Transparência pública no processo de licenciamento ambiental: análise dos websites dos órgãos ambientais dos estados brasileiros

Abstract

The study analyzes public transparency in the environmental licensing process in Brazil, recognizing environmental information as a public good essential to democratic governance and sustainability. In light of the Public Goods Theory, environmental information is characterized by non-excludability and non-rivalry, and should be widely available to society, since access to it is not limited to individual use and is essential to the collective interest. Insufficient dissemination of this information leads to governance failures, reduces the efficiency of environmental policies, and limits the capacity for informed social participation. The objective of this research was to evaluate the degree of availability of information regarding environmental licensing, especially EIA, RIMA, Terms of Reference, minutes of public hearings, and licenses, on the websites of state environmental agencies. The methodology involved exploratory, descriptive, and qualitative research, based on document analysis of 27 state portals, between May and September 2025, with transparency classification according to criteria proposed by De Lima and Pizella (2021), adapted by the author. The results highlight strong regional inequalities: while the states in the Southeast and South regions present more satisfactory practices and more integrated disclosure systems, the Nort reveals significant deficiencies, compromising the effectiveness of the active transparency foreseen in Law No. 12.527/2011. It is concluded that the consolidation of standardized, organized digital platforms is essential to overcome the identified regional inequalities, to transform environmental information into a true public good, strengthening social control and participatory democracy.