BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: Carlos Vilhena, Roberta Bilotti Demange and Marina Bertucci Ferreira, Pinheiro Neto Advogados
The latter will be in charge on an exceptional basis whenever mining activities will be under - taken in, or cause an impact on, areas deemed as federal, such as national environmental con - servation units or indigenous lands, as well as in cases where mining activities will be executed in two or more states. Environmental Licensing Environmental licensing is required for projects and activities that use environmental resources and/or are potentially polluting, such as mining. In general, there are three licensing phases: • first, the preliminary licence, which approves the project location and design; • second, the installation licence, which author - ises the installation of the facilities and prem - ises; and • third, the operation licence, which allows actual operation and mining activities. Such licences may provide for specific condi - tions to be met by the company on a case-by- case basis, considering the particularities of the project and of the affected environment. Environmental Authorities Environmental authorities are usually well equipped and efficient in Brazil, but in some cas - es there is criticism that they hold too much dis - cretion. Many of those authorities are constantly supervised by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to ensure that proper protection of the environment is addressed. In addition, the tailings dam failure events in Mariana (2015) and Brumadinho (2019) have led the ANM and environmental authori - ties to focus on stricter rules for companies, mainly regarding environmental protection and safety in mining operations. In addition to that, in December 2023, a deactivated rock salt mine collapsed in Maceió and improved regulations
and continuous investigations with respect to technical and safety measures are expected for the upcoming years. 2.2 Impact of Environmentally Protected Areas on Mining In order to remove vegetation, companies must observe restrictions in connection with legal reserves and permanent preservation areas. Legislation provides for the mandatory consti - tution of the legal reserve, which consists in the setting aside of the area of a rural property for native forest. The legal reserve usually corre - sponds to 20% of the area of each rural property, but in the Amazon, such area can be increased to 35% of the property in areas of cerrado (veg - etation similar to savannah) or 80% of the prop - erty in areas of forest. Permanent preservation areas (APPs) are defined as such by applicable legislation and may be covered by native vegetation, such as: • areas along rivers or watercourses; • areas around lagoons, lakes, reservoirs or springs; • areas on the top of hills, mounts, mountains or mountain ranges; • areas along slopes or part of them, with declivities greater than 45 degrees; • areas in coastal forests as dune setters or mangrove stabilisers; • areas along chapadas and • areas located at heights greater than 1,800 metres. Mining activities may only be performed in APPs upon the acknowledgement that the operation would meet the public interest, and upon the ful - filment of the conditions imposed by regulations.
96
CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook