SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s president vetoed Friday parts of a congressional bill that sought to overhaul the country’s environmental licensing rules — legislation pushed by the right-wing opposition but which environmentalists say would impede efforts to protect sensitive areas such as the Amazon rainforest.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva threw out 63 out of the controversial bill’s 400 measures, the government said, though the significance of the vetoes will be clearer once the bill is published in the official gazette and goes into effect.
Lula’s supporters and environmentalists had dubbed the legislation “Devastation Bill,” while allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro, held in house arrest on charges linked to an alleged coup plot, had pushed for its approval in congress.
Critics had argued that the bill undermines safeguards and harms Brazil’s credibility ahead of hosting U.N. climate talks in November.
Environment protection groups welcomed Lula’s vetoes — though congress can still take steps to override them and introduce additional legislation.
Several government ministers, speaking at a news conference at the presidential palace, lauded Lula’s changes, saying he threw out parts of the legislation that would allow for fast-tracking of projects in the Amazon and curtailed the authority of federal agencies in issuing licenses for projects.
Only enterprises of “low polluting potential” will be allowed to get that kind of fast track, the ministers said.
It was not immediately clear if Lula had vetoed a measure on upgrading existing roads without oversight, which could allow the paving of the entire highway running about 900 kilometers (560 miles) through the western Amazon.
Lula doesn’t have the majority in Brazil’s congress, where Bolsonaro allies often side with moderates to pass conservative legislation.
“We understand we are keeping a dialogue with congress and assuring that there is integrity in environmental licensing,” Environment Minister Marina Silva said.
“This is fundamental for the protection of the environment in a context of climate crisis, loss of biodiversity and desertification processes,” she added.
Lula had already spoken about possibly vetoing parts of the bill after it passed in congress last month. Brazil’s lower house approved the legislation by 267-116 in July, dealing a big blow to Lula after several moderates had sided with Brazil’s opposition.
The 79-year-old leftist Lula — who was facing higher unpopularity, growing opposition in congress and increasing risks to his likely reelection bid — saw his polls improve days later, after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports.
Trump, an ally of Bolsonaro, had linked the tariffs to Bolsonaro’s trial, which he called a “witch hunt” and demanded an end to the proceedings.
Miriam Belchior, an official with Brazil’s chief of staff, said Lula’s vetoes will safeguard the “rights of Indigenous peoples and communities of descendants of slaves, and incorporate mechanisms to make licensing quicker, but without harming” Brazil’s natural resources.
“This is a victory for the society,” said Malu Ribeiro, head of the SOS Atlantica nonprofit organization.
One of Lula’s vetoes also addresses protection of another endangered area, Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, which is the focus of the work of Ribeiro’s group. Without the vetoes, she said there would have been much harm to efforts of “everyone who defends this national treasure.”
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