Social and environmental disaster and Transaction and Adjustment of Conduct Term (TTAC) as an instrument of public policy: the case of the dam of Fundão, MG, Brazil

Abstract

This article is part of the research agenda dedicated to understanding the processes of governance and social participation in public policies that are being formulated and implemented to repair the Rio Doce basin located in the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo stemming from the socio-environmental disaster caused by the rupture of the ore tailings dam of Samarco S. A., Vale S. A., BHP Billiton do Brazil Ltda., in Fundão (MG), on November 5th, 2015. A Transaction and Adjustment of Conduct Term (TTAC) between the Brazilian federal government, the state governments, and the mining companies involved was established for recovery efforts and compensation for private losses and damages. This article focuses on TTAC as a tool for public policy, and forms part of the debate on contemporary governance. It centers on the analysis of the leadership both in the Renova Foundation (created for the formulation and implementation of policy) and in the public bodies responsible for the development of policy. As such, it seeks to emphasize aspects that show the traits of the institutional design of the TTAC and its mode of governance, which has been practiced since the signing of this agreement, as well as the challenges arising from the asymmetries existing in the relations between companies mining and public power on the one hand, and affected by the disaster on the other.