CFEM: railway is responsible for most of the resources paid to cities affected by mining

Localities that have railways received R$ 38,698,928.77 relating to the collection of Financial Compensation for Mineral Exploration (CFEM) for the month of April 2024. Marabá (PA) and Açailândia (MA) were the municipalities with the largest portion of the amount passed on to municipalities affected by mining activity. According to the National Mining Agency (ANM), affected municipalities are considered to be those that, despite not being producers, somehow make mineral production viable and contribute to the activity.

The professor and researcher at Coventry University and the postgraduate program in civil engineering at the Federal University of Pernambuco, Viviane Falcão, explains that this is compensation for externalities arising from the mining industry and, therefore, the railway transport of minerals. .

“The cargo coming from mining requires railways. Why? Because they are loads with low added value and occupy a large volume. So rail transport is the best option for this type of cargo”, he explains.

For her, this compensation needs to be made to try to balance this account a little, since externalities occur.

Mining and royalties

The National Mining Agency (ANM) distributed R$74,109,722.32 to all municipalities that were affected by mining activity. Of the total to be distributed, approximately R$38 million will go to locations that have railways, R$29 million to locations with mining structures, just over R$5.3 million where ports are located and R$127 thousand to cities with pipelines .

ANM’s superintendent of Revenue Collection and Inspection, Daniel Pollack, says that there are criteria used to divide resources.

“Each of these modalities has a different calculation rule for us to reach an index, which is the index each municipality will be entitled to. So, for example, on the railway, the calculation takes into account the length and quantity. The greater the length in kilometers of the railway that is within the municipality, the higher the index will be, the percentage of that 15%, of that 55% that the municipality will receive”, he highlights.

Click here and check the monthly distribution, by state, municipality, substance and type of affectation.

CFEM

The distribution of CFEM to municipalities affected by mining activity was foreseen in Lei 13.540/2017. For each mineral substance, municipalities could only receive CFEM as affected or producers.

From Lei 14.514/2022producing municipalities also now have the possibility of receiving CFEM as affected, as long as the amount due as affected is higher than the portion due as producer.

According to ANM, resources obtained through CFEM can favor the development and improvement in the quality of life of local communities as they must be applied to actions that contribute to advances in infrastructure, environmental quality, health and education.

According to the company, the allocation of resources must focus on the development of local communities, based on aspects of infrastructure, environmental quality, health and education, in addition to other aspects provided for by law. ANM informs that the application of resources to debt payment and permanent staffing is prohibited.

Annually, information regarding the application of CFEM installments by benefiting states and municipalities must be publicized to the entire society.