La Legislazione Italiana in Materia di Impact Assessment: Regioni a Confronto

[Autom. eng. transl.] OBJECTIVES: - to carry out a census of the Italian regional laws on health impact assessment (HIA) and on the environment (VIA) of health and non-health policies; - analyze the contents and the regional differences in relation to the Health Impact Assessment. MATERIALS The work was developed through the review of the national and international scientific literature and the consultation of the websites of the individual Regions, of the regional bodies for the protection of the environment (eg ARPA, ANPA, APAT) and of the regional official bulletins since 1990 RESULTS The scientific literature on HIA is rich especially in the Anglo-Saxon countries (United Kingdom, Canada, Holland, Sweden, New Zealand) while in Italy there are still few scientific studies published on the subject. In fact, in Italy there is no specific legislation on HIA, even if this is provided for by the Treaty of Amsterdam (Art. 152) and the European Constitution. The only concrete HIA initiatives currently being undertaken at the municipal level. The census showed that in Italy laws regarding the HIA have not yet been issued and that all the laws promulgated so far consider exclusively the EIA. The legislation on environmental impact is in fact continually expanding even if currently some Regions have not yet implemented a specific regional law on EIA. CONCLUSIONS In Italy, health protection is promoted almost exclusively by the strictly health sector; decisions with a strong social and environmental impact are not normally designed with particular regard to the theme of health. In order to increase interest in HIA in our country, it would seem appropriate to discuss the usefulness of introducing health impact assessment in national and regional legislation. A possible law, in fact, could sensitize non-health decision makers to the HIA, bringing Italy among the most innovative countries.