The text was analyzed in the House Plenary on the same day it was approved by the Mixed Committee
This Tuesday (2) approved the Provisional Measure for Special Environmental Licensing (MP 1308), aimed at “strategic” activities or undertakings. The text was analyzed in the House Plenary on the same day it was approved by the Mixed Committee. Deputies are now analyzing highlights – requests to vote, separately, on specific sections of the MP, with a view to overturning them.
The proposal approved by the Chamber was authored by the rapporteur, Zé Vitor (PL-MG). The text was sent by the federal government on the day that sections of the new general environmental licensing law were vetoed, which made rules for the procedure more flexible. Last week, the National Congress overturned 52 vetoes by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the text, maintaining only those that dealt with the LAE, precisely because the topic was debated in MP 1308.
Zé Vitor’s report removes, in the terms proposed by Planalto, the single-phase process, which aimed at licensing in a single phase – a possibility that was raised in the new general law on the subject and ended up vetoed. Thus, the procedure will follow a three-phase dynamic: prior licenses, installation and operation. According to the text, the “strategic” procedures will be defined by the Government Council of the Presidency of the Republic.
“The change is salutary, as it recognizes the hypotheses in which licensing in a single phase is not viable, not only due to the complexity inherent to large strategic projects, but also due to the unavailability of executive information in the initial structuring phases. In these cases, the segmentation of the process into stages contributes to the progressive maturation of the projects, with the incorporation of the environmental variable throughout their development”, noted the deputy in his opinion.
The text requires a prior environmental impact study – EIA and respective environmental impact report – Rima (EIA/Rima), as per TR defined by the licensing authority, as requirements for issuing the special environmental license. According to Zé Vitor, the practical effect of the change is the application of the LAE “only for projects with significant environmental impact, considering that EIA/RIMA is not required for cases with a lower associated impact”.
“The measure tends to help ensure that the special procedure is not trivialized, focusing, therefore, on strategic projects with greater impact, which require a rigorous and rapid evaluation”, argued the rapporteur.
The text also establishes as “strategic” the reconstruction and repaving works of pre-existing highways “whose sections represent strategic connections, relevant from the perspective of national security” – a section contested by PSOL. It also establishes that affected communities will have the right, during public consultation hearings prior to licensing processes, to independent technical assistance, paid for by the businessman, to guide them during the procedure – a possibility questioned by Centrão.
In addition to specifically dealing with LAE, the opinion presented by Zé Vitor brought changes to the general licensing law, such as a list of cases in which License by Adhesion and Commitment (LAC) is not permitted, a modality considered a critical point of the standard, which is done by self-declaration and which does not require multiple stages of licensing.
According to the report, LAC cannot be carried out in some cases of activities or undertakings, including: mining, except for sand, gravel, crushed stone and diamond mining; that require suppression of native vegetation that requires specific authorization; that involve removal or relocation of population; located in indigenous lands, quilombola territories and traditional communities, unless carried out by the community itself; located in areas susceptible to the occurrence of major landslides, sudden floods or geological or hydrological processes.
Also included in the report was the provision, in the General Antenna Law, that “changes in the operation of previously licensed radio broadcasting or telecommunications facilities do not depend on the approval of the licensing authority, as long as they do not increase negative environmental impacts”.
Reaction
In a note, Greenpeace Brasil classified the LAE as “dangerous” and argued that the MP was approved “at a whim”. According to the entity, the report “was presented at the last minute, the day before the vote, without a time limit for debate”. “MP 1.308/25 was created for politicians and businesspeople to profit from major works without technical environmental impact studies and public interest having been safeguarded”, noted Greenpeace Brazil Public Policy specialist, Gabriela Nepomuceno.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
