The New Paradigm of Environmental Licensing: An Analysis of Law No. 15,190/2025

The enactment of Law No. 15,190/2025, which establishes the General Environmental Licensing Law, represents a paradigmatic shift in the Brazilian legal framework. By creating a systematized national regulatory framework, the legislation directly impacts the legal and operational feasibility of projects across all productive sectors. It seeks to provide greater coherence, predictability, and legal certainty to the licensing process, mitigating the historical scenario of regulatory fragmentation. Nevertheless, full standardization is limited by Brazil’s federal structure, which preserves the supplementary and executive authority of the States, the Federal District, and the Municipalities, requiring ongoing harmonization among different regulatory levels.

From a business-law perspective, the new legislation signals a more stable regulatory environment through the establishment of objective criteria, procedural standardization, and clearer delineation of administrative powers. The introduction of maximum deadlines for review and decision-making represents a significant step forward in enhancing investment predictability. However, as expressly provided in Law No. 15,190/2025—and maintained after the amendments introduced by Law No. 15,300/2025—the expiration of these deadlines does not result in tacit approval of the license, but rather allows for subsidiary action by the competent authority or the adoption of substitute administrative measures. This framework reinforces the need for diligent conduct and active legal management by entrepreneurs throughout the entire process.

Among the most significant innovations is the License by Adhesion and Commitment (LAC), which incorporates a model of qualified regulatory trust based on the entrepreneur’s self-declaration of compliance. Applicable to projects with lower pollution potential or reduced environmental impact, the LAC provides greater procedural agility while maintaining full administrative, civil, and criminal liability. In this context, the model transfers to the entrepreneur a substantial legal burden of accuracy and technical compliance, making the implementation of robust environmental governance and compliance mechanisms indispensable.

The creation of the Special Environmental License (LAE) is also a highly impactful measure for projects deemed strategic by the Public Administration. It establishes a special and priority procedure designed to reconcile environmental protection with the swift execution of major infrastructure projects. Its application requires coordinated institutional planning and technical rigor, particularly given the economic and territorial relevance of the covered projects, as well as the heightened scrutiny by oversight bodies and the Judiciary.

Additionally, the law establishes express exemptions from licensing for activities with reduced environmental impact or already consolidated operations, particularly affecting certain agricultural activities and maintenance interventions in existing infrastructure. This regulatory rationalization aims to reduce disproportionate obstacles, without waiving mandatory compliance with rules concerning the protection of native vegetation, conservation of sensitive biomes, and adherence to the Forest Code and other applicable environmental statutes, which remain fully enforceable.

Another highly relevant aspect is the more objective delineation of the roles of authorities involved in the licensing process, such as IPHAN, FUNAI, and the Palmares Cultural Foundation. By establishing clearer procedural rules for institutional manifestation and integration, the legislation contributes to reducing jurisdictional conflicts and enhancing administrative rationality. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of such coordination depends on proper subordinate regulation and the institutional maturity of the competent authorities, requiring continuous technical and legal monitoring by entrepreneurs.

In the field of corporate governance and risk management, the new regulatory framework significantly raises the level of legal responsibility associated with environmental licensing. The expansion of self-declaratory mechanisms, combined with the maintenance of strict civil liability for environmental damages, requires organizations to adopt solid compliance structures, environmental auditing, and preventive liability management. New corrective environmental regularization instruments also assume a strategic role in corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, and due diligence processes, demanding specialized legal assessment to ensure adequate risk mitigation.

In this new regulatory landscape, environmental licensing consolidates itself not merely as a formal requirement, but as a central element of the legal and economic strategy of enterprises. The proper interpretation and application of Law No. 15,190/2025, together with its complementary rules and subordinate regulations, require deep technical expertise, institutional coordination capacity, and qualified preventive action. The growing procedural complexity, combined with strengthened accountability mechanisms and the consolidation of case law still under development in higher courts, makes specialized legal counsel not only advisable but essential. Through such technical guidance, companies ensure not only regulatory compliance, but also asset protection, operational stability, and the legal certainty indispensable to the feasibility and sustainability of projects in contemporary Brazil.7

Larissa Almeida – Attorney

Postgraduate student in Environmental and Mining Law at PUC Minas.