CETESB updates criteria for environmental penalties in São Paulo
The Board Decision of the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo (Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo - CETESB) No. 007/2026/C/I has been recently published, establishing guidelines for updating the criteria for applying administrative penalties in the State of São Paulo, as well as the criteria for valuation of fines as provided in the CETESB Technical Instruction No. 30 (the updated version of which was recently published).
Regarding the legal framework for the classification of fines, the Board Decision establishes that violations related to pollution (air, soil, water, noise, and vibration), transportation accidents, illegal operation of licensed facilities without environmental impact assessment. Non-compliance with the Liquid Effluents Self-Monitoring Plan (Plano de Automonitoramento de Efluentes Líquidos - PAEL) will be subject to fines imposed under the State Decree No. 8,468/1976, which provides for the prevention and control of environmental pollution, defining types of infractions and corresponding penalties.
The Board Decision also establishes the imposition of fines arising from violations involving: actual damage or risk to human health; illegal operation of licensed facilities with environmental impact assessment; operation of activities in non-compliance with the obtained license; damage to flora and fauna; non-compliance with reverse logistics rules; irregularities in the use of the Waste Transportation Manifest (Manifesto de Transporte de Resíduos - SIGOR MTR) and the Certificate for the Transfer of Waste of Environmental Interest (Certificado de Movimentação de Resíduos de Interesse Ambiental - CADRI); protected watershed areas; and actions against the Public Environmental Administration. These fines will be imposed pursuant to Federal Decree No. 6,514/2008, which provides for environmental infractions and administrative sanctions at the federal level. For infractions arising from improper waste management, both regulations (state and federal decrees) could be applied to establish correspondent fines, depending on specific guidelines established by the CETESB Board Decision No. 024/2022/P (which provides CETESB’s actions to assess information provided by companies in the SIGOR MTR System).
The new regulation also sets a limit of 10,000 São Paulo State Fiscal Units (Unidades Fiscais do Estado de São Paulo - UFESPs) for defining fines established under the State Decree No. 8,468/1976, provided that recidivism has not occurred. In cases of recidivism, the fine imposed will correspond to double the amount applied for the first violation. Additionally, in the event of pollution that results in significant environmental damage, fines may be applied based on the Federal Decree No. 6,514/2008, even if the conduct does not fall under the categories of actual damage or risk to human health, provided this is duly justified in the relevant administrative proceedings.
The Environmental, Climate Change and Sustainability Practice of Tauil & Chequer Advogados, associated with Mayer Brown, remains available to provide further clarification.
