A audiência pública do licenciamento ambiental aplicada ao princípio da precaução, da participação e da função social da propriedade

Abstract

Evaluate the effectiveness of the public hearing of the environmental licensing as provided by Brazilian law and understood by the courts, given the need to manage environmental risks, as well as suggesting how this procedure could be improved in order to implement the Principles of Precaution and Participation constitute the central theme of this work. It was used as a base, the José Isaac Pilati book, named “Property and social function in the Post-modernity”, because it interfaces with the thread of this research, the ideas, the sense of participation in the decision procedures and the lack of pragmatism in the social function of collective property. Thus, there was how the different perceptions of environmental risks through the aforementioned principles, can hone a public hearing of the environmental licensing as a means of protecting the environment, beyond the status of mere consultation. For the environmental licensing takes on a precautionary basis, it is necessary, in cases involving activities potentially causing serious or irreversible environmental damage, which is not allocated to social participation merely advisory. In this sense, it is argued that the public hearings, as well as other decision procedures in environmental matters, lack of rules establishing the parameters for collective participation, especially regarding the security requirement. To achieve the objective of this work, is analyzed how the rules governing the public hearing of the environmental licensing may be conducted in order to have a precautionary basis. The research was divided into three parts. The first is the theoretical foundation on the concepts and definitions of public hearing and environmental licensing in Brazilian legal context and refers to the Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Impact Report in licensing activities using environmental resources considered effectively or potentially pollutant, and in this context, the requirement of public hearings in licensing these activities. In the second part, it is investigated the applicability of the Precautionary Principle and Interest in environmental licensing especially in public hearings; the management of environmental risks in the analysis of these Principles and the problem of information and participation in models of precautionary management, as well as a comparative analysis of the Aarhus Convention. In the third, a critique of the public hearing on the environmental licensing under your character effectiveness or mere consultation will be done. It is considered federal environmental licensing process of the Barra Grande and Pai Querê Hydroelectric Power Plants and the Salto Santiago-Itá-Nova Santa Rita Electrical Trasmission Line and its relations to the presented content. Finally, it proposes alternatives for improving public hearing on the environmental licensing in the light of the precautionary principle procedure.