If approved as presented, the replacement for Bill 3.729/04, which proposes the flexibility of environmental licensing, will represent a huge setback for Brazil. The assessment is by Thomas Michael Lewinsohn, PhD in Ecology and professor at the Biology Institute (IB) at Unicamp. According to him, the matter opens the possibility for the occurrence of new and serious socio-environmental disasters in the country, as it removes several restrictions on the installation of agricultural and industrial enterprises.
Lewinsohn's position is shared by a broad contingent of the scientific community, as well as environmentalists. On the 13th, around 250 organizations, networks and movements, as well as professors and researchers, released a note rejecting the replacement. The pressure from these segments, added to the dissatisfaction of the Minister of the Environment himself, Sarney Filho, meant that the proposal was not evaluated by the Finance and Taxation Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, on Wednesday (14). There was a lack of quorum.
Despite the postponement of the vote, Lewinsohn believes that society needs to pay attention to know when and how the matter will be considered again by the Commission. “Eternal vigilance is still not enough. I consider the term 'flexibility' to be very neutral. What we are trying to do with this substitute is to remove restrictions to facilitate the expansion of various activities, especially those related to agribusiness,” he states.
On social media, the replacement was nicknamed the “Marianas factory” due to its potential to stimulate new environmental disasters, like the one that destroyed the Rio Doce (MG/ES), in November 2015. The IB-Unicamp professor lamented that , from time to time, movements of this type are carried out by certain segments. “In the current case, they are taking advantage of a moment of turbidity, when society's attention is focused on other issues, to try to approve a project that could cause serious damage to the country”, reinforced Lewinsohn.
The professor considers that it is past time for the actors involved with environmental issues to establish a new standard of discussion, similar to what happened around the approval of the Forest Code. On that occasion, the Brazilian Association of Ecological Science and Conservation (Abeco) prepared a document evaluating the positive and negative points of the legislation, in order to help clarify society on the topic.
“There are complaints from producers and entrepreneurs that proceed, as well as issues related to conservation that are fundamental. We need to make the debate more transparent, which must be supported by good arguments. It is not acceptable for such an important project to be the subject of malicious strategies, which aim to obtain approval in the shadows”, criticizes the IB-Unicamp professor.
According to articles published in the press, the vote on the replacement for Bill 3.729/04, authored by deputy Mauro Pereira (PMDB/RS), opposed ministers Sarney Filho and Eliseu Padilha (Casa Civil). While the second defends the matter as proposed, the first demonstrates dissatisfaction with the terms of the project. Sarney Filho sent a letter to his colleague, in which he recognizes the need to update the legislation, but emphasizes that the measures need to guarantee environmental protection and legal security.
