Conama’s decision to withdraw protection of mangroves and sandbanks is back in force after the judge annulled a court order | Rio de Janeiro

On Monday (28), Conama, the body chaired by the Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles, revoked four resolutions and relaxed environmental protection regulations. The next day the Rio Federal Justice suspended these revocations, in a precautionary measure (provisional decision) that responded to a request made in a class action.

However, the Union appealed the decision that suspended the revocations. Now, with Judge Marcelo Pereira da Silva’s decision on Friday, the rules that had been modified by Conama prevail, making environmental protection measures more flexible.

• Resolutions revoked in Conama: understand

The changes made by Conama that will take effect this Friday include:

• A repeal of two resolutions that restricted deforestation and occupation in areas of environmental preservation of native vegetation, like subtractions and mangroves. The rules were valid since March 2002.
• Break free from burning toxic waste in kilns used for the production of cement.
• Annulled of another resolution that determined criteria of efficiency of the consumption of water and energy for irrigation projects to be approved (understand the resolutions below).

Conama is the main advisory body of the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) and is responsible for establishing criteria for the granting of environmental licenses and standards for the control and maintenance of the quality of the environment.

Excerpts from this Friday’s decision

In this Friday’s order, the judge says that the Union argues, among other things, that:

• the previous court order was not “sufficiently substantiated”;
• He defended that Conama’s decisions are collegiate and represent the implementation of the democratic principle ”and that the revocation took place with the presence of the Federal Public Ministry;
• the agenda was “discussed since 2014 based on technical criteria designed to discipline the regulation of the new Forest Code”;
• the precautionary measure “would represent an undue judicial intervention within the jurisdiction of the Executive Power” and that there is no “threat of damage to the environment.”

What the resolutions are about

• Theme: preservation of areas around water reservoirs
• Or that previous: provided the parameters, definitions and limits of the Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) of the artificial reservoirs and the surrounding use regime. A minimum range of 30 meters around the reservoirs was determined as APP. This is the case of dams like Cantareira, in São Paulo. The resolution prevented the exploration of the area for housing and economic uses, seeking to guarantee the preservation and quality of the water.
• What has changed: the resolution was revoked.
• Impact: “Once we lose these criteria, we would have a possibility, first, of real estate expansion, second, of not recovering these PPPs,” said Carlos Bocuhy, president of Proam (Brazilian Institute of Environmental Protection).

• Theme: protection of mangroves and rest strips on the Brazilian coast
• Or that previous: protected the entire extension of mangroves and rest strips on the Brazilian coast, determining areas such as Permanent Preservation Areas (APP). It was supplemented by resolution 302/2002 and modified by resolution 341/2003.
• What has changed: the resolution was revoked.
• Impact: “The only effective legal instrument that MP-SP uses for the protection of the restingas is resolution 303/2002. Once this resolution is revoked, we lose the protection of the 300 meter strip of the sea-beach, and that means a great boom in tourist complex properties, of projects throughout Brazil that would benefit from this removal of a very important environmental compartment “, analyzes Carlos Bocuhy, president of Proam (Brazilian Institute of Environmental Protection)

• Theme: Environmental license for irrigation
• Or that previous: Resolution 284/2001 standardized environmental licenses for irrigation projects, determining how water should be used in agricultural activities. The resolution, as before the revocation, prioritized projects with “more efficient irrigation equipment and methods, in relation to lower consumption of water and energy.”
• What has changed: the resolution was revoked.

• Theme: use of ovens to burn waste
• Or that previous: it vetoed the use of rotary kilns for the production of cement for burning raw household waste, waste from health services and pesticides, among others.
• What has changed: A new one was revoked and approved. In the session, Conama advisers analyzed process No. 02000.002783 / 2020-43, and with it the burning of pesticides and toxic waste was approved.
• Impact: The argument used at the meeting to defend the resolution was that burning these substances will reduce the amount of solid waste. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the burning of toxic waste be carried out in controlled environments, as they can cause damage to the health of the population.