Environmental Resolutions Repealed by Conama Have “Illegal” and “Useless” Sections, Says Ministry to STF | Politics

According to the ministry headed by Ricardo Salles, the regulations that are no longer in force have various “illegal”, “useless” and “pleonastic” devices.

The document sent to the STF is prepared by the legal advisor of the ministry and by the General Attorney of the Union (AGU), with the seal of Salles.

The technicians affirm that “there is no harm to the environment” in the revocation of the norms, and argue that the subjects are already covered in the Forest Code.

“Regarding the request for urgent assistance, there is no damage to the environment, contrary to what was alleged in the initial piece, since the revocation of Conama Resolutions No. 302/02 and 303/03 do not hinder direct application – and correct – of Law No. 12,651, whose respective provisions were declared constitutional by the Federal Supreme Court, ”says the ministry.

“Several provisions of these resolutions are illegal, while others are only useless / pleonastic due to the mere repetition of the respective provisions of that law. It is to reaffirm the obvious: the Conama resolution does not repeal the corresponding provisions of Law No. 12.651 / 12 (!!!). the legislation on the Biome of the Atlantic Forest and the Coastal Zone remains healthy ”, he added.

The technical note also indicates that, despite the reduction in the number of members of Conama, the representation of the sectors in the council was maintained.

“The authors try to mistake the judgment with the allegation of violation of the principle of popular participation, after all, the decrease in seats occurred when observing the proportionality of the quotas of representatives. Thus, mathematically there was no decrease in the participation of society civil in that important instance “.

On the 30th, Minister Rosa Weber determined that Ricardo Salles present data on the subject to support the analysis of a PT action. The party calls for the suspension of Conama’s decisions and, with it, the reestablishment of protection standards.

Conama’s deliberation, on September 28, was suspended by a decision of the Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro. Days later, the Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region annulled the decision in response to an appeal from the AGU.

The revocation generated criticism among environmentalists throughout the week and also motivated other actions along the same lines, from PSB and Rede.

The Conama decisions that are in dispute in the Court are:

• the repeal of a resolution that required irrigation projects have an environmental license.
• the repeal of two resolutions that Restricted deforestation in permanent preservation areas with native vegetation, such as subtractions, mangroves and urban springs..

At the same meeting, the council also approved a new resolution authorizing the burning of toxic waste in kilns for the production of cement, which, according to a specialist, poses risks of contamination from local populations.

Conama is responsible for establishing guidelines for licenses and environmental standards to maintain the quality of the environment. These rules have the force of law.

The council brings together representatives of the government and also civil society, but a decree by President Jair Bolsonaro reduced the participation of civil society: from 22 votes to four.

Since 2019, Conama has reduced its membership from 96 to 23 directors. The rest of the vacancies are filled by business entities and government representatives. The federal government and state governments hold more than two-thirds of the seats.

The reduction of the size of Conama and its composition has also been questioned by the Federal Supreme Court since last year.