REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA
NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE
REPORT
on the regularity and performance audit of the application of the provisions of the Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube River (Danube River Protection Convention) by the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria as represented by the Ministry of the Environment and Water, over the 01.04.1999-30.06.2001 period
Sofia, 2001
Abbreviations
AL / Admissible levelsAOX / Absorbent organic halogen compounds
BOD5 / Biological Oxygen Demand
BSS / Bulgarian State Standards
CMD / Council of Ministers Decree
EAE / Executive Agency on the Environment
EEC / European Economic Commission
EIA / Environmental impact assessment
EPA / Environment Protection Act
EU / European Union
GEF / Global Environment Facility
ICPDR / International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River
INTOSAI / International Organisation of the Supreme Audit Institutions
ISO / International Organisation for Standartization
MEPF / Municipal Environment Protection Fund
MEW / Ministry of Environment and Water
NAO / National Audit Office
NASEM / National Automated System for Environmental Monitoring
NEPF / National Environment Protection Fund
NIMH / National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology
NWMS / National Water Monitoring System
RIEW / Regional Inspectorates on the environment and water
SACA / Soil Anti-Contamination Act
SSZ / Sanitary Security Zones
TNMN / Transnational Monitoring Network
TOC / Total Organic Carbon
USD / United States Dollar
UWWTP / Urban waste water treatment plant
WA / Waters Act
WTP / Water treatment plant
WWTP / Waste water treatment plant
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part One. Background / 4I. General conditions and criteria applied in the course of the audit / 4
II. Presentation of the Bulgarian section of the Danube River basin / 7
Part Two. Analysis of the results, principal findings and conclusions / 8
I. Analysis and assessment of the incorporation of the objectives of the Convention in the environmental policy of the Government / 8
II. Mechanisms and tools for the achievement of the goals / 8
1. Legal mechanisms and tools / 8
2. Organizational and technical tools / 9
3. Economic tools / 10
III. Analysis and evaluation of the compliance of the effective national legislation with the goals of the Convention and EU Directives / 12
1. Compliance of the legislation and the goals of the Convention / 13
2. Harmonization with EU Directives / 15
IV. Management, use and protection of water / 15
1. Water management / 15
2. Use of waters and water sites / 18
3. Protection of water / 23
IV. Financing water protection measures / 40
1. Internal sources / 40
2. External financing / 42
V. Conclusions and statement of opinion / 44
Part Three. Recommendations / 47
Annex No.1 Coherence between the legislation of the Republic of Bulgaria and EU Directives in the water protection area / 49
Annex No. 2 Characteristic features of the state of waters in the Bulgarian section of the Danube River basin / 53
PART ONE. Background
I. General conditions and criteria applied in the course of the audit
On 03.10.2000, the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) of Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia gathered in Bucharest, signed a Common Position on Cooperation over parallel/coordinated audits of the provisions of the Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube River (The Danube River Protection Convention), referred to further in this report as the Convention.
Consistent with the international obligations undertaken thereof and pursuant of Art. 2, para 1 of the National Audit Office Act, the President of the Audit Office authorized a regularity and performance audit on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube River (The Danube River Protection Convention) on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria as represented by the Ministry of Environment and Water, over the 01.04.1999-30.06.2001 period.
The audit was performed by 10 teams from the Ministries and Production Sector Institutions Division and the regional divisions of the National Audit Office (NAO) in Montana, Lovech and Rousse, involving a total of 25 auditors.
The objective of the audit was to analyze and assess the application of the legal, administrative and technical measures, entrenched in national legislation and pertaining to the quality of waters and the protection and use of water resources, in as far as that is related to the protection and sustainable use of the waters of the Danube River.
The object of the audit were activities in the area of the protection and use of the waters in the Danube River basin carried out by:
- The Head Office of the Ministry of Environment and Water (MEW);
- The Executive Agency on the Environment (EAE)
- The Regional Inspectorates on the environment and water (RIEW) based in the towns of Montana, Vratsa, Pleven, Veliko Turnovo and Rousse;
- The local government bodies and municipal administration in 13 municipalities located in the Danube River catchment basin.
