Reforming environmental licensing in Brazil: Discourses analysis in the National Environment Council

Borioni, Rossana; Sánchez, Luis Enrique

doi:10.1590/1809-4422asoc0077r4vu2023L3OA

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Original Article • Ambient. soc. 26 • 2023 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4422asoc0077r4vu2023L3OA copy

Reforming environmental licensing in Brazil: Discourses analysis in the National Environment Council

Reforma de licencias ambientales en Brasil: análisis de discursos en el Consejo Nacional del Medio Ambiente

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Controversies about Environmental Licensing have been featured in the public agenda as the National Congress advances a policy reform being debated since 2004. In the National Council for the Environment, given its legal attributions, the Environmental Licensing rules and possible changes have been discussed since the first meetings. Through the analysis of Council meeting documents, the objective was to highlight such speeches and the players who pronounced them. For this purpose, memoirs and minutes of meetings of instances of the Council in the period 1984-2021 were examined. Essentially, discourses were found about the screening stage and environmental impact studies, with the absence of criticisms and proposals regarding the definition of the scope of the studies and the follow-up stage. There was a prevalence of discourses centered on administrative efficiency, without acknowledging the objectives of this environmental policy instrument, or challenges to increase its effectiveness.

Keywords:
Content analysis; effectiveness; environmental impact assessment; licensing; environmental policies

Type	Thematic groupings	Discourses	UAs
Shortcomings of practice	Environmental Impact Study	Technical failures; copies of one another often; do not assess alternatives; insufficient primary data; are biased and favor the proponent.	16
	Screening	Indiscriminate use of EIA even for projects without significant impacts.	14
	Approval of projects	Excessive flexibility; omission of biodiversity issues; projects approval with uncertainty.	13
	Environmental compensation	Compensation relates to infrastructure deficiencies of municipalities and not to impacts.	6
	Post-license	There is no management model for environmental programs; post-approval follow-up hardly occurs.	5
	Application of Resolution 237/97	The problem with Resolution 237/97 stems from lack of investments, technicians, and budget in structuring the environmental agency for its adequate implementation, not its requirements.	5
	Public hearings	Public hearings favor proponents.	4
	Transparency	Dialog and communication between proponents and licensing agencies are wrong; the decision-making process is unclear.	2
	Stakeholders	Lack of attention to perceptions of stakeholders and concerns of affected communities.	2
	Infrastructure projects	Infrastructure projects do not incorporate environmental issues.	1
Deficiencies in regulatory rules	Requirement of licensing	Simple activities should not be licensed.	5
	Resolution 01/86	Conama Resolution 01/86 did not address the possibility of carrying out assessments through less complex studies; it does not contain criteria for assessing EISs; it is an obsolete regulation.	5
	Compliance with deadlines	Disrespecting deadlines established by Conama Resolution 237/97 generates no consequences.	3
	Licensing system	The three-stage model is not suitable for all types of projects.	3
	Intervening bodies	Increasing interference from intervening bodies causes delays in licensing.	2
	Social control	There is no legal provision for methods of social control for environmental assessments carried out without an EIS.	2
	Cost of EIS	The proponent’s hiring of the environmental consulting team favors the preparation of biased EIAs.	1

Players		Shortcomings of practice									Deficiencies in regulatory rules
Sector	Institution	Environmental Impact Study	Screening	Project approval	Compensation	Post-license	Application of Resolution 237/97	Public hearings	Transparency	Stakeholders	Infrastructure projects	Licensing requirement	Conama Resolution 01/86	Compliance with deadlines	Licensing system	Intervening bodies	Social control	EIS cost
Federal	Conama staff		1		1	1	1										1
	Ministry of the Environment		1		1				1		1		1			1
	Legal Counsel of the Ministry of Environment		1		1								1
	Other ministries and secretariats		1											2
	Federal Public Prosecutor		1
	Representatives (Members of Parliament)	1
	Ibama	2			1	1
	National Water Agency						1
	State-owned Company		1
State	ABEMA. (Brazilian Association of Environmental Entities)											1			2	1
	State Government	3	4				1	1	1			2	2	1	1
	State Environmental agencies	2		1		1	1					1
	State Public Prosecutor			1
Mun	National Association of Municipal Environmental Agencies		2				1										1
Business and Civil society	Infrastructure and industry sector	1			1
	Bank consultants					1							1
	Environmental entities and Non-Governmental Organizations	7	2	10	1	1		3		2								1
	Union Association											1
	Science and technology sector			1

Type	Thematic groupings	Discourses	UAs
Improvements in practice	Territorial planning instruments	SEA and Integrated Environmental Assessments to assess cumulative and synergistic impacts and subsidize the EIA; consider the Ecological and Economic Zoning.	8
	Integration of public policies	Promote integration of other public policies with licensing (forest sector; water resources).	5
	Scoping	Consider the inclusion of health, greenhouse gases, and air pollution issues.	5
	Public participation	Extend public participation to all stages of the assessment, including when carrying out less complex studies.	4
	Technology	Use new technologies to improve infrastructure projects.	4
	Preliminary assessment	Carry out a baseline report or a previous study to assess the need for EIS.	3
	Species	Create lists of endangered species, indicator species, and migratory routes.	3
	Technical and operational capacity	Increase the number of public agents; carry out training.	2
	Guides	Produce environmental guides and best practices.	2
	Registry	Create a registry system for consultants to propose better environmental studies.	1
Improvements of regulatory rules	Standardization	Standardize to avoid subjectivity; define low and significant impacts; define a model of Terms of Reference (ToR) for each type of project.	19
	System revision	Revoke Conama Resolution 01/86; review the three-stage model; edit a new resolution or a general law on the licensing system.	19
	Simplification	Reduce steps and deadlines of the administrative process.	11
	Authorizations	Predict using official permission to replace the environmental licensing for small enterprises or cases with less impact.	1

Players		Improvements in practice							Improvements in regulatory rules
Sector	Institution	Territorial planning instruments	Integration of PP	Scopoing	Public participation	Technology	Preliminary assessment	Species	Training	Guides	Registry	Discretion	System revision	Simplification	Permission
Federal	Conama staff		1		1							2		2
	Ministry of the Environment	1	2	1		1		2	1			2	5	7
	Other ministries and secretariats	1		2									1
	Federal Prosecutor	1			1
	IBAMA			1				1	1			1
State	Brazilian Association of Environmental Entities	1				1						1	2
	State Public Prosecutor						1				1	7	2	1	1
	State Environmental Agencies					1							1	1
	State Public Prosecutor											1
Munic.	National Association of Municipalities and Environment											1
Munic.	National Front of Mayors											1
Civil society	Infrastructure and industry sector		1			1	1						1
	Bank consultants									1		1	1
	Non-governmental organization	2	1	1	3		1			1		2	6
	São Paulo Climate Change Forum	1

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[1] Rossana Borioni ✉ roborioni@usp.br