Search results

A bill pending in the Brazilian Senate may change profoundly the characteristics and practice of environmental licensing in Brazil, including removing the obligation to obtain an environmental license for specific projects, such as those related to water supply and sanitary sewage. This timely bibliographical and documental study aims to analyse the development of specific legislation on environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental licensing of these two types of projects and compare them with the changes provided by the proposed Licensing Law. The work uses the identification and analysis of specific rules and legal documents that make up the current regulatory framework for licensing and the changes provided by the bill. The flexibility and exclusion of environmental licensing, without scientific rigour, ignore the importance of this instrument for environmental integration into decision-making. Furthermore, projects could damage the environment without such analysis due to the need to expand water supply and sanitation systems. ; A bill pending in the Brazilian Senate may change profoundly the characteristics and practice of environmental licensing in Brazil, including removing the obligation to obtain an environmental license for specific projects, such as those related to water supply and sanitary sewage. This timely bibliographical and documental study aims to analyse the development of specific legislation on environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental licensing of these two types of projects and compare them with the changes provided by the proposed Licensing Law. The work uses the identification and analysis of specific rules and legal documents that make up the current regulatory framework for licensing and the changes provided by the bill. The flexibility and exclusion of environmental licensing, without scientific rigour, ignore the importance of this instrument for environmental integration into decision-making. Furthermore, projects could damage the environment without such analysis due to the need to expand water supply and sanitation systems. ; A bill pending in the Brazilian Senate may change profoundly the characteristics and practice of environmental licensing in Brazil, including removing the obligation to obtain an environmental license for specific projects, such as those related to water supply and sanitary sewage. This timely bibliographical and documental study aims to analyse the development of specific legislation on environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental licensing of these two types of projects and compare them with the changes provided by the proposed Licensing Law. The work uses the identification and analysis of specific rules and legal documents that make up the current regulatory framework for licensing and the changes provided by the bill. The flexibility and exclusion of environmental licensing, without scientific rigour, ignore the importance of this instrument for environmental integration into decision-making. Furthermore, projects could damage the environment without such analysis due to the need to expand water supply and sanitation systems. ; A bill pending in the Brazilian Senate may change profoundly the characteristics and practice of environmental licensing in Brazil, including removing the obligation to obtain an environmental license for specific projects, such as those related to water supply and sanitary sewage. This timely bibliographical and documental study aims to analyse the development of specific legislation on environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental licensing of these two types of projects and compare them with the changes provided by the proposed Licensing Law. The work uses the identification and analysis of specific rules and legal documents that make up the current regulatory framework for licensing and the changes provided by the bill. The flexibility and exclusion of environmental licensing, without scientific rigour, ignore the importance of this instrument for environmental integration into decision-making. Furthermore, projects could damage the environment without such analysis due to the need to expand water supply and sanitation systems.

Abstract The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is an instrument for integrating the environmental issue into strategic planning with increasing the emphasis on impact assessment research in the world. Although it is not mandatory in Brazil, there are applications and initiatives for its formalization. The objective is to explore the Brazilian academic research on SEA through quantitative and qualitative analysis of papers, theses, and dissertations. The results reveal that since 2000 to 2020, local research has been represented by 75 dissertations and theses from 20 universities and, since 2005 to 2020, by 61 articles from 114 authors, published in 30 journals. While the research is in an early stage of development, it covers a broad diagnosis of the application of SEA, contributions to a Brazilian system, has little methodological discussion, and encompasses comprehensive analysis of the quality of the reports. We recommend that future research aims at fostering and building a legal framework for SEA for Brazilian planning.

Abstract The Brazilian sugarcane industry has experienced a rapid expansion during the 2000s. The prediction of the sugarcane crop expansion in the coming decades raises controversy about social and environmental impacts, which are partially evaluated in the current energy planning. In order to integrate these discussions to the decision-making, this article aims at presenting a Strategic Environmental Assessment framework to support the sugarcane expansion planning as presented in the national Decennial Energy Plan. The main positive aspects of this framework include: the integration of environmental, social and economic issues providing strategic focus and sustainability to the decision-making; the proposition of sustainability indicators whose data are available for watershed scale; and guidelines for analyzing alternative scenarios established in the energy planning. The authors believe this framework allows integrating sustainability into the decision-making of the sugarcane expansion planning supported by the Strategic Environmental Assessment.

Este trabalho analisa os conflitos socioambientais relacionados aos impactos de minas subterrâneas de carvão em Santa Catarina, Brasil, e Illinois, EUA, visando identificar "lições apreendidas" por participantes do processo de implantação de regulamentações de subsidência naquele estado americano que possam ser relevantes para a gestão ambiental em áreas impactadas por este fenômeno no Brasil. Illinois tem uma vasta experiência no assunto por ter 2,8% do seu território minerado por carvão. No Brasil assume-se que os conflitos decorrentes de subsidência representam obstáculos ao desenvolvimento sustentável da região carbonífera catarinense. A metodologia do estudo consistiu em revisão da literatura, aplicação de questionários e realização de entrevistas com especialistas em mineração de carvão. As lições apreendidas mais importantes para Santa Catarina referem-se à necessidade de conhecer detalhadamente as áreas da região carbonífera que foram mineradas subterraneamente visando veicular informações claras e objetivas sobre os riscos da movimentação das superfícies, além de oferecer seguro de à população.

Abstract Green areas and ecosystem services are emerging issues in the management of public areas with a view to promoting healthy and sustainable cities. The aim of this study is to establish and test an Index of Ecosystem Services for Green Areas (Índice de Serviços Ecossistêmicos para Áreas Verdes - ISEAV) to evaluate ecosystem services in urban parks as a technical subsidy for the management of urban green areas. The composition of the Index was based on quantitative indicators selected from a bibliographic review. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the Index, two parks of São Paulo city were selected - Buenos Aires Park and José Emérito Brás Park - and also primary and secondary data were used. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposition and application of this Index in two parks of São Paulo, where it was possible to obtain a diversified range of ecosystem services considered relevant for the health of the population.

Resumo O Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais (PSA) vem consolidando-se como estratégia para valorizar e gerenciar os recursos naturais. Este trabalho parte da premissa de que o PSA pode ser instrumento de fortalecimento da gestão sustentável de recursos hídricos em áreas urbanas, em aderência ao preconizado no Plano Diretor Estratégico de São Paulo. Para tanto, discute-se a perspectiva de aplicação de PSA a partir do Programa Córrego Limpo (PCL), que vem desempenhando papel relevante na manutenção da qualidade das águas urbanas de São Paulo. Esta pesquisa exploratória demonstra que os elementos esperados para um caso de sucesso de PSA são encontrados no PCL, em termos de serviços ambientais relevantes, provedores que garantam sua continuidade, identificação de beneficiários e potenciais pagadores.

Abstract This paper discusses the potential of associating environmental services (ES) with techniques for reclaiming degraded areas (RDA) used in the mining sector, considering the current trends in payments for environmental services (PES) in Brazil. A literature review with content analysis generated results which identified the ES generated for eight cases of RDA in mining. As an example, ES related to soil enhancement were found. A more extended review of general RDA techniques confirmed the potential for associating other ES to RDA techniques used in mining, an example here is the enhancement of carbon stocks. Support for actions could come from existing PES schemes, particularly for cases where the ES identified as associated with an RDA technique are related to soil and water conservation. Concluding remarks indicate that there is a potential scenario for ES diversification in the reclamation stage of mining operations. A first step towards accomplishing this diversification envisages the creation of a PES scheme specific to the mining sector. Further studies are needed to develop criteria for fostering a PES scheme specifically for the reclamation phase of mining operations in Brazil.