STRATEGIC EVALUATION ON ENVIRONMENT AND RISK PREVENTION UNDER STRUCTURAL AND COHESION FUNDS FOR THE PERIOD

Transcription

1 STRATEGIC EVALUATION ON ENVIRONMENT AND RISK PREVENTION UNDER STRUCTURAL AND COHESION FUNDS FOR THE PERIOD Contract No CE.16.0.AT.016. National Evaluation Report for Romania Main Report Directorate General Regional Policy A report submitted by in association with Prof. Vladimir Rojanschi Bucharest Ecological University Faculty of Environmental Management Str.DEM. I.DOBRESCU nr. 2-4 Sector 1, Bucharest Tel: +40/21/ Fax: +40/21/ vladimir.rojanschi@ueb.ro Arnoud Lust Ecolas N.V. Lange Nieuwstraat 43, 2000 Antwerp Belgium Tel.: +32/3/ Fax: +32/ Arnoud.lust@ecolas.be Date: November 10th, 2006 GHK Brussels Rue de la Sablonnière, 25 B-1000 Brussels Tel: +32 (0) ; Fax : +32 (2) GHK London 526 Fulham Road London, United Kingdom SW6 5NR Tel: ; Fax:

2 Acronyms: CSO DS DWF EPI MWEP MPA combined sewer overflow dry solids Dry Weather Flow, the amount of waste water to be treated during dry weather conditions. Can be expressed in m³/d or in l/pe/d (= unit dry weather flow) Environmental Protection Inspectorate Ministry of Waters and Environmental Protection Ministry of Public Administration PE population equivalent = the amount of waste water produced by 1 person = 1 PE = 60 gbod/day STP = MWWTP UWWTD WWT RES sewage treatment plant = municipal wastewater treatment plant Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/EC wastewater treatment Renewable Energy Sources

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW AND HORIZONTAL ISSUES Country overview State of the environment State of the environment infrastructure Implementation status of the European environmental acquis Environmental policy Environmental expenditure (general) WATER SUPPLY Current situation Needs for the future WASTEWATER TREATMENT (WWT) Current situation Needs for the future MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE Current situation Needs for the future RENEWABLE ENERGY Current situation Needs for the future NATURAL RISK MANAGEMENT (FIRE, DROUGHT, FLOODS) Current situation Needs for the future PRIORITY ASSESSMENT Part 1: summarising the needs assessment Part 2: Assessing priorities within fields Part 3: Assessing Priorities Across Fields ANNEXES Annexes section Current situation Annexes chapters Needs for the future Annex 1: Initial and Indicative Priority Assessment of Structural Fund Allocations Across Fields Annex 2: Criteria for Scoring the Potential Impact of Different Types of Investment Default Assessments List of formal interviews Reference List GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE i

4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY See separate document. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 1

5 1 INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY This report is a part of the project Strategic Evaluation on Environment & Risk Prevention Under Structural & Cohesion Funds for , European Commission project No CE.16.0.AT.016, attributed to GHK in association with Ecolas Environmental Consultancy and Assistance, IEEP Institute for European Environmental Policy, and Cambridge Econometrics. The project s overall aim is to provide the strategic evaluation of the needs and priorities for environmental investment under the structural and cohesion funds for the period It covers 5 fields of environmental investment: water supply, waste water treatment, municipal solid waste, renewable energy sources and natural risk management. In order to identify and evaluate needs in the selected fields, and to select investment priorities for the Structural and Cohesion Funds for the period, the project analyses the current situation in each field and the financial allocations during the current programming period ( ). The regional scope of the project is 15 countries, comprising the 10 new Member States (NMS) plus Bulgaria, Romania and 3 old cohesion Member States (Greece, Portugal and Spain). This report focuses on Poland and was prepared by the Polish Institute for Sustainable Development and Ecolas nv. The methodology implemented for preparing this report consisted in collaboration between a core team, who provided guidelines, and the several national evaluators to guarantee the consistence across the national reports. Each country reported back to the core team at each step in the research project and got feedback on how to proceed with the work. The executive summary is presented in a separate document, as it can be read and will be used as a stand-alone document. There is an initial chapter on horizontal issues, then for each field the following sections are presented: overview and needs. Priority assessment across fields is provided. The overview sections review the available information in Poland in each field. The information was drawn from EU information, national reports, field-specific databases, various field specific reports regarding the environmental situation in Poland and available investment plans. Key stakeholders in each field were also contacted and in some cases provided additional information. Although there are some information asymmetries between the fields, each overview assesses the current state of provision and infrastructures, the institutions involved, the past investment plans and their funding by Community support programmes in the relevant field. The needs chapters assess the needs for environmental investment over the period , taking into account the requirement to ensure compliance with the environmental acquis (the body of environmental regulations and directives), the consistency between environmental and other policies and priorities, and where applicable, the regional development benefits. The needs chapters aim to indicate the main policy objectives and targets for each field and, if possible, to quantify physical investment needs based on legislative environmental requirements, demand estimations and scenarios, the current state of infrastructure and the possibility of complementary flanking measures (such as user charges) which might reduce the need for investment. However, such complete information was rarely available, either GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 2

