This Thursday, Congress analyzes Lula’s objection to environmental licensing | policy

On Wednesday (26), the government published a memorandum defending the retention of the sections objected to by Lula, as the decision was made based on “careful technical and legal assessments”, “participation of the scientific community” and “listening to different sectors of society”. Moreover, the text indicates that the veto is intended to “avoid an environmental setback.”

“The Brazilian government reaffirms its willingness to dialogue and build balanced solutions, in order to avoid an environmental, social and institutional setback, with direct impacts on people’s lives and on the state’s ability to direct development in a legally sustainable and safe way,” the executive stated.

For the government, “eventually overriding the veto could have immediate effects that are difficult to reverse, especially at a time when society is feeling the effects of disasters in Mariana and Brumadinho and climate disasters such as those that recently occurred in Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul.”

In another section, Palacio do Planalto highlighted that the country had just hosted the United Nations climate change conference, COP30. “The country that has just hosted the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which has managed to reduce deforestation in the Amazon region by half and is setting an example for the world in the use of renewable energy sources, deserves strong and advanced legislation on licensing, which is one of the main tools for protecting the environment in our country.”

As it turns out valueA representative of the Agricultural Business Council believes all vetoes will be overturned this Thursday. In recent weeks, the government has tried to reach an agreement with the President of the Senate. David Alcolombre (Uniao-AP), Sen Teresa Cristina (PP-MS), but the two parties did not reach a common denominator.

The climate for reaching an agreement worsened with the appointment of the Attorney General of the Federation, Jorge Messias, to the position of Minister of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), as Alcolombre wanted to see the former President of the Senate and his ally Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) in the position.

Leader of the government in Congress, Senator Randolph Rodriguez PT-AP confirmed that there was no agreement, but rejected the possibility of retaliation by Parliament against the executive, as the session was scheduled even before Messias was appointed. He also stressed that Alcolombre served the government by leaving a vote on the veto until after the COP30. “We could not move forward with the agreement. If there is no agreement, we will consider using the veto and the government will advocate for its maintenance,” the senator said.

The new legal framework for environmental licensing was approved in July by members of Congress and has been the target of criticism from experts and the Ministry of the Environment. Despite this, other wings of the government, such as the Civil Council, approved the text approved by parliamentarians.

One point that Congress could address is special environmental licensing (LAE) with a single-stage model – licensing in one stage. The LAE was included in the text through an amendment introduced by Alcolombre himself and endorsed by the rapporteur of the text in the Senate, Teresa Cristina.

The model aims to accelerate licenses for projects that are considered strategic for the state, as long as they are approved by a government council. Lula kept the device, but to that end sent a temporary measure providing for a three-stage system – the current three-stage licensing system.

In cooperation with the representative, the executive authority submitted a draft law regarding the points that should be objected to in the opinion of the executive authority.

While the temporary measure only deals with the LAE and expires next week, on December 5, the project attempts to make up for controversial sections approved by parliamentarians, such as the creation of the License to Commitment and Commitment (LAC), a self-declaring license proposed by the legislature for projects with a moderate environmental impact. However, the government kept the LAC region only due to its low impact. If the veto is overturned, the model could be valid for medium-impact projects, which include mining projects.

In addition to the environmental licence, Lula’s objection to Propage, a program that restructures the states’ debts with the Union for thirty years, with the possibility of no real benefit at all, is also among the topics on the agenda.

Lula approved the law in January, and his objection sparked criticism from some state governors. After having dinner with the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), Governor of Rio State, Claudio CastroHe said he heard the promise to abolish the veto.

Among the controversial points are those that suspend some Fiscal Responsibility Act “triggers” if a state exceeds employee spending caps, and one that allows federal units enrolled in the Fiscal Recovery System — another relief program for heavily indebted entities — to bundle benefits with ProPage.