13 de Maio de 2025
The National Environmental Policy (PNMA), established by Federal Law 6.938/1981, aims to guarantee the "preservation, improvement and recovery of environmental quality favourable to life", thus ensuring sustainable development. In order to achieve this objective, the PNMA requires that activities and undertakings that use environmental resources and may cause environmental degradation, even potentially, must undergo prior environmental licensing.
Environmental licensing is an administrative process that aims to assess the environmental viability of an activity or enterprise. This is a non-discretionary process, which means that the analysis of the licence must follow the rules and verify that the activity or undertaking meets these criteria. Licensing is therefore a preliminary and preventative stage, whose main function is to identify the possible impacts of a given undertaking on the socio-environmental environment.
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), like Environmental Licensing, is also an instrument of the PNMA. The EIA consists of a set of procedures (understanding and framing the project, defining criteria and methodologies for carrying out the studies, preparing the studies, identifying and analysing the impacts, defining environmental programmes, technical analysis and public consultation) that seek to predict the possible environmental consequences of an activity or decision. It is preventative in nature and takes place before activities are implemented. It is incorporated into the planning phase of projects and into the environmental licensing process in order to obtain the Preliminary Licence.
One of the phases of EIA is the identification of environmental aspects and impacts, which takes place after the initial or diagnostic studies have been carried out. The "Environmental Aspect", according to Sanchéz, is understood as the mechanism by which a human action causes an environmental impact. These are elements that can interact with the environment in a significant way. These aspects can be identified by analysing the characteristics of the activity or enterprise, as well as the characteristics of the environment, and how these two elements interact. Analogies with similar cases, the experience of specialists or deductive and inductive methods can be used to make this identification.
As for "Environmental Impact", according to CONAMA Resolution no. 01/1986 is defined as any alteration in the physical, chemical and biological properties of the environment resulting from human activities. These changes can directly or indirectly affect the health, safety and well-being of the population, social and economic activities, biota, the aesthetic and sanitary conditions of the environment and the quality of environmental resources.
According to Sánchez, environmental impact is a change in environmental quality resulting from the modification of natural or social processes caused by human action. He emphasises that the environmental impact can be both beneficial and adverse.
Another stage of EIA is the preparation of environmental studies. These are technical documents, drawn up by qualified professionals, which assess the environmental viability of the activity or undertaking, taking into account various aspects related to the location, installation, operation and expansion of the project, as well as the intensity and extent of the environmental impacts. In addition, the studies propose measures to mitigate, compensate for or monitor these impacts.
The most widely used study for prior assessment is the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and its respective Environmental Impact Report (RIMA). The EIA is considered the most important document in the environmental impact assessment process. This is because it is a detailed and complete study that assesses the potential of an activity or undertaking to cause significant degradation. The RIMA, on the other hand, is a document aimed at the interested public and consists of presenting the main results of the EIA in a clear, accessible and objective way.
The stages of environmental licensing may vary in nomenclature according to the licensing environmental body, although they generally refer to the same modalities. For example, terms such as Preliminary Environmental Licence (LAP), Preliminary Licence (LP) and Location Licence (LL) are used. Among the most common terminologies in Brazilian states are the Preliminary Licence (LP), the Installation Licence (LI) and the Operating Licence (LO).
Preliminary, installation and operating licences can be issued sequentially throughout the different phases of the project. Environmental authorisations, the single licence and the simplified licence can cover all these phases simultaneously, generating a single document. It is worth noting that these licensing modalities and their applications may vary from state to state, depending on factors such as environmental impact, size of the activity, polluting/degrading potential, location and expected duration of the activity.
Mining is one of the pillars of Minas Gerais' economy. However, it is linked to a number of significant impacts on the environment and society. The best-known impacts of mining activity are changes in soil, water and air quality, community health, visual changes and changes in land use and occupation, loss of cultural heritage, changes in socio-cultural relations and increased demand for basic services.
In Minas Gerais, the main legislation on environmental licensing is State Law 21.972/2016 and COPAM Normative Deliberation (DN) No. 217/2017. This law defined a new type of licensing, Simplified Environmental Licensing (LAS), which sought to make the process simpler by making it possible to apply for the licence electronically, by registering or submitting a Simplified Environmental Report (RAS), which follows criteria pre-established by the environmental agency, and in just one phase. In addition to this, the Three-Phase Environmental Licence (LAT) was defined, in which the Preliminary Licence (LP), Installation Licence (LI) and Operating Licence (LO) are issued separately, as the environmental viability of the project is attested, and the Concurrent Environmental Licences (LAC) which, according to the characteristics of the activity/enterprise and the locational factor, can be issued as LAC 1, where the LP + LI + LO are issued concurrently, and LAC 2, LP + LI and LO later, or first issuing the LP and then issuing the LI + LO.
DN COPAM No. 217/2017, in turn, included locational criteria associated with the environmental sensitivity of the site and established the potential polluters/degraders as small (P), medium (M) and large (G), as well as the size according to each activity/enterprise. With regard to the locational criterion, weights were assigned according to the vulnerability of the environment. In this way, the undertakings can be classified into 6 classes - Class 1 being the smallest and with the least polluting/degrading potential and Class 6 being the largest and with the greatest polluting/degrading potential - and, together with the analysis of the locational criteria, the environmental licensing modality can be defined.
For example: let's imagine a sand extraction licence with a gross production of 9,000m³/year. According to DN COPAM 217/2017, the polluting/degrading potential of this activity is medium and the size for this production is small.
As such, this development will be classified as Class 2.
Also, in this scenario, the installation of the project will require intervention and suppression in an APP, so the locational criterion will be applied with a weight of 1. Thus, combining the class of the project with the locational criterion, the licensing modality will be simplified by means of a Simplified Environmental Report.
To summarise, the National Environmental Policy and environmental licensing instruments play a fundamental role in promoting sustainable development, balancing economic progress with environmental preservation. The environmental impact assessment process, combined with licensing, makes it possible to carefully analyse the possible effects of human activities, especially in highly complex sectors such as mining. Each environmental licensing body can define a licensing process according to regional peculiarities, while observing federal guidelines. In the context of Minas Gerais, the regulations propose that licensing consider the pollutant-degradation potential and the size of the undertaking, along with locational criteria.
The effective implementation of these tools, Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Licensing, is essential to ensure that economic activities take place in an environmentally sustainable manner, minimising damage and promoting the recovery of natural resources, always seeking a balance between development and environmental preservation.
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MINAS GERAIS. Law No. 21.972, of 21 January 2016. Provides for the State Environment and Water Resources System - SISEMA - and makes other provisions. Belo Horizonte: DOE, 2016
MINAS GERAIS. COPAM Normative Deliberation no. 217, of 06 December 2017. Establishes criteria for classification, according to size and polluting potential, as well as the locational criteria to be used to define the environmental licensing modalities for undertakings and activities that use environmental resources in the state of Minas Gerais, and makes other provisions. Belo Horizonte: DOE, 2017
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