6 because it was not disclosed or because it simply did not exist. Here the information asymmetries between fields are larger. The priority assessment draws on the information gathered about the current situation and the identified needs to provide an independent assessment of the priority needs in each field and across fields. A final chapter contains numerous annexes with, among others, useful data gathered during this study. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 3

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8 2 OVERVIEW AND HORIZONTAL ISSUES 2.1 Country overview Indicator Latest year (specify) Trend (yearly increase) Area of country (thousand square km) Not applicable GDP per capita (Euro) million / = Population (thousand) Number of households (thousand) ,5 % -0,12 % Average household income (Euro) Unemployment rate (%) (ILO definition) 7,0 (2003) Administrative structure 41 counties 2.2 State of the environment Present State of Environmental Protection in Romania 1 : 97,8% of the hydrographic network is situated on the Danube basin; Almost 38% of the Danube is situated on Romanian territory; With only 2660 m 3 of water/person/year, comparative with 4000 m 3 of water/person/year in Europe, Romania is in the low water resources category; 71% of raw waste water reaches natural receptors; Only 52% of Romanians benefit from water supply and waste water sewage services; 8 million tonnes of municipal waste have been generated in 2004 and 29 million tonnes of production waste; Almost 40% of urban waste are recyclable materials, 20% can be recovered, at this time only 2% recyclables are recovered; Only 0,25% of the total urban waste quantity is reused while over 99% is disposed of; There are 267 municipal waste landfills, of which 238 do not respect environmental standards; there are almost 2686 dumping sites in rural areas; 1 Ministry of Environment and Water Management, Sector Operational Program for Environment, Romania, April 2006 GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 5

9 The main strengths and weakness of the current state of the environment are: Strengths: The necessary institutions needed to assure the implementation of environmental legislation have been created: Regional and county environmental protection agencies. Environmental guard with local branches Environmental fund Etc. Over 95% of the entire European Union legislation on environmental protection has been adopted The existence of a significant number of NGO s and professional associations preoccupied with the environment (NGO s like: REC, Floare de colt, professional associations like: Romanian Solid Waste Association, Romanian Water Association and others) The increase of company and other economic agents interest in being ISO certified The enlargement of the university and school systems with an ecological profile, with special courses or lessons in the field of environmental protection International cooperation and international support enlargement for Romania s environmental problems Weaknesses: The new institutions do not have the necessary strength and experience to put in practice environmental legislation The lack of top level staff at local and regional level For the companies, the environmental problem has a secondary importance The lack of legal procedures to sanction / punish those how brake the environmental legislation Low capacity to promote environmental projects, despite the existence of external financing The civil society and the population are not active or aggressive enough to impose the respect for the environmental aspects The elected representatives of the local administration do not yet consider the environmental problems to be a priority of their mandate The main reasons for the major environmental problems are: hard access due to red tape to the Environmental funds, lack of specialized top level staff, lack of a environmental culture for the managers and decision makers. There is a clear trend of improvement of the vision and of the approach to environmental issues. Regarding recent improvements from the point of view of environmental issues, there is a significant number of waste-water treatment plant modernization, an increase of ecological land field sites, numerous training courses on environmental issues, a frequent promotion of new ISO standards. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 6

