The National Congress voted, on Thursday (27), to repeal 24 out of 63 provisions in the environmental authorization law vetoed by President Lula (PT) in August, forcing a defeat on the government less than a week after the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30).
In the Council, 268 votes agreed to abolish the veto and 190 votes in favor of maintaining it. In the Senate, the result was 50 to 18 in favor of ouster. The session brings the two chambers together.
Some vetoes will be analyzed separately, at the request of the Labor Party and PSOL. Understand what the new legislation looks like, which can still be brought to justice after the vetoed articles are appealed.
Agricultural business
The original text provided for an exemption from licensing for activities on rural properties with a CAR (Rural Environmental Register) pending approval. Lula vetoed this provision, but Congress approved it again. Therefore, these activities are again exempt from licensing, referring to agricultural business.
The areas awaiting approval are not necessarily irregular, but dispensing with a license opens the way for properties that still suffer from unidentified problems to develop their activities without prior oversight.
Air conditioners
Congress also appealed the Article Restricting Environmental Conditions, which are offsets for project impacts. According to the final version of the law, the terms must now provide a causal relationship with the actions.
For the government, the veto was necessary so as not to limit the scope of application of the conditions. “Restricting the use of conditions makes it impossible to reconcile the development of economic activities with respect for the environment and population, which violates the polluter pays principle,” he said in August.
This change seeks to respond to criticism from industry sectors that requirements set by environmental agencies are often excessive and irrelevant to the business in question.
Sanitation
President Lula had vetoed the section of the law setting out simplified licensing processes for water supply and sanitation projects, on the grounds that the change could cause environmental impacts. Congress overturned the veto, and streamlining permits for sewer projects went into effect again.
Congress also returned to the point that environmental impact studies for sanitation works should be conducted only in exceptional cases and justified by the licensing body. The government objected to their release.
Conservation units
Overriding the veto again limits consultation with conservation units in the licensing process. In its justification for the veto, the government stated that the proposal ignores the law on the National System of Conservation Units.
According to the final form of the text, studies conducted by bodies managing protected areas will have minimal interference with licensing.