Main updates introduced by State Decree No. 50,473/2026 to the SELCA

On September 16, 2026, State Decree No. 50,473/2026[1] was published, which now governs the State System of Licensing and other Environmental Control Procedures (“SELCA”), fully revoking State Decree No. 46,890/2019[2].

The new regulation adapts the state system to the provisions of Federal Law No. 15,190/2025[3] (General Environmental Licensing Law – “LGLA”) and of Federal Law No. 15,300/2025[4] (special environmental licensing), incorporating new types of environmental license, reorganizing the licensing procedures, expanding the cases of exemption from licensing, reformulating the rules applicable to environmental studies, to environmental conditions, to public participation, to the role of the authorities involved and to environmental regularization, in addition to introducing provisions related to the automatic renewal of licenses, to the electronic processing of proceedings and to the climate agenda.

Restructuring of licensing procedures

The Decree now organizes environmental licensing into four distinct procedures (art. 44[5]), allowing the developer to opt for the ordinary, simplified or special procedure, except for cases of incompatibility justified by the licensing authority:

• Ordinary Procedure

The ordinary procedure corresponds to the traditional licensing model, used in cases in which the environmental analysis requires successive stages of assessment of the feasibility, installation and operation of the project, by means of a Preliminary License (“LP”), an Installation License (“LI”) and an Operating License (“LO”), as well as the Integrated Environmental License (“LAI”).

• Simplified Procedure

Pursuant to item II, art. 44[6], the simplified procedure may take place in the two-phase, single-phase or adhesion and commitment modalities. This group includes instruments such as the Single Environmental License (“LAU”), the Installation and Operating License (“LIO”) and the License by Adhesion and Commitment (“LAC”) itself, depending on the classification of the activity and the size of the project.

The LIO, provided for in art. 49[7], now allows installation and operation to be authorized by means of a single license, provided that the environmental and locational feasibility has been previously approved.

• Special Procedure - Special Environmental License (“LAE”)

The special procedure corresponds to the licensing modality applicable to projects or activities of a strategic nature, pursuant to Federal Law No. 15,300/2025[8], and is associated with the LAE, governed by art. 55 of State Decree No. 50,473/2026[9].

Under the referred provision, the LAE consists of the administrative act that establishes conditions for the location, installation and operation of a project or activity of a strategic nature, even if it uses environmental resources or may cause, effectively or potentially, degradation of the environment.

Contrary to what the nomenclature might suggest, the Decree makes clear that the LAE does not imply a relaxation of the environmental requirements imposed. Paragraph 2 of art. 55 of State Decree No. 50,473/2026[10] expressly provides that its adoption:

- Does not waive environmental studies;

- Does not reduce environmental conditions;

- Does not rule out public participation mechanisms; and

- Does not eliminate the need for statements from the authorities involved.

The Decree itself clarifies that the purpose of the LAE is procedural rationalization and the prioritization of administrative processing, preserving the same standard of environmental protection applicable to the other licensing modalities (art. 55, § 3[11]).

Its term of validity must observe a minimum period of 5 years and a maximum of 10 years (art. 55, § 1[12]).

In addition, the LAE has its own rules regarding public participation. Art. 71[13] provides for holding a public hearing in proceedings subject to the preparation of the Environmental Impact Study and its respective Environmental Impact Report (“EIA/RIMA”), including in LAE proceedings, before the final decision on the issuance of the license.

The same provision determines that the EIA/RIMA must remain available to the public for at least 45 days before the public hearing is held (art. 71, § 1[14]). In addition, it allows more than one public hearing to be held, upon a reasoned decision of the licensing authority, and provides for the possibility of prior use of other public participation mechanisms, such as public consultations, requests for technical input and participatory meetings, to clarify doubts and receive contributions from society (art. 71, §§ 2 and 3[15]).

Art. 71, § 4[16], also authorizes INEA to require the developer to carry out specific outreach directed at the persons directly affected by the project or activity.