10 A major environmental issue, outside of the selected fields, is the coherent and good connection between central and local authorities relating to the environment: Environment and Water Management Ministry, Administration and Internal Affaires Ministry, Health Ministry and Industry and Commerce Ministry 2.3 State of the environment infrastructure The infrastructure at city level is more developed while in rural areas and cities under inhabitants, this infrastructure is in a poor state. Regarding the fields of activity, in general, drinking water supply systems, and the waste water collection systems are covering a large part of the necessities. In the field of integrated management of municipal waste there is a lot of work to be done. Regarding renewable energies, the level of preoccupation did not pass form the stage of pilot or laboratory trials. Risk management legislative and institutional elements are implemented but in the moment when this kind of situations occurs, malfunctions appear in actions. In large cities (county residence specially), numerous international financed projects for water supply, waste water treatment and waste management systems have been promoted recently to improve the state of the environment. Unfortunately the infrastructures are not evenly distributed; mainly the northern part (Ardeal area) and the south of Romania are better developed from this point of view. Moldova area still has numerous problems due to poor existing infrastructure. 2.4 Implementation status of the European environmental acquis At this time over 95% of EU environmental legislation acquis has been implemented in Romanian legislation. The delays are mainly on the more technical directives (Electric and Electronic Waste Directive, PCB Directive, Incineration Directive, etc.) due to two causes: changes to the original directives at E.U. level and lack of preparation of technical aspects on national level in view of legislation implementation. At this time there are no information regarding any legal action been taken, at EU level, for lack of implementation Drinking water Responsibilities for the field of drinking water are shared between: Water and waste water operators Local authority (municipal, county) as owner and investment manager Ministry of Administration and Internal Affaires - for policies, strategies and legislation National Authority for Regulations in Local Services for control and licensing Health Inspectorate water quality control National Administration Apele Romane for approval of water extraction and water discharge National Agency for Environmental Protection for the control of environmental impact National Committee for Consumer Protection for the control of water quality GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 7

11 Ministry of Environment and Water Management as central authority for ISPA, PHARE, CF and other founds, as manager Professional associations Romanian Water Association Implementation of the Drinking Water Directive will be especially costly for Romania. Romania has transposed this directive. The existing monitoring system for drinking water will have to be improved and the laboratories better equipped to ensure adequate monitoring. A general estimate is that 10 billion EUR is required to implement the Drinking Water Directive Waste water Responsibilities for the field of waste water are shared between: Water and waste water operators Local authority (municipal, county) as owner and investment manager Ministry of Administration and Internal Affaires - for policies, strategies and legislation National Authority for Regulations in Local Services for control and licensing Health Inspectorate water quality control National Administration Apele Romane for approval of water extraction and water discharge National Agency for Environmental Protection for the control of environmental impact National Committee for Consumer Protection for the control of water quality Ministry of Environment and Water Management as central authority for ISPA, PHARE, CF and other founds, as manager Professional associations Romanian Water Association Almost all the water acquis have been incorporated into national law. The new Water Law is close to the content of Framework Directive 2000/60, solving in the same time some internal institutional, economical and social aspects in the water sector. Implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive is at an early stage and a general implementation plan is needed given the fact that this will be the most expensive Directive to implement. The fact that Romania was declared, as a whole, a sensible area, creates large problems for waste water treatment. Romania, not being ready from this point of view, was given a delay of 12 years to implement this directive. As a result of the negotiations with the European Commission, Romania disposes of additional time to build collection systems and treatment facilities for urban waste waters (Directive 91/271/EEC). The intermediate targets agreed ensure that priority is given to bigger agglomerations. The time spans agreed (until end 2018) reflect the 2 /2003/ /html/kap03_eng.htm GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 8

12 implementation schedule for current Member States, counted from the adoption of the Directive. 3 The large period of transition is required due to the huge costs related to all the actions and measures that need to be done in order to implement this directive. Another reason for this is the slow process of development of the sewerage systems in the comparison to the evolution of the drinkable water distribution systems. The Ministry of Waters and Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Public Administration have realized an estimation of the financial resources needed for the implementation of this Directive. 4 Estimates have been already done and the strategic program for the next period includes phases for this costs and possible financing sources % is hoped to come from the E.U. Total investment required between 2002 and 2030 to rehabilitate the infrastructure of the water-sewerage services in urban areas is currently estimated at 4,2 billion EUR and in rural areas at 5,5 billion EUR. These cost estimates are from the "Government s Strategy concerning the Development of Local Public Services of Communal Husbandry" developed in 2001 by the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA). 5 The MWEP has compiled an initial inventory of infrastructure investment projects needed for EU compliance on the basis of information from the 42 Environmental Protection Inspectorates (EPIs). But the efforts of the MPA and the MWEP have not yet been combined into the type of detailed Directive-specific implementation plan needed for accession negotiations in this sector, let alone a master plan with prioritized projects ready for further development and financing Solid waste Responsibilities for the field of solid waste management are shared between: Solid water management operators and companies Local authority (municipal, county) as owner and investment manager Ministry of Administration and Internal Affaires - for policies, strategies and legislation National Authority for Regulations in Local Services for control and licensing National Agency for Environmental Protection for the control of environmental impact Ministry of Environment and Water Management as central authority for ISPA, PHARE, CF and other founds, as manager Professional associations Romanian Solid Waste Association 3 Report on the Results of the Negotiations on the Accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union Prepared by the Commission's Departments, February /2003/ /html/kap03_eng.htm 6 /2003/ /html/kap03_eng.htm GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 9

