scholarly journals As audiências públicas e o diálogo dos saberes: uma abordagem sobre a instalação de hidrelétricas e seus impactos ambientais / The public hearings and dialogue of knowlegdes: an approach on the plants installation and its environmental impacts

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Carneiro Lima ◽  
João Batista Moreira Pinto

O presente artigo realiza uma análise sobre a instalação de hidrelétricas, seus impactos ambientais e a importância das audiências públicas. A abordagem gira em torno dos princípios da informação e da participação, envolvendo o diálogo dos saberes que deve permear uma gestão compartilhada. A instalação da Usina Hidrelétrica da Fumaça é usada como referencial de abordagem. A pesquisa tem como marco teórico a obra de Enrique Leff, “Aventuras da Epistemologia Ambiental” e como método, o analítico-dedutivo. O estudo é bibliográfico e busca responder ao problema que tem seu cerne na importância do diálogo dos saberes e na participação coletiva nas audiências públicas.AbstractThis paper realizes an analysis about the installation of hydropower, their environmental impacts and the importance of public hearings. The approach goes around the principles of information and participation, involving dialogue of knowledge that must permeate a shared management. The installation of Fumaça hydropower is used as referential approach. The research has as theoretical framework the work of Enrique Leff, “Aventuras da Epistemologia Ambiental” and as a method, the analytical-deductive. The study is bibliographic and looks for the answer to the problem that has its heart in the importance of dialogue of knowledge and collective participation in public hearings.Keywordshydropower; environmental impact; public hearing; dialogue of knowledge; principles of participation and information.

Author(s):  
T Murombo

One of the key strategies for achieving sustainable development is the use of the process of evaluating the potential environmental impacts of development activities. The procedure of environmental impact assessment (EIA) implements the principle of integration which lies at the core of the concept of sustainable development by providing a process through which potential social, economic and environmental impacts of activities are scrutinised and planned for. Sustainable development may not be achieved without sustained and legally mandated efforts to ensure that development planning is participatory. The processes of public participation play a crucial role in ensuring the integration of the socio-economic impacts of a project into the environmental decision-making processes. Public participation is not the only process, nor does the process always ensure the achievement of sustainable development. Nevertheless, decisions that engage the public have the propensity to lead to sustainable development. The public participation provisions in South Africa’s EIA regulations promulgated under the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 show a disjuncture between the idea of public participation and the notion of sustainable development. The provisions do not create a framework for informed participation and leave a wide discretion to environmental assessment practitioners (EAPs) regarding the form which participation should assume. In order for environmental law, specifically EIA laws, to be effective as tools to promote sustainable development the laws must, among other things, provide for effective public participation. The judiciary must also aid in the process by giving content to the legal provisions on public participation in the EIA process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 135 ◽  
pp. 03012
Author(s):  
Zinaida Ivanova

The author raises the issue of improving the public hearing procedure. The author analyses the established practice of public hearings in Russia, criticizes the new Urban Planning Code adopted in the Russian Federation, and expresses her concerns about the violation of its provisions regulating public hearings and discussions. These concerns are the outcome of an extensive in-depth research into the practice of public hearings, the analysis of their minutes and resolutions; the process of monitoring the course of public hearings, and sociological surveys launched among different categories of respondents in Moscow. The author analyzes the findings of the polls launched among Muscovites, as well as the expert interviews given by the deputies of the Moscow State Duma and members of urban initiative groups. The author’s conclusion is that the conversion of public hearings into an efficient public and political institute requires the reconsideration of their organization and implementation processes, let alone the assignment of a legal status to resolutions of public hearings. The author proposes a two-step public hearing model that will make it possible to expose projects to thorough expert evaluations by independent specialists and to launch extensive discussions among urban residents.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa Castor

This article examines the interplay of discourse, texts, and sustainability in the public hearing process for a Wisconsin city’s application to divert water from the Great Lakes of North America. The application is controversial and has been labeled as a ‘precedent’ setting action with respect to the Great Lakes Compact and water management. This article examines how texts are used to support positions on the diversion application and on sustainability. This analysis takes a discourse analytic approach to analyze local public hearings. The central question that is addressed is how do texts matter in sustainability efforts? The analysis indicates that texts are significant in supporting positions, but are associated with stances in different ways such that the same text may be used to support divergent positions. Meeting participants converged in agreeing on the importance of specific texts and of sustainability, but differed in how they related actions to texts.


