New procedures regarding the licensing proceedings in te State of São Paulo
In brief
On August 24th, 2022, CETESB approved its Board Decision no. 081/2022/P that established new mandatory procedures regarding the administrative licensing proceedings in the State of São Paulo.
More details
The new Board Decision established a number of definitions, rules and procedures that must be observed in order to allow the issuance of environmental licenses and authorizations by CETESB within the administrative licensing proceedings in the State of São Paulo.
The Board Decision no. 081/2022/P provides rules regarding the competence and attributions of CETESB’s inside bodies to issue environmental licenses, the forms of communication with interested parties within the licensing proceeding, as well as rules that establish the beginning and processing of the licensing proceedings.
Moreover, the new Board Decision specifies the procedures related to the licensing proceedings of ordinary and complex rites.
The main update brought by the Board Decision, however, is related to the provision establishing administrative appeals against acts that reject the emission or renewal of environmental licenses and authorizations by CETESB.
Below are the rules brought by the Board Decision that formalizes the procedures regarding the administrative appeals:
1 – An administrative defense can be filed against a CETESB decision that rejects an environmental licensing request, within 15 (fifteen) days. The term to file the administrative defense will commence on the date of acknowledgement of the decision that rejects the licensing request or renewal;
2 – After the administrative defense, in the case of a new decision that maintains the licensing or authorization request rejection, the interested party will be notified to present its administrative appeal, within 15 (fifteen) days;
3- After the filing of the administrative appeal, the first instance administrative authority will have a 5 (five) day term, counted from the date of receipt of the case files, to eventually reconsider its rejection decision or to forward the case files to the superior administrative authority;
4 – There will be no further appeal against the superior administrative authority’s (second instance) decision;
5 – The decision that grants or rejects the request for the issuance or renewal of a license, as well as environmental authorization, will be published in the State’s Official Gazette. After the decision becomes final, the administrative licensing process will be shelved.
It should be noticed that the decisions of the administrative judging authorities must be thoroughly substantiated regarding the acceptance or rejection of the interested party’s licensing or authorization request.
Finally, the Board Decision provides that administrative processes that remain with no movements by the interested party for 120 (one hundred and twenty) days will be shelved.
Our Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability team is available to provide further clarification on the subject.
