Divine Mercy Development

In 2010, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) on the Minnesota Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW). MDH conducted a desktop HIA on the Divine Mercy Development mixed-use EAW to inform general recommendations of incorporating health and climate change impacts into the EAW. The HIA included assessment of 26 health indicators in 10 health categories, including: air quality, land use, parks, trees and vegetation, transportation, housing, food, water, noise and safety. MDH used the findings from the HIA to inform changes to the EAW.  MDH found that the health indicators in categories of air quality, water, and noise were the most thoroughly analyzed in the EAW. The health indicator categories of housing, food, and safety were almost entirely absent from the EAW. The health categories of transportation, parks, land development, and trees and vegetation were discussed but not thoroughly analyzed from a health perspective.