13 Waste management is an area where Romania still has much work in order to bring its situation up to EU standards. There is a general lack of adequate facilities to treat properly and dispose existing waste streams. Moreover, hazardous waste is often codisposed with ordinary household waste, leading to serious pollution from inadequately protected landfills. 7 The national waste management plan establishes development of an integrated management system for municipal waste, comprising separate collection, treatment, recovery and disposal to licensed landfill sites Environmental policy In the environmental policy, the main aspects are related to strengthening institutional capacity of central and local authorities involved in environmental issues: Training specialized top level staff that will be willing to work in this institutions Finding the ways and instruments to encourage companies to apply the environmental legislation Promoting new economic and financial instruments (to stimulate or punish) as well as educational an informative instruments may be main policy drivers at this stage. All the internal policy on environment corresponds to the acquis and was driven by it. In all degree, from the economical central and local administration preoccupations, the majority is related to water, waste water and solid waste. The other domains are secondary priority preoccupations of economical ministries. There are numerous strategic documents that give emphasis to the importance of environmental quality for economic development and regional convergence: at spatial level (county, regional, national) at time level: short term, medium term and long term (2025) by sector of activity (energy, transportation, agriculture, environment, etc.) by environmental factors (water, soil, waste). The creation of environmental strategies, as a component of sustainable development, is in tune with the recommendations of the European Environmental Agency. Integration of environmental policy in the further development and implementation of sectoral and regional policies represents one of the main priorities of the Romanian government for The national development plan for , the reference document for accession, is currently being prepared and this document will also serve as a basis for application to future cohesion and structural funding /2003/ /html/kap03_eng.htm 8 The European Environmental Agency : THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT, STATE AND OUTLOOK 2005 GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 10

14 2.6 Environmental expenditure (general) The major financial sources for environmental infrastructure are European funds, programs like ISPA, PHARE, SAMTID, SAPARD. Table 1: The evolution of environmental expenditure at national level: Million lei Field Air protection Water protection Waste management Soil protection and ground water Noise and vibration Biodiversity and landscape conservation Other activities Total national expenditure Total national expenditure (Mio Eur) % of GDP Figure 1 : The evolution of environmental expenditure at national level: The evolution of environmental expenditure at national level Mio Euro Year ,00 ROL (Romania Lei) = 28,01114 EUR GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 11

15 Figure 2: Founds structure for Environmental Protection Other sources 4% EU financing 23% Governmental budget 8% Financial resource of the population 49% International financial institutions 16% The environmental found - In order to support the development of projects of the National Environmental Protection Action Plan in the year 2000 was established an Environmental Found. The purpose of this found is to stimulate a limited number of environmental public interest investments. Founds collected until now are almost 54,057 mil Euro: mil Euro in mil Euro in mil Euro in mil Euro until February 2005 In the perspective of , a large part of the financing sources is expected to be from the E.U., through cohesion and regional development founds. Another important part will be assured by the twining programs as a continuance to those from earlier period. From the point of view of internal sources, we have to mention the National Environmental Found for certain local interest projects. Identification of projects is done at ministry and inter-ministerial level in dialog with county regional development representatives. Priority lists that will be promoted for the E.U. as financial able projects are developed based on the criteria of the European Delegation in Bucharest and in dialog with specialized comities in Bruxelles. On several occasions these procedures were proved to be time consuming with large bureaucratic elements that result in delays in the promotion of projects. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 12

