President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signs, this Wednesday (5), in a ceremony at the Planalto Palace, two decrees that regulate the country’s sanitation sector. The objective is to unlock and attract R$ 120 billion in public and private investments to universalize water and sewage services by 2033.
The decrees regulate Law 11.445/2007, amended by Law 14.026/2020, which defines the guidelines for sanitation in the country. The norm establishes that services must guarantee water supply, sanitary sewage, urban cleaning and solid waste management and drainage and management of rainwater in a way that is adequate for public health and the protection of the environment.
Among the changes is the end of the 25% limit for carrying out Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) by the states. “With this, we seek to expand the participation of the private sector and attract new investments to the sector”, explained the Presidency, in a statement.
According to the government, the measure will benefit 29.8 million inhabitants, residing in 1,113 municipalities. Under current rules, these municipalities had their contracts with state providers declared irregular and, therefore, could not count on federal funds to seek universalization.
“The adjustments brought about by the new decrees will allow 1,113 municipalities to once again access basic sanitation resources from the federal government so that they can meet the universalization target, giving a new opportunity for state companies to prove their economic and financial capacity to carry out investments”, he says. the communiqué.
The government points out that all verification and regularization processes will be subject to “strict supervision”. “The regulatory agencies will monitor compliance with the goals with transparency. Those who do not meet the targets will be prevented from receiving public funds,” the statement said.
Another important adjustment, according to the Presidency, is related to regionalized provision. The law requires that, in order to have access to federal funds, services must be provided in a regionalized manner, serving more than one municipality.
The new rules extend the deadline for regionalization to December 31, 2025. The previous deadline would end on March 31 of this year, which would leave another 2,098 municipalities, which are not yet regionalized, also prevented from accessing federal resources for actions of sanitation.
“The new deadline guarantees the states the necessary time to properly structure the regionalized provision in the territories, as provided for in the new legal framework, without jeopardizing investments in the transition period to the new provision model”, says the Presidency’s statement.
