Brazilian President Uses Line-Item To Veto About A Dozen Clauses In Controversial Forest Law
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Monday revealed the details of her line-item veto to proposed changes to the country's Forest Code, which governs how much forest landowners are required to preserve. Rousseff vetoed a dozen clauses of the revised Forest Code and modified several others. The bill now goes back to the Chamber of Deputies, followed by the Senate and House, before returning again to Rousseff. A final decision isn't expected until after the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.
Among the dozen clauses vetoed by Rousseff was a blanket amnesty for landowners who illegally cleared forest before July 2008. With the exception of some smallholders representing about a quarter of rural properties (determined on a municipality by municipality basis, depending on several factors), landowners will be required to restore deforested areas up to levels specified by the law, including along waterways. The version of the legislation passed by the House only required a ten meter wide zone of forest along rivers, but Rousseff extended the area to up to 100 meters for large rivers on properties owned by large producers, with more limited protected areas along smaller rivers and for smaller properties. Forests on hilltops and steep slopes must also be protected (deforestation on slopes and mountaintops over 1,800 meters in elevation before 2008 is exempted). Failure to meet Forest Code obligations will result in fines and loss of access to subsidized agricultural loans.
Rousseff maintained a provision that would allow the legal reserve requirement to fall from 80 percent to 50 percent in states where 65 percent of forest is locked up in protected areas and indigenous territories. The legal reserve is the proportion of land a property owner is required to maintain as forest. Controversially, the revised Forest Code allows landowners to plant exotic species like Eucalyptus, pine, oil palm, and coffee restore their legal forest reserve.
Rousseff eliminated a clause that would have exempted urban landowners from maintaining a legal reserve. She also nixed a paragraph that would have left mangroves without protection, although the bill's text still allows opening up some areas for shrimp farms.
EDIT
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0529-forest-code-veto.html#