16 Pre-accession aid in Romania ( , in millions of euros, 2004 prices) 10 PHARE ISPA SAPARD Total In Table 2 the Ispa Environment budget committed to date and scenario for is presented. With the accession of the first wave on candidate countries in the European Union, the annual allocation for has increased for Romania and Bulgaria with 20%, 30% and 40% per year. Table 2 : Ispa Environment budget committed to date and scenario up to 2006 (in million Euro) 11 Realised 2000 Realised 2001 Realised 2002 Realised 2003 Realised 2004 Realised 2005 Forecast 2006 >+ 20% 30% 40% % Total Environment Budget Measures approved Commitment Forecast 2006 Remaining 60 The figures represent only the ISPA contribution to the projects, so not the total project value. These correspond to a total project value (inclusive of the national contribution of MEuro. The division of this budget over the different fields is presented in Table The European Structural Funds ( ) Romania - fact sheet 11 Delegation of the European Commission in Romania, ISPA in Romania, 15 June GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 13

17 Past period funding ( ) Table 3 : Division of Ispa Environment budget for over the individual environmental sectors 12 Field 1 : Field 2: Field 3: Field 4: Field 5: Total Drinking Water Service Waste Water Municipal Solid Waste Renewable Energy Sources Natural Hazards In MEuro In % 29% 60% 11% 100% According to the most recent information 13, Romania has now committed the entire amount of the programming phase (more than 1 billion Euro in the Environment sector. 12 Delegation of the European Commission in Romania, ISPA in Romania, 15 June This figure has been calculated by the consultants, based on the project list included in the above document. In the case of projects covering multiple environmental sectors (e.g. Drinking Water and Waste Water), the budget has been divided arbitrarily (in equal proportions) over the sectors. 13 Personal communication A. Mairate (Head of Unit DG REGIO), July 2006 GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 14

18 3 WATER SUPPLY 3.1 Current situation Current State of Provision Presently, in Romania there are localities that use central systems for drinking water distribution, out of which: all the 268 cities and towns (100%); 2647 rural localities, representing approx. 17% from their total number; The drinking water distribution networks have a total length of km, in urban area ensuring 71% of the equipped streets total length The current capacity of the centralized water supply systems for populated areas is 120m3/s, out of which 49 m3/s is supplied by groundwater, and 72 m3/s by surface water, including the Danube. Regarding water provisions, 60% of the sources are from surface water while 40% of the sources are provided by ground water. This is the case for centralized water supply systems. For the individual systems in rural areas, 85% of water supply sources are from low depth ground water. There are issues regarding availability of water supply: a quantitative deficit is visible in certain areas of Romania, major problems regarding quality are present specially in rural areas for individual sources. Romania s water resources are made up of the surface waters inner rivers, natural and anthropogenic lakes, the Danube and in a smaller measure, 10% respectively, the underground waters. In 2004 the total water abstraction was million m³ out of which: 12 % was for agriculture, 21 % was for human needs and 67 % was for industry. 14 As reported to the country s current population it means: the specific usable resource in natural regime, of about 2,660 m³/inhabitant/year, considering also the Danube s contribution; the theoretic specific resource, of about 1,770 m³/inhabitant/year, considering only the contribution of the inland rivers, placing Romania, from this point of view, in the category of the countries with relatively small water resources in comparison with the other countries resources. 15 The water abstraction decreased more than three times during the period due to a combination of economic slow-down, reduction of the water used for technological processes, reduction of water losses, and implementation of the 14 The European Environmental Agency : THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT, STATE AND OUTLOOK Romania Ministry of Environment and Waters Managements : Report on state of environment in Romania year 2004, Bucharest GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 15

