Decree No

							Decree No. 99.274 of 6 June 1990

Regulates Law No. 6.902 of 27 April 1981 and Law No. 6.938,
of 31 August 1981, which deal, respectively, with the
creation of Ecological Stations and Environmental
Protection Areas, and with National Environmental Policy,
and other provisions.

The President of the Republic, in exercise of the powers
conferred upon him by article 84, sections IV and VI, of
the Constitution, and in view of the provisions of Law No.
6.902 of 27 April 1981, and Law No. 6.938 of 31 August
1981, as amended by Laws Nos. 7.804 of 18 June 1989, and
8.028 of 12 April 1990, decrees:

Title I Execution of the National Environmental Policy

Chapter I Powers

Art. 1. In the execution of National Environmental
Policy, various levels of government shall be empowered:

I -- to permanently inspect environmental resources,
certifying the compatibility of economic development with
protection of the environmental milieu and of ecological
balance;

II -- to protect representative areas of the ecosystem by
means of the establishment of conservation and ecological
preservation units;

III -- to maintain, through specialized bodies of
governmental agencies, permanent control of polluting or
potentially polluting activities, in order to make them
compatible with current environmental protection criteria;

IV -- to provide incentives for the study of and research
in technologies for the rational use and protection of
environmental resources, using regional or sectoral plans
and programs for industrial and agricultural development
for this purpose;

V -- to establish, within critical pollution areas, a
permanent system for following up on local environmental
quality indices;

VI -- to identify and inform the bodies and agencies of
the National Environmental System of the existence of areas
which are degraded, or threatened by degradation, proposing
measures for their recovery; and
VII -- to guide education, at all levels, for active
participation by the citizenry and the community in the
defense of the environment, making sure that the school
curriculums for various required subjects include the study
of the ecology.

Art. 2. The execution of the National Environmental
Policy by Federal governmental agencies shall be
coordinated by the Secretary of the Environment.

Chapter II Organization of the National Environmental
System

Art. 3. The National Environmental System (SISNAMA),
made up of the agencies and bodies of the Union, of the
States, of the Federal District, of the Municipalities and
by the foundations established by governmental agencies,
and which are responsible for the protection and
improvement of environmental quality, shall be organized as
follows:

I -- Senior Body: the Council of Government;

II -- Consultative and Deliberative Body: the National
Environmental Council (CONAMA);

III -- Central Body: Office of the Secretary of the
Environment of the Presidency of the Republic (SEMAM/PR);

IV -- Executive Body: the Brazilian Environmental Milieu
and Renewable National Resources Institute (IBAMA);

V -- Sectional Bodies: direct and indirect Federal
government bodies or agencies, foundations established by
governmental agencies whose activities involve protection
of environmental quality or those regulating the use of
environmental resources, as well as State bodies and
agencies responsible for the execution of programs and
projects and for the control and inspection of activities
capable of causing environmental degradation; and

VI -- Local Bodies: Municipal bodies or agencies
responsible for control and inspection of activities
referred to in the foregoing item, within their respective
jurisdictions.

Section I Establishment and Operation of the National
Environmental Council

Art. 4. CONAMA consist of:
I -- Its Plenary Assembly; and

II -- Technical Councils.

Art. 5. CONAMA's Plenary Assembly shall consist of:

I -- The Secretary of the Environment, who shall preside;

(*) II -- The Assistant Secretary of the Environment, who
shall represent SEMAM/PR;

(*) III -- The President of IBAMA, who shall be the
Executive Secretary;

(*) IV -- A representative from each one of the
Ministries and of the other Secretariats of the Presidency
of the Republic, as well as of IBAMA, designated by their
respective heads.

V -- One representative from each of the State
governments and of the Federal District, designated by the
respective governors;

VI -- One representative from each of the following
bodies:

a) the National Confederations of Industry, Commerce,
and Agriculture;

b) the National Confederations of Industrial, Commercial
and Agricultural Workers;

c) the Brazilian Institute of Siderurgy;

d) the Brazilian Association of Sanitary Engineering
(ABES); and

e) The Brazilian Nature Conservancy Foundation (FBCN).

