Ministry of Environment – MMA Brazilian Environment and Renewable Environmental Resources Institute – IBAMA Environmental Licencing Department – DILIC
A new highway in Brazilian central west: aspects of Environmental impact assessment to support best project's choice for BR-080/MT construction Lacerda, Raquel C. A.; Rocha, Juliana R.; de Souza, Tatiana V. Brazilian Environment and Renewable Environmental Resources Institute – IBAMA
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Introduction
Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) is responsible for environmental licensing regarding projects that involve regional or national impacts. Despite the legal assumption, the environmental aspects used not to be considered as a major aspect about these projects, a position that has been changing dramatically through time. In 2007, Brazilian Government initiated the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) which aims to execute major infrastructure projects, such as new highways and railways. One of PAC projects is the construction of federal highway BR-080/MT by National Department of Transport Infrastructure - DNIT. This study aims to evaluate the peculiarities of the environmental licensing for construction of federal highway BR-080/MT, focused to the questions: ● Which environmental aspects have already been identified as relevant in the influence area of the project? ● What to expect from the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) for the environmental viability analysis and best route's choice?
Peculiarities of the area
Results
The FCA is a document necessary to start EIA process in which DNIT indicates some relevant issues about the undertaking, such as localization, extension and distance from legally protected areas. Based on it, IBAMA, in 2012, provided the ToR, that has to be obeyed during the EIS formulation. Specifically for fauna, its surveys must be guided by a Work Plan previously approved by IBAMA. The sampling effort consists in two periods of field studies that should happen during dry and rainy seasons respectively. In order to propose sampling spots, Fauna Work Plan presented a preliminary characterization of the BR-080/MT project, pointing out five possible routes, as shown below (Figure 2). The spots were located in direct and indirect influence area of the project. Both ToR and Fauna Work Plan should help the consultant make a satisfactory environmental diagnosis, to evaluate the impacts in an efficient way and to propose correct mitigating measures. The environmental aspects presented in Table 1 are considered to deserve special attention. Each possible route was described considering the following characteristics previously known, based on the information available at EIA's documents. The non-coincidental sections represent the real alternative routes where the highway can be constructed.
If approved, the new federal highway BR-080/MT will be located in a roadless area - Brazil's central west region, in northeast of Mato Grosso state - a region of Amazonia's and Cerrado's biomes transition. Besides the existence of many soy crops and cattle livestock in the region, the area stands out for having native areas of forests, savannah and seasonally flooded grassland, which put together particular ecosystems. In the influence area of the project, there is also a diversity of relevant social-environmental areas, such as Meandros do Araguaia Environmental Protected Area, Quelonios do Araguaia Wildlife Refuge and Pimentel Barbosa Indian Land. Biomes, federal highways and Protected Areas maps are showed at Figure 1. These areas are legally protected. However, in Brazil there are not specific laws to control human use over roadless areas in general. Nevertheless, due to being a construction, this may be an important case in which an environmental study is going to support the best choice for an alternative route of a highway project.
Figure 2. Alternative routes location and fauna survey spots where the studies that will help the EIS analysis occur (Source: PROSUL/DNIT Fauna Work Plan).
Table 1 – Alternative routes and their preliminary influence at main environmental aspects, relevant for construction project of BR-080/MT and its EIS. Routes
EXT (km)1
UC/PI 2
Route 1 (red)
194,1
Indirectly
Route 2 (black)
165,1
Directly
Route 3 (blue)
181,1
Directly
Route 4 (white)
205,4
Indirectly
Route 5
201
Indirectly
(orange)
1
TI 3
Other protected areas 4
Fauna primary survey 5
No
Directly
Yes
Extension of each route in kilometers (obtained from DNIT’s preliminary studies for EIS); 2 Interferes direct or indereclty at
Conservation Unities - UCs (Integral Protection – PI category); 3 Interference in Indian Territory (TI); 4 Interference in Permanent Protected Areas (APPs), according to Brazilian Forest Code; 5 If there is any fauna survey spot in the directly influence area (AID).
Discussion and Conclusions
ToR and fauna work plan should be instruments to lead EIS to the conclusion about the environmental viability of the project and to the choice of the best route as well. In order to support the decision, EIS may qualify and quantify project interference on environmentally sensitive areas, for example, interfluves spots or Savannah fragments. It is noticeable that, according to the routes characterization and their interference in the relevant environmental aspects identified above, there is little difference among them. However, Route 5 shows more possibility to avoid direct impact to the protected areas, despite its extension. This point highlights the importance of project information during EIS’ preparation. Beyond the physic, biotic and socioeconomic diagnoses and the integrated data analysis, it is essential that the study combines these information with the project preview in order to identify the impacts that might be relevant to the more viable route’s choice.
Figure 1. Brazilian biomes, legally protected areas and federal highways. Blue mark shows the uptaking area.
Methods
According to Brazilian laws and project’s Activity’s Characterization Form (FCA), the project was classified as likely to cause significant environmental impacts. Due to this and to guide the EIS development, IBAMA has provided the Term of Reference (ToR). This work is based on BR-080/MT Environmental Impact Assessment, especially on the analysis of the following documents: ● Activity’s Characterization Form (FCA) for BR-080/MT; ● Guidance for EIS (ToR); ● Fauna Work Plan.
The main goal is compare the route’s choices by their influence upon legally protected areas and by their constructive methods. The chosen alternative shall prevent the maximum significant environmental impacts, specially on flooded areas, and preserve the biotic or hydrological flow, involving, for example, native vegetation suppression, expropriation, volume of soil to be moved or technology for bodies of water transposition. Bibliography BRASIL. Departamento Nacional de Infraestrutura de Transportes. Plano de trabalho para execução de estudo da fauna da Rodovia BR-080/MT. Brasília, 2012. 75 p. BRASIL. Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis. Autorização de Captura, Coleta e Transporte de Material Biológico - ACCT (retificada) nº 230/2013. Brasília, 2013. __________. Termo de referência nº 02/2012 para elaboração do Estudo de Impacto Ambiental (EIA) e do Relatório de Impacto Ambiental (RIMA) referente às obras da BR-080/MT entre a BR-158 e a divisa MT/GO. Brasília, 2012. 24 p. SÁNCHEZ, L. E. Avaliação de impacto ambiental: conceitos e métodos. 2. ed. São Paulo: Oficina de Textos. 2013. __________. Development of environmental impact assessment in Brazil. UVP-report, v. 27, n. 4-5, p. 193-200, 2013.