19 economic instruments and mechanisms in water management 16. Despite this, there can still be insufficiencies of water supply for important parts of the country because of the unequal spread of water resources, frequent droughts, the lack of regularisation of river flows and the pollution of many rivers. 17 The industrial water use has decreased dramatically in the last 10 to 15 years, to less than 40%. Nevertheless, the planning of the rehabilitation or modernization of the urban water supply system must take into account the small and medium size industry located in the cities that is served by the public water service. Historically, Romania has developed a unitary water supply system. Drinking Water demand Unfortunately the demand is not met at this time by water supply, there are small cities without 24 hour drinking water supply. There are a number of causes for this: water deficit in sources at certain periods lack of necessary infrastructure for each consumer the loss of large quantities of water in the system (30-35% in some cases) non-connection of the population to the centralized water intake system. Lately a drastic reduction in water consumption in large cities has been noticed due to water intake metering and to the increased water price. This means that centralized systems have spare capacity available for future connections of users, but this implies substantial efforts regarding the development of new water intake installations. The total gross water supply in 2003 reached 6.50 billion m³, out of which: 18 population 1,23 billion m³ industry 3,93 billion m³ agriculture 1,34 billion m³ The above values refer to the total water use, including surface water use and direct water abstraction by industry and agriculture (so more than just the public water service). If we are referring to the public water service, the situation is this (based on the billing system) the following: 40% of the drinking water is consumed directly by the population, 20% by social and administrative institutions (ministries, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, etc.) and 40% by the small and medium size industry and services based in the cities. The water supply decreased from 20,4 billion m³ in 1990 to 6,50 billion m³ in the present 18 due to a combination of economic slow-down, reduction of the water used for technological processes, reduction of water losses, and implementation of the economic instruments and mechanisms in water management. 16 The European Environmental Agency : THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT, STATE AND OUTLOOK /2003/ /html/kap03_eng.htm 18 Romania Ministry of Environment and Waters Managements : Report on the environmental state in Romania during 2004, Bucharest 2005 GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 16

20 For 2003, the water resources utilization degree (need/supply report) is presented in the Table 4 below: Table 4: The utilisation degree of water resources in 2003 Water demand Water supply Utilisation degree Activity Amount (billion m³) Activity Amount (billion m³) % Population 1.69 Population Industry 5.64 Industry Agriculture 1.86 Agriculture Total 9.19 Total The diagram below presents the water needs evolution : The water supply was 70,7% of the total demand of water due to the water overestimations needs, particularly in industry and agriculture, as well as to the economic mechanism applied in the water management. Drinking water quality Drinking water is in general of a good quality but in some centralized systems or areas of them need extra work to maintain the quality according to the standards. In rural areas this problem has a high degree of threat due to the disregard of drinking water quality standards. There are necessary large amount of works in these areas in order to ensure population health in regard to the consumption of non-potable water. The key issues are pollution of low depth water layers in rural areas, problems due to ground water quality influenced by: use of chemicals in agriculture, animal farms, and soil pollution in general. State of infrastructures The current state of infrastructure supplies 85% of cities population and 15 % of rural areas population with water from centralized systems. The infrastructure presents some dysfunctional elements and economic inefficiency due to: old networks and/or equipment. large losses in water transport and distribution systems. accidental pollution of water sources GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 17

21 Oltenia area (in the south-west) and Moldova area are suffering from weak infrastructure at city population level. In the rural areas, 80% of the population is concerned - suffering from weak infrastructure. Out of approximately 22,4 million inhabitants only 65% (14,7 million persons) have drinkable water supplied by public service. 19 Romania s water distribution is uneven and water interruptions in the city of Bucharest still occur. 20 Water prices A water price is set, different between cities. In this moment this price varies between 0,3 and 0,6 Euro per m 3. Large scale introduction of water metering in main cities and the mentioned water price (fairly large for Romanian family income) lead to a drastic downsize of consumption and accordingly water bills. The water bills are incorporated in the utilities of entire buildings. Due to the facts mentioned above, water demand was reduced 3 4 times. The price is relatively high in some small cities compared to population income. Operators are confronted with problems in recovering unpaid amounts. The water price does not allow developments, modernizations or new technologies insertion for the centralized water intake systems. Institutional issues Water operators are organized, usually, either as regia s 21 or as commercial companies with the municipalities or counties as main shareholder. This means that the operator has a status of submission in regard to the municipal council or the county council. There is not yet a private capital intake in the organizational and functional part of the water operators. In this moment there is a tendency to regionalize the operators in order to accede easier to European founds. Also there are in the process of development policies to leas the operations to larger and more prestigious companies. There are a number of public-private partnerships by different methods: leasing, BOT. Regarding the problem of the private sector, Investments are based on complex financial arrangements: European founds, own budget, national or local budget, loans and in some cases different forms of private investments. The Directorate of Public Health under the Ministry of Health and Family and the municipal level water services share responsibility for implementing and enforcing the Drinking Water Directive "The Government s Strategy concerning the Development of Local Public Services of Communal Husbandry", Government of Romania, Ministry of Public Administration, Bucharest, 2001 at p /2003/ /html/kap03_eng.htm - Danish EPA, 2003, Romania s Road to Accession - The Need for an Environmental Focus 21 Regia is a company with the municipal or county council as owner 22 /2003/ /html/kap03_eng.htm GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 18

