Topics: Labor, Employment, Occupational Health, Immigrant Workers
Type: Policy
Scale: State
Between spring 2010 and spring 2011, SFDPH conducted a health impact assessment on the sleep and workers’ compensation provisions of the Domestic Work Employee Equality, Fairness, and Dignity Act (AB 889). With support from CDC-funded UC Berkeley Health Impact Group graduate-level research interns, SFDPH considered evidence on the health value of the proposed labor protections, the size and demographics of the domestic worker population in California, their current working conditions and socio-economic vulnerabilities, and potential barriers to accessing those protections. After learning that eight hours of sleep is more health-protective than five hours, the bill authors modified the legislation to require eight hours of sleep for 24-hour caregivers. The HIA is being disseminated to state and federal labor agencies to inform data collection and enforcement activities related to the vulnerable worker population.
Contact: Megan Gaydos, SFDPH, (415) 252-3919,
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Topics: Land Use, Planning, Housing
Type: Plan
Scale: Local
In November 2010 the City of Long Beach proposed the plans for a new developments in Downtown Long Beach, CA. The proposed Downtown Plan includes the following elements: approximately 5,000 new residential units;1.5 million square feet of new office, civic, cultural, and similar spaces; 384,000 square feet of new retail; 96,000 square feet of space for restaurants; 800 new hotel rooms; and approximately 5,200 new jobs. Human Impact Partners, in collaboration with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and Californians for Justice, conducted a rapid Health Impact Assessment in order to examine how the proposed Downtown Plan would impact measures of housing and employment in Long Beach, and how these impacts could lead to changes in health for residents of the Downtown area, particularly low-income and vulnerable populations.
Contact: Jennifer Lucky, HIP, (510) 452-9442, ext. 102,
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Topics: Transportation, Air Quality, Noise, Traffic Safety, Pedestrian and Cyclist Injury, Active Transportation
Type: Program, Policy
Scale: Local
In Summer 2011, SFDPH completed a health impact assessment of a potential road pricing program under study in San Francisco, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active Living Research program. The HIA used a variety of methods to assess potential transportation-related health effects - including air quality-related premature mortality, traffic noise-related annoyance and heart attacks, injury to pedestrians and cyclists, and health benefits from active transportation, and evaluated associated economic value and health-related equity effects. HIA recommendations targeting health benefits included increasing congestion pricing fees where they can reduce health risks (e.g., on spare the air days) and investing in targeted infrastructure to reduce pedestrian and cyclist injury and increase active transportation.
Contact: Megan Wier, SFDPH, (415) 252-3972,
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Topics: Redevelopment, Public Housing, Social Impacts, Neighborhood Level Impacts
Type: Policy
Scale: Local
With funding from the Centers for Disease Control, the University of California at Berkeley Health Impact Group completed a public draft of a retrospective HIA of redevelopment of two public housing sites through the federal HOPE VI program. The HIA asked the question: how has redevelopment of public housing impacted the health of residents of two public housing sites in San Francisco? The HIA was done with the goal of including the results in the current planning for HOPE SF, San Francisco's program to redevelop additional public housing sites. HIA community partners included two neighborhood centers that serve public housing residents and are located on site, and the scope included examining health impacts related to housing and maintenance, social cohesion, crime and safety, displacement, programs and services, and healthy eating and active living. The draft HIA is now available for public comment through September 15, 2010. Please direct your comments to
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.
Contact: Edmund Seto, UC Berkeley, (510) 642-9219,
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Topics: Land Use, Community Design, Housing, Transportation
Type: Plan
Scale: Local
With a coalition of groups representing affordable housing, environmental, labor, and community organizations, HIP completed an HIA in January 2009 to look at some of the proposed uses of the Concord Naval Weapons Station from a health perspective. After evaluating health implications of several proposed development plans being considered by the City of Concord, the HIA identified potentially negative impacts of the plans, such as an insufficient amount of affordable housing to match the wages of anticipated jobs created on the site. In addition to recommending more affordable housing, the HIA provided several other health-promoting recommendations such as maximizing residential density near the BART station to allow residents the greatest access to transit and other goods and services. Currently, HIP is advocating for the HIA findings to be included in the upcoming environmental review process.
Contact: Celia Harris, HIP, (510) 452-9442, ext. 103,
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Topics: Transit Expansion, Air Quality, Noise, Community Design
Type: Plan
Scale: Local
As part of the Great Communities Collaborative, HIP completed an HIA in June 2008 of the Railroad Avenue Specific Plan in Pittsburg, California. In accordance with the principles of Transit-Oriented Design (TOD), the Plan proposed a new Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station with adjoining residential, commercial and retail developments. The HIA evaluated the Specific Plan's anticipated impacts on the community, and identified both positive and negative impacts related to housing, livelihood, transportation, retail/public services, air quality, and environmental noise. Due to the HIA's identification of potential air quality hazards associated with placing housing adjacent to a nearby highway, the city's planning department is encouraging inclusion of the HIA's proposed mitigation to install indoor filtration systems inside homes in the plan. They are also considering an increase in the amount of affordable housing.
Contact: Kim Gilhuly, HIP, (510) 452-9442,
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Topics: Transportation, Air Quality, Noise, Traffic Safety, Pedestrian Conditions
Type: Retrospective
Scale: Neighborhood
To assess the impacts of transportation planning decisions, including the construction of an intra-urban freeway, on residents of the Excelsior neighborhood in southeast San Francisco, PODER, a grassroots environmental justice organization in San Francisco, SFDPH, and UC Berkeley collaborated to conduct participatory research. The partnership subsequently used research findings regarding traffic-related exposures and health hazards in the area to facilitate community education and policy action to address transportation-related health burdens on neighborhood residents.
