Brazil Congress Moves to Weaken Rousseff’s Deforestation Plan

Brazil’s Congress is poised to weaken President Dilma Rousseff’s plan to limit deforestation for a second time.

Lower house lawmakers decided yesterday to reduce the area of protected zones that border rivers in mid-sized and large properties. The bill, which is a decree from Rousseff, now goes to a vote in the Senate, Lower House Speaker Marco Maia said in Brasilia.

In May, Rousseff vetoed 12 items from a bill approved by Congress to replace the country’s 1965 forest legislation. The rejected articles reduced the area that farmers are required to preserve. Instead of the vetoed rules, Rousseff signed a decree that withdraws fines charged for illegal deforestation as long as farmers agree to replant the area.

Congress has until Oct 8 to vote on the presidential decree in both chambers or it will be voided.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Luiza Rabello in Brasilia Newsroom at mrabello@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net