1969 ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. T. Franson ◽  
P. T. Burns

The environment isa subject that recently has come to the fore of public awareness andhascreated much interest and controversy.Sotoo has the legal framework which surrounds the environment. The authors discuss the environment and the lack of care taken to preserve the environment when administrative decisions are made. The authors point out that the lack of co-ordination between these administrative tribunals often leaves the environmental consequences of these administrative decisions to their fate. The traditional checks on the administrative process are -used primarily to remedy private wrongs and since wrongs to the environment are more public in nature, the requisite standingisusually lacking. Thus, the administrative decisions are insulated from review in this way. Also, most statutes do not require public hearings to be held, thus the public has no input into the decisions. The authors, feeling this path of insulated administrative decisions could lead to dire consequences, have recommended changes involving the legal framework which surrounds the environment. They feel that there should be more public input into the administrative decisions. Legislation should be enacted that would require that environmental impact studies be done before these decisions are made. The authorsalsorecommend that legislation be enacted to give a methodoffiducial redress forinjuriesto the environment by creating a right to a safe, clean and healthful environment. The authors suggest that compensation schemes, although necessary should not be the focal point of environmental redress, but that the legal framework surrounding the environment should be geared to prevention of damage, rather than compensation after the damage as occurred.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-75
Author(s):  
Prayoon Wongchantra ◽  
Kuantean Wongchantra ◽  
Kannika Sookngam ◽  
Suparat Ongon ◽  
Likhit Junkaew ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Vladimir Pinaev ◽  
Tatiana Kukhtina

The article describes the current practice and features of public consultations conduction in accordance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation. Other ways of informing the public are considered. The authors describe the experience of organizing and conducting public consultations and hearings on the materials of the environmental impact assessment of planned economic and other activities that are subject of state expert review in various regions of the Russian Federation. The right of everyone on a favorable environment and reliable information about its condition, which is encorporated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, makes it necessary to inform the public about planned economic and other activities and their possible impact on the environment. The article describes two stages of conducting public consultations and provides established practices for organizing public hearings. The requirements for the announcement of public consultations and its publication are explained. Requirements for opening public receptions in places where public hearings will be held are presented. The requirements for the content of the protocol of public consultations as a result of organizing public hearings are given. The article contains information about the current realities of organizing and conducting public consultations, taking into account the current practice on the ground.


Author(s):  
Richard N. L. Andrews

Environmental impact assessment originated in U.S. environmental policy as an “action-forcing mechanism” to compel integration of environmental policy goals into government agencies’ missions and actions. It subsequently was adopted by more than 100 other countries, as well as international lending institutions and many businesses, and inspired additional types of impact assessments. At its best, it has greatly expanded the documentation of environmental impacts, required consideration of less damaging alternatives, increased opportunities for review by independent experts and the public, caused modification or cancellation of some proposals, and increased environmental awareness as well as expert capacity for identifying environmental impacts. However, it has often been applied only to localized projects, rather than to broader and more consequential policies and programs, and sometimes without consideration of alternatives. In many cases it has been used simply as a paperwork requirement rather than a decision document. And it has often been criticized, sometimes unfairly, for causing delays and paperwork burdens. Overall, it has proven to be an important conceptual innovation in increasing both awareness of environmental impacts and the transparency of government (and in some cases, business) actions causing them. To fully achieve its intended purpose it requires commitment to that goal by those using it.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-159
Author(s):  
Marta Aparecida De Moura ◽  
Alba Regina Azevedo Arana

Anthropogenic action can cause pollution, depredation and deforestation, leading to interference with biodiversity, ecological balance, and environmental impact and damage. We chose to study the Morro do Diabo State Park (MDSP) in Teodoro Sampaio-SP. This article aims to make an historical analysis of the public policies that determined the formation of the territory in the municipality and the environmental impacts caused since the legalization of the MDSP from 1941 to 2006. We used a qualitative-quantitative approach, for the construction of the linear history of environmental impacts in the Park. We verified that there was a gradual territorial loss of 9.31% corresponding to 3,311.35 hectares during the 65-year-period analyzed and that the main environmental damage was the implantation and construction of the Hydroelectric Plant of Rosana, which caused the deforestation of about 5.53% of the total area.


