Assessment takes place less than a week after COP30, which took place in Belém; voting was scheduled to be held before the Conference, but after agreement with the government, it was postponed
This Thursday (27th) evaluates President Luiz Inácio da Silva’s vetoes of the . Environmentalists fear that parliamentarians will overturn significant sanctions made by the president, such as the impediment to self-declaration licenses for medium-potential activities.
In August, Lula vetoed 63 provisions of the so-called “PL of Devastation”, which modifies the rules of environmental licensing in the country and opens up scope for carrying out works that impact the environment without the due process of analysis by environmental bodies.
An analysis carried out by Climate Observatory classified as “non-negotiable” the maintenance of at least 45 vetoes made by Lula. The rest were classified between “priority” and “important”. The veto analysis takes place less than a week after the United Nations Climate Summit (), which took place in recent weeks. The vetoes would be analyzed beforehand, but after an agreement with the government, the evaluation ended up being postponed.
“Right after COP-30, when the world observes Brazil’s ability to lead coherently, maintaining these vetoes is the only decision compatible with our climate commitments and with development that respects people, communities and the environment”, says Clarissa Presotti, Public Policy specialist at WWF-Brazil.
Among the vetoes considered non-negotiable by experts is the provision that provides for the granting of License by Adhesion and Commitment (LAC) for enterprises with medium polluting potential. LAC does not require individual analysis of the project as long as there is a commitment to adhere to pre-established conditions. Today, the mechanism is only permitted for small works, but the new licensing would expand the license to larger works.
Experts indicate that the use of this model for projects with medium polluting potential could authorize projects such as the Mina Córrego do Feijão dam, in Brumadinho, without environmental impact analysis, which burst and caused the death of 272 people.
“LAC is just a button press and you print the license, there is no environmental study submitted by the entrepreneur”, criticizes Suely Araújo, public policy coordinator at the Climate Observatory and former president of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama).
One of the most controversial points in environmental licensing was the creation of the Special Environmental License (LAE), proposed by the president of , (União-AP). The device allows projects considered strategic by the Government Council to proceed quickly. Lula maintained the creation of the license, but vetoed the section that provided for issuing all license documents at once, in a single-phase process.
“The LAE will disrupt the entire environmental licensing process by subjecting the analysis system to political interests, including to the detriment of entrepreneurs who previously applied for licensing”, criticizes the OC’s analysis.
Another sensitive point that was vetoed by Lula and which, in the opinion of experts, should be maintained were provisions that restricted consultation with bodies responsible for the protection of indigenous peoples and quilombola communities to authorize projects. The bill determined that consultations would only be carried out in the case of approved indigenous lands and quilombola territories already titled.
“(The vetoed device) Excludes indigenous lands in the demarcation process and others that have not yet started their demarcation processes for various reasons, which ignores 32.6% of the existing Indigenous Lands in the country. Furthermore, the device violates the STF’s consolidated understanding of the concept of Indigenous Lands, which, in practice, will lead to increased judicialization”, says the document.
The text approved by parliamentarians also revoked provisions provided for in the Atlantic Forest Law, including the point that provides authorization from a federal agency for the deforestation of primary and secondary vegetation in the biome. Lula vetoed this change in the law.
Tension between Powers
The Environmental Licensing PL is classified by experts as the biggest environmental setback in the country in recent years. Maintaining the president’s vetoes, according to them, would make the scenario less worrying. The context, however, is unfavorable for maintaining vetoes. In recent weeks, the crisis between the Lula government and Congress has gained new chapters, with tension between the Powers worsening.
In the most recent episode, Alcolumbre rejected the nomination for a vacancy on the Federal Supreme Court (). The president of the Senate defended the appointment of his ally and former president of the House, to fill the former minister’s vacancy, which was not met by Lula.
The atmosphere is also not the best with the president of , (Republicanos-PI), who declared that he had cut ties with the leader of the PT in the Chamber, (PT-RJ). Motta has complained about PT leaders taking to social media to criticize the way he conducts work in the House.
“The vetoes lifted in the presidential sanction guarantee a minimum of legal security for ongoing administrative processes, avoiding a mass judicialization of acts issued by licensing bodies”, analyzes Rárisson Sampaio, political advisor at the Institute of Socioeconomic Studies (Inesc).
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
Published by Nícolas Robert
