May 5, 2022

07:05

Fábio Leite – From Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The Federal Supreme Court (SFT) began on Wednesday, 4, the trial of the action against the resolution of the National Council of Environment (Conama) that deals with air quality standards. So far, the vote is 2 to 1 to maintain the validity of the resolution. The trial was suspended and will be continued this Thursday, 5.

In 2019, the Attorney General’s Office challenged the resolution by finding that the standard is outdated in relation to international standards and for not adequately protecting the Brazilian environment against pollution.

Reporting on the action, Minister Cármem Lúcia voted for the admissibility of the resolution and determined a period of 12 months for Conama to issue a new resolution with deadlines, inspection and control measures. “The Conama norm is insufficient with regard to a public policy for air quality in Brazil,” the minister declared.

Justices André Mendonça and Nunes Marques had a different opinion from that of Cármem Lúcia and voted to uphold the resolution. “It is not up to the judiciary to enter into the matter, because Conama, in its analysis, acted within its institutional capacity,” said Mendonça.

The Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, was against the action, disagreeing with his predecessor Raquel Dodge. Aras explains that the action being analyzed was widely debated, in addition to having WHO recommendations. “The resolution presented more protective standards than the standards of the previous resolution. The criteria were based on the exercise of technical discretion.

Part included in the “Green Package”, Conama Resolution 491/2018 is authored by the OPG after understanding that it was soft by not effectively and adequately regulating air quality standards, while leaving unprotected the fundamental rights to environmental information, the ecologically balanced environment, health, and life.