How is an Environmental Assessment (EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) related to a Health Impact Assessment (HIA)?
EA/EIS and HIA all are tools that inform decision makers, before construction or implementation, about the potential environmental and health impacts of proposed projects, programs, or policies. While EA/EIS generally assess a broad range of environmental issues, such as air and water quality and effects on wildlife, HIA evaluates how proposed actions will affect human health through, for example, physical activity levels, respiratory health, injury, or nutrition. Unlike EA/EIS, HIA is not a required review process. NEPA mandates EA/EIS when appropriate, while federal agencies, local or regional governments, the community, or others voluntarily initiate HIA. Nevertheless, NEPA requires incorporation of impacts on the human health environment into its comprehensive impact analysis. When federal actions have significant potential health impacts, HIA can be adapted to meet NEPA’s legal standards and administrative processes and CEQ regulations (see Table 1). A number of federal agencies h
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