Federal Environmental Licensing – New Rules For Infrastructure Projects

On April 23, 2015, Brazilian Federal Government published Decree No. 8,437, establishing new rules for environmental licensing conducted by federal environmental agencies, especially for infrastructure projects.

Such Decree provides legal certainty to licensing procedures of the projects mentioned therein. While the Decree lists projects that should be licensed by federal environmental agencies, projects not encompassed by the Decree should be licensed by States and Municipalities, in accordance with the criteria set by Law 140/11.

Some of the activities that are now subject to federal environmental licensing are:

• Federal roads (including rectification works, maintenance works, and expansion works affecting 200 kilometers or more).