Draft bill 394.

Summary.

The draft bill establishes an exceptional, temporary procedure for wastewater treatment systems or plants that, when the law is promulgated, have not been formally transferred to the National Water Supply and Sewerage Institute (Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales, IDAAN). It defines treatment plants as infrastructure that treats domestic or mixed wastewater before discharge or reuse; it also defines urban development promoters and urban developments.

Where no transfer has taken place because the promoter does not exist, is absent, has been dissolved, or is legally inactive, the procedure may begin at the request of residents, community associations, or a public entity, or on IDAAN’s own initiative. IDAAN would have up to 12 months to complete the administrative transfer free of charge, without affecting any outstanding environmental, civil, or criminal liability. The Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas) could allocate resources to operate, rehabilitate, or maintain only systems formally transferred to the State and accepted by IDAAN.

The Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud, MINSA) and IDAAN would prepare and update a national inventory recording the systems’ and plants’ operating condition, legal status, and regulatory compliance. IDAAN would adopt planning, management, and coordination measures to bring them into compliance and accept them progressively, subject to approved budget availability and institutional plans. From promulgation, it would conduct an initial inspection of all sewerage systems during the plan approval process at the Single Window of the Ministry of Housing and Land Management (Ventanilla Única del Ministerio de Vivienda y Ordenamiento Territorial), and provide the plant design model based on the number of homes and the regulations in force. Transfer of water supply systems, sanitary sewerage systems, and treatment plants would require the documents prescribed by regulation, including the final inspection report, as-built plans, operation and maintenance manuals, and certification of operational tests.

The draft bill amends Article 41 of Law 77 of December 28, 2001: promoters and State institutions that develop or promote urban development projects would have to transfer their systems to IDAAN free of charge within 365 days of project completion. IDAAN would verify compliance with standards and the systems’ fitness to provide service. A 12-month period would be granted to correct projects that did not meet the standards in force when they were built; de facto service providers and those who continue providing the service would be exempt. The new Article 41-A would establish an administrative fine of 5,000 balboas (B/. 5,000.00) to 10,000 balboas (B/. 10,000.00), set according to the scale of the violation, the length of noncompliance, and repeat offenses. The amendment to Article 52 would require IDAAN to accept, operate, and maintain the transferred systems. MINSA and IDAAN would report annually to the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) on transfers, operation, and treatment quality.

The provisions concern those public entities, urban development promoters, State institutions that develop projects, service providers, residents, and community associations.