Summary.
The draft bill proposes decentralizing integrated solid waste management. It amends Law 106 of 1973 so that Municipal Councils set the rate of the fee for sanitation services and their oversight. It assigns mayors responsibility for delivering, organizing, administering, and supervising the service in each district. National intervention in municipal operations would require a request from the mayor and approval through a municipal resolution. Municipalities would set and collect the fee; collection could not be delegated to private parties, except electricity distribution concessionaires or telecommunications companies. It retains the listed exemptions for the national government, certain intermunicipal associations, and persons officially recognized as indigent.
It amends Law 6 of 1997 to allow electricity distributors to assist with collection through monthly bills when authorized by a municipal resolution. It caps payment for that assistance at 5% of the monthly median specified in the text. It also provides for service suspension after 90 days of arrears on electricity bills or 180 days on sanitation bills, and for reconnection once the grounds for suspension cease, except in cases of proven fraud.
It amends Law 51 of 2010 to define the Urban and Household Waste Authority as a national body that supports municipalities, including during a declared public health emergency. It assigns the Authority national coordination, technical rulemaking, inspection, assistance, and responsibility for sanitary landfills. In the District of Panama, the Authority could provisionally provide the service, set rates, and collect the fee under a municipal resolution; while collecting the fee, it would transfer 10% each month to the Municipal Treasury of the Municipality of Panama. It transfers to the Authority functions concerning sanitary landfills assigned to the municipality by Law 41 of 1999 and directs it to prepare the corresponding national plan.
The text details the Authority’s functions concerning permits, certifications, facility supervision, oversight, penalties, and revocation of private waste managers’ permits. It provides for coordination with the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud), the Ministry of Environment (Ministerio de Ambiente), the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas), and the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias), as well as export authorizations verified by the National Customs Authority (Autoridad Nacional de Aduanas). Its power to enter into concession contracts or agreements would be tied to municipal assistance; it would administer Cerro Patacón and other transferred landfills. It regulates provisional fee adjustments, Panama’s rate schedule, and municipal participation, with speaking and voting rights, in certain decisions of its board of directors. It directs the Authority to coordinate a treatment plant and authorizes the Executive Branch to finance its commissioning within 4 years.
Finally, it amends Law 276 of December 30, 2021. It makes certain real estate registrations contingent on certificates of good standing from the municipality and the Authority, assigns municipalities routine service delivery and management, and reserves permanent fee collection to them, subject to the stated exception for the District of Panama. It establishes municipal functions concerning associations, contracting, oversight, and publication of results every 6 months; requires final disposal infrastructure; and limits certain private contracts. It provides for temporary collection assistance in areas where collection is difficult. It repeals specified provisions of Law 51 of 2010 and Law 276 of December 30, 2021. The general rule would take effect the day after publication in the Official Gazette; the amendment concerning collection through electricity bills would take effect in the following fiscal period.
The provisions concern municipalities, Municipal Councils, the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (Contraloría General de la República), and the National Public Services Authority (Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos). They may be of interest to sanitation service users, waste managers, electricity distributors, telecommunications companies, recyclers, and sanitary landfill operators.
What it proposes.
- Allocation of responsibilities for integrated solid waste management.
- Rates and collection of the sanitation fee.
- State assistance, oversight, and final waste disposal.
Who it would affect.
- Municipalities and competent national authorities.
- Sanitation service users.
- Private waste managers.
- Electricity distributors and telecommunications companies.
Key points.
- Municipal Councils would set the fee rate, and mayors would direct sanitation services in their districts.Arts. 2-4
- Electricity distributors could assist with collecting the fee through monthly bills and suspend service for the specified arrears.Arts. 5-6
- The Urban and Household Waste Authority would support municipalities and coordinate national waste management and sanitary landfills.Arts. 7-11
- The Authority would grant permits, supervise facilities, and could penalize private waste managers or revoke their permits.Arts. 12-13
- The provisions regulate provisional fee adjustments, the rate schedule, municipal participation on the board of directors, and a treatment plant.Arts. 14-17
- Municipalities would be responsible for management and permanent fee collection, subject to the specified exceptions and forms of assistance.Arts. 18-22
- The provisions establish infrastructure duties, limits on certain private contracts, and temporary collection assistance.Arts. 23-25
- The amendment concerning collection through electricity bills would have a different effective date, and provisions of Laws 51 and 276 would be repealed.Arts. 26-28