CONAMA RESOLUTION 303, March 22, 2002
Published in Official Gazette 90 on May 13, 2002, Section 1, page 68
Correlations:
· Complements CONAMA Resolution 302/02
· Altered by CONAMA Resolution 341/03 (adds new provisions)
· Revokes CONAMA Resolution 4/85
Establishes parameters, definitions and boundaries for Permanent Preservation Areas.
THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT COUNCIL – CONAMA, in accordance with the power bestowed upon the Council by Law 6.938, from August 31, 1981, regulated through Decree 99.274, from June 6, 1990, and considering the provisions of Laws 4.771, from September 15, 1965, and 9.433, from January 8, 1997, and its Internal Regulations, and
Considering the socio-environmental function of property foreseen in articles 5, item XXIII, 170, item VI, 182, §2, 186 item II and 225 of the Constitution and the principles of prevention, care and pollution-compensation;
Considering the need to regulate art. 2 of Law 4.771 from September 15, 1965, in relation to Permanent Preservation Areas;
Considering that Brazil is committed to responsibilities related to the Convention on Biodiversity held in 1992, the Ramsar Convention held in 1971 and the Washington Convention held in 1940 as well as the commitments assumed during the Rio de Janeiro Declaration in 1992;
Considering the need to regulate articles 2 and 3 of Law 4.771 from September 15, 1966 in relation to Permanent Preservation Areas; consideration added by Resolution 341/03
Considering that it is the duty of the Public Powers and private individuals to preserve biodiversity, notably the flora, fauna, water resources, natural beauty and ecological balance, avoid the pollution of waters, soil and air, which are prerequisites for the acknowledgement of the right to property in the terms of articles 5, heading (right to life) and item XXIII (social function of property), 170, VI, 186, II and 225, all included in the Federal Constitution, as well as art. 1.299 of the Civil Code which requires proprietors and possessor to respect administrative regulations; consideration added by Resolution 341/03
Considering that sand dunes play a fundamental roll in the dynamics of the coastal zone in relation to erosion processes and in the formations and proliferation of aquifers; consideration added by Resolution 341/03
Considering the exceptional scenic beauty of the dune landscapes and the importance to uphold them for sustainable tourism; Consideration added by Resolution 341/03
Considering that Permanent Preservation Areas and other particularly protected territorial spaces possess inherent environmental relevance and are an integral part of sustainable development and of the ambitions and objectives of current and future generations, decides:
Art. 1 The purpose of the current Resolution is to establish parameters, definitions and boundaries in relation to Permanent Preservation Areas.
Art. 2 o The following definitions are adopted for all purposes of this Resolution:
I – highest level: level reached during seasonal flooding by a continuous or intermittent water course;
II – spring or “water eye”: the place where subterranean water flows naturally to the surface, even if in an intermittent way;
III – parting: marshy or flooded space containing springs or heads of water courses, with hydromorphic soil occurrences, predominantly characterized by rows of Mauritia flexuosa and other forms of typical vegetation;
IV – hill: terrain elevation with a difference between the top and the base between fifty and three hundred meters and hillsides with an inclination of over thirty percent (approx. seventeen degrees) in its steepest sided;
V – mountain: a terrain elevation with a difference between the base and the top that is superior to three hundred meters;
VI – hill or mountain base: the horizontal plane defined by the flatland or adjacent waterbed surface or, undulated relief features, and by the lowest depression point within its surroundings;
VII – ridge line: the line that unites the highest points of a sequence of hills or mountains, forming a water devisor;
VIII – beach: sandy deposits parallel to the coast line, generally with elongated form, created through sedimentation processes and home to different communities influenced by the sea, also called edaphic communities as they are more dependent on the nature of the nourishment than on climate. The vegetation cover of the beach contains mosaic formations and can be found in beaches, arenaceous patches, dunes and depressions presenting, in accordance with the successional stage, herb extracts, shrubs and trees, the later more in the interior;
IX – mangrove: littoral low land ecosystem subjected to the action of the tides formed by recent muddy or arenaceous waters which is most often and predominantly associated with natural vegetation known as mangroves, subjected to the influence of sea and rivers, typical of the salty soils of estuary regions that are common, but not continuous, to the Brazilian coast between the states of Amapá and Santa Catarina;
X – dune: geomorphological unit predominantly arenaceous, with the semblance of a hill or mount, produced through the action of the wind, located in littoral or interior areas of the continent and may, or not, be covered by vegetation;
XI – plateau or “chapada”: landscape with a flat topography with medium inclination of less than ten percent, approximately six degrees, and a total area of over ten hectares which ends in a sharp and abrupt slope, the plateau is characterized by large areas with an elevation of more than six hundred meters
XII – slope: land ramp with an inclination that is equal or superior to forty five degrees and which delimitate plateau reliefs, mesas and uplands, with a positive rupture of inclination at the top (slope line) and at its base by a negative rupture of inclination, containing colluvium deposits mostly at the base of the slope;
XIII – consolidated urban area: an area characterized by the following criteria:
a) legal definition by the public power;
b) the existence of a minimum of the four following sets of urban infrastructure:
1. road network including rain water drainage;
2. water supply system;
3. sewer system;
4. electricity distribution and public lighting;
5. collection of solid urban wastes;
6. treatment of solid urban wastes; and
c) demographic density over five thousand inhabitants by square kilometer.
Art. The locations of Permanent Preservation Areas are:
I – marginal strips, measured from the highest point, horizontally, with a minimum width of:
a) thirty meters, for water courses with less than ten meters wide;
b) fifty meters, for water courses between ten and fifty meters wide;
c) one hundred meters, for water courses between fifty and two hundred meters wide;
d) two hundred meters, for water courses between two hundred and six hundred meters wide;
e) five hundred meters, for water courses that are more than six hundred meters wide;
II – near a spring or “water eye”, even if intermittent, with a minimum radius of fifty meters in order to protect, case by case, the hydrographic basin that feeds it;
III – around lakes and natural lagoons, with a minimum strip measure of:
a) thirty meters if located in consolidated urban areas;
b) one hundred meters if located in rural areas, except for water bodies with a surface of at least twenty hectares, whose marginal strip must be fifty meters;
IV – a parting in the marginal strip, in a horizontal position, with a minimum width of fifty meters, counting from the boundary of the marshy or flooded area;
V – at the top of hills and mountains, in areas delimitated from the curve level corresponding to two thirds of the minimum height of the elevation in relation to its base;
VI – on ridge lines, in areas delimitated from the curve level corresponding to two thirds of the height in relation to the base of the lowest top of the ridge, with the curve level for each of the segments of the ridge line set at the equivalent to one thousand meters;
VII – on a hillside or part of the hillside, inclination over one hundred percent or forty five degrees in the highest inclination line;
VIII – on slopes and on the edges of plateaus and mesas, starting from the line of rupture and a rate never less than one hundred meters in horizontal projection running contrary to the slope;
IX – on beachs;
a) minimum rate of three hundred meters measured from the highest flood line;
b) on any location and any extension when covered with vegetation and as a steadying factor for dunes and mangroves;
X – on mangroves, on the entire extension;
XI – on dunes;
XII – at altitudes over one thousand and eight hundred meters or in States that do not possess such elevations at the criteria of the competent environmental organ;
XIII – at locations of refuge or reproduction of migratory birds;
XIV – at locations of refuge or reproduction of fauna species threatened with extinction and included in the list issued by the Federal, State or Municipal Public Powers;
XV – on beaches, at locations of wild fauna nidification or reproduction.
Single paragraph. In cases of more than two hills or mountains whose tops are separated by distances inferior to five hundred meters, The Permanent Preservation Area will include the group of hills or mountains, delimitated from
the curve level corresponding to two thirds of the height in relation to the base of the lowest hill or mountain of the group, according to the following specifications:
I – grouping of hills or mountains with distance between tops of up to five hundred meters;
II – identification of the lowest hill or mountain;
III – tracing of a line on the level curve corresponding to two thirds of the same; and
IV – the whole area above this level is considered a permanent preservation area.
Art. 4 CONAMA will establish, through a specific Resolution, the parameters for artificial reservoir Permanent Preservation Areas and regulate the use of their grounds.
Art. 5 This Resolution shall enter into effect on the date of its publication, CONAMA Resolution 4, from September 18, 1985 is hereby revoked.
JOSÉ CARLOS CARVALHO – Council President
This text does not substitute the text published in the Official Gazette on May 13, 2002.
