Marcelo Montaño

EFFECTIVENESS OF STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT APPLIED TO RENEWABLE ENERGY IN BRAZIL

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is assumed to be an important instrument to support decision-making in Brazil. Although not mandatory, nearly 35 SEAs, of which one third are devoted to energy plans and programmes (oil, gas, hydroelectricity and biofuel), have been prepared over the past 15 years in Brazil. The effectiveness of SEA, however, has not been studied in detail. This paper reports on the application of a procedural effectiveness analysis to 9 SEAs prepared for energy planning in Brazil, of which 5 deal with renewable energy plans and programmes. The results indicate no significant difference between renewable and non-renewable energy in terms of procedural effectiveness, with adequate performance in screening, baseline and description of mitigation actions, but serious deficiencies in the definition of SEA objectives, identification of strategic alternatives, description of public participation and follow-up strategies. The variability in the performance to each effectiveness criteria is taken as evidence that Brazil has not achieved consistency in SEA procedures, reinforcing the need for improvements in the current system.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT RESEARCH IN BRAZIL: ACHIEVEMENTS, GAPS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

This paper provides an overview of current IA research in Brazil, considering its extension, lessons learned and the quality of its practice, as well as barriers to research, current gaps and future research endeavours. Despite the big effort devoted to IA research in the country, there is a small number of groups dedicated to the systematic research of IA instruments, its procedures and methods, the assessment of its effectiveness and the evidence to support good practice, the study of the organization of IA systems and their influence on decision-making. In our opinion, the lack of a well structured and distinct field of training and research is one of the major barriers to IA research. Similar to other countries, IA research is not recognised by scientific agencies/committees as a proper field of research, which means the majority of IA research grants is being evaluated/approved by committees with a small or no background in IA. There is, however, a significant contribution to be offered by research to foster IA development in Brazil. Besides the systematic assessment of IA effectiveness and the definition of procedures, methods and approaches to fill the currently well-described gaps, future research efforts should include the study of learning processes through IA practice and their influence in decision-making, the connections between IA and planning, and the benchmarks to environmental governance coming from IA practice.

A viabilidade ambiental no licenciamento de empreendimentos perigosos no Estado de São Paulo

A verificacao da viabilidade ambiental de empreendimentos e atividades previamente a sua implantacao constitui a finalidade do licenciamento ambiental como instrumento de politica e gestao do meio ambiente, o que confere a etapa de licenciamento previo uma posicao de destaque na aplicacao deste instrumento. Tal pressuposto deve ser aplicado a todos os tipos de empreendimentos potencialmente impactantes, notadamente aqueles que oferecem risco a populacao. O presente trabalho apresenta uma discussao dos principais aspectos relacionados a viabilidade ambiental de empreendimentos perigosos frente aos procedimentos de licenciamento adotados no Estado de Sao Paulo. A partir da descricao de dois processos distintos de licenciamento ambiental para sistemas de distribuicao de gas natural, questiona-se a eficacia deste instrumento e da Avaliacao de Risco Ambiental na analise de viabilidade ambiental deste tipo de empreendimento.

Integração de critérios técnicos, ambientais e sociais em estudos de alternativas locacionais para implantação de aterro sanitário

The National Environment Policy aims to reconcile economic and social development with environmental quality and has several instruments to address environmental issues within the decision making processes. Thus, the discussion about the location of activities is an important step in the evaluation of the environmental acceptability of aparticular activity, even though the systematic procedures do not require neither to the entrepreneur or to the government studies of sitting alternatives. This paper presents the integration of technical, environmental and social criteria in a landfill sitting study, in order to present a systematic integration of environmental factors and applies in a case study in Sao Carlos, Brazil. The results allowed the development of an environmental impact statement more focused on significant impacts and the participation of segments of society at early stages of projects development.