It is worth noting that qualifying a project or activity as being of a strategic nature is the exclusive competence of the State Governor, by means of a reasoned act that considers parameters such as positive environmental impact, job creation and improvement of public infrastructure (arts. 34 and 35). These projects will be included in the State Registry of Strategic Projects and Activities (“CAE”) (art. 36) and, like sanitation, energy transition and climate adaptation projects, will have processing priority, without any reduction in environmental protection (art. 33, § 3).

• Corrective Procedure

While environmental regularization was dealt with succinctly in State Decree No. 46,890/2019, the new regulation devotes arts. 89 to 97[17] to the matter. The procedure now governs situations involving:

- Activities installed without a license;

- Activities under installation without a license; and

- Activities in operation without a license.

Art. 89 of State Decree 50,473/2026[18] reformulates the environmental regularization regime provided for in the previous Decree through a system that differentiates the applicable treatment according to the situation of the irregular project or activity. The rule establishes distinct instruments for projects already installed or under installation without the due environmental control instrument, for activities that were operating without an environmental license on December 8, 2025 and for activities that operate without an environmental license and do not fall within the specific case of the Corrective Operating License ("LOC"). To this end, the Decree now provides for the use of the Regularization Certificate, the LOC, the LO and the Operating and Recovery License ("LOR"), as the case may be, with the Commitment Agreement and the Environmental Adequacy Authorization ("AAA") as instruments of the procedure. This system occupies the entire Chapter IV of the regulation (arts. 89 to 97[19]).

The LOC, provided for in arts. 56[20] and 93 to 95, is intended exclusively for activities that were operating without an environmental license on December 8, 2025 and will only be issued upon a voluntary request. The procedure involves the issuance of an infraction notice, when applicable, the execution of a Commitment Agreement and the issuance of an AAA, with the LOC being issued only after full compliance with the obligations undertaken (art. 94).

The Decree also provides for minimum content for the Commitment Agreements, including the definition of obligations, a physical-financial schedule, an estimate of investments and quarterly execution targets (art. 89, § 3[21]).

For projects with significant environmental impact, the Commitment Agreement must contain guarantees of execution of the investment, in the form of a security deposit, surety insurance or bank guarantee (art. 89, § 4[22]). The Commitment Agreement and the AAA will have a maximum term of 3 years, extendable only once for up to 2 years (art. 89, § 1, II), and the licensing authority must define compensatory measures for the impacts caused by the absence of a license (art. 89, § 5).

Finally, art. 91[23] clarifies that regularization does not remove the duty to repair any damage caused, nor the determination of administrative liability. Criminal liability also remains, except in the case provided for in art. 26, § 5, of the LGLA[24], which establishes the extinction of punishability of the crime provided for in art. 60 of Federal Law No. 9,605/1998[25], when the LOC is requested voluntarily.

Expansion of the types of environmental license

Among the most evident changes is the inclusion of new types of environmental license within the SELCA. State Decree No. 46,890/2019 already provided for: the Integrated Environmental License (“LAI”); the Preliminary License (“LP”); the Installation License (“LI”); the Operating License (“LO”); the Environmental License by Adhesion and Commitment (“LAC”); the Single Environmental License (“LAU”); the Environmental Recovery License (“LAR”); and the Operating and Recovery License (“LOR”). State Decree No. 50,473/2026 adds the Installation and Operating License (“LIO”), the Special Environmental License (“LAE”) and the Corrective Operating License (“LOC”).

Rules for the License by Adhesion and Commitment (“LAC” - art. 51)

State Decree No. 50,473/2026 reformulates the rules applicable to the LAC, defining the cases of eligibility and the situations in which its use is prohibited. The following now qualify for this modality:

Low or Medium Impact Water Supply and Sanitary Sewage Systems;

Economic Forestry Projects Located in Forest Districts;

Road and Rail Transport of Hazardous and Non-Hazardous Products and Waste; and

Waterway Transport of Non-Hazardous Products and Waste.

On the other hand, art. 51, § 5, prohibits the use of the LAC, among other cases, for activities already started without a license, mining projects, activities involving the removal or relocation of population, projects in contaminated areas, in conservation units or buffer zones (except Environmental Protection Areas), in Ramsar Sites, in areas of protected archaeological or cultural assets, in indigenous, quilombola and traditional community lands (except if carried out by the community itself), in areas of geological or hydrological risk and in the territorial sea. The LAC will be issued electronically, without prior inspection, subject to sample-based inspection (art. 51, §§ 6 to 8).

