Work victories of the Chamber in connection with the new Public Water Supply and Sewerage Act

On 1 July, the new Public Water Supply and Sewerage Act enters into force and the Chamber was also involved in its development. During the development of the Act, we submitted several questions, comments and amendments to the Ministry of the Environment, and several of the proposals of the Chamber also reached the Act.  

The Environmental Board may grant an enterprise a term of up to two years for bringing waste water into compliance with the requirements
As one of the important amendments, the new Public Water Supply and Sewerage Act grants the water undertaking the right to terminate the provision of the public water supply and sewerage service to the undertaking if the following conditions are met. Firstly, the waste water or storm water directed by the enterprise into the public sewerage system must be permanently non-compliant. Secondly, the water undertaking must give the enterprise a period of at least six months so that the enterprise can reorganise production, change the production process or change the composition of the water directed into the public sewerage system.

The preliminary version of the draft Public Water Supply and Sewerage Act stated that the Environmental Board may extend the six-month term to a maximum of one year. However, the Chamber pointed out that it is not always possible to carry out the necessary activities within such a short period of time. For example, the establishment of a pre-treatment plant is not possible during such a period of time. On the motion of the Chamber, the term of one year in the Act was extended to two years (see subsection 41 (9)).   

The Environmental Board must be notified once a year, not once a quarter 
The new Act places the obligation to notify the Environmental Board of the amount and content of emissions of such substances once a year to an industrial or production undertaking with the obligation to hold an environmental permit or integrated environmental permit and to use hazardous substances in its activities which are managed through public sewerage (see subsection 36 (4)). 

In an earlier version of the draft, there was a notification obligation once a quarter, but the Chamber pointed out that such a frequent notification obligation would be excessively burdensome for companies. The Ministry of the Environment subsequently decreased the frequency of the notification obligation. 

When planning a public water supply and sewerage system, the wishes of the companies must also be taken into account 
The draft Public Water Supply and Sewerage Act originally stated that the area in which the public water supply and sewerage system is planned should be designed in such a way that all residents of the area are guaranteed the service of the public water supply and sewerage system. 

On the motion of the Chamber, this sentence was supplemented by the principle that the possibility of connection to the public water supply and sewerage system must be ensured not only for residents but also for existing enterprises whose consumption is comparable to the consumption of drinking water by residents and the waste water discharged corresponds to the composition of domestic waste water (see subsection 12 (1)).   

The rules for determining the limit values for pollution indicators of waste water and storm water became more specific
On the motion of the Chamber, the principle came into law that the local government must, upon determining the limit values of the pollution indicators of waste water and storm water managed by public sewerage system in the rules for the use of public water supply and sewerage system, proceed from the size, capacity, treatment technology used in the area, flow rates, possibilities for harmonisation of the composition of waste water and other technological criteria (see subsection 34 (3)). An earlier version of the draft act lacked such a principle.   

Rules for the refund of the fee for connection to public water supply and sewerage system became more flexible 
In certain cases, the new law allows persons to partially request refund for the connection fee from the water undertaking. This is permitted in a situation where the public water supply or sewerage system is built only for the subscriber who has paid the costs incurred for connection with the connection fee in full, since the water undertaking had no known other subscribers in the area, and new subscribers join the existing public water supply and sewerage system within seven years after payment of the connection fee.  

According to the preliminary version of the draft, a person who had entered into a connection contract and paid the expenses incurred for connection in full but who had not yet entered into a public water supply and sewerage service contract with a water undertaking could not have requested refund of the connection fee. The Chamber proposed that such persons be allowed have the fee refunded. This proposal was taken into account (see § 23 (1)).   

A more comprehensive overview of the new Public Water Supply and Sewerage Act is available HERE and the new Act is available in full HERE. 

If you have any questions about the new Public Water Supply and Sewerage Act, please contact the lawyers of the Chamber by e-mail juristid@koda.ee .