State advances in the process of environmental licensing of Industrial Districts

In the first half of 2023, the 1st stage of the Environmental Licensing process for the Industrial Districts of Belém (in Icoaraci) and Ananindeua (in the Metropolitan Region) and Marabá, in the Southeast region, should be completed. The activities have been conducted by the Economic Development Company of Pará (Codec), in partnership with the State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability (Semas), with the objective of collaborating with the attraction of undertakings to these areas, since the The result will bring more legal security to the enterprises and socio-environmental benefits.

Since the creation of the Industrial Districts, in the 1970s and 1980s, the so-called Incentivized Economic Areas had never gone through a complete environmental licensing process. The initiative of the Government of Pará has been prioritizing the environmental agenda, including several actions and initiatives for the preservation of the green heritage.

Environmental licensing involves obtaining three licenses: Preliminary (LP), Installation (LI) and Operation (LO). Once issued for the Industrial Districts, the licenses make a decisive contribution to increasing the attractiveness and safety of anyone setting up an enterprise in these areas, which are already sold at subsidized prices.

Study of impacts  – Provided for in the National Environmental Policy, instituted by Law 6,938/1981, environmental licensing is a requirement in cases of undertakings likely to cause some impact on natural resources. For the issuance of the license, several studies are carried out on the impacts that certain projects may cause, as well as their possible ways of reducing and compensating.

“In addition to the environmental issue, this licensing is important from an economic and social point of view, because from then on, companies will come to us to acquire a certain area and will find it already licensed, therefore more attractive for them to make the decision to implement it here. ”, explains Amanda Santos, Environment and Sustainability manager at Codec, responsible for conducting technical activities.

“To carry out this work, we are counting on the fundamental support of Semas, with regard to conducting very detailed studies, which will be the basis for the licenses that will soon be issued” , adds Amanda Santos.

Legal and environmental security  – According to the Deputy Secretary for Management and Environmental Compliance at Semas, Rodolpho Zahluth Bastos, licensing should not be seen as the only instrument for environmental management, but needs to advance towards a more systemic look at the industrial areas of Pará, with economic and environmental benefits.

“From the environmental point of view, a systemic and broader look at the potential cumulative impacts of the industrial activities carried out in the model of territorial regulation, represented by the industrial districts, is necessary. This advance permeates not only the licensing instrument, but also the qualification of the master plans of the municipalities and the administrative management of the industrial condominium, among others. The importance of this advance lies in providing more legal certainty to the entrepreneur who intends to invest in the State and, at the same time, from an environmental point of view, improving the analysis of the cumulative and synergistic impacts of industrial areas, aiming at assessing the environmental situation of the enterprises in the state. current and future scenario of the industrial district where they are inserted” , he pointed out.

Still according to Rodolpho Zahluth Bastos, “it is important to highlight that the licensing of industrial district areas does not replace the individual licensing of companies, coming from different sectors, with differentiated production processes and often very specific analyses, however, it certainly qualifies. It is also necessary to establish a differentiated view for different contexts, that is, industrial areas where there are already licensed enterprises and industrial districts still in the planning phase. This is a very innovative work, including for Semas, which is in the process of preparing the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the environmental studies and plans”.

The secretary added that the state licensing of industrial district areas means that all undertakings to be licensed in these areas must be authorized by the state or municipal entity, regardless of the size or nature of the activity, due to the need to assess the impacts, which needs to be be carried out in a coordinated manner and through dialogue between all the agents involved.

New DI  – The first Industrial District conceived under the model of condominium lots, the future DI of the municipality of Castanhal, is with the process of issuing the environmental licensing in progress, with conclusion forecast still in this semester of 2023.

The new DI will be implemented in an area of ​​more than 143 hectares, with 4.35 kilometers of roads and 118 industrial lots available to investors for the implementation of projects, generating jobs and income, and moving the region’s economy.

Source Agency Pará