The Built Environment Section (BES) meets the mission of the Office of Environmental Public Health Sciences (OEPHS) by ensuring a sound scientific and public health approach to policies and planning practices for building the neighborhoods and communities where we live, work, play, and pray. The Section covers varying aspects of environmental health issues related to identifying potential health effects of new building projects; providing support for conducting health impact and other assessments; supporting a community health approach for addressing homelessness; and monitoring wastewater for pathogens and toxic substances in communities. The Section provides a public health voice in cross-sector collaborations with transportation, ecology, fish and wildlife, and commerce, recognizing the interconnectedness between our physical environment – buildings, infrastructure, land use – and health, and working on upstream factors such as planning and zoning measures to reduce health disparities.
Topics
Environmental Health Assessment
Washington Wastewater Based Epidemiology
Community Health Strategies for Homelessness
Resources We Provide the Agency
- WAWBE dashboard.
- Health impact assessment and consultation.
- Environmental health assessment and consultation.
- SEPA comment reviews.
- Technical assistance with homelessness resources.
- Built environment consultation and subject matter expertise. Includes active transportation, planning, access to healthy foods, access to health services, green spaces, social connectedness, and more.