The audit was directed at evaluating:
- the measures introduced by the Government toward the creation of legal, organizational, financial and technical conditions and prerequisites allowing the application of the provisions of the Convention;
- the legality of the actions, planned activities and the measures the MEW and local government undertook in the area of protection and use of water resources;
- implementation by the MEW of the requirements envisioned in Arts. 4-9 of the Convention;
- implementation by the audited RIEW of the envisaged by law regulatory, control and information functions and tasks in the area of the use and protection of water resources;
- rational use of public funds by the MEW and local government.
The following evaluation criteria were used:
1. Functioning of the National Water Monitoring System (NWMS) as a component of the National Automated System for Environmental Monitoring (NASEM).
2. The use of the NWMS for the purpose of implementing the provisions of the Convention.
3. Creation and maintenance of a card-file register of the major pollutants broken down into environmental components, including waters.
4. Provision of prerequisites for interaction with other central and local government bodies in order to fulfill the tasks within the deadlines envisioned under #12 and # 16 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the 1999 Waters Act (WA).
5. Publication of the secondary legislation as prescribed under Art.135 of the WA of 1999 and compliance with the timelines set pursuant of #20 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the quoted Act.
6. Number of inspections performed while exercising control functions regarding the use and protection of waters.
7. Honoring priorities, entrenched in Art. 50, para 4 of the WA dated 1999 when issuing and revising water use permits.
The report was submitted to the Minister of Environment and Water, Mrs. Dolores Arsenova, in due order, in the presence of Mrs. Evdokia Maneva, Minister of Environment and Water during the period under review. The mayors of municipalities have been made privy to the content of the audit reports and have conveyed no objections.
II. Presentation of the Bulgarian section of the Danube River basin
The Danube River catchment basin comprises 42.35 per cent of the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and totals 46,930 km sq. The main tributaries in the Bulgarian section of the river basin are the rivers Erma, Nishava, Voinishka, Vidbol, Archar, Lom, Ogosta, Scut, Iskar, Vit, Ossum, Yantra, Rousse Lom and others. The Bulgarian tributaries account for 3.4 per cent of the total runoff of the Danube River.
The Danube River basin is exceptionally rich in ground waters and possesses considerable operational capacity assessed to be worth a total of 90 m3/second. These waters are the most important water supply source for North-Eastern Bulgaria.
The Danube River basin contains 113 municipalities with 2,267settlements and a population of 3,848,669, which constitutes 46 per cent of the country’s population. There are 39 populated areas in the region with a population of over 10,000, four of which have a population of over 100,000. Almost half of the population in the region is concentrated in the latter.
PART TWO. Analysis of the results, principal findings and conclusions
I. Analysis and assessment of the incorporation of the objectives of the Convention in the environmental policy of the Government
The review and analysis have outlined a substantial alignment between the objectives entrenched in Art.2 of the Convention and the strategic documents adopted by the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria in the environmental field.
The strategies and policies that were devised are consistent with and promote Government policy on the environment on a regional level, both in relation to goal-setting and prioritizing and the measures and planned activities targeted on these goals.
II. Mechanisms and tools for the achievement of the goals
One of the most important premises for the successful implementation of the Convention and the long-term and mid-term goals stipulated in Government policy in the use and protection of waters is the creation of a system of legal, economic and organizational and technical mechanisms and tools.
1. Legal mechanisms and tools
With regard to sustainable water management, effective regulatory acts envisage a licensing regime for the use of water and water sites.
The WA effective till 28.01.2000 and dated 1969 stipulated the permit arrangements on the use water by means of water tapping facilities. Prior to the cited date the waste water discharge out permits had been codified in the Soil Anti-Contamination Act (SACA).
