Environmental Licensing: Guide to the Legal Matrix

Those who operate IMS in Brazil know the problem: the norm exists, the deadline exists, and yet the team only discovers the gap on the eve of the audit. This text addresses environmental licensing: guide to the legal matrix from a very objective angle — a practical view for IMS teams — without generic compliance discourse.

Why This Matters Now

Regulators and certifiers increasingly cross-check the “said” (procedure) with the “done” (day-to-day record). In licensing, the risk is not just fines: it's finding non-compliance, license delays, and internal friction between legal, environmental, and operations.

What Usually Goes Wrong

• Matrix outdated in relation to CNAE, state, and actual units.
• Conditions and obligations without a clear owner (when “everyone” takes care, no one takes care).
• Evidence accumulated in dead folders — without version, validity, or tracking.
• Legislative changes communicated by email and forgotten in two weeks.

Practical Guide (Use This Week)

1. Define the scope: unit, activity, and domain (environmental, OHS, or quality).
2. List only the applicable: if the norm does not affect the operation, record the rationale and archive — do not inflate the matrix.
3. Tie deadline + responsible + evidence: three minimum fields; without this, it becomes a decorative list.
4. Review in short cycles: 30–45 minutes weekly beats quarterly marathons.
5. Prepare the audit narrative: “how we knew, who did it, where the record is.”

Quick Checklist

• Are the organization's CNAE and state correct in the IMS settings?
• Is there an inbox or queue of new norms awaiting applicability decision?
• Do obligations due in 30/60/90 days have a named responsible person?
• Do critical documents have controlled validity and version?
• Do open NCs have a 5W2H plan with a realistic date?

Example of a Conversation That Avoids Rework

Instead of saying “update the legislation,” say: “By Friday, each coordinator confirms the applicability of the three norms in the queue; what is applicable becomes a requirement with a deadline; what is not, is dismissed with justification.” The difference is operational — and auditable.

When to Seek a Specialist

Changes in license typification, environmental liabilities, ongoing enforcement, or interpretation of new resolutions impacting the production process require specialized legal advice and often technical consultancy. The IMS organizes; it does not replace an opinion when the risk is high.

Next Step

If the matrix still lives in a spreadsheet, the immediate gain is to centralize applicability decision, deadlines, and evidence in the same flow. Legnova was designed precisely for this short path — from new norm to action — without a menu maze.