Activities not subject to environmental licensing (arts. 38 and 39)

Arts. 38 and 39 of State Decree No. 50,473/2026 now consolidate and expressly govern cases of activities not subject to environmental licensing, providing greater regulatory detail on the subject in comparison with State Decree No. 46,890/2019.

Art. 38 removes the licensing requirement for emergency and urgent works, electricity distribution works of up to 138 kV (subject to locational restrictions), maintenance of pre-existing infrastructure, maintenance dredging and, among others:

- Voluntary Drop-off Points Linked to Reverse Logistics;

- Eco-points;

- Eco-centers;

- Agroforestry Systems; and

- Fallow Practice.

Art. 39, in turn, exempts from licensing, provided they are of low environmental impact, agricultural and livestock activities such as crops, extensive and semi-intensive livestock farming and small-scale intensive livestock farming, as well as small-scale soil and water conservation practices, provided that the property is regular or undergoing regularization before the Rural Environmental Registry (“CAR”). In any case, the exemption does not exclude inspection or the obtaining of other autonomous instruments, such as vegetation suppression authorizations and grants (arts. 38, § 1, and 41, I).

The Decree also provides for the possibility of obtaining a certificate of non-requirement of environmental licensing, of an optional nature, the absence of which cannot result in a sanction, except upon prior notification by INEA (art. 41, II and sole paragraph).

Environmental studies (arts. 58 to 69)

State Decree No. 50,473/2026 reorganizes the rules on environmental studies within the SELCA and now provides, in a systematized manner, for the technical instruments that may support environmental licensing proceedings Art. 65 now provides for, among others:

EIA/RIMA;

- Simplified Environmental Report (“RAS”);

- Environmental Control Plan (“PCA”);

- Environmental Control Report (“RCA”);

- Basic Environmental Plan (“PBA”); and

- Project Characterization Report (“RCE”).

In comparison with State Decree No. 46,890/2019, which provided, in addition to the EIA/RIMA and the RAS, for the Summary Environmental Diagnosis ("DAR"), for activities subject to the LAC, and the Detailed Environmental Diagnosis ("DAD"), for the other cases, the new regulation no longer provides for these diagnoses, replacing them, respectively, with the RCE and with the RCA and PCA set.

Art. 65, § 4, determines that INEA will require a Greenhouse Gas ("GEE") Emissions Inventory and the respective Mitigation Plan for projects with high environmental impact and for activities intensive in GEE emissions, regardless of their size or polluting potential.

Liability of the developer and of the technical lead (arts. 11 to 13)

As a counterpart to procedural simplification, the Decree reinforces the liability of those who provide information to the environmental agency. The information and studies submitted by developers and technical leads enjoy a presumption of good faith, but omission or the provision of false information entails civil, administrative and criminal liability, with notice to the professional council and to the Public Prosecutor’s Office (art. 11).

The statement of responsibility becomes mandatory for the request of any environmental control instrument, and not only for licensing, as provided for in State Decree No. 46,890/2019 (art. 12, caput). In addition, land subdivisions, condominiums and marinas, mineral extraction and dredging activities, as well as high-impact projects, now require a technical lead for the constant monitoring of the installation or operation, who must submit periodic reports on compliance with the conditions. In the event of the professional’s withdrawal, the developer will have 30 days to appoint a substitute, under penalty of suspension of the license (art. 12, §§ 1 to 3).

This logic is reflected in the simplified procedures. In the LAC, the finding of a false or misleading document or information will be reported to the competent authority for the purposes of art. 69-A of Federal Law No. 9,605/1998 (art. 51, § 11), and automatic renewal depends on a report on compliance with the conditions signed by a qualified professional (art. 87, § 6).

