Environmental Licensing: Legal Framework

Table 1. Main federal legal instruments applicable to environmental licensing.

Legal instrument	Date	Subject	Link
Federal Law nº 6.938/81	31/08/1981	Establishes the National Environmental Policy.
Resolução CONAMA nº 001/86	23/01/1986	Establishes basic criteria and general guidelines for environmental impact assessment.
Resolução CONAMA nº 006/86	24/01/1986	Provides for approval of standard notices for publication of licensing applications.
Resolução CONAMA nº 009/87	03/12/1987	Provides for public hearings within the environmental licensing process.
Constituição Federal	05/10/1988	Chapter VI: The Environment.
Federal Decree 99.274/90	06/06/1990	Regulates Federal Law No. 6,938/81, which establishes the National Environmental Policy.
Resolução CONAMA nº 237/97	22/12/1997	Revises and supplements procedures and criteria used in environmental licensing.
Federal Law nº 9.985/00	18/07/2000	Establishes the National System of Nature Conservation Units (SNUC) and provides for environmental compensation.
Resolução CONAMA nº 281/01	12/07/2001	Provides for standard notices for publication of licensing applications.
Resolução CONAMA nº 303/02	20/03/2002	Establishes parameters, definitions, and limits for Permanent Preservation Areas.
Federal Decree nº 4.340/02	22/08/2002	Regulates provisions of the SNUC Law and environmental compensation.
Instrução Normativa IBAMA nº 183/08	17/07/2008	Creates IBAMA’s computerized Environmental Licensing System (SisLic).
Instrução Normativa IBAMA nº 184/08	17/07/2008	Establishes procedures for federal environmental licensing.
Federal Decree nº 6.848/09	14/05/2009	Amends Federal Decree No. 4,340/02 to regulate environmental compensation.
Resolução CONAMA nº 428/10	17/12/2010	Provides for authorization by the authority responsible for managing a Conservation Unit (UC) within environmental licensing processes.
Instrução Normativa IBAMA nº 8/11	14/07/2011	Regulates, within IBAMA, the Environmental Compensation procedure.
Interministerial Ordinance nº 419/11	26/10/2011	Regulates the participation of federal public-administration agencies and entities involved in environmental licensing.
MMA Ordinance nº 420/11	26/10/2011	Establishes procedures to be applied by IBAMA in the environmental regularization and licensing of federal roads. Revoked by MMA Ordinance No. 289/2013.
Interministerial Ordinance MMA/MT nº 423/11	26/10/2011	Establishes the Environmentally Sustainable Federal Roads Program for the environmental regularization of federal roads. Revoked by Interministerial Ordinance No. 288/2013.
Complementary Law nº 140/11	08/12/2011	Establishes rules on jurisdiction for environmental licensing, among other provisions.
Interministerial Ordinance MMA/MT nº 288/2013	16/07/2013	Updates the ordinance establishing PROFAS for the environmental regularization of federal roads. Revoked by Interministerial Ordinance No. 365/2014.
MMA Ordinance nº 289/2013	16/07/2013	Updates the procedures to be applied by IBAMA to road environmental licensing and the environmental regularization of federal roads.
Instrução Normativa IBAMA nº 13/2013	19/07/2013	Establishes procedures for methodological standardization of wildlife sampling plans required in environmental studies for the licensing of roads and railways.
Portaria MMA nº 55/2014 (Revogada pela MMA Ordinance nº 635, de 4 de novembro de 2019	17/02/2014	Establishes procedures between ICMBio and IBAMA related to CONAMA Resolution No. 428/2010 and other provisions concerning federal environmental licensing.
Portaria MMA nº 365/2014	06/10/2014	Amends Annex II of Ordinance No. 289/2013 concerning procedures applied by IBAMA to road environmental licensing and the environmental regularization of federal roads.
Portaria MMA nº 444/2014	17/12/2014	Lists Brazilian wildlife species threatened with extinction.
Interministerial Ordinance MMA/MJ/MC/MS nº 60/2015	24/03/2015	Establishes administrative procedures governing the participation of federal public-administration agencies and entities in environmental licensing processes under IBAMA jurisdiction.
Federal Decree nº 8437/2015	22/04/2015	Regulates Complementary Law No. 140/2011 to establish the types of projects and activities for which environmental licensing falls under federal jurisdiction.
Instrução Normativa IBAMA nº 8/2017	14/07/2017	Establishes procedures for requesting and issuing Authorization for the Capture, Collection and Transport of Biological Material (Abio) within federal environmental licensing processes.

Federal Law No. 6,938/1981 (National Environmental Policy) was regulated by Federal Decree No. 99,274/1990. In accordance with Article 225 of the 1988 Federal Constitution, the decree provides for prior environmental impact studies and defines their scope, including an environmental baseline assessment of the affected area, a description of the project and its alternatives, and the identification, analysis, and prediction of significant positive and negative impacts.