Mato Grosso State Legislative Assembly approves mining in environmental protection areas

By a margin of 18 votes to 5, with one absentee, Mato Grosso state congress approved a Complementary Law Project (PLC no. 58/2020) that authorizes mining in environmental protection areas in rural properties, allowing the proprietors to make an environmental compensation in return.

The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office has spoken out against the proposal. “Although the state can legislate on environmental law, it can create laws only to increase the protection on the legal reserve, and not to decrease the protection on the legal reserve. They are allowing an extremely polluting activity to the environment, that could cause many problems,” said Erich Masson, public prosecutor in Mato Grosso, heard by Jornal Nacional.

The bill was authored by Congressman Carlos Avallone and it is up to the state governor, Mauro Mendes, to sanction the measure. He said, via his office, that he is waiting for a legal opinion from the state’s Attorney General’s Office before making his decision.