The Amazon and Original and Traditional Peoples committees and the Environment and Sustainable Development committee of the Chamber of Deputies approved two bills related to the Amazon. The first project creates the Interstate Commission to Combat Forest Fires in the Amazon (Cicifa). According to information from the Legislature, this is an initiative to strengthen cooperation between states in preventing fires, authorizing intergovernmental consortia and allowing projects to be financed by the Amazon Fund.
The second project establishes a differentiated treatment for tenders and contracts in the Legal Amazon, considering the “Amazon cost” – which includes factors such as logistics difficulties, transportation and local limitations – to guarantee the execution of works and avoid stoppages. This proposal was presented by deputy Meire Serafim (União-AC) and reported by deputy Zezinho Barbary (PP-AC).
This adjustment, according to Barbary, will help avoid work stoppages due to underestimation of costs, a recurring problem in the Amazon. He highlighted that the proposal seeks to integrate sustainability issues into infrastructure planning, promoting a contracting policy that values the environment and social aspects of the region. Deputy Meire Serafim said that the measure will contribute to fairer and more efficient pricing, adapted to the particularities of the Amazon.
The bill on preventing and combating forest fires in the region is reported by deputy Socorro Neri (PP-AC), who adapted the original project by deputy Amom Mandel (Cidadania-AM) to align the text with the National Integrated Management Policy do Fogo (PNMIF).
Among the planned measures, the creation of the Interstate Commission to Combat Forest Fires in the Amazon (Cicifa) stands out, which brings together public bodies, business sectors and society to promote joint action against fires. Furthermore, the proposal allows the formation of state consortia for integrated policies and enables the use of the Amazon Fund to finance projects to combat deforestation.
For Socorro Neri, the measures represent an advance in cooperation between Amazonian states. Mandel, author of the original proposal, highlighted the urgency of facing the environmental crisis in the Amazon.
Both projects are now being analyzed by the Finance and Taxation committees; and Constitution and Justice and Citizenship. If approved, they must still be voted on in the Chamber plenary and then in the Senate before being sanctioned.
