ENVIRONMENTAL LICENSING IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF TRÊS LAGOAS, MS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES.

• Grant number: 23/14605-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Denise Gallo Pizella
• Grantee: Ana Beatriz Borges Brito
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Ilha Solteira. Ilha Solteira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The unbridled growth of human activities that cause environmental impacts has made an assessment of devices used to protect the environment a globally discussed issue. In relation to Brazil, the institution of an Environmental Policy led to postures and procedures capable for the union of economic growth and environmental health. In this sense, environmental licensing is an instrument of environmental management that seeks to continuously control potentially polluting activities. Complementary Law 140/2011 attributed powers to municipal entities to license activities with a local impact, motivating the process of decentralizing environmental licensing. However, this instrument faces challenges for its efficiency, such as budget allocation, political interests, deficiencies in the qualification of the technical staff and organizational problems. On the other hand, the sharing of responsibility for environmental management between the state, federal and municipal levels can contribute to reducing the attributions of public bodies and, consequently, agility in issuing licenses. This work seeks to identify the difficulties of environmental licensing present in the city of Três Lagos, MS. To this end, the institutional requirements for the municipality to implement the licensing, the existing procedures, focusing on the screening criteria for determining the environmental studies, as well as the types of licenses issued in each case, will be identified. It will be verified whether the participation of the interested society in the environmental licensing processes, in which phase they occur and are influenced as decision recovery by the licensing agency. In addition, interviews will be carried out with environmental analysts assigned to the licensing environmental agency, in order to identify, in the technicians' view, the potential and weaknesses of licensing in the municipality. It is expected that, with the data collected, the problems that permeate environmental licensing in medium-sized cities will be understood, with notes for its improvement.