Environmental conditions (arts. 14 to 22)

State Decree No. 50,473/2026 devotes arts. 14 to 22 to the rules on environmental conditions, giving the subject a more systematized treatment than that observed in State Decree No. 46,890/2019. Art. 14 establishes an order of priority for the definition of environmental measures, which must observe, successively: prevention; mitigation; repair; and compensation.

In addition, art. 15[26] determines that the conditions observe criteria of proportionality, technical grounds and causal link with the impacts effectively identified in the environmental licensing proceeding.

The provision also prohibits the imposition of conditions intended to compensate for impacts caused exclusively by third parties, to make up for omissions of the Government or to transfer to the developer obligations with no direct relation to the impacts arising from the licensed activity.

The regulation also governs the forms of environmental compensation that may be adopted within licensing. Among them, the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions through removals accounted for by the developer itself or through the acquisition and cancellation of carbon credits (art. 16, V[27]), as well as compensatory measures related to impacts on traditional communities, artisanal fishers and low-income populations (art. 16, VI[28]).

Public participation and authorities involved

Public participation is now specifically governed by arts. 70 to 73 of State Decree No. 50,473/2026. Art. 70 provides for the following public participation mechanisms: public consultation; request for technical input; participatory meeting; and public hearing.

Pursuant to art. 71[29], at least one public hearing must be held in licensing proceedings subject to the preparation of an EIA/RIMA, including in LAE proceedings, before the final decision on the issuance of the license. The same provision determines that the EIA/RIMA must remain available to the public for at least 45 days before the public hearing is held.

Art. 73, in turn, establishes that public consultations will observe a minimum period of 15 (fifteen) days and a maximum of 60 (sixty) days for the submission of contributions.

State Decree No. 50,473/2026 also now specifically governs the role of the so-called "authorities involved", a subject dealt with in arts. 74 to 86, adopting the terminology of the LGLA. Their statement does not bind INEA’s decision and, if not submitted within the stipulated period, does not prevent the continuation of the environmental licensing proceeding or the issuance of the license (art. 75, I and III).

Arts. 77 to 79 establish deadlines for statements by the authorities involved, providing for:

- 30 days for a statement on the Terms of Reference, extendable for 15 days;

- 90 days for a statement on the EIA/RIMA;

- 30 days for a statement on the other environmental studies, extendable for another 30 days.

Art. 83, § 1[30], also establishes a reconsideration procedure before the reasoned disregard of the conclusions presented by the authorities involved.

Climate agenda, energy transition and new groups of activities

Annex I of State Decree No. 50,473/2026 introduces changes in the classification of activities subject to environmental licensing and now contemplates specific groups aimed at sectors that did not have their own grouping in Annex I of State Decree No. 46,890/2019.

Among the changes introduced, the following groups stand out:

Group XXXII - Energy Infrastructure and Storage Systems, covering substations, transmission lines and battery storage systems;

Group XXXIII - Decarbonization and Carbon Removal Technologies, including carbon capture, transport and storage activities (“CCUS”), BECCS projects and other greenhouse gas removal technologies;

Group XXXIV - Digital Infrastructure and Data Processing Centers, contemplating data centers and their associated infrastructure.

The creation of these groups demonstrates the incorporation, into the SELCA classification system, of activities related to energy infrastructure, to decarbonization and carbon removal technologies and to digital infrastructure, subjects that did not have a specific grouping in the previous regulation.

Automatic renewal, analysis deadlines and electronic processing

Arts. 42, § 8, and 87, §§ 4 to 6, of State Decree No. 50,473/2026 allow the automatic renewal, for an equal period, of licenses for projects of low and medium environmental impact, upon an electronic declaration by the developer that there has been no change in the size and characteristics of the activity or in the applicable legislation and that the conditions have been or are being fulfilled, accompanied by a report signed by a qualified professional. The cases will be governed by INEA and, in the case of the LP, automatic renewal is limited to a single time and to 50% of the original term.

The regulation also establishes maximum deadlines for the analysis of license applications (art. 27), including:

- up to 14 months for LAI with EIA/RIMA;

- up to 12 months for LAI with RAS;

- up to 8 months for LAI in the other cases;

- up to 10 months for LP with EIA/RIMA;

- up to 6 months for LP in the other cases;

- up to 12 months for LAE with EIA/RIMA;

- up to 6 months for LAE in the other cases;

- up to 5 months for the other licenses.

