Minister of Environment joins calls for veto of Codigo Florestal approved by Chamber of Deputies

The minister of Environment, Izabella Teixeira, joined the minister of Institutional Relations, Ideli Salvatti, calling for president Dilma Rousseff to veto all or part of the Piau text of a new Land Use Law (“Codigo Florestal”) that was recently approved by the Chamber of Deputies.

“My position is in favor of a veto. And I do not hesitate to say so,” declared Teixeira, adding that she was concerned with socio-environmental aspects of the bill. She said she would have preferred approval of the bill that passed the Senate at the end of last year. “

The work done in the Senate deserved to be respected. It was transparent and democratic. There was open debate. At the same time we have to be responsible about vetoes. The problem with the Piau bill is that it creates serious social and environmental problems and you cannot just keep kicking the can down the road when you have serious social and environmental problems.”

[At the heart of the Codigo Florestal dispute is the question of just how much land a landowner can legally clear for agricultural activities. Historically, there are two restrictions in Brazilian legislation: so-called permanent areas of protection (“APPs”), which is vegetation along riverbanks (15 to 100 meters, depending on the size of the river), and on hillsides (steep inclinations are protected) and hilltops (always out of bounds). Then there is the so-called legal reserve (“reserva legal”) that requires a certain percentage of land to remain intact (“mata nativa”); the size of the reserva legal varies with the part of the country where the land is located.

The Brazilian government had planned to showcase a new Codigo Florestal at the Rio+20 UN Sustainable Development Conference (June 13 to 22). It was supposed to have been an example of how modern, mature legislation could balance agricultural development and environmental protection.

The Piau bill that came out of the Chamber of Deputies last month, no balance, little protection, put the administration in an embarrassing position. It will make it difficult for Brazil to fulfill international commitments regarding greenhouse gas emissions, for example. And the bill is a nightmare for any would-be sustainable development model. The text basically forgives all deforestation that occurred before July 22, 2008, which is when an Environmental Crime Law went into effect. Only a minimum amount of vegetation along riverbanks is protected. Hilltops and most hillsides are no longer considered permanent protection areas.

The academic community reacted quickly, warning that the Piau bill would immediately place over 20 million hectares in danger of legalized destruction. Another back-of-the-envelope calculation estimated that deforestation would rise over 45% within a decade.

Approval of the Piau text revealed problems with the government’s vast, tumid congressional majority. Out of the 22 political parties with representatives in Congress, 17 are government allies – but there are so many conflicting interests and priorities involved that frequently the members vote at cross-purposes with the government. For example, most (but not all) of the deputies in states where deforestation is a lesser problem, such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, voted with the government; however, in states where it is a burning issue, such as Goiás, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins, over 85% of the deputies voted in favor (in Mato Grosso and Tocantins the vote was 100% in favor).

Not all the news from the Chamber of Deputies was bad. Exactly a year ago, April, 2011, the government got thrashed badly in its first attempt to get a Codigo Florestal through the lower house. No less than 410 out of 513 deputies voted against the government. This time only 274 deputies voted against the government