A responsabilização civil das empresas de mineração e o dever de recuperação de áreas degradadas

Abstract

The general objective of this study is to investigate the civil liability of mining companies, especially basalt, regarding the environmental liability resulting from the non-recovery of the degraded area, according to the terms of the environmental license in relation to the mined area. It also seeks to demonstrate how the mineral extraction processes take place, their positive and negative impacts, the legal requirements that accompany such activities, as well as the failures that result in environmental damage, resulting from the company's action or omission. The extraction of basalt, as well as other mineral exploration activities in Brazil, involves a set of legal norms, instituted within the scope of preservation and maintenance of a balanced environment essential to a healthy quality of life. There is no way to exploit natural resources without causing significant environmental impacts, several legal instruments seek to impo se measures of control, mitigation and recovery of degraded areas on mineral extraction activities, with a view to promoting sustainable development. In Brazil, the Federal Constitution of 1988 imposes the duty to "recover the degraded environment, in accordance with a technical solution required by the competent public agency" on those who explore mineral resources. In this sense, there are several licensing mechanisms, required by the bodies of the National Environmental System, as well as by the National Mining Agency, which condition the license to the recovery of environmental liabilities. Failure to restore the environment in mining can lead to criminal, administrative and civil liability. The restoration of areas degraded by mining activities is a constitutional duty, required in the environmental licensing, which persists even after the mine is closed. If the degraded area is not recovered after the mine is closed, in addition to constituting an environmental crime and an administrative infraction, such omission implies an obligation to do so in the civil sphere. For illustration purposes it is specifically used basalt, as it is a resource widely used in Brazil for the civil construction area, and in the southern region it is a reference in relation to the exploration of this mineral. In this context, this dissertation aims to answer the following research problem: What is the scope and repercussion of environmental civil liability, arising from non-compliance with the obligation to recover the degraded environment in the exploration of basalt, required in environmental licensing, according to Brazilian law? To face such questioning, a hypothetical-deductive methodological approach is adopted, based on information extracted from bibliographic and documentary analysis. It starts from the observation of the Brazilian legal system, from the scientific treatment of the relationship between Mining Law and Environmental Law, in national doctrine, in legal norms, as well as in court decisions. It is an interdisciplinary research that analyzes publications in non-legal sciences such as environmental management, biology, mining engineering and geology. [resumo fornecido pelo autor]