The New Bidding Law offers opportunities to improve infrastructure projects and prevent socio-environmental impacts

This research paper by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzes the 2021 New Bidding Law in Brazil, arguing that it provides a critical opportunity to improve the planning of infrastructure projects. The authors propose the introduction of a pre-feasibility analysis to better anticipate socio-environmental risks and prevent the implementation of low-quality or infeasible projects.

• The New Bidding Law of April 2021 introduces a more detailed approach to preliminary technical studies, which the authors suggest should be treated as a new stage in infrastructure project planning to strengthen overall quality and reduce legal risks.
• CPI/PUC-Rio proposes a pre-feasibility analysis consisting of 10 structuring questions and a socio-environmental complexity assessment to be conducted by an independent commission. This process would determine if a project is authorized to proceed to the Feasibility Studies (EVTEA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) stages.
• The new law expands the oversight of the preparatory phase by requiring that it be submitted to legal advisory bodies, such as the federal Attorney General’s Office (AGU), whereas previous laws limited assessments to draft notices and contracts.
• The New Bidding Law empowers courts of accounts to perform risk management and preventive control, including for socio-environmental risks. This formalizes a role already practiced by the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) in Investment Partnerships Program (PPI) projects.
• While the law improves transparency by requiring a single official website for bidding documents and referencing the Freedom of Information Act, it reduces social participation by only encouraging, rather than mandating, public hearings and consultations.
• The law allows the Public Administration to unilaterally terminate contracts if environmental licenses are impossible to obtain or cause substantial changes to preliminary engineering studies, placing the obligation to secure the license on the contracted party.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2021). The New Bidding Law offers opportunities to improve infrastructure projects and prevent socio-environmental impacts. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-new-bidding-law-offers-opportunities-to-improve-infrastructure-projects-and-prevent-socio-environmental-impacts/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. The New Bidding Law offers opportunities to improve infrastructure projects and prevent socio-environmental impacts. 2021. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-new-bidding-law-offers-opportunities-to-improve-infrastructure-projects-and-prevent-socio-environmental-impacts/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=The New Bidding Law offers opportunities to improve infrastructure projects and prevent socio-environmental impacts |date=25 May 2021 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-new-bidding-law-offers-opportunities-to-improve-infrastructure-projects-and-prevent-socio-environmental-impacts/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2021new, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{The New Bidding Law offers opportunities to improve infrastructure projects and prevent socio-environmental impacts}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2021}, month = may, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-new-bidding-law-offers-opportunities-to-improve-infrastructure-projects-and-prevent-socio-environmental-impacts/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }