The Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development, and Environment (MADRM) proposes amendments to the Law on Public Water Supply and Sanitation (as of December 13, 2013). The bill is up for public debates and provides for new attributions for the National Energy Regulation Agency (ANRE), such as licensing regional operators, approving tariffs for public water supply and sanitation. Furthermore, ANRE will assess license holders and calculate adjustments to consumer service fees, IPN reports.
Other amendments and additions aim to determine the legal status of goods pertaining to the service of water supply and sanitation, when these goods are transferred into management, including in cases of concession. The bill establishes royalties, which shall be the essence of management contracts to be signed with regional operators or with the enterprises created.
Through the amending of Article 29, the method of distributing water volumes recorded to connected residential blocks will be excluded, as it is already provided for in the Law on Residences. Article 35 will include two new fees: for producing and transporting water from one system to another, and a fee for the processing of waste water by operators who provide sanitation services in other operation zones.
Taking into account that the water supply and sanitation infrastructure implies both recurring and capital costs, it has been proposed for the Law to be expanded with a new chapter on creating development Funds for this sector, including grants and loans offered by donors.
