Simplified Environmental Licensing in Brazil’s Southeastern States: Concepts, Procedures and Implications

Authors

  • Francysmary Sthéffany Dias Oliveira Secretaria de Estado de Meio Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável de Minas Gerais
  • José Francisco do Prado Filho Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto/Escola de Minas Departamento de Engenharia Ambiental, Escola de Minas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP)
  • Caroline Fan Rocha Secretaria de Estado de Meio Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável de Minas Gerais
  • Alberto Fonseca Departamento de Engenharia Ambiental, Escola de Minas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/dma.v38i0.42297

Keywords:

environmental licensing, environmental impact assessment, streamlined environmental licensing, southeastern Brazil, environmental policy

Abstract

Environmental licensing is frequently criticized as time-consuming and excessively bureaucratic. In reaction, many public agencies have been promoting simplified approaches to licensing. This article analyzed a number of simplified models of environmental licensing in Brazil’s southeastern states. This study adopted a qualitative and descriptive methodological approach, based on data collected from state legislation and websites. It was found that simplified licensing leads to a decision-making processes that exempts environmental impact studies, and reduces the number of procedures in the process. The simplified model is decoupling environmental licensing from environmental impact assessment. It was also found that the simplified model, while reducing the degree of precaution in decision-making, may speed up the process and reduce costs to the State and entrepreneurs. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications of such models and suggesting research avenues.

Downloads

Published

2016-08-31

How to Cite

Oliveira, F. S. D., Prado Filho, J. F. do, Rocha, C. F., & Fonseca, A. (2016). Simplified Environmental Licensing in Brazil’s Southeastern States: Concepts, Procedures and Implications. Desenvolvimento E Meio Ambiente, 38. https://doi.org/10.5380/dma.v38i0.42297

Issue

Vol. 38 (2016): Social Inequalities within Natural Protected Areas: An International Perspective - Integrated Management of Littoral Areas: Governance for Ecosystem Services of coasts and oceans

Section

Articles

License

Copyright on works published in this journal rests with the author, with first publication rights for the journal. The content of published works is the sole responsibility of the authors. DMA is an open access journal and has adopted the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Not Adapted (CC-BY) license since January 2023. Therefore, when published by this journal, articles are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercial) and adapt (remix, transform, and create from the material for any purpose, even commercial). You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license and indicate if changes have been made.

The contents published by DMA from v. 53, 2020 to v. 60, 2022 are protected by the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.

DMA has been an open access journal since its creation, however, from v.1 of 2000 to v. 52 of 2019, the journal did not adopt a Creative Commons license and therefore the type of license is not indicated on the first page of the articles.