ENVIRONMENTAL LICENSING OF SURFACE IRRIGATION ACTIVITY FOR RICE CROPS VIA FEPAM-SEMA / MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT SVS

Abstract

Environmental preservation is one of the actions that guides the development and expansion of agriculture in the country, in the pursuit of sustainable agriculture with less environmental impact; this is why environmental legislation was created. With it, the creation of bodies that monitor and guide producers towards agriculture that causes less environmental degradation is of paramount importance.

In the mid-1970s, agricultural activity was in full expansion, with new areas being introduced for the implementation of various crops. At this time of growth in agribusiness in the country, concern began to arise among a segment of the population that perceived that all growth would bring consequences to the environment that could sometimes be irreversible.

Environmental impact is caused by human action, with any alteration that the environment suffers in one or more of its components, in any of its physical, chemical or biological properties, that directly or indirectly affect the health, safety and well-being of the population; social and economic activities; and the biota. The aesthetic and sanitary conditions of the environment and the quality of environmental resources (CONAMA Resolution No. 001/86).

Environmental licensing in Rio Grande do Sul is the responsibility of the State Secretariat for the Environment (SEMA), and is carried out by the Henrique Luiz Roessler State Environmental Protection Foundation (FEPAM), the Department of Water Resources (DRH), the State Department of Forests and Protected Areas (DEFAP), and duly contracted and authorized Municipal Governments. Currently, municipalities can only license activities with small environmental impact, as outlined in Resolution 288/2014.

In addition to Environmental Licenses, FEPAM is also responsible for issuing other documents related to environmental management, such as Environmental Commitment Agreements (TCA), Waste Transportation Manifests (MTR), Authorizations, Registration Certificates (for Laboratories and Pesticides), Pesticide Registration Certificates (for suppliers), and Exemption Declarations.

While FEPAM's competence for Environmental Licensing is not exclusive, it is predominant due to the broad list of activities subject to licensing. It has also been granted to Municipalities, with criteria for classifying local impact for its exercise. There are more than six hundred (600) activities listed as having a local impact.

The projects and activities will be licensed at a single level of competence, meaning that only the environmental agency of one of the spheres of Public Administration (Federal, State or Municipal) will be involved, with a portion being passed on to the municipalities. However, during the process, other environmental agencies will be requested to issue documents necessary for Environmental Licensing (LA), which may also be considered "environmental," but are not licensing authorities for the use of environmental resources. For the licensing of activities involving irrigation, for example, FEPAM consults the DRH (Department of Water Resources), from a quantitative point of view, dealing exclusively with the qualitative aspect.

Environmental licensing is an administrative procedure by which the environmental agency authorizes the location, installation, expansion, and operation of projects and activities that use environmental resources, considered effectively or potentially polluting, or those that, in any way, may cause environmental degradation (Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts, 2007). It is therefore an important tool for environmental management. Through it, the public administration seeks to exercise the necessary control over human activities that interfere with environmental conditions.

The principle of environmental licensing suggests the reconciliation of economic development with the use of natural resources, in order to ensure the sustainability of ecosystems in their physical, biotic, sociocultural, and economic variations.

For better distribution of licensable activities, resolutions have been created that classify projects by size and polluting potential, which are causes of degradation and impact. Environmental licensing is very comprehensive, with areas quite distinct from production, resulting in extensive legislation aimed at providing legal support to entrepreneurs in different areas.

With the municipalization of this important instrument for environmental conservation, a more uniform distribution of environmental responsibilities has occurred, relieving the Union and States of some of the responsibility for administering a wide range of specific activities, which often gets bogged down by a scarcity of human and material resources, ultimately prolonging the release of a given process, making it lengthy and costly for the entrepreneur.

The municipality, being a qualified local body, can develop actions with the community aimed at the conservation and even recovery of the environment.

In São Vicente do Sul, the Municipal Secretariat of the Environment is authorized to issue licenses for activities with local impact and small-scale projects. As the municipality's main economic activity is agriculture, with rice cultivation being carried out by a significant number of producers, mostly small-scale (up to 50 hectares), who use conventional cultivation with surface irrigation, these become the main target audience to be served by the municipal licensing structure.

Regarding this process, this work aims to fully demonstrate the environmental licensing process for surface irrigation activities via FEPAM-RS and the Municipal Secretariat of the Environment of São Vicente do Sul-RS, listing the necessary documentation requested by the licensing bodies, since the financing agents require the Operating License (LO) for financing rice cultivation.