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Environmental Law Federal BR · LAW 14,285

Law 14,285, of December 29, 2021.

Amends Law 6,766, of December 19, 1979, Law 11,952, of June 25, 2009, and Law 12,651, of May 25, 2012, to provide for permanent preservation areas surrounding watercourses in consolidated urban areas.

Nickname
Urban APPs Law
Status
In force
Amends
Forest Code and Law 6.766/79
Federative Republic of Brazil
Brazil · Law 14,285 · 2021 · APPs in Urban Areas
Marginal buffers of watercourses in consolidated urban areas
Amending statute · modifies the Forest Code, Law 11.952/2009 and Law 6.766/79
arsenic reading

What this law does, in plain language.

Law 14,285 allows municipalities and the Federal District, through their own legislation and after consultation with the Master Plan council, to define marginal buffers of natural watercourses that differ from those set in the Forest Code, provided they fall within consolidated urban areas. It is a technical window opened in the Forest Code for urban contexts where applying the standard 30 meters is incompatible with the existing built fabric.

The criterion is not open-ended. The municipal law must consider water security, drainage, pollution control, disaster prevention, compliance with water resources plan and river basin plan guidelines, and must prohibit occupation of areas at risk of disasters. A socio-environmental assessment is required for each stretch of bank.

The Forest Code remains the general ruler. Law 14.285 does not repeal the 30 meters; it opens a parameterized exception that applies only to consolidated urban areas, a concept the law itself refines in item XXVI of Art. 3º of the Forest Code: urban perimeter defined by a master plan, implemented street system, blocks and lots predominantly built up, predominantly urban use, and at least two pieces of urban infrastructure equipment.

It is a legislative response to years of conflict between Law 6.766/79, which referenced 15 meters, the Forest Code, which requires a minimum of 30 meters along banks, and the consolidated urban fabric predating these codes. The STJ (Superior Court of Justice) had ruled in 2021, under Theme 1.010, that the Forest Code prevailed. Seven months later, Congress enacted Law 14.285 to return to municipalities the authority to regulate marginal buffers in already urbanized areas.

legislative drafting

What changed in each law.

Amended law Article Change
Forest Code (12.651/2012) Art. 4º, § 10 Allows a marginal buffer to be defined by municipal law in consolidated urban areas, after consultation with environmental councils, with rules on disaster risk, river basin plan and low environmental impact. Also refines, in Art. 3º, XXVI, the definition of consolidated urban area.
Law 6.766/79 Art. 4º, III-B Aligns land subdivision with the new rule: the non-buildable buffer along flowing and still waters in consolidated urban areas must comply with the municipal law that regulates marginal buffers, with a socio-environmental assessment per stretch.
Law 11.952/2009 (Legal Amazon) Art. 22, § 5º Establishes that the limits of marginal APPs along natural watercourses in urban areas, within Legal Amazon lands undergoing regularization, are set in the master plan and municipal land use laws, after consultation with environmental councils.
municipal authority

Conditions for the municipality to exercise this authority.

Law 14.285 alone is not enough. For a municipality to redefine marginal buffers of watercourses in consolidated urban areas, it must satisfy a set of verifiable conditions. Otherwise, the Forest Code prevails.

  • Active Master Plan. The municipality must have a Master Plan in force, not expired. The Master Plan defines the urban perimeter and the concept of consolidated urban area.
  • Master Plan council formally consulted. The law requires consultation with state, municipal or district environmental councils, with the opinion on record.
  • Specific municipal law approved by the Council. The new marginal buffer must be enacted by the local legislature in its own statute, not by decree or ordinance.
  • Documented technical criteria. The law must observe water security, drainage, ecological function, water resources plan, river basin plan, drainage plan and basic sanitation plan, where applicable.
  • Socio-environmental assessment per stretch of bank. The requirement to reserve a non-buildable strip must be indicated in a socio-environmental assessment prepared by the Municipality, stretch by stretch, per Art. 4º, III-B, of Law 6.766/79.
  • Restricted to consolidated urban areas. Does not apply to urban expansion zones or new subdivisions opened on land not yet urbanized. It corrects the past, it does not authorize the future.
history

How the issue arrived here.

Statute / Decision Year What it established
Law 12.651 2012 Forest Code. General rule for marginal APPs: 30 meters for watercourses up to 10 meters wide, and larger buffers for wider rivers. Uniform application across rural and urban areas.
STJ · Theme 1.010 2021 Ruled, in a repetitive appeal, that the Forest Code prevails over the 15 meters provided in Law 6.766/79 for non-buildable strips along waters, including in urban subdivisions.
Law 14.285 2021 Opened a legislative window for municipal law to redefine the marginal buffer of natural watercourses in consolidated urban areas, with a socio-environmental assessment and consultation with the environmental council.
full text

Full text of the law.

