Bill 3002/26 establishes rules for pasture cleaning in consolidated rural areas, regulates the environmental declaration of rural producers and sets limits for the action of environmental agencies.
The project defines pasture cleaning as the management of secondary vegetation in an area previously occupied by agricultural activities, i.e., without deforestation or removal of native vegetation.
Pasture cleaning may be carried out without prior environmental authorization in the following situations, which are cumulative:
- the area already consolidated for agricultural or livestock use;
- the vegetation present being primarily secondary or invasive (not primary forest);
- the absence of primary vegetation or advanced natural regeneration;
- not overlapping with the Legal Reserve or Permanent Protection Area;
- the existence of ongoing agricultural and livestock activity;
- the property will continue to be used for the same purposes; and
- There will be no clearing of primary native vegetation or expansion of agricultural areas.
Environmental self-declaration
According to the proposal, the owner may carry out the pasture area cleaning through a self-declaration and begin management immediately. The self-declaration must include the identification of the property, the georeferenced map, and registration in the Rural Environmental Cadastre (CAR).
Following the cleanup, inspections will be optional, and technical analysis can only be carried out if there is evidence of irregularity. Self-declarations will be automatically validated if environmental agencies do not respond within 90 days of the procedure.
The text prohibits environmental agencies from requiring or issuing prior licenses or authorizations, or applying penalties or embargoes without conducting a technical inspection on site.
Objective criteria
The author of the project, Deputy José Medeiros (PL-MT), states that the lack of objective criteria for pasture clearing leads to the practice being wrongly treated as illegal deforestation by authorities.
"Pasture clearing in established areas does not constitute deforestation, but rather agricultural management for maintenance, which is essential for preserving the productive activity and recovering previously anthropized areas," he justified.
Next steps
The proposal will be reviewed, indefinitive characterby the committees of Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development; Environment and Sustainable Development; and Constitution and Justice and Citizenship.
To become law, the text must be approved by both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.