! The lapse of these deadlines, however, does not imply tacit issuance of the license (art. 28).

Another relevant change concerns the processing of environmental control procedures. Art. 24[31] determines that proceedings be processed entirely electronically and provides for virtual meetings between developers and INEA analysts.

State Decree No. 50,473/2026 entered into force on the date of its publication, but art. 119[32] granted INEA a period of 180 (one hundred and eighty) days to adapt its systems specifically with regard to the chronological order of analysis (art. 8) and to the virtual meetings platform (art. 24, §§ 1 and 2).

Transition rules (arts. 116 and 117)

Art. 117 of State Decree No. 50,473/2026 establishes that ongoing proceedings must respect the obligations and schedules already established until the conclusion of the current stage, with the new rules applying to the subsequent stages, without restarting the analysis or requiring new studies, except when indispensable to the prevention of a relevant, duly justified environmental risk, ensuring the adoption of the simplest and most favorable procedure when compatible with environmental protection.

Art. 116, in turn, provides that licensing by means of the LAC will be implemented gradually, by typology, through an INEA operational rule, to be issued within 6 (six) months of the publication of the Decree for the typologies of water supply, sanitary sewage and economic forestry (art. 51[33]).

Outlook

The new SELCA aligns licensing in the State of Rio de Janeiro with the LGLA and with Federal Law No. 15,300/2025, combining procedural simplification, such as the LIO, the expansion of the LAC and automatic renewal, with greater accountability of the developer and of the technical lead for the accuracy of the information provided. Also gaining relevance are the objective parameters for setting conditions and the non-binding nature of the statements of the authorities involved, which tend to provide greater legal certainty and predictability.

From a practical standpoint, developers with ongoing proceedings should assess the stage they are in and any advantages of migrating to simpler procedures, while activities that were operating without a license on December 8, 2025 should consider the LOC route, which depends on a voluntary request. Finally, it is recommended to monitor the issuance of INEA’s operational rules, on which the effective application of the LAC, automatic renewal and virtual meetings depends.

[1] Available at: https://www.legisweb.com.br/legislacao/?id=501233

[2] Available at: https://www.inea.rj.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Decreto_46.890_2019.pdf

[3] Available at: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2023-2026/2025/lei/l15190.htm

[4] Available at: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2023-2026/2025/lei/l15300.htm

[5] Art. 44. Environmental licensing may take place: I - through the ordinary procedure, in the three-phase modality; II - through the simplified procedure, in the modalities: a) two-phase; b) single phase; or c) by adhesion and commitment; III - through the special procedure, as defined by Federal Law No. 15,300/2025; and IV - through the corrective procedure. Sole paragraph. The developer may opt for the ordinary, simplified or special procedure, except for cases of incompatibility duly justified by the licensing authority, which will convert the requested license into the most appropriate one, with due respect for the adversarial principle.

[6] Art. 44. Environmental licensing may take place: (...) II - through the simplified procedure, in the modalities: a) two-phase; b) single phase; or c) by adhesion and commitment;

[7] Art. 49. The Installation and Operating License - LIO is granted in cases of a project or activity with previously approved environmental and locational feasibility, before the implementation of the project or activity begins, and authorizes, concomitantly, installation and operation, establishing the conditions and environmental control measures. § 1 The term of validity of the LIO will correspond, at a minimum, to that established in the installation schedule and will not exceed 10 (ten) years. § 2 The LIO may be requested for duly licensed projects or activities that have not yet completed the respective installation phase.

[8] Available at: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2023-2026/2025/lei/l15300.htm

[9] Art. 55. The Special Environmental License - LAE is the administrative act issued by the licensing authority that establishes conditions to be observed and complied with by the developer for the location, installation and operation of an activity or project of a strategic nature, pursuant to Federal Law No. 15,300/2025, even if it uses environmental resources or may cause, effectively or potentially, significant degradation of the environment, under the terms of said Federal Law. § 1 The term of validity of the LAE will be at least 5 (five) years and will not exceed 10 (ten) years. § 2 The adoption of the LAE will not imply the waiver or reduction of the required environmental studies, of the environmental conditions, of the applicable public participation mechanisms or of the statements of the authorities involved provided for in the applicable legislation. § 3 The use of the LAE is intended for procedural rationalization and the prioritization of administrative processing, without prejudice to the level of environmental protection ensured to the other licensing modalities.