Literal transcription from the official publication on the Planalto portal. The ellipses (...) and the passages in quotation marks reproduce the technical format of the amending law, which cites the articles of the amended laws and indicates only the modified parts.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC  I hereby make known that the National Congress decrees and I sanction the following Law:

Art. 1º

This Law amends Laws nos 12,651, of May 25, 2012, which provides for the protection of native vegetation, 11,952, of June 25, 2009, which provides for land regularization on Federal lands, and 6,766, of December 19, 1979, which provides for urban land subdivision, in order to define and refine the concept of consolidated urban areas, to address the marginal buffers of watercourses in consolidated urban areas, and to consolidate works already completed in those areas.

Art. 2º

Law 12,651, of May 25, 2012, shall be in force with the following amendments:

Law 12.651/2012 · Forest Code

"Art. 3º ............................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

XXVI · consolidated urban area: one that meets the following criteria:

  1. be included within the urban perimeter or in an urban zone by the master plan or by a specific municipal law;
  2. have an implemented street system;
  3. be organized into blocks and lots that are predominantly built up;
  4. present predominantly urban use, characterized by the existence of residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, mixed-use or service-related buildings;
  5. have at least 2 (two) of the following pieces of urban infrastructure in place:
    1. stormwater drainage;
    2. sewage collection;
    3. potable water supply;
    4. electricity distribution and public lighting; and
    5. street cleaning, solid waste collection and management;

............................................................................................................................................ (NR)

"Art. 4º ............................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

§ 10. In consolidated urban areas, after consultation with state, municipal or district environmental councils, municipal or district law may define marginal buffers other than those set in item I of the caput of this article, with rules that establish:

  1. the prohibition of occupation in areas at risk of disasters;
  2. compliance with the guidelines of the water resources plan, river basin plan, drainage plan or basic sanitation plan, where applicable; and
  3. the requirement that activities or developments to be installed in urban permanent preservation areas observe the cases of public utility, social interest or low environmental impact established in this Law." (NR)

Art. 3º

Article 22 of Law 11,952, of June 25, 2009, shall be in force as supplemented by the following § 5º:

Law 11.952/2009 · Land regularization in the Legal Amazon

"Art. 22. ...........................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

§ 5º The limits of permanent preservation areas along the banks of any natural watercourse in urban areas shall be set in the master plans and in the municipal land use laws, after consultation with state and municipal environmental councils." (NR)

Art. 4º

Article 4 of Law 6,766, of December 19, 1979, shall be in force with the following amendments:

Law 6.766/79 · Urban Land Subdivision

"Art. 4º ............................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

III-A · along the right-of-way of railways, a non-buildable buffer of at least 15 (fifteen) meters on each side shall be required;

III-B · along flowing and still waters, the non-buildable areas shall comply with the municipal or district law that approves the territorial planning instrument and that defines and regulates the width of the marginal buffers of natural watercourses in consolidated urban areas, pursuant to Law 12,651, of May 25, 2012, with the mandatory reservation of a non-buildable strip for each stretch of bank, indicated in a socio-environmental assessment prepared by the Municipality;

....................................................................................................................................................

§ 6º (VETOED).

§ 7º (VETOED)." (NR)

Art. 5º

This Law enters into force on the date of its publication.

Brasília, December 29, 2021; 200th of Independence and 133rd of the Republic.

JAIR MESSIAS BOLSONARO
Fernando Wandscheer de Moura Alves
Rogério Marinho

This text does not replace the one published in the Official Federal Gazette of December 30, 2021.

applied reading

Cited in the following Diary articles.

MOUNTAIN · 9min
Legal Technique 9 min

Subdividing land in the mountains: three rulers that must talk to each other

Law 6.766/79, the Forest Code and the window opened by Law 14.285 for consolidated urban areas.

PETRÓPOLIS · 6min
Current Affairs 6 min

The Master Plan of Petrópolis has expired

Without an active Master Plan, the municipality cannot exercise the authority opened by Law 14.285.

primary source

Text as published by Planalto.

Literal transcription from the website of the Presidency of the Republic. Last verified: May 15, 2026.

Open at Planalto → See Forest Code (12.651/2012) See Law 6.766/79

This transcription is for informational purposes. In case of divergence, the official publication in the Official Federal Gazette of December 30, 2021 prevails.