Understanding the New Environmental Licensing Framework

This article was originally published in Exame Magazine, in Portuguese, on May 29, 2026.

After 20 years of back and forth, the Senate approved Bill (PL) 2159/2021, which creates the country’s General Environmental Licensing Law. The measure promises to unlock infrastructure investments and increase the competitiveness of agribusiness, emerging at a time when the sector already accounts for 23.2% of the national GDP and half of Brazilian exports.

What changes in the rules of the game?

The proposal emerges as a response to the current scenario of legal uncertainty, consolidating over 27,000 rules—currently scattered across state and federal regulations—into a single framework. The text avoids overlapping jurisdictions and eliminates administrative hurdles without reducing the effective protection of these areas.

Currently, the process follows a three-phase model (Preliminary, Installation, and Operating Licenses) and requires studies such as the EIA/RIMA (Environmental Impact Assessment/Report) for major impact projects, but lacks clear deadlines or integration among the responsible agencies. Each state or municipality defines its own rules, and the processing is mostly physical, generating overlapping requirements, legal uncertainty, and a lack of predictability.

The new framework arises to address these flaws: it unifies the scattered regulations, maintains the three-phase model, but creates simplified procedures, establishes maximum deadlines (between 3 and 10 months), digitizes workflows through Sinima, and regulates situations where the license can be waived — making licensing more agile, transparent, and secure, without giving up environmental safeguards.

The cost of bureaucracy

According to data from the Environmental Licensing Panel in Brazil (WayCarbon), the national average for obtaining a license is 208 days. Considering only the full process (Preliminary License to Operating License), this average rises to 631 days — one year and nine months. Many projects are paralyzed due to the lack of a clear rule, creating legal uncertainty for investors.

Embrapa also recognizes the problem: studies by the institution indicate that delays in licensing lead to setbacks of 2 to 5 years in the implementation of aquaculture projects. During this period, producers are unable to operate legally and access rural credit, as they do not have complete environmental documentation.

Environmental protection and efficiency: is it possible to reconcile them?

Environmental organizations, such as the Climate Observatory, criticize the bill, pointing out that it relaxes licensing and could aggravate the environmental crisis in Brazil. For them, the possibility of automatic licenses by self-declaration represents a setback.

However, experts point out that it is possible to reconcile efficiency and protection. Jurists Marcelo B. Dantas and Gabriela Giacomolli highlight positive points of the bill that should be preserved: setting maximum deadlines for environmental agencies, better definition of required studies, creation of new license modalities, and increased penalties for environmental crimes.

Besides simplifying procedures for low-impact activities, the bill also toughens inspection in more serious cases, maintaining the mandatory full licensing with EIA/RIMA for high-impact enterprises and sensitive areas such as conservation units and indigenous lands. The project foresees sampling audits, data digitization for traceability, and allows the suspension or revocation of licenses obtained through false statements.

Perspectives

Agribusiness is one of the most solid economic pillars of Brazil, responsible for sustaining a large part of the trade balance. The approval of the new regulatory framework arrives at an opportune moment, promising to unlock infrastructure investments and strengthen the sector’s global competitiveness. More than ever, it is essential to emphasize that Brazil can and should be an example of how sustainability and agricultural productivity go hand in hand.