Benchmarking na avaliação de impacto ambiental: o sistema mineiro frente às melhores práticas internacionais

In Brazil, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Licensing are considered instruments of the National Environmental Policy. Supported by CONAMA Resolution n° 237/1997, each Brazilian state has its own system for implementing these instruments. Due to the differences among the procedures adopted in each state and the existence of critical of its use, this study aims to determine how the EIA system established in Minas Gerais has been developing in the face of international best practices. For this, the information was obtained through the literature review, process analysis and interviews with key actors. Among the positive points of the Minas Gerais system are: the decentralization of the licensing process, the proximity between the technical of environmental agency and entrepreneur and participative decision to be taken by the State Environmental Council. As for weaknesses, they concentrate on the generalization of the scope of the studies, no population participation, consideration of project alternatives, no assessment of cumulative impacts and the type of corrective licensing. Once identified system weaknesses become necessary actions aimed at improving its performance.

Critérios técnicos e de participação social para a recuperação florestal: quais as diferenças na definição de áreas prioritárias?

The Jararaca River Basin suffers significative environmental impacts caused by inaccurate land use. In Brazil, the areas for permanent preservation are defined and protected by the 2012 Federal Law 12.651. These areas are located in the bank side and other specific places. The objective of this paper was to analyze the results of possible alternatives in function of different procedures used in the proposal elaboration. The methodology used was the elaboration of a priority map for the recovery of these areas using the Geographic Information System with multicriterial analyses and comparing it with the guidelines from the Jararaca River Basin Management Plan. As a result, there were identified differences in the priorities defined by technical issues from the priorities defined by public consultation process.

Evidence of learning processes in EIA systems

Abstract Learning is recognized as an important component of environmental impact assessment (EIA) in particular, due to its potential to transform individual, social, and organizational values, standards and practices to support a sustainable development. Nevertheless, only a few models developed to describe learning processes in EIA systems seem to be grounded on the combination of both theoretical aspects and empirical evidence of learning, which requires further investigation. This paper is based on the development of a conceptual model to understand learning processes through the practice of EIA, and evidence-gathering of learning in EIA systems focused on the role played by the leading organization. The outcomes were based on literature review and empirical research using two EIA regulatory agencies in Brazil as case studies. Data collection and analysis were supported by participant observation, personal interviews and qualitative content analysis. Although specific to the context, the evidence produced have corroborated the implicit feature of learning in EIA systems and, we believe, reinforced the relevance of the conceptual model as developed in the paper.

EDITORIAL: ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN LATIN AMERICA

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is an evolving concept and we are currently seeing a rapidly growing evidence base for e.g. enabling context conditions and factors enhancing a more effective impact on policies, plans and programmes (Tetlow and Hanusch, 2012; Runhaar and Driessen, 2007; Fischer, 1999). SEA comes in numerous forms and guises, e.g. it can be evidence-based and objectives-led (Fischer, 2007), baseline-led (Therivel, 2010), as well as flexible and adaptable to specific contexts (Fischer and Gazzola, 2006). SEA is now increasingly portrayed in terms of being a framework rather than just a process (Fischer, 2006; Partidario, 2000). Overall, effectiveness of SEA appears to be increasing with more systematic practice, mainly as a result of organizational learning (Kidd et al., 2011). There is a growing number of experiences with SEA in different Central and Southern American countries (e.g. Dalal-Clayton and Sadler, 2005; Lemos et al., 2012). Particularly considering its rapid socio-economic development, there are numerous potential benefits that can arise from the application of SEA in Latin America. However, to date, comparatively little attention has been paid in the professional literature to the evolving practices here (Fischer and Onyango, 2012). In Latin America, in the past, practice was driven mainly by activities of development banks. However, more recently, many cases have emerged that have been triggered by national, regional or local administrations. Furthermore, frameworks of SEA systems are now advancing in several countries, with promising examples emrging in Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. Other countries are currently experimenting with more formalised set-ups, too. In this special issue of JEAPM, eight papers are presented on experiences with SEA in three Latin American countries, including Brazil, Mexico and Chile. A wide range of practices are covered, including infrastructure planning, tourism, mining, electricity, oil and gas extraction. Furthermore, the use of GIS to support SEA is elaborated on and practices are compared with applications from elsewhere Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management Vol. 16, No. 2 (June 2014) 1401002 (5 pages)