Law No. 17.893 amending Law No. 14.675 on the Environmental Code to regulate the extraction of gravel.

This Law amends Law No. 14.675 on the Environmental Code within the State of Santa Catarina. Amendments deal with administrative and legal proceedings related to activities as potentially causing environmental degradation and subject to environmental licensing by the State Environmental Agency. Open pit mining activities with excavation of gravel pits, with an annual production of less than 12,000 m³ are exempt from environmental licensing, as long as they do not have a commercial purpose. The open pit mining activities of a typical mineral for use in civil construction are licensed: a) through Environmental Authorization (AuA), when the annual exploration is less than 12,000 m³; b) through the Preliminary Environmental Report (RAP), when the annual exploration is between 12,000 m³ and 24,000 m³; and c) through a Simplified Environmental Study (EAS), when the annual exploration was over 24,000 m³. Within 90 days, prior to the closure of the mining activity provided for in §§ 1 and 2, the person responsible for the exploration must submit the competent environmental recovery project for approval by the environmental licensing agency.