The 1999 Water Act enlarged the scope of activities and uses subject to the licensing regime. The types of ownership over waters and water facilities were determined, as were the priorities to be observed in the course of their use. Control mechanisms were put in place to be applied by authorities within the specialized state administration, acting as a legal compliance watchdog.
The two laws granted state bodies authority to issue binding prescriptions and to impose coercive administrative measures.
The Minister of Environment and Water has the authority to order suspension of activities that produce water pollution and/or damage water courses and the banks of reservoirs.
The Penal Code incriminates offenses that damage and/or destroy environmental sites, as well as the commissioning of production facilities without treatment facilities, enjoining relevant degrees of punishment.
2. Organizational and technical tools
2.1. The WA of 1999 envisages the transition from a region-based management principle to water management based on river basin zoning.
The law stipulates water management on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria from the standpoint of institutional building, codification of the relations among water management authorities, planning, filing and controls. Basin directorates affiliated with the MEW are scheduled to come into being by 28.01.2002. Prior to that date their functions will be performed by the RIEW, appointed by the Minister of Environment and Water.
2.2. The 1999 WA defines the structure, objectives and tasks of the NWMS. Due process and the means of creation, utilization and maintenance of NWMS as a vehicle for water management are defined in Regulation No. 5 dated 08.11.2000 on procedures and techniques for the creation of networks and the functioning of NWMS.
2.3 The policy goals of MEW in the water segment gain substance in national plans and programs that outline specific measures and tasks to solve existing problems.
2.4. In conjunction with the implementation of the Convention, the MEW maintains active contacts, both bilateral and multilateral, with countries in South-Eastern Europe and in the Danube River basin.
3. Economic tools
The employed economic tools pertain to two substantive financing elements - the accrual of funds by the State and the provision of incentives for business entities to adopt measures that would contain and/or stop pollution.
3.1. Fiscal tools
3.1.1. Fees
3.1.1.1. Consumer charges for the use of water and water sites;
3.1.1.2. Administrative charges:
- To obtain permits for water use and/or the utilization of water sites and environmental impact assessment (EIA) determinations;
- To use information from registers pursuant of Art. 184 in the WA of 1999;
- To use data from the water industry cadastre. The Council of Ministers has not adopted rate-setting regulations.
3.1.1.3. Fees on emissions below admissible levels pursuant of Art. 3, para 1 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA). The Council of Ministers has not prescribed the procedure and methods for rate-setting and collection.
3.1.1.4. Registration fee for special right of use.
3.1.1.5. Other fees that accrue in the environment protection funds and ensure larger investments for the construction of water facilities and plants.
3.1.2. Fines and penalties
The imposition of penalties as a means of coercive compliance with effective regulations on the pollution of environmental components, inclusive of water, has been stipulated in Art. 3, para 3 of the EPA and the Regulation on the procedures for the setting and execution of fines in the event of environmental pollution above admissible levels.
Fines, penalty payments respectively, are legally envisioned in administrative penal provisions regulating environment protection.
3.1.3. The EPA provides for exemption from indirect taxes, customs duties and fees for transactions with goods and services directly financed by grants pursuant of international treaties and/or agreements.
3.1.4. The EPA and WA of 1999 envisage indemnity payments for damages and coverage by the pollutant of all costs necessary to eliminate the consequences of the pollution.
Tax legislation does not envision tax burdens or reliefs associated with environment protection.
3.2. Financial tools
3.2.1. Internal Sources of Finance
3.2.1.1. Target and general subsidies from the national budget for construction and maintenance of water supply and sewage systems in inhabited areas, water treatment plants (WTP) for drinking water, urban waste water treatment plants (WWTP), dams and others.
3.2.1.2. Municipal budget funds for construction, reconstruction, upgrading and repairs of water systems and facilities.
3.2.1.3. Funds from the National Environment Protection Fund (NEPF) and Municipal Environment Protection Funds (MEPF).
The funds accrued through the NEPF are used to finance projects for the protection of waters and water resources in the form of financial grants and interest-free or low-interest loans.