LatinNews Daily - 21 May 2026

*The lower chamber of Brazil’s congress has approved a series of bills aimed at restricting the regulatory capacity of environmental oversight authorities and facilitating mining, logging, and other extractives activities. These include proposals to reduce the protected area of the Jamanxim national park in Pará state and to impose restrictions on the federal environmental regulator (Ibama)’s punitive powers. Currently Ibama has the authority to file injunctions and impose restrictions on individuals or companies if satellite images show possible evidence of environmental rules being breached, but the bill proposes rolling back Ibama’s authority to file injunctions solely based on evidence gathered by satellites, and Ibama would be obliged to give suspects prior notice or warning of a potential injunction. Another bill that was reviewed by deputies yesterday but was not approved was a proposal to reform the processes to determine which species are endangered and which are invasive. Currently, oversight for biodiversity and management of ecosystems, including the declaration of endangered and invasive species, falls under the remit of the environment ministry, but the bill backed by lawmakers tied to the powerful agribusiness lobby proposes having both the environment and agriculture ministries decide the species lists.

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