Challenges and Prospects for Integrating the Assessment of Health Impacts in the Licensing Process of Large Capital Project in Brazil

Abstract

Brazil was one of the first countries in Latin America to institutionalize a National Environmental Policy in 1981, including the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process of economic activities with anticipated impacts on the environment. Today, EIA practice in Brazil comes with a number of limitations: it is constrained by its environmental advocacy role; application is strongly oriented towards large capital projects; and social responsibility considerations are only partially included. Consequently, EIA studies mainly address issues connected to localised and direct environmental impacts, largely ignoring any socio-economic and health impacts. This perspective paper highlights limitations of current EIA practice in Brazil with a focus on health considerations in impact assessment. While recognizing the positive impact to municipalities where large capital projects are being developed and operated, adverse impacts on health are a reality with measurable evidence in Brazil. Therefore, we argue that specificities on how to systematically assess and monitor potential health impacts cannot remain invisible in the Brazilian legislation, as currently seen in the reformulation of the licensing process in the country. The process of better integrating the assessment of health impacts in the licensing process of large capital project in Brazil must, however, not be based on the imposition of an external model but should be promoted by internal stakeholders from the environmental and health sector, incorporating the experiences gained in various case studies from all over the country.

Current Global Health Impact Assessment Practice

“…Although standalone HIA was the most frequently mentioned type of HIA conducted, the incorporation of health in other impact assessments (e.g., health in EIA, ESIA, ESHIA, or strategic environmental assessment (SEA)) has become common practice. This is in line with previous research and initiatives promoting the integration of health in other forms of impact assessments, rather than promoting standalone HIA [32,[35][36][37][38]. Moreover, in the global landscape of impact assessments, specialised forms of HIA (e.g., EHIA, health inequalities impact assessment, health systems impact assessment, mental well-being impact assessment) also seem to be established types of HIA.…”

Health Impact Assessment in protected areas: a proposal for urban contexts in Brazil

“…Some authors argue that it should be integrated into the EIA process, while others argue that HIA should be an autonomous process 53 , 54 . Although the health component is explicit in the EIA, as an element of the socioeconomic dimension, and in urban management instruments, studies show that, despite the conceptual presence of health in these instruments, few elements and tools for its implementation can be found 54 , 55 , 56 .…”

“…Brazil has little experience with HIA, mainly for environmental liabilities of large capital projects 41 , 55 . Recently, HIAs on air pollution and other rapid HIAs in the urban context have been published 56 .…”

Health Impact Assessment and its Association with the Environment: an integrative review

“…Considering how recent this practice is, one of the possibilities that presents itself is to incorporate HIA to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and that could be achieved by integrating Health into the EIA legislation and introducing the proposal in the discussions on changes to the extant Environmental Licensing system. To that end, efforts to insert HIA should be based on fostering discussions of the experiences reported in Brazilian case studies, especially in the health sector and environment sector (HACON et al, 2018). Given that the discussion of HIA addresses its aspect as a practice fostering protection for human health in a systemic context, and considering the contemporary nature of the theme, it is necessary to acquire more knowledge about this approach.…”