Access to Information Law

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Brazil — Access to Information law (Lei no. 10.650, de 16 de Abril de 2003)
LAW No. 10.650, of April 16, 2003

Regulates public access to data and information de tained by organizations and entities part of the
Brazilian National
Environmental System (SISNAMA)

The President of the Brazilian Republic makes pub lic that the National Congress has decreed and
the President has sanctioned the following law:

Article 1 – This law regulates public access to data and information detained by entities part of
the Brazilian National Environmental System , created by Law No. 6.938, of April 31, 1981.

Art. 2 – The organizations and entities of the public administration part of SISNAMA are obliged
to permit public access to documents, procedures and any type of administrative documentation
that deal with environmental matters and to disclose any environmental information under its
guard in written, visual, audio or electr onic format, specially those related to:

I – environmental quality;

II – policies, plans and programs that may cause environmental impact;

III – results of monitoring and auditing of pollution control systems and polluting activities as
well as data referring to plan s and actions related to recuperation of degraded areas

IV – accidents, risk situations or environmental emergencies;

V- gas and liquid emissions and solid waste generation;

VI – toxic and hazardous substances;

VII – biodiversity;

VIII – genetic modified organisms.

§ 1° Any individual, with no need to prove his/he r specific interests, will have access to the
information he/she may request which is described in this law, upon written request, in which
he/she will commit not to use the information obtained for any commercial purpose, under risk
of being penalized for violation of civil, criminal, copyrights or industrial property rights, and
must disclose the origin of the information any time he/she will make use of the same.

§ 2° Commercial, industrial and fi nancial secrets should be protected, as well as those related to
the internal communications of governmental organizati ons and entities.

§ 3° In order to protect the secret s referred to in § 2 above, legal

entities or individuals should communicate the public admini stration about the privileged
characteristics of the informati on, in writing and upon justification.

§ 4° In case any individual should request to ha ve access to any administrative procedure, he/she
will be allowed to have access to the material during working hours, in the same building where
the document may be found, and in the presence of the public servant in charge of supervising
the documentation.

§ 5° Thirty days after filing the request, the information should be disclosed or the
documentation presented to the solicitant by the public authority, according to this article.

Art. 3° In order to guarantee the application of this law, the public authorities may demand the
disclosure of any type of information from privat e entities, according to a specific system that
should be created by all governmental entities pa rt of SISNAMA, about the actual and potential
environmental impacts of the private entities activ ities, regardless of the existence or need to
establish any administrative procedure.

Art. 4° The public entities of SISNAMA shall publish in the o fficial gazette and make easily
accessible to the public in areas within their pr emises, lists and reports containing the following
information:

I – licensing requests, permits and requests for renewal of permits;

II – requests and licenses for suppression of vegetation;

III – fines and penalties;

IV – agreements for the adjustment of environmental conduct;

V – recurrence of environmental violations;

VI – administrative appeals and their decisions;

VII – filling of envi ronmental impact assessments a nd results of their analysis.

Sole paragraph: The reports containing the data described in this article should be made public
thirty days after being issued.

Art. 5° The refusal for disclosure of informati on or to give access to documents and procedures
should be justified, and shall be s ubject to administrative appeal with in fifteen days counted as of
the publication of the decision through the issuance of a registered correspondence or by
publication in the official gazette.

Art. 6° VETO

Art. 7° VETO

Art. 8° The organizations part of SISNAMA shall publish annual reports related to water and air
quality, according to regulamentation, and to other environmental elements.

Art. 9° The information to be disclosed accordin g to this law shall be subject to payment of
revenues pertaining to the cost of their reproduction, and such price sh
all be established by
specific norms by the federal, state or municipal competent authorities.

Art. 10. This law shall ente r into force forty-five days after its publication.

Brasília, April 16, 2003

LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA
Marina Silva
Álvaro Augusto Ribeiro Costa