Contact: Megan Wier, SFDPH, (415) 252-3972,
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Topics: Employment, Labor
Type: Policy
Scale: State
In the spring and summer of 2008, Human Impact Partners and researchers at SFDPH conducted a health impact assessment of the Healthy Families, Healthy Workplaces Act of 2008 (AB 2716) that documented the relationship of paid sick days to individual and community level health. The HIA mobilized and synthesized evidence from diverse sources to make a judgment of the future health impacts of the proposed California paid sick days statute.
Contact: Rajiv Bhatia, SFDPH, (415) 252-3931,
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; Jonathan Heller, HIP, (510) 452-9442, ext. 100,
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Topics: Land use, Housing, Transportation, Community Design
Type: Plan
Scale: Local, City
In October 2008, SFDPH released a report evaluating the Eastern Neighborhoods Area Plans using the Healthy Development Measurement Tool. The Eastern Neighborhoods Area Plans are long-range plans to comprehensively guide development in the Mission, East SoMa and Showplace Square/Potrero Hill neighborhoods. The Area Plans focus on issues such as the location of buildings, affordable housing, support for existing businesses, open space, urban design, and transportation and circulation.
Contact: Rajiv Bhatia, SFDPH, (415) 252-3931,
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Topics: Land use, Housing, Transportation, Community Design
Type: Plan
Scale: Local
In 2007, UCBHIG completed an HIA on a proposed redevelopment of the MacArthur Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Station parking lot and adjacent property. The Plan was for a mixed use village with approximately 518 - 625 residential units, 36,000 - 38,000 square feet of retail space, a 5,000 square foot community center, and approximately 940 - 1,110 parking spaces for BART and the new residential/retail space. The HIA made recommendations for protecting indoor air quality, creating buffers from environmental noise, improving pedestrian access to schools and parks, and preserving existing businesses and community networks.
Contact: Rajiv Bhatia, SFDPH, (415) 252-3931,
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Topics: Land Use, Housing, Transportation, Traffic Safety, Community Design
Type: Plan
Scale: Local
In 2006, UCBHIG completed an HIA on the Oak to Ninth waterfront development project on approximately 64 acres of waterfront property owned by the Port of Oakland. According to the City of Oakland, “The proposed project includes up to 3,100 residential units, 200,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, 3,500 structured parking spaces, approximately 29.9 acres of public open space, two renovated marinas, and a wetlands restoration area.” The HIA identified adverse impacts related to the adjacent freeway and the limited access to schools and transit services, making several recommendations for alternatives and mitigations.
Contact: Rajiv Bhatia, SFDPH, (415) 252-3931,
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Topics: Housing, Community Design, Traffic Safety, Air Quality
Type: Plan
Scale: Local
In 2007, HIP worked with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP), West Oakland residents and the non-profit developer East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) to maximize likely positive health impacts and minimize likely negative health impacts of a planned retail expansion and low-income senior housing development. This rapid HIA process addressed community concerns about air quality, noise, safety, and retail planning. Two important outcomes of the project were that the developer agreed to install a central ventilation system with air filters inside housing units, and modify residential building design so as to place entryways through a noise-buffered courtyard rather than near a freeway.
Contact: Jonathan Heller, HIP, (510) 452-9442, ext. 100,
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Topics: Land Use, Housing, Transportation, Public Goods and Services, Community Design
Type: General Plan
Scale: County
In 2008, along with Humboldt County public health and planning agencies, HIP completed an HIA to provide a health perspective to the Humboldt County General Plan Update process. Humboldt County is currently engaged in a decision-making process to guide the county’s growth over the next 25 years. The HIA engaged many stakeholders in the county and identified one of three considered development plans as the most healthy in terms of housing, transportation, environmental stewardship, public infrastructure, public safety, social cohesion, and the economy. In addition, the HIA proposed mitigations of potential negative health outcomes associated with the three plans.
Contact: Celia Harris, HIP, (510) 452-9442, ext. 103,
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San Francisco Public Housing Flooring Policy Forum
Topic: Housing
Type: Policy
Scale: City
In 2002, SFDPH conducted an HIA as a structured dialogue among experts, public housing tenants, asthma advocates, and responsible agency representatives to develop a policy for floor coverings in new publicly constructed housing. The SF Housing Authority agreed to adopt a policy to construct a reasonable proportions of the new units in each HOPE VI complex without carpeting. The policy was endorsed by the SF Board of Supervisors.
Contact: Karen Yu, SFDPH, (415) 252-3957,
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Topics: Employment, Labor
Type: Policy
Scale: City
In 1999, SFDPH conducted an analysis of a proposed living wage ordinance for San Francisco. The analysis quantified future benefits to adult health and children's educational achievement attributable to the adoption of a living wage of $11.00 per hour and informed the decision process through public testimony.
Contact: Rajiv Bhatia, SFDPH, (415) 252-3931,
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Health impact analysis may be integrated within environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. SFDPH has provided health analyses within a number of environmental impact reports, including those for the SF General Plan Housing Element, the Eastern Neighborhoods Area Plans, the Visitacion Valley Development Program, and the San Francisco General Hospital Project. SFDPH has also provided written comment on numerous city and state environmental documents. For links to integrated health and EIA comment letters, visit: http://www.sfphes.org/Env_Health_Impact_Assessment.htm
For more information on these comment letters, contact:
Rajiv Bhatia, SFDPH, (415) 252-3931,
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Case Studies
