Congress against the environment
Lower House could fast-track a bill to dismantle environmental licensing
Mariana (MG) - Distrito de Bento Rodrigues, em Mariana (MG), atingido pelo rompimento de duas barragens de rejeitos da mineradora Samarco (Antonio Cruz/Agência Brasil)
The Finance and Taxation Committee of the Lower House of Congress will vote tomorrow, December 14, on the amendment to Bill 3729/04 drafted by Congressman Mauro Pereira that dismantles the environmental licensing model in Brazil.
The bill dispenses with licensing for various polluting activities, such as rural and industrial properties; creates a self-declaratory licensing scheme for activities that have a “lesser impact”; permits state and municipal governments to relax their environmental requirements; and also makes it more difficult to hold financing organizations accountable for any social and environmental impacts of the projects they finance.
Since it is being pushed through with fast-track status, the text may be submitted directly to a full session of the Lower House for approval. The amended bill was presented yesterday without a public hearing or any discussion of the text with researchers or with civil society.
“This bill that is being submitted for voting has elements that are blatantly unconstitutional, such as the exemption of economic sectors from licensing and the relaxation of the requirements for prior consultation with affected communities,” explained Caio Borges, a lawyer for the Business and Human Rights program at Conectas. “The dismantling of environmental licensing severely jeopardizes future generations. We haven’t learned the lessons from the Doce River tragedy,” he added.
Opposing the passage of the bill, more than 200 civil society organizations, among them Conectas, today released a statement of condemnation calling for the suspension of the vote and the staging of broad debates on the proposals with society.
