Brazil senate passes bill to fast-track amazon highway project through environmental licensing overhaul

Brazil’s Senate has approved controversial legislation that could dramatically accelerate the paving of a major highway cutting through pristine Amazon rainforest. The new environmental licensing law gives the executive branch sweeping powers to fast-track infrastructure projects deemed “strategic,” potentially bypassing rigorous environmental reviews that have historically protected sensitive ecosystems.

The legislation’s most immediate beneficiary is likely the BR-319 highway, a crumbling 550-mile road that would connect Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, with Rondônia state to the south. Originally constructed in the 1970s, the highway has fallen into disrepair, leaving it largely impassable during rainy seasons. Proponents argue that paving BR-319 is essential for regional economic development and better integration of Brazil’s northern Amazon territories with the rest of the country.

However, environmental scientists and conservationists warn that completing this highway could trigger catastrophic deforestation in one of the Amazon’s most intact regions. The road would slice through 885 kilometers of rainforest, potentially opening vast areas to illegal logging, cattle ranching, and agricultural expansion. Many experts fear this could push the Amazon past a critical ecological tipping point, where large sections transform from carbon-absorbing rainforest into carbon-releasing savanna.

The bill, originally introduced as a temporary decree by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in August, raced through both houses of Congress just before its 180-day deadline expired. It now awaits Lula’s final signature to become law, marking what critics call a significant rollback of Brazil’s environmental protections.