[10] Art. 55, § 2 The adoption of the LAE will not imply the waiver or reduction of the required environmental studies, of the environmental conditions, of the applicable public participation mechanisms or of the statements of the authorities involved provided for in the applicable legislation.

[11] Art. 55, § 3 The use of the LAE is intended for procedural rationalization and the prioritization of administrative processing, without prejudice to the level of environmental protection ensured to the other licensing modalities.

[12] Art. 55, § 1 The term of validity of the LAE will be at least 5 (five) years and will not exceed 10 (ten) years.

[13] Art. 71. At least 1 (one) public hearing will be held in environmental licensing proceedings for activities or projects subject to the preparation of an EIA/Rima, including in Special Environmental License - LAE proceedings, before the final decision on the issuance of the LP or the LAE or, in the case of a two-phase or single-phase simplified procedure, on the issuance of the corresponding license.

[14] Art. 71, § 1 The EIA and the Rima must be available to the public at least 45 (forty-five) days in advance of the holding of the public hearing.

[15] Art. 71, § 2 The licensing authority’s decision on holding more than one public hearing must be justified by the unfeasibility of holding a single event, by the complexity of the activity or project, by the breadth of the geographic distribution of the area of influence or by the occurrence of an act of God or force majeure that has made it impossible to hold the scheduled hearing or to continue it. § 3 The licensing authority may, at its discretion, use any of the other public participation mechanisms provided for in art. 70 to prepare for the holding of the public hearing, resolve doubts and gather criticisms and suggestions.

[16] Art. 71, § 4 INEA may require the developer to carry out specific outreach directed at those directly affected by the project or activity.

[17] Available at: https://www.legisweb.com.br/legislacao/?id=501233

[18] Art. 89. Projects and activities must be regularized through the issuance of: I - a Regularization Certificate, preceded by the execution of a commitment agreement, for projects or activities already installed or under installation without the due control instrument; II - a Corrective Operating License - LOC, for projects or activities that, on December 8, 2025, were operating without the due environmental license, upon a voluntary request, preceded by a commitment agreement and an Environmental Adequacy Authorization - AAA; III - an Operating License - LO or an Operating and Recovery License - LOR, preceded by a commitment agreement and AAA, for projects or activities that are operating without the due environmental license and that do not fall under item II.

[19] Available at: https://www.legisweb.com.br/legislacao/?id=501233

[20] Art. 56. The Corrective Operating License - LOC regularizes an activity or project that is operating without an environmental license, observing the corrective procedure provided for in Chapter IV. Sole paragraph. The term of validity of the LOC will be at least 3 (three) years and will not exceed 8 (eight) years.

[21] Art. 89, § 3 The commitment agreement will contain a detailed description of its object, the amount of the planned investment, the physical-financial schedule for the execution and implementation of the required works and services, with quarterly targets to be met.

[22] Art. 89, § 4 Whenever it concerns an activity or project of significant environmental impact, the agreement will contain guarantees of execution of the investment through one of the following modalities:

[23] Art. 91. The execution of the instruments provided for in this Chapter does not preclude the determination of administrative and criminal liability, except, in the latter case, for the hypothesis of § 5 of art. 26 of Federal Law No. 15,190/2025, nor the obligation to repair any damage caused.

[24] Art. 26. Corrective environmental licensing intended for the regularization of an activity or project that, on the date of publication of this Law, is operating without a valid environmental license takes place through the issuance of an LOC. (...) § 5 When the LOC is requested voluntarily, compliance with all the requirements necessary for its issuance will extinguish the punishability of the crime provided for in art. 60 of Law No. 9,605, of February 12, 1998 (Environmental Crimes Law), and any proceedings, enforcement of sentences and limitation periods will be suspended during the term of the commitment agreement referred to in §§ 2 and 3 of this article.

