Proteção do meio ambiente nos municípios: competência e atuação das guardas municipais

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the role of municipalities in environmental protection, focusing on the research problem of whether municipal guards are authorized - within a legal and constitutional framework - to act in environmental protection and, thus, operate as an instrument for municipalities to fulfill their role in environmental governance. Accordingly, this study seeks to verify whether there is a constitutional and legal basis for municipal guards to engage in environmental protection; whether they may function as a supporting tool enabling municipalities to perform their duties in environmental protection; and, consequently, whether municipal guards are empowered to issue environmental infraction notices and carry out the enforcement of administrative environmental violations. The central objective is to examine whether there is constitutional and legal support for municipal guards to act in environmental protection, serving as a mechanism through which municipalities can fulfill their responsibilities in environmental stewardship. To achieve this purpose, analytical and hermeneutical methods are employed, along with data and information collection through a review of specialized literature, documentary and bibliographic research, and the legal sources system. Additionally, a comparative study is conducted involving the municipal guards of three municipalities: São Leopoldo (RS), Caxias do Sul (RS), and Bento Gonçalves (RS). The findings of this research indicate that municipal guards can indeed be utilized as a tool in environmental protection, as there is constitutional and legal support for such action. Therefore, they should serve as an instrument to enable municipalities to better perform their role in environmental safeguarding. Furthermore, it is concluded that municipal forces may even issue environmental infraction notices and conduct the enforcement of administrative environmental violations within the scope of municipal competence. [resumo fornecido pelo autor]