Law No. 19.806 amending Law No. 19.240 to extend the deadline for local authorities to comply with its provisions, to validate administrative acts carried out in the exercise of environmental licensing and enforcement powers, and to regulate the activities of inter-municipal public consortia.

This Law amends State Law No. 19.240 of 2 May 2025 concerning environmental licensing and inspection competencies in the State of Ceará. Its main objective is to provide municipalities with additional time to comply with the technical, administrative, and operational requirements necessary to exercise environmental licensing functions. To this end, the Law grants a new adjustment period of 180 days from 2 May 2026, renewable once for an equal period, provided that municipalities submit an adaptation work plan to the State Legislative Assembly and the State Environmental Council. The Law also aims to ensure legal certainty by validating administrative acts related to environmental licensing and inspection carried out by municipalities during the transitional period, provided that such acts comply with the principles of legality, continuity of public service, legal certainty, and environmental protection. A further objective of the Law is to strengthen intermunicipal cooperation in environmental governance by authorizing the creation and operation of public intermunicipal consortia to exercise environmental licensing and inspection responsibilities. These consortia must comply with the technical, administrative, and operational requirements established under the existing legal framework and operate in accordance with the relevant federal and state constitutional provisions.