[25] Art. 60. To build, renovate, expand, install or operate, in any part of the national territory, potentially polluting establishments, works or services, without a license or authorization from the competent environmental agencies, or in breach of the pertinent legal and regulatory rules: Penalty - detention, from 6 (six) months to 2 (two) years, or a fine, or both penalties, cumulatively.

[26] Art. 15. The environmental agency, in defining and quantifying conditions, will observe the following: I - proportionality with the environmental impacts, effective or potential; II - indispensability of technical justification; III - causal link with the environmental impacts, effective or potential; IV - proximity, whenever possible, between the impacting project or activity and the location of the environmental compensation, with preference for the same hydrographic region, without prejudice to the possibility of using funds regulated in legislation for the indirect fulfillment of the condition; V - not serving to prevent, mitigate, repair or compensate for impacts caused exclusively by third parties, in situations in which the developer has no control, nor to make up for deficiencies or damage resulting from omissions of the Government that have not been caused or aggravated by the project; VI - impossibility of obliging the developer to maintain or operate services that are the responsibility of the Government, except in cases in which the project or activity makes the maintenance and operation necessary or substantially aggravates the demand for services; and VII - not serving the mere unjustified postponement of a study to a later phase of licensing.

[27] Art. 16, V - offsetting of greenhouse gas (GEE) emissions, through removals accounted for in the developer’s own GEE inventory or through the acquisition and definitive cancellation of carbon credits, as provided for in the applicable legislation;

[28] Art. 16, VI - socio-environmental compensation when the project affects traditional communities, artisanal fishers or low-income populations;

[29] Art. 71. At least 1 (one) public hearing will be held in environmental licensing proceedings for activities or projects subject to the preparation of an EIA/Rima, including in Special Environmental License - LAE proceedings, before the final decision on the issuance of the LP or the LAE or, in the case of a two-phase or single-phase simplified procedure, on the issuance of the corresponding license. § 1 The EIA and the Rima must be available to the public at least 45 (forty-five) days in advance of the holding of the public hearing.

[30] Art. 83, § 1 Before disregarding the conclusions of the authority involved, INEA must request the authority involved to justify or reconsider its statement within 10 (ten) days.

[31] Art. 24. Environmental control procedures must be processed electronically in all their phases. § 1 INEA will provide a platform to enable meetings, in a virtual environment, between the developer or its legal representative and the analyst responsible for its proceeding, in order to clarify issues related to the proceeding. § 2 An INEA rule will govern, among other matters: I - the duration of each meeting, with a minimum of 10 minutes; II - the number of weekly hours of each sector to be allocated to virtual meetings, which will not be less than two hours; III - the requirements for scheduling, which will include a summary of the clarifications sought and proof of legal representation; IV - the period during which the meeting will remain recorded.

[32] Art. 119. This Decree enters into force on the date of its publication, except for the provisions of art. 8 and of §§ 1 and 2 of art. 24, in relation to which INEA will have 180 (one hundred and eighty) days, from the publication of this Decree, to adapt its systems.

[33] Art. 51. The License by Adhesion and Commitment - LAC is granted upon submission of the required documents, provided for in a specific rule, and approves, in a single phase, the environmental feasibility and the location, and authorizes the installation and operation of the following projects or activities: I - low or medium impact water and sanitary sewage treatment systems and plants, according to an INEA operational rule; II - economic forestry projects or activities located in Forest Districts established by the State Executive Branch and already licensed, under the terms of State Law No. 9,972/2023; III - road and rail transport of hazardous and non-hazardous products and waste, including those arising from construction, renovation, demolition and other civil construction processes, classified as hazardous under the applicable legislation, as well as hazardous tailings, with origin, destination or transit in the territory of the State of Rio de Janeiro, meeting the specific requirements provided for in an INEA operational rule; IV - waterway transport of non-hazardous products and waste, with origin, destination or transit in the territory of the State of Rio de Janeiro, meeting the specific requirements provided for in an INEA operational rule; V - other activities or projects qualified as low impact.