools, and supporting information through EPA's EnviroAtlas online mapping and decision tool.
Description:
This document was created to highlight the many ways that the U.S. EPA EnviroAtlas suite of ecosystem services tools can be used to aid in the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) process. Ecosystems provide numerous services and benefits to individuals, communities, businesses, and other entities. Changes in policies, plans, programs, or projects that alter natural elements of the environment may change the distribution of these services and benefits. Taking into consideration these natural components of the environment and their effects on public health during the decision making process can help mitigate unintended results or stimulate health promoting plans. HIA practitioners can use EnviroAtlas maps and tools to understand the role of ecosystem services and benefits in public health; to access watershed, census block group, and other scales of ecosystem services data for specific regions; and to visually assess these spatial data through a user-friendly interface. This publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number X3-83555301 between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), and by Interagency Agreement Number DW-89-92298301 between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE). The findings and conclusions of this report do not necessarily represent the official views of EPA, DOE, or ASPPH.