VII -- Two representatives from legally established
associations for the defense of natural resources and for
the fight against pollution, to be freely chosen by the
President of the Republic; and

VIII -- One representative from legally constituted civil
societies from each geographical region of the country,
whose activity is directly tied to the preservation of
environmental quality and registered in the National
Register of Non-Governmental Environmental Agencies (CNEA).

Paragraph 1. The representatives referred to in items
VII and VIII shall hold office for two years, and their
terms may be renewed for like periods.

Paragraph 2. The representatives referred to in item
VIII shall be appointed by the Secretary of the
Environment, after nomination by the respective agencies.

Paragraph 3. The representatives referred to in items IV
to VIII shall be appointed together with their respective
alternates.

Art. 6. CONAMA's Plenary Assembly shall hold a regular
meeting every three months in the Federal District, and
special meetings whenever so convened by its President, on
his own initiative or at the request of at least two-thirds
of its members.

Paragraph 1. Special meetings may be held outside of the
Federal District, provided that overriding reasons of
technical or political desirability so require it.

Paragraph 2. CONAMA's plenary assembly shall meet in
open session, with the presence of at least one half of its
members, and shall decide by simple majority, the President
of the session having the tie-breaking vote.

(*) Paragraph 3. In the absence or indisposition of the
President of CONAMA, his place shall be taken by the
Assistant Secretary of the Environment, or in his absence,
by the President of IBAMA.

Paragraph 4. The participation of the members of CONAMA
is considered as service of a relevant nature, and shall
not be compensated, their travel costs and expenses being
borne by the institutions represented.

Paragraph 5. In exceptional cases, the members referred
to in items VII and VIII may have travel costs and expenses
paid for by SEMAM/PR.

Section II Responsibilities of the National
Environmental Council

Art. 7. CONAMA is responsible for:

I -- advising, studying and proposing to the Council of
Government, through the intermediary of the Secretary of
the Environment, governmental policy directives for the
environmental and natural resources;

II -- issuing those standards, within the scope of its
responsibilities, necessary to execute and implement
National Environmental Policy;

III -- establishing, by means of proposals of SEMAM/PR,
standards and criteria for the licensing of activities
which are polluting, or potentially polluting, to be
granted by the States and by the Federal District;

IV -- deciding, when it is deemed necessary, upon the
making of studies on the alternatives and possible
environmental consequences of public or private projects,
requesting of federal, state and municipal agencies, as
well as of private bodies, that information necessary for
an evaluation of environmental impact studies and
respective reports, in the case of works or activities
which significantly degrade the environment;

V -- deciding, as the last administrative instance on
appeal, by means of advance deposit, on fines or other
penalties imposed by IBAMA;

VI -- approving agreements intended to convert financial
penalties to an obligation to undertake measures in the
interest of environmental protection;

VII -- when the matter specifically deals with the
environment, and by means of representation of SEMAM/PR,
deciding upon the loss or restriction of tax incentives
granted by governmental bodies, whether general or
conditional in nature, and the loss or suspension of
participation in a line of financing at official credit
establishments;

VIII -- establishing, exclusively, national standards and
guidelines for the control of pollution caused by motor-
driven ground vehicles, aircraft and boats, after
consultation with the competent Ministries;

IX -- establishing standards, criteria and guidelines
relative to the control and maintenance of the quality of
the environment with a view toward the rational use of
environmental resources, principally water resources;

X -- establishing general standards relative to the
Conservation Units and the activities which may be
developed in their surrounding areas;

XI -- establishing the criteria for declaring areas as
critical, saturated, or becoming saturated;

XII -- submitting, through the Secretary of the
Environment, for evaluation by the bodies and agencies of
the Federal administrative branch, of the States, of the
Federal District and of the Municipalities, proposals with
reference to the granting of tax and financial incentives
and benefits for the purpose of improvement of
environmental quality;

XIII -- creating and dissolving Technical Councils;

XIV -- approving its own internal regulations.

Paragraph 1. The standards and criteria for the
licensing of polluting or potentially polluting activities
shall establish those requirements indispensable for
environmental protection.

