Battle over environmental licensing pits Congress against Lula

At the same time, the government acknowledges difficulties in upholding the 63 vetoes issued by President Lula last month.

Just six days after President Lula signed the new licensing law, legislators and senators opposed to the executive’s vetoes filed 833 amendments to the MP, which originally covers only the LAE and consists of just six articles. The LAE, championed at the time by Mr. Alcolumbre, a government ally, is a new type of permit designed to speed up approvals for projects deemed strategic.

Lawmakers are using this as one of their tactics while Mr. Alcolumbre delays calling a joint congressional session to analyze the vetoes — expected in about two weeks, though no date has been set. Overturning Lula’s vetoes is the main goal of these lawmakers, most aligned with the powerful agribusiness caucus, which has been pressing Mr. Alcolumbre to schedule the session.

Congressman Pedro Lupion, head of the Congressional Agricultural Front (FPA), said the government shows no interest in advancing the MP. For now, there is not even a rapporteur or chair for the joint committee, which has yet to be formed. The MP must be voted on within four months, or it will expire.

“We are mobilized to overturn the vetoes. But before that, we submitted amendments to get as close as possible to the bill we approved,” Mr. Lupion told Valor, noting that he alone filed 19 amendments. “We want to force either a vote on the vetoes or on the MP. Something has to happen. The amendments reflect the text of the licensing bill. We are waiting on President Davi [Alcolumbre].”

Congressman Zé Vitor, also from the agribusiness bloc and rapporteur of the licensing bill in the House, noted that the proposed amendments to the MP contain “minor text adjustments that the internal rules previously did not allow.”

Broadly, the hundreds of amendments seek to reinsert into the general licensing law provisions that President Lula vetoed, such as: the Environmental License by Adhesion and Commitment (LAC) for medium-impact projects; exemption from licensing for rural producers whose Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) is still under review; and the removal of requirements to consult intervening agencies—such as the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI)—in licensing processes affecting non-demarcated areas.

Randolfe Rodrigues, the government’s leader in Congress, said that proposing amendments is a legitimate part of the legislative process but warned that the executive would veto again if lawmakers tried to reinstate sections President Lula had struck down.

He admitted, however, that the government faces difficulty securing enough votes to block an override. The administration has not ruled out challenging the issue in court but is instead seeking a political agreement.