Senate approves MP without loosening protection for the Atlantic Forest – 05/16/2023 – Environment

The Federal Senate approved this Tuesday (16) the MP (provisional measure) of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government that amends the Forestry Code, but removed from the text the section, added by the Chamber of Deputies, which loosened the rules for protecting forests. Atlantic forest.

The change had been included in the proposal by the then rapporteur, federal deputy Sérgio Souza (MDB-PR), former president of the FPA (Agricultural Parliamentary Front), guarantor of the ruralist group.

The passage amended the Atlantic Forest Law and was considered by environmentalists and senators as “jabuti” —a term used in politics to refer to proposals added to a given text in an opportunistic way, straying from the initial theme.

During the discussion, senators argued that there are no guarantees on the part of the Chamber of Deputies that the tortoise will not be included again, and asked for an objection – a measure that annuls the strange passages and prevents the resumption. The objection was unanimously approved by the plenary.

If it had been approved the way it was, the MP would allow the deforestation of vegetation in an advanced stage of regeneration by withdrawing the requirement, currently provided for in the law, that this only occurs when “there is no technical and locational alternative to the proposed undertaking”.

The MP would also make restrictions on vegetation suppression more flexible, by predicting that this would depend “exclusively on authorization from the competent municipal environmental body” —excluding the need for a technical opinion on the action.

The stretch opened a gap for the construction of undertakings such as electrical transmission lines, water supply networks or even, as is thought, real estate projects, only with the presentation of the license given by the city halls, considered more vulnerable to pressure and electoral interests.

For these undertakings, the text approved by the Chamber also removed the need to carry out a prior study of the environmental impact, as well as the capture, collection and transport of animals. The text even ended the demand for compensatory measures for forest exploitation outside APPs (permanent preservation areas).

The provisional measure, as approved, postpones, for the sixth time, the deadline for rural landowners to regularize their properties. That is, it allows farmers to gain more time to bring their properties into line with environmental laws.

With the measure, the deadline for registration of properties in the CAR (Rural Environmental Registry) is extended to the end of 2023 or 2024, depending on its size.

By joining the CAR, the owner enters the so-called PRA, Environmental Regularization Program, which provides a series of benefits, but also requires that a process of reforestation of deforested areas be put into practice.

The previous deadline for enrollment in the register was December 31, 2022. The register, mandatory for all rural properties, serves to control and supervise environmental crimes committed on the properties and to prepare related public policies.

The postponement, in practice, allows landowners to postpone the start of reforestation and, therefore, to be able to explore areas of irregular deforestation.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}