Opposition and Lira advance discussions for new mining code

The opposition to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) headed the discussions for the advancement of the new mining code and believes that there is a commitment from the President of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), for the processing of the agenda. The movement has the interest of right-wing and center-right parliamentarians, while government officials do not treat the issue as a priority at the beginning of the legislature.

The reform of the mining code, which turns 56 in 2023, was embraced by Lira and former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) within the scope of the debate related to sustainable development in the country and the plan of the former management to increase fertilizer production .

To discuss the topic, Lira created a working group that was responsible for producing a draft, that is, a preliminary version of a text not yet formally presented as a proposal to the House. The opinion was approved in December of last year and is now awaiting processing.

Last Friday (10), on a visit to Vitoria Stone Fair, the largest ornamental stone fair in Latin America, Lira signaled that it will guide the proposal, according to federal deputy Evair Vieira de Melo (PP-ES). “He spoke at the event and cited the new code [de mineração] which is being processed and which, soon, will be put under consideration, but he did not go into details of what this assessment is”, says the parliamentarian, who participated in the working group of the new code.

Opposition wants new code

The opposition understands that there is support from Lira to at least put the vote on the agenda. Deputies maintain that the President of the House always honors the commitment and understand that the proposal will advance regardless of whether he was re-elected with the support of the left, such as the party federation led by the PT, which brings together the PCdoB and the PV, a party that has a history of defense of environmental guidelines.

The goal of the parliamentarians who defend the new mining code is to submit it directly to the plenary of the Chamber. Federal deputy Joaquim Passarinho (PL-PA), rapporteur of the draft approved by the working group, says that he spoke with Lira in January, in the campaign for re-election to the presidency, and understands that the President of the House was sensitive to the agenda.

“As soon as the permanent commissions are installed, we will send the project to the plenary. The Marco da Mineração is almost 60 years old, at that time mining was still done with pans, this is no longer done, we need to move forward”, highlights Passarinho.

Deputy Evair de Melo confirms that the intention is to take it directly to plenary. “It was Lira’s initial idea, but it may be that, in the next few days, he will be convinced and change the strategy”, he ponders. Quoted to assume the leadership of the minority in the Chamber, the parliamentarian understands that the proposal will proceed without the need to pressure the President of the House. “Let’s just wait for the installation of the permanent commissions to find out if we take it to the plenary or if it goes through a special commission first”, he points out.

Deputy Captain Alberto Neto (PL-AM) defends the processing of the new mining code on the grounds of improving regulation, promoting a viable solution for the country and working on economic measures for regions like the North. “We need sustainable development and for the standing forest to be more profitable than deforestation”, he maintains.

Alberto Neto argues that sustainable and well-regulated mineral exploration can expand the distribution of wealth in poor municipalities. For him, the more conservative Congress can help discuss the issue regardless of Lula’s interests and those of the left. “We are going to bring and shed light on this information from Brazil, which is not aware of the misery that exists in the interior of the Amazon, for example. We want to take advantage of this majority [conservadora] to approve important projects within our liberal line, for a market economy, and to develop the North with responsibility, taking care of people and not with demagogy and hypocrisy”, he says.

What is foreseen in the reform of the mining framework

The new mining code allows successive extensions of mine utilization guides until the definitive issuance of the mining ordinance, as defended by deputy Evair de Melo in the working group. The current framework already allows, on an exceptional basis, the extraction of mineral substances in a titled area, provided that it has prior authorization from the National Mining Agency (ANM).

The document also obliges the holder of the mining concession to demonstrate to the ANM, upon granting, sufficient financial guarantees to fund the mine closure plan, mainly in relation to environmental recovery. Among the innovations, the sale and use of mining rights in financial operations is planned, as suggested by Passarinho.

The social auction is another novelty. This is an exclusive modality for the mining permit regime, which provides that areas placed on public offer may be reserved exclusively for granting the mining permit (PLG). The new framework also expands the concept of prospecting and provides for the exploration of primary deposits and deposits to be independent of the technique used and the scale of production.

In the environmental area, the text will determine that the holder of the mining concession is obliged to comply with environmental legislation and to promote the recovery of the degraded environment. In the event of non-compliance, the holder may be held liable at the administrative, civil and criminal levels for damages to third parties resulting from mining.

According to the proposal, undertakings with a high risk to the environment or communities, such as those that foresee the use of tailings dams or contaminating substances, may have to present additional guarantees to the ANM.

The new code is criticized by the left on the grounds that it makes rules more flexible, facilitates fundraising by mining companies in the financial market and weakens inspection, such as waiving environmental licensing for mineral research, “provided that the technology employed does not cause environmental impacts significant and in the cases provided for in the regulations of the Executive Branch”.

During the debate on the new code, the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) classified the waiver of research licensing as “worrisome” and maintained that “many enterprises operate with research authorization”. The agency also defended the prediction that ANM should report to Ibama.

Deputy Airton Faleiro (PT-PA) defended the establishment of a maximum research period of four years and the obligation to present financial guarantees to fund the mine closure plan and for environmental recovery. The demand was accepted and inserted in the code.