Paragraph 2. The penalties specified in item VII of this
article shall only apply to those cases previously defined
in special CONAMA minutes, assuring full defense for the
interested party.

Paragraph 3. In determining standards, criteria and
guidelines relative to the control and maintenance of the
quality of the environmental, CONAMA shall take into
consideration the self-regenerating capacities of the
receiving bodies, and the need to establish measurable
generic parameters.

Section III Technical Councils

Art. 8. CONAMA may divide itself into Technical Councils
to examine and report to the Plenary Assembly on matters of
their competence.

Paragraph 1. The area of responsibility, makeup and life
of each one of the Technical Councils shall be specified in
the CONAMA minutes creating it.

Paragraph 2. The various categories of multi-sectoral
interests represented in the Plenary Assembly must be
considered in the composition of the Technical Councils,
made up of up to seven members.

Art. 9. In the case of emergency, CONAMA's President may
create Technical Councils "ad referendum" by the Plenary
Assembly.

Section IV Central Body

(*) Art. 10. IBAMA, SISNAMA's Executive Body, without
prejudice to the other duties legally conferred upon it,
shall provide the services of Executive Secretary to CONAMA
and to its Technical Councils.

(*) Art. 11. In order to provide technical and
administrative support to CONAMA, IBAMA shall, as its
Executive Secretary:

I -- request the Federal bodies and agencies, as well as
the States, the Federal District and the Municipalities,
for the assistance of their personnel for specified
periods, the pertinent standards being observed;

II -- assure the technical and administrative support
necessary for CONAMA's meetings, and for the operation of
the Councils;

III -- coordinate through the National Environmental
Milieu Information System (SINIMA) the interchange of
information between the agencies making up SISNAMA;

IV -- promote the publication and distribution of
CONAMA's minutes.

Section V Coordination of the Federal Sectional Bodies

Art. 12. The sectional bodies referred to in article 3,
item V, first part, shall be coordinated by the Secretary
of the Environment with regard to National Environmental
Policy.

Section VI State Sectional Bodies and Local Bodies

Art. 13. The makeup of the State Sectional Bodies
(article 3, item V, second part) and of the Local Bodies of
SISNAMA, as well as the delegation of federal level
functions to the state level may be the object of
agreements entered into between each State Sectional Body
and SEMAM/PR, the intervention of SISNAMA's Federal
Sectional Bodies being permitted.

Chapter III Actions of the National Environmental System

Art. 14. SISNAMA shall act through the joint
coordination of its constituent agencies and bodies, in
keeping with the following:

I -- public access to information relative to assaults on
the environmental and environmental protection activities,
in the manner established by CONAMA; and

II -- regionalization of the measures decided by SISNAMA
shall be up to the States, Federal District and
Municipalities, preparing supplementary and additional
standards and guidelines.

Sole Paragraph. The standards and guidelines of the
States, the Federal District and Municipalities may
establish parameters for emission, discharge and effusion
by polluting agents, in keeping with federal legislation.

Art. 15. The Sectional Bodies shall provide CONAMA with
information on their action plans and programs under way,
substantiated in annual reports, without prejudice to
partial reports made by special request.

Sole Paragraph. SEMAM/PR shall consolidate the reports
mentioned in this article into an annual report on the
country's environmental situation, to be published and
submitted for CONAMA's consideration at its second meeting
of the following year.

Art. 16. Through the intermediary of SEMAM/PR, CONAMA
may solicit information and documents from the Sectional
and Local Bodies, justifying the period within which it is
needed in the respective request.

Paragraph 1. Licensing, inspection and control
activities must be free of excessive bureaucratic
requirements, or requests for information already available.

Paragraph 2. Natural or Artificial persons who can prove
legitimate interest may request of SEMAM/PR as well as of
the Executive, Sectional and Local Bodies, the results of
technical analyses at their disposal.

Paragraph 3. In requesting or providing information,
SISNAMA's constituent bodies must preserve industrial
secrecy, and avoid unfair competition, acting, where
appropriate, under administrative secrecy, for which the
authorities in charge shall be responsible.

Chapter IV Licensing of Activities

Art. 17. The construction, installation, expansion and
operation of activities using environmental resources which
are considered to be polluting, or potentially polluting,
as well as the undertakings capable of deteriorating the
environment in any way must be previously licensed by the
competent state agency belonging to SISNAMA, without
prejudice to other licenses required by law.

Paragraph 1. CONAMA shall establish the basic criteria
according to which environmental impact studies are
required for licensing purposes, containing, among others,
the following items:

a) environmental diagnosis of the area;

b) description of the proposed action and its
alternatives; and

c) identification, analysis and forecast of the
significant impacts, either positive or negative.

Paragraph 2. The environmental impact study shall be
made by qualified technicians, and shall constitute the
Environmental Impact Report (RIMA), the expenses for which
shall be for the account of the party proposing the project.

Paragraph 3. With due protection for industrial secrecy,
as expressly characterized at the request of the interested
party, the duly validated RIMA shall be accessible to the
public.

Paragraph 4. Industrial secrecy duly protected,
licensing applications in any of its forms, their renewal
and the respective granting of a license shall be the
object of summary publication, paid for by the interested
party, in the government's Official Gazette and a major
regional or local newspaper, in accordance with the sample
approved by CONAMA.

Art. 18. The state environmental agency and IBAMA, the
latter in a supplementary fashion, without prejudice to the
applicable financial penalties, shall decide upon, wherever
necessary, the reduction of pollution-generating
activities, to maintain the gaseous emissions or liquid
effluents and solid wastes under the conditions and limits
stipulated in the license granted.

Art. 19. The government, in exercise of its control
functions, shall issue the following licenses:

I -- Preliminary License: LP, in the preliminary phase
of the planning of the activity, containing basic
requirements to be met in the phases of location,
installation and operation, observing municipal, state or
federal land use plans;

II -- Installation License: LI, authorizing the start of
installation in accordance with the specifications
appearing in the approved Executive Project; and
III -- Operating License: LO, authorizing, after the
necessary verifications, the initiation of the licensed
activity and operation of its pollution control equipment,
in accordance with the specifications of the Preliminary
and Installation Licenses.

Paragraph 1. The terms for granting the licenses shall
be established by CONAMA, with due consideration to the
technical nature of the activity.

Paragraph 2. In those cases provided for in a CONAMA
resolution, the licensing referred to in this article shall
be subject to IBAMA approval.

Paragraph 3. Should the installation and operation
activities be initiated prior to issuance of the respective
licenses, the managers of IBAMA's sectional bodies must,
under penalty of functional responsibility, communicate the
fact to the financial agencies for these activities,
without prejudice to the imposition of penalties,
administrative or court interdiction measures, distraint,
and other cautionary measures.

Paragraph 4. Establishments intended to produce nuclear
materials or to use nuclear energy and its applications
shall be licensed by the National Nuclear Energy Commission
(CNEN), by means of IBAMA's opinion, after consultation
with the state and municipal environmental control agencies.

Paragraph 5. The competency referred to in the foregoing
paragraph excluded, in the other cases of federal
competency, IBAMA shall issue the respective licenses,
after considering the technical examination coming from
state and municipal pollution control agencies.

Art. 20. There is administrative recourse:

I -- to the Secretary of Strategic Affairs, for the
decisions of the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN);
and

II -- to the Secretary of the Environment, in the cases
of licensing which is the exclusive competence of IBAMA,
including those of denial of the certificate of approval.

Sole Paragraph: In cases regarding the States, the
Federal District and the Municipalities, the recourse
referred to in this article shall be made to the authority
provided for in the respective legislation.

Art. 21. SEMAM/PR shall propose to CONAMA the issuance
of general standards for implementation and inspection of
the licensing provided for in this decree.

Paragraph 1. The inspection and control of the
application of environmental quality criteria, standards
and guidelines shall be exercised by IBAMA, in a
supplementary manner, to the actions of the State Sectional
Bodies and of the Local Bodies.

Paragraph 2. Prior analysis of projects by public or
private agencies which involve the conservation or recovery
of environmental resources is included in the supplementary
competency of IBAMA.

Paragraph 3. The owner of the establishment, or his
responsible agent, shall permit, under the penalties of
law, entry onto the premises for inspection of potentially
polluting activities in all of its areas.

Paragraph 4. When necessary, the police authorities
shall provide assistance to the inspection agents in the
exercise of their duties.

Art. 22. IBAMA, in analyzing the projects submitted for
its examination, shall require that the interested party
adopt, for the purposes of approval, measures capable of
assuring that the raw materials, supplies and finished
products have quality standards such that they eliminate or
reduce the polluting effect resulting from their employment
or use.

Chapter V Incentives

Art. 23. Governmental financing or incentive management
agencies shall require proof of the licensing provided for
in this decree before making grants.

Chapter VI Registration

Art. 24. IBAMA shall submit the standards necessary for
implementation of the Federal Technical Register for
Environmental Defense Activities and Instruments to CONAMA
for approval.

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(*) As amended by Decree No. 99.355 of 27.06.90

Title II Ecological Stations and Environmental
Protection Agencies

Chapter I Ecological Stations
Art. 25. Federal Ecological Stations shall be created by
decree of the Executive Branch, on the proposal of the
Secretary of the Environment, and their administration
shall be coordinated by IBAMA.

Paragraph 1. The decree creating an Ecological Station
shall define is geographical boundaries, name, the agency
responsible for its administration and the zoning referred
to in article 1, paragraph 2 of Law No. 6.902 of 27 April
1981.

Paragraph 2. CONAMA must be consulted prior to the
execution of any engineering works which might affect the
ecological stations.

Art. 26. IBAMA shall establish the zoning for the
Federal Ecological Stations referred to by article 1,
paragraph 2 of Law No. 6.902/81.

Art. 27. For a radius of 10 km (ten kilometers) around
the Conservation Units, any activity which might affect the
biota shall be subject to the standards published by CONAMA.

Chapter II Environmental Protection Areas

Art. 28. On the Federal level, the Secretary of the
Environment shall propose the creation of Environmental
Protection areas to the President of the Republic, based on
IBAMA's opinion.

Art. 29. The decree declaring the Environmental
Protection Area shall mention its name, geographical
boundaries, principal objectives and the limitations and
restrictions on the use of the environmental resources
contained in it.

Art. 30. The supervisory and investigative agency for
the Environmental Protection Area must guide and assist the
owners, in order that the objectives of the pertinent
legislation be attained.

Sole Paragraph: Owners of lands covered by the
Environmental Protection Areas may mention the names of the
latter on plaques indicating ownership, in the promotion of
tourist activities, as well as in the indication of the
source of the products originating there.

Art. 31. Services provided, in any form, to the
conservationist cause shall be considered as relevant and
worthy of public recognition.
Art. 32. Federal financing and credit institutions shall
give priority to applications made with the support of
SEMAM/PR intended for the improvement of the rational use
of the soil and the sanitary and living conditions of the
properties situated in Environmental Protection Areas.

Title III Penalties

Art. 33. For the effects of this Decree, any act or
omission concerning failure to observe the provisions
contained herein, or failure to comply with the standard-
setting decisions of the competent agencies or
administrative authorities shall constitute an infraction.

Art. 34. Daily fines of 61,70 to 6.170 National Treasury
Bonds (BTN) shall be imposed, in proportion to the
environmental degradation caused, for the following
infractions:

I -- contributing in causing a body of water to fall into
a quality category lower than that provided for in the
official classification;

II -- contributing in causing air quality to be lower
than the official minimum established by resolution;

III -- emitting or dumping solid, liquid or gaseous
effluents or waste which cause environmental degradation,
in violation of the provisions of resolutions or a special
license;

IV -- the performance of activities which might
potentially be harmful to the environment, without the
environmental license required by law, or in violation of
it;

V -- causing water pollution which makes it necessary to
cut off a community's public water supply;

VI -- causing pollution of any kind which brings about
the destruction of cultivated or wild plants;

VII -- harming, killing or capturing within the
Conservation Units, by any means, samples of species
considered rare among the regional biota;

VIII -- causing environmental degradation by means of the
silting up of bodies of water or accelerated erosion within
the Conservation Units;
IX -- failing to comply with warnings against use,
passage and others established administratively for
protection against environmental degradation;

X -- impeding or hindering the activities of agents
qualified by IBAMA in their inspection of potentially
dangerous situations or examination of incidents of
environmental degradation;

XI -- causing environmental damage of any type which
causes destruction or has other undesirable effects on the
native biota or cultivated plants and livestock;

XII -- failure to comply with CONAMA resolutions;

Art. 35. Fines of 308,50 to 6.170 BTN's shall be imposed
in proportion to the environmental degradation caused, for
the following violations:

I -- opening canals or earth moving works, with the
movement of sand, soil or rocky material, in a volume
greater than 100m[3] (one hundred cubic meters), which
might cause environmental degradation, in Environmental
Protection Areas, without a license from the respective
environmental control agency,

II -- causing pollution of any type which could be
damaging to the health or threatening to the well-being or
persons.

Art. 36. Fines of 617 to 6.170 BTN's shall be imposed
for the following violations:

I -- causing air pollution which results in the
evacuation, even briefly, of inhabitants from an urban
neighborhood or equivalent locality;

II -- causing pollution of the ground surrounding an
area, whether urban or rural, which makes it unfit for
human occupation;

III -- causing pollution of any type which results in the
death of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians or fish.

Art. 37. The amounts of the fines shall increase in
accordance with the following circumstances:

I -- attenuating:

a) minor degree of understanding and education of the
violator;
b) spontaneous repair of the damage, or limiting of the
environmental degradation caused;

c) prior communication by the violator to the competent
authorities, with regard to the imminent danger of
environmental degradation;

d) cooperation with the agents charged with
environmental inspection and control;

II -- aggravated:

a) specific reincidence;

b) major extent of the environmental degradation;

c) deceit, even fortuitous;

d) occurrence of effect on another's property;

e) violation occurring in an urban zone;

f) permanent damage to human health;

g) affected area under legal protection;

h) employment of cruel methods in the death or capture
of animals.

Art. 38. In the case of continued violations,
characterized by the permanence of the activity or omission
initially punished, the respective penalty shall be applied
daily until the activity causing the deterioration is
stopped.

Art. 39. When the same violation is subject to
punishment under more than one of the provisions of this
Decree, it shall be penalized in accordance with the more
specific item, rather than the more generic.

Art. 40. When the violators are minors or incapacitated,
those legally responsible for them shall answer for the
fine.

Art. 41. The imposition of financial penalties for
violations of environmental legislation by the States, the
Federal District and by the Municipalities shall exclude
the requirements of federal fines for the same case
[crossed out: "when of the same or a higher amount"] [In
right margin: "Decree 122/91"].
Art. 42. Collection of the fines may be suspended when
the violator, by means of an agreement approved by the
environmental authority who imposed the fine, agrees to
adopt specific measures to end and to correct the
environmental degradation.

Sole Paragraph. Once the commitments assumed by the
violator have been met, the fine shall be reduced by up to
90% (ninety percent).

Art. 43. Administrative appeals against the fines, the
legal requirement of guarantee of the instance having been
met, shall on the federal level be guided by the decision
of the Secretary of the Environment and, in the final
instance, by CONAMA.

Sole Paragraph. When the Secretary of the Environment
makes decisions favorable to the appellant, CONAMA shall
have "ex officio" recourse if fines are higher than 3.085
(three thousand eighty-five) BTN.

Art. 44. IBAMA may enter into agreements with official
agencies of the states, delegating exercise of the
inspection and control activities to them in specific cases.

Title IV Final Provisions

Art. 45. This decree shall take effect upon the date of
its publication.

Art. 46. Decrees Nos. 88.351 of 1 June 1983; 89.532 of 6
April 1984; 91.305 of 3 June 1985; 93.630 of 28 November
1986; 94.085 of 10 March 1987; 94.764 of 11 August 1987;
94.998 of 5 October 1987; 96.150 of 13 June 1988; 97.558 of
7 March 1989; 97.802 of 5 June 1989 and 98.109 of 31 August
1989 are revoked.

Fernando Collor, President of the Republic.

Bernardo Cabral.

EFFECTIVE-DATE: 06/06/1990