The Term of Reference (TR) for the audit of Hydro's Emergency Action Plan (PAE in Portuguese), item 5.1 of the Term of Adjustment of Conduct (TAC), and updates regarding the Application Plan for the amounts of fines deposited in the State Environment Fund (FEMA in Portuguese) were the themes of the 25th meeting of the Monitoring Committee (CA in Portuguese) of the TAC of Hydro, held on July 26th.

State Environmental Fund – To present the agenda on the plan for the application of the amounts of the fines deposited with FEMA, the director of environmental licensing of the Secretary of State for the Environment and Sustainability of the State of Pará (Semas), Marcelo Moreno, shared information that have been discussed in the management committee formed to prepare the investment plan for the funds deposited in FEMA.

Also according to Marcelo Moreno, the ideal is for Semas to have the support of an advisor to complete the preparation and implement the application plan. Thus, there is a prospect of launching a public notice to select an organization with experience in the territory and knowledge of the current situation of the municipality and the communities, in addition to knowledge about social mobilization of the communities, which allows greater interaction with the team of the Management Committee of the Plan of application and the beneficiary communities of the plan.

The amount with earnings calculated on April 30, 2022, for the investment plan was BRL 37,902,728.13, according to Semas.

Assessment and doubts of civil society – Holder of representation 1, of traditional communities and quilombolas, in the Monitoring Committee, Mário Santos argued about the possibility of different organizations taking over the management of resources. “For that amount of money, the Fund [FEMA] had to invite at least five organizations. It would be interesting if public notices were launched with several lines of financing for projects, both for the regularization of local social entities and for the construction of headquarters, to finance training and income projects, in the environment, tourism, and other lines that we could think”, pointed out Mário.

The head of representation 6 of civil society, Eliane Cardim reinforced the importance of decentralization. “It is necessary to find a mechanism to decentralize at least a part of this value, so that it is inserted within the communities, and that it happens soon”, she emphasized.

Invited by Semas, to clarify doubts at the meeting, the Attorney General's Office of the State of Pará (PGE), represented by the attorney Fernanda Sequeira, informed that the mechanisms of functioning of FEMA. “Because it is a public fund, it is necessary to bid. It is necessary to think about the structuring projects, what the application criteria will be”. She also explained about the decentralization of resources and the recommendation that FEMA gather its management council to decide on hiring an external entity to manage part of that resource, and that decentralization be gradual, with percentages of the overall value, for example, of 25%, reinforces the prosecutor.

The holders of representations 1 and 5 of civil society, Mário Santos and Rozemiro Brito, evaluated that 25% would be little to inject into projects, even for a first moment. The head of representation 2 of civil society, Jackeline Sales, expressed concern about the “discontinuity of the process, if the values ​​for several entities to manage are shredded”.

Regarding decentralization to an external entity, the head of representation 4 of civil society, Fátima Solange expressed her concern about the possibility of a very open public notice that includes organizations from outside that do not know the local reality.

As a referral, Prosecutor Fernanda Sequeira suggested defining the prerogatives, deadlines and schedules of the public notice, placing the PGE at the disposal of civil society for assistance in this process. She also added that the management entity's bid notice must have well-defined criteria for hiring, such as experience in working with communities in Barcarena and Abaetetuba; experience with local mobilization (in person and virtual), and with public notices for community projects, for example.

Emergency Response Plan – For the presentation of the agenda on the Emergency Response Plan (PAE), referring to item 5.1 of the TAC, Hydro invited its engineering and projects manager in the residue area, Daniel Arvani, who presented the detailed scope of the independent audit that will evaluate this plan.

According to Arvani, the audit should assess the definition of areas, flowcharts and various procedures related to Solid Residue Deposits (DRS) 1 and 2; the production process and refinery effluents; and Alunorte's risk management plan.

Mário Santos asked about the participation of the technical committee and the importance of the participation of all the signatories in the elaboration of the term of reference. “These independent audits are of the utmost importance and responsibility for all of us. If another incident happens tomorrow, that's our name as the monitoring committee. We want to hear the word not only from those who are preparing it, but from the technical committee of the Public Ministry, from Semas and from those who are following this TR ”, he said.

The head of representation 2 of civil society, Jackeline Sales, asked for clarification on the role of the audit and what would be the procedures in case the audit identified any irregularity. Daniel Arvani explained that the independent audit comes to verify the operation of the company's Emergency Response Plan, if it finds any deviation from the plan and its implementation, it will be up to Hydro's technical area to explain the deviation and, in then make the improvements.

Alunorte's representative on the TAC Monitoring Committee, Edson Maciel, explained that the role of audits is to identify possible improvements in processes that can be implemented. In conclusion, Edson Maciel suggested that, in order to provide more clarity and security to the surrounding residents and help clarify the issue, CA leaders and members should visit the DRS.

Next meeting – The next regular meeting of the TAC Monitoring Committee will be on September 27th and will have as its agenda the continuity of the theme on the plan for the application of fines paid to the State Environment Fund (FEMA) and updating of the terms of reference in progress for independent audits.

 

Participants of the 25th Meeting of the TAC Monitoring Committee

Members of the Monitoring Committee present:

José Edson Maciel – Alunorte Alumina do Norte do Brasil S/A – holder

Mário Santos – civil society representative – Region 1 – holder

Jackeline Sales – civil society representative – Region 2 – holder

Fátima Solange – civil society representative – Region 4 – holder

Rozemiro Brito – civil society representative – Region 5 – holder

Amauri Figueiredo – civil society representative – Region 5 – alternate

Elidiane Marinho Cardim – civil society representative – Region 6 – holder

Rosa Maria Dias da Silva – civil society representative – Region 7 – holder

Elisomar Barreto – civil society representative – Region 8 – holder

Maria das Graças Figueira Pereira – Region 9 – holder

Hamilton José Moreira Caminha – Region 9 – alternate

Vagner Carvalho – civil society representative – Region 10 – holder 

Hydro Guest:

Daniel Arvani (Engineering and Project Manager for Hydro's B&A Residue Area) 

Semas Guests:

Fernanda Sequeira (Prosecutor of the State of Pará)

Rosa Mendes (Industrial Project Coordinator at Semas)

Yasmin Lima (Environmental Management Technician at Semas)

Team of the Executive Secretariat International Institute of Education of Brazil (IEB):

Edane França Acioli

Paulo Pantoja

Juliane Frazão

Source: Executive Secretariat of the TAC Monitoring Committee