Introduction
The ruralist bench in the National Congress approved, on July 2, 2026, the urgent regime for the processing of Bill No. 2,898/2025, which uses family farming as a pretext to weaken the fight against deforestation.
The Bill
The bill alters the Environmental Crimes Law and establishes a period of up to 24 months for the offender to regularize before the application of sanctions. Authored by federal deputy Lúcio Mosquini (MDB-RO), the PL was presented under the pretext of protecting family farming, creating a special sanction regime for landowners with up to four fiscal modules.
Fiscal modules
Fiscal modules are measurement units for properties fixed by the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) that vary from 5 to 110 hectares, depending on the municipality. In Rondônia, Mosquini's state, the module is 60 hectares. Thus, farms with up to 240 hectares - or 336 football fields - would be benefited by the bill.
Criticism of the bill
The Climate Observatory (OC) contests the justification for protecting family farming, pointing out that the proposal can benefit large areas. In a technical note published on July 3, 2026, the OC highlights that in Amazonas, for example, in most municipalities, this module corresponds to 80 to 100 hectares, which means that a small property can have up to 400 hectares, an area equivalent to 560 football fields.
Consequences
In practice, this significantly expands the scope of the proposal and can prevent the embargo of properties where illegal deforestation of large extent has occurred, favoring the continuation of the infraction and increasing the risk of new deforestation.
Other anti-environmental projects
This PL is not the only anti-environmental project by Lúcio Mosquini to advance this year in the Chamber. In May, during the infamous “Agro Week”, parliamentarians approved Bill 2,564/2025, which prohibits the use of remote embargoes by IBAMA based on satellite images. The proposal can negatively impact up to 70% of the actions currently carried out by the environmental agency in the Amazon.
Conclusion
The approval of the urgent regime for the processing of Bill No. 2,898/2025 is a setback for environmental protection in Brazil. It is essential that Brazilian society remains alert and mobilized to prevent projects like this from being approved and causing irreparable harm to the environment.
Source / Reference
Source: ClimaInfo