Oregon Health Authority Climate Health Impact Assessments

Oregon Health Authority (OHA), Oregon’s state public health agency, conducted three climate-focused Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) between 2011 and 2014 in order to determine the potential health benefits of greenhouse gas reduction projects. Requested by Metro Regional Government (Metro), Portland’s regional planning authority for transportation and land use, OHA’s HIA found that adopting the climate strategies proposed by Metro could reduce heart disease, stroke, and diabetes 2-4% by improving air quality and increasing active transportation. The HIAs also focused on the inequities of disease burden based on proximity to high volume roads, leading to increased injuries and respiratory disease, among other impacts; increasing active transportation and reducing the number of vehicles on the road could help to reduce this inequity. From the HIAs, OHA determined that implementing these strategies could also save over $100 million annually in health care costs. The 39-member Advisory Committee that helped shape and give feedback to the HIA included some community representatives and a representative from the Oregon Health Authority’s Office of Equity and Inclusion, but was primarily made up of local and regional government representatives.

The HIAs were conducted to help inform and shape Metro’s Climate Smart Communities, a three-phase regional planning for the Portland metropolitan region. To respond to a legislative mandate, in 2009 Metro started to develop projects to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of light-duty vehicles, such as gasoline cars and small trucks in the Portland metropolitan region. While focused on achieving the goal of lowering GHG emissions, Metro also recognized that climate change will also increase the existing health threats, such as heat-related illness, to frontline communities. Therefore, Metro decided to coordinate with OHA to conduct HIAs to help inform Metro’s final decisions on mitigation policy. This series of three HIAs includes Climate Smart Communities Scenarios HIA (2013), Community Climate Choices HIA (2014), and Climate Smart Strategies HIA (2014).

The first HIA, Climate Smart Communities Scenarios (CSCS), was to help examine the three scenarios proposed at Phase Two of Metro’s planning process. The three scenarios each had different levels of community investment to maximize the public health, equity, economic, and environmental benefits. The goals of this HIA included:

Provide evidence-based recommendations to aid decision?makers in understanding potential health impacts and tradeoffs of the CSCS policy options
Build and strengthen relationships between OHA and governing and planning bodies in the Portland metropolitan region
Promote consideration of health impacts in transportation planning and climate change mitigation efforts throughout the state
Promote HIA practice in Oregon

The report found that among other strategies, decreasing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) can be most beneficial to encourage more physical activity with active transportation and lower the rate of traffic injuries. Based on the first HIA, Metro was able to incorporate those recommendations in their Phase Two planning. The following two HIAs conducted in 2014, Community Climate Choices and the Climate Smart Strategies HIAs were further applied to Phase Three, the final stage of the policy making process.

Through utilizing an Integrated Transport and Health Impact Model, it was estimated that the proposed projects can “avoid 126 premature deaths and reduce[...] illness by 1.6% annually.” The HIA report concluded that physical inactivity is the main cause of death in this region. It stated that a well-functioning and safe transportation system which can encourage physical activity such as walking or biking can be created through land use planning.

The report suggested that Metro’s proposed project, while lowering per capita VMT, can also further reduce the premature deaths and lower health care costs. Furthermore, the low VMT with advanced fuel technology can also improve the air quality and mitigate the illness caused by poor air qualities. This case presents an example that by incorporating a HIA throughout the decision making process can help ensure climate-related projects or plans result in comprehensive GHG reductions, public health benefits, and social equity outcomes.

Publication Date: 2014

Related Organizations: