Rio de Janeiro State Launches Public Consultation for Environmental Licensing Rule Updates
The Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro has initiated a public consultation period to gather societal input on updating the rules for the State System of Environmental Licensing and Other Environmental Control Procedures (Selca). This initiative aims to collect contributions before officially publishing a decree that will govern the new environmental licensing model within the state. The consultation, officially designated as Public Consultation No. 01/2026 and published in the Official Gazette, will remain open for ten business days. Participation is open to representatives from civil society, the productive sector, universities, researchers, specialists, and any interested citizen. The proposed changes were developed by the technical staff of the State Environmental Institute (Inea) to align state regulations with amendments introduced by Federal Laws No. 15.190 and No. 15.300, both enacted in 2025. The Selca system, established in 2019, was last updated in 2020 and encompasses procedures for environmental control, including the issuance of licenses, authorizations, certificates, water resource usage permits, and closure terms. Secretary of State for the Environment and Sustainability, Rodrigo Mascarenhas, emphasized that the consultation seeks to enhance social participation in shaping the new regulations, promoting transparency and leveraging technical, scientific, academic, and industry expertise. The draft decree is accessible on the Secretariat of State for the Environment and Sustainability's website, where suggestions for alteration, inclusion, or exclusion of provisions can be submitted. Submissions should reference the specific section of the draft, provide justification, and ideally propose revised wording. Contributions are due by the end of the consultation period and can be sent via email to [email protected] or by mail to the Secretariat's office in Rio de Janeiro.
The Rio de Janeiro state government's decision to conduct a public consultation for updating its environmental licensing regulations reflects a procedural effort to incorporate diverse stakeholder perspectives. This approach, while aiming for broader legitimacy and potentially more robust regulations, introduces a temporal lag between policy formulation and implementation. The reliance on federal law updates from 2025 suggests a reactive regulatory posture, seeking to align state-level mechanisms with national directives. The extended consultation period, though beneficial for inclusivity, may also present opportunities for entrenched interests to influence the final decree, potentially diluting environmental protections or creating compliance burdens. Future iterations of such processes could explore more agile, data-driven feedback loops to balance stakeholder input with the need for timely adaptation to evolving environmental challenges and economic development imperatives.
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