Investigating the effectiveness of mandatory integration of health impact assessment within environmental impact assessment (EIA): a case study of Thailand

Abstract

The effectiveness of the integration of health impact assessment (HIA) and environmental impact assessment (creating an environmental and health impact assessment’ (EHIA) process) is investigated, drawing on an example of a mandatory requirement in the power plant project sector in Thailand. The analytical framework is based on that outlined in by the authors in 2013, focusing on procedural, substantive, transactive and normative effectiveness criteria, and the evaluation served also to critique this framework in practice. Using documentary analysis and interviews, it was found that a sample of EHIAs are partially effective from the four perspectives of effectiveness. The findings suggest that integrating HIA and EIA still has a long way to go to achieve effective practice. Insufficient resources have been allocated to deliver the level of public participation expected in the regulations, or a sufficient standard of EHIA practice and monitoring. The existing analytical framework was found to be inadequate for transactive effectiveness, and a new criterion added: T5 – Availability of human resource in EHIA practice. Recommendations are provided to support the practical integration of HIA into EIA practice in Thailand