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The Role of State and Local Institutions Regulating Economic and other uses of Watercourses and Water Bodies
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2. THE ROLE OF STATE AND LOCAL INSTITUTIONS REGULATING ECONOMIC AND OTHER USES OF WATERCOURSES AND WATER BODIES
Germany, France, the Untied States and other countries have achieved significant success in safeguarding their water resources from pollution. They all have much in common in the organization of their water resources management. At a national level water resources are managed by specialized ministries, federal agencies or departments. Their scope of competence includes the development of national policy for efficient use and protection of water resources; development and implementation of current and long-term plans for water protection activities within the drainage areas of big and small rivers; national programs for improvement of the quality of surface and ground waters; establishment of monitoring systems; development of basic water legislation; review of public complains and proposals regarding the implementation of water protection activities; development and correction of national water quality standards, etc. The implementation of water protection activities is the responsibility of regional governmental bodies, which are also responsible for the development of regional programs of water use, monitoring of water bodies, water management at a regional level, funding, construction and reconstruction of large plants utilizing water resources. The scope of activities of local (municipal) governments includes the issuing of licenses for the construction of new plants utilizing water resources, control over the quality of water discharged into rivers and ponds, imposition of fines on the violator of water legislation, etc.
The objective of the Belarusian water legislation is to regulate the terms of water use and protection in order to satisfy the water needs of enterprises and individuals; to protect water from pollution, littering and depletion; to prevent and relieve the destructive water effects, and rehabilitate and improve the state of water bodies.
As it has already been mentioned, the Water Code and a number of governmental resolutions on water use and protection make up the framework of the water legislation in Belarus. According to Article 3 of the Water Code, all water bodies make up an indivisible water fund. The fund is made up of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs, canals, ponds and ground water. In Belarus, water is used on the basis of a usufruct. The usufruct is granted on water bodies that make up the water fund of the Republic of Belarus. The water usufruct can be of several types subject to the following uses of water bodies: satisfaction of public drinking, domestic, medical, recreational, and other needs; agricultural, industrial, energy, transport, fish and other uses (Article 20 of the Water Code). For each of the above uses, the Water Code of the Republic of Belarus lays down the procedures and conditions of usufruct and specifies rights and duties of water users. It distinguishes between general and special water uses. General water use is utilization of water without any special equipment or facilities which may affect the water quality; special water use is utilization of water with the application of such special equipment and facilities or without them, which however affects water quality (Articles 23 and 24 of the Water Code). It also distinguishes between shared and individual, and primary and secondary water uses (Articles 25 and 26 of the Water Code). Water bodies (or their parts) can be given in an individual water use to legal entities or persons only by decisions of sate institutions. Enterprises, organizations or agencies, which were granted the right for individual use of water, – the primary water users – are authorized to give permission to other enterprises, organizations, agencies and individuals for secondary use of water upon the agreement of state agencies regulating use and protection of water resources. The procedures and conditions of giving water bodies in use are different depending on the type of water use. No license is required for general water use. Special water use is regulated by the “Order of issuing licenses for special water use” approved by the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus # 669 of May 7, 1999. Licenses for special water use are issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus or its regional bodies on the basis of petitions of water users upon the approval of appropriate state agencies.
Water bodies are given in the individual use completely or partially in compliance with the “Order of giving water bodies (or their parts) in an individual use” approved by resolution of Council of Ministers # 669 of May 7, 1999. The decision to give a water body (or its part) in an individual use is taken by a district or city executive and administrative body (or, in some cases, oblast executive and administrative body ). In special cases this decision is taken by the Council of Ministers upon the review of all the appropriate materials at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.
Legal protection of water means the total of all legal means aimed to conserve, rehabilitate and improve of the state of water natural resources in water bodies. The Water Code and other legislative acts make up the legal framework for protection of water bodies.
To ensure the effective control over the use and protection of water resources it is necessary to improve the legislation by delimiting between the scopes of authority of national and local governments and to increase the administrative, criminal and other types of responsibility for violations of water legislation. To this end there has been developed the Conception of improvement of Belarusian legislation on delimitation between the authority of state and local governments in the field of use and protection of water resources.
State management of water resources is the activity carried out by authorized state agencies to ensure the efficient use and protection of water resources and adherence of legal entities and individuals to the provisions of water legislation of Belarus. Article 7 of the Water Code defines the system of state bodies which manage use and protection of water resources:
- The President of the Republic of Belarus;
- The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus;
- Local Deputies’ Councils;
- Executive and administrative bodies;
- National body of state management of natural resources and environmental protection (Environmental Ministry), its regional departments, and specially authorized state bodies.
The Council of Ministers carries out water management activities in compliance with the law “On the Council of Ministers and subordinate bodies” of July 7, 1998. Thus, in compliance with Article 6 of this law, Government takes measures for protection and theoretically grounded use of water resources within the limits outlined by the Constitution, the laws of the Republic of Belarus, and decrees of the President of Belarus.
More specifically the authority of Belarusian Government in the filed of use and protection of water resource is provided in Article 9 of the Water Code of Belarus, which specifies the following functions of the Council of Ministers:
- to ensure implementation of a unified policy in this field;
- to approve state programs for the efficient use and protection of water resources and to take measures aimed at their implementation;
- to set limits on the use of water in oblasts and city of Minsk;
- to direct the activities of state bodies in the field of water use and protection;
The same article provides that the Council of Ministers is authorized to take measures to stop the activities of legal entities, which fail to comply with the requirements of water legislation of Belarus.
At the same time Article 9 of the Water Code of Belarus provides that local Deputies’ Councils, executive and administrative bodies of water use and protection are authorized to restrict, interrupt or prohibit the activities of legal entities or persons failing to fulfill the requirements of Belarusian legislation. In Article 10 of the Water Code (in paragraph 6) the same function is assigned to the Environmental Ministry. In other words the scopes of authority of Government, Environmental Ministry, local Councils and local executive and administrative bodies in this field are not delimited. That is why it is advisable to delegate this entire authority to local governments bodies, since spatially they are located in close proximity to the subjects of water regulations.
The system of state bodies authorized to manage water resources includes the Environmental Ministry, the Agricultural Ministry and the Health Ministry.
According to Article 10 of the Water Code (paragraph 4), the Environmental Ministry as a state body of natural resources and environmental protection is authorized to exercise state control over use and protection of water resources and to administer state environmental expert examination. Article 9 of the Water Code (paragraph 3), which outlines the authority of local governments in the field of water management, provides that local governments are also authorized to exercise control over use and protection of water resources. Thus, control over use and protection of water resources lies within the scope of competence of both state and local governments. It is advisable to make it sole responsibility of local governments, whereas the environmental expert examination must be the responsibility of the Environmental Ministry departments.
According to Article 10 of the Water Code (paragraph 7), the Environmental Ministry deals with administrative violations in the filed of use and protection of water resource in compliance with the appropriate legislation of the Republic of Belarus.
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The Existing Laws and Regulations the Govern Water Quality Management and Use of Water in the Republic of Belarus