Author(s):  
Matthew Wood

In 2017, the European Medicines Agency staged the first effort at democratic innovation within transnational European Union institutions directly influencing the transnational regulation of medicines. Alongside its public consultation on epilepsy drug Valproate, European Medicines Agency included a public hearing involving representatives of patients and testimony from those directly affected by the medicines. Using this critical case study, the article argues from a deliberative democratic perspective that although the hearing in many ways exhibited the traditional shortcomings of elite-driven deliberation, it also demonstrated unexpected and surprising deliberative qualities. Based on new quantitative analysis of the hearing using the Discourse Quality Index, and qualitative observation of over 4 hours of footage, the article argues European Medicines Agency’s hearing facilitated equitable access and influence of patients and members of the public who had previously been excluded from decision making on drug distribution. These findings provide important new evidence of the deliberative democratic value of public hearings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2154
Author(s):  
Guilherme Prado Alves ◽  
Ana Luiza De Souza Marcondes ◽  
Maria Elisa Diniz Bucci ◽  
Maria Rita Raimundo e Almeida

A mineração é uma das bases da economia brasileira e, por causar impactos socioambientais, está sujeita ao licenciamento e avaliação de impacto ambiental que envolve a participação social. Entretanto, a literatura aponta que a participação dentro desses processos possui limitações. Destarte, este trabalho objetivou analisar a participação social nas audiências públicas dos processos de licenciamento ambiental de empreendimentos minerários em Minas Gerais. Para isso, foram utilizados os dados disponibilizados no sítio eletrônico da Secretaria de Estado de Meio Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável das solicitações e realização das audiências públicas entre julho/2018 e novembro/2019. Para as audiências realizadas, foram levantados, por meio da ata, alguns pontos de interesse. Inicialmente, observou-se a ausência de solicitação em 85% dos 143 processos. No entanto, no que se refere à mineração, foram encontrados 12 processos, sendo que dois terços já contavam com audiência (solicitada, agendada ou realizada). Os principais solicitantes das audiências foram entidades civis e autoridades locais. As audiências realizadas mostraram-se acessíveis e favoráveis a participação nos quesitos horário, local, presença de lideranças comunitárias e membros da sociedade civil. Já a linguagem utilizada apresentou características distintas, sendo não adequada à participação em alguns casos. Em síntese, a participação sob a forma de audiência pública, tão ausente nos processos de licenciamento mineiros, esteve mais presente quando se tratava de mineração, o que pode ser resultado dos recentes desastres. Ainda, notou-se a importância da participação social frente à mineração, a fim de garantir que a sociedade seja informada sobre seus riscos e benefícios.   Social participation in public hearings in the Environmental Licensing processes of mining in Minas Gerais State - Brazil ABSTRACTMining is one of foundations of the Brazilian economy and causes socio-environmental impacts, and then it is subject to licensing and environmental impact assessment process that involves social participation. However, the literature points out that participation within licensing processes has limitations. Thus, this work aimed to describe the social participation in public hearings of the environmental licensing processes of mining in Minas Gerais State, after implementation of the “Public Hearing Consultation and Request” system. For this, data available on website of requests and conducting of public hearings from July/2018 to November/2019 were used. For hearing held, some points of interest were raised through minutes. Initially, the absence of requests was observed in 85% of 143 cases. However, with regard to mining activities, 12 cases were found, of which two thirds already had the audience (requested, scheduled or carried out). The main requesters for hearings were civil entities and local authorities. The hearings held proved to be accessible and favorable to participation in terms of time, place, community leaders presence and civil society members. The language used in the hearings presented different characteristics, being not suitable for participation in some cases. In summary, participation in form of a public hearing, so absent in the licensing processes in Minas Gerais, was more present when it came to mining, which may be result of the recent disasters. Not having a public hearing indicates a weakness; however, its performance is not a guarantee of effective participation.Keywords: Public hearing, Environmental Impact Assessment, mining, public participation, Minas Gerais State.


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