Spatial planning and the Federal Environmental Compensation: conception, operationalization and legal conflicts

Environmental issues should not be understood as a simple result of the relationships between human beings and nature, but should be seen as part of a component of human relations, as an economic, political and cultural object. One of the instruments of public policy that is directly inserted in the complex and dynamic contemporary issues is the Environmental Compensation (EC). The objective of this paper is to analyze the execution of the EC, in the scale of the administration of the Federal Government of Brazil, with emphasis on its operationalization based on the current legislation, highlighting its genesis and calculation methodology, as well as the elements that involve the constant judicialization of the instrument. Thus, at first moment it is approached its definition and conception, and soon after its operationalization and methodology of calculation are highlighted; it ends with the issues surrounding the constant judicialization of the instrument, highlighting the small but relevant legal updates that have occurred recently. Finally, the conclusions emphasize the main ideas discussed here, as well as presents some possibilities for the future of the EC in Brazil.