The Mixed Committee of the National Congress votes on Tuesday on a report on the provisional measure for environmental licensing, presented by MP Z Vitor (PL-MG). The opinion retains the representative text sent by the executive, but makes use of the diversionary bill to reopen the General License Law and replace the provisions that Lula objected to in the presidential sanction. The initiative expands the flexibility points that the government tried to obstruct, and strengthens the line approved by Parliament after dropping 56 out of 63 objections last week.
In the document seen by O GLOBO, the rapporteur acknowledged that his analysis took into account the restructuring carried out by Congress when it appealed overturned rulings. He states that the accepted amendments “seek to fill the gaps left by the partial veto of Bill No. 2159” and that his assessment is considered “a rejection of the veto that was embodied in a session of the National Congress.”
Before responding to the government’s criticism, Ze Vitor stressed that he had not changed the section of Parliament that deals with Special Environmental Licensing (LAE), a method created to speed up the analysis of projects deemed strategic, while maintaining the traditional three stages of licensing and impact study requirements.
— LAE has his script exactly, and has nothing to complain about. We never wanted to resist. Tomorrow will be easy – the rapporteur told the reporter.
Ze Vitor also detailed the political agreement reached with Senator Teresa Cristina (PP-MS), one of the main organizers of the original authorization text. According to him, the understanding was to create an objective list of characteristics that would allow the use of License by Commitment and Commitment (LAC) for medium-sized projects – such as low pollution potential, already modified area or no cumulative impact. This type of license is granted in a simplified manner and includes self-declaration by the project owner.
— Mining cannot be entered. He stated that mining is not licensed through the LAC under any circumstances, noting that the mineral sector and other activities with greater environmental risks will still need full studies.
According to the Rapporteur, projects involving depopulation, permanent conservation areas, conservation units, indigenous lands, quilombola lands and other high-impact situations that are still subject to technical evaluation, automatically fall outside the LAC region.
Despite the conciliatory rhetoric, the report reincorporated sections that Planalto had banned to preserve environmental safeguards. One is to authorize the use of previous ecological studies, a central objection by Lula because of the dangers of outdated analyses. The text allows the licensing body to reuse diagnostics that have already been produced and “information derived from remote monitoring systems.”
Another point that was restored was the license exemption for dredging maintenance in normally navigable waterways and waterways. The government vetoed this system because it recognized that it reduces control over actions that are likely to generate cumulative effects. The report restates language approved by Congress: Only dredging in ports and access channels remains subject to authorization.
The opinion also replaces the rule that does not require a new environmental statement for operational changes in previously licensed broadcast and communications systems.
LAC looks more central in the new version. Lula objected to sections that expanded the use of the simplified method, especially in the field of sanitation. The decision text resumes the more flexible model by re-establishing the list of exceptions and limiting environmental impact study requirements to “exceptional cases”.
These amendments reopen points that the government deemed necessary to maintain the national licensing standard, preserve sensitive biomes, and limit self-declarations.