30 years in 30 days: the deconstruction of participative environmental licencing in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Environmental licensing is the action that defines the possibility of implementing certain construction or enterprise. This term was introduced by the Environmental National Policy, in 1981, and, since its beginning, it incorporated into itself the evaluation of environmental impacts. Environmental licensing in Minas Gerais, Brazil, pioneer in inserting the public discussion by means of the Environmental Policy Council, in voting on environmental licenses. However, this participatory model was made fragile with the approval of State Law n o 21,972/16. With this article, we aimed at describing the process for environ mental licensing in Minas Gerais, by means of a bibliographical and documental exploratory research, exposing the history, current model and changes inserted with the approval of this law. The traditional model of environmental licensing in the 1980’s has undergone different implementation, consolidation, questioning and reconstruction, or even deconstruction, periods.