22 Conclusions Complying with the necessary European legislation acquis that was transposed into Romanian laws will need a great financial effort in the next years, that Romania, without European financial support, will not be able to afford in such a short period. In order of priority, investments should focus on: extending or replacing water transport and distribution systems both for loss reduction (present figure is around 30%) and for connection of new users; ensuring safe drinking water intake in rural areas, filed that was completely neglected until now. Increasing water quality analysis, control and monitoring in all sections of the water intake system. Some of the most sensitive environmental issues, in regard to the functioning of water intake systems are: Possible pollution of water sources, surface or ground water, a problem that imposes promoting sanitary protection areas for sources this aspect was relatively neglected until now. Lack of approach on the problem of wastewater treatment plants impact on the environment (technological waters in the treatment plants). After 1994 and 1995, when access to European funds was granted, vast rehabilitation and modernization of water intake systems were started Experience of Previous Investment Programmes Past and present investments in water supply sector are due to contributions from EU funds and loans from EBRD, World Bank and a number of twining programs % of the large investments are from European founds, 10-15% from local sources and the rest form bank loans. Rolling programs are PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD Legal or administrative reporting is an obligation in grant procedures. Strategies to develop this sector have been developed, by the Romanian Water Association, Administration and Internal Affairs Ministry and Environmental and Water Management Ministry. These strategies cover both the field of investments and the problem of organizing and good quality management of the sector. The projects proposed to be financed by different programs were developed from these strategies. Periodically, 3-4 years, the strategies are updated taking into consideration the achievements from this period. Unfortunately, in some cases, the different strategies are not corroborated, or, at there elaboration, the local administration was not consulted. General MS funding Good quality management, a policy of gradual growth of water price and the involvement of the private sector were obligations assessed by signing grant and loans access protocols. From there investments, in a first stage, have benefited the large cities with over inhabitants (16 cities), and in a second stage the cities with over GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 19

23 inhabitants. The cities were chosen by equally throughout Romania s regions, but with a focus on Ardeal area. ISPA programme ( ) The total Ispa Environment budget (all environmental sectors) committed to date and scenario for is presented in Table 2 and Table 3. Over the period , 22 projects with a drinking water component have been approved under ISPA (including Technical Assistance projects), with a total value of 397 Million Euro) 23. This budget also includes the national contribution. Good Practice Lessons or Examples The investments and running of the projects all the way from study faze to technical assistance, were the object of international auctions that were won by consortiums of foreign prestige companies and local consultants. This work method allowed knowledge transfer, implementation of technical best practices and operational management best practices. Technological, economical and management performance of the resulted systems reaches the E.U. performance levels. Establishing priorities for the investment field was based on the criteria proposed by the European Commission and internal reality of each area. Conclusions The majority of investments were proven to be efficient, but in some cases, due to overestimates of consumption, the installations were over dimensioned. At the end this element can be a positive factor, as reserve capacities, in the perspective of developments of networks for future consumers. The investments were effective in fulfilling the objectives they were meant to reach. Better dinking water, reduced production costs, reduced losses of water and overall better quality of service were assured. Water intake systems for rural population were neglected due also to financing conditions imposed by the European Union. 3.2 Needs for the future Review of Policy Objectives and Targets The present situation of the drinking water supply in Romania, imposes an action plan on several directions: 1. The conservation an improvement of water sources and water supply systems quality. 23 Delegation of the European Commission in Romania, ISPA in Romania, 15 June This figure has been calculated by the consultants, based on the project list included in the above document. In the case of project covering multiple environmental sectors (e.g. Drinking Water and Waste Water), the budget has been divided arbitrarily (in equal proportions) over the sectors. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 20

24 2. The rehabilitation, upgrading the technology and the development of water treatment plants, for the compliance with the Drinking Water Directive, including an efficient monitoring system. 3. The connection of rural areas to the regional water supply systems or the promotion of alternative solutions for isolated villages. 4. The strengthening of managerial and operational capacities of water operators 5. Insuring of water price rising by taking into consideration population affordability. The achievement of these actions will ensure the respect of the agreed time periods for the compliance of all systems to the negotiated drinking water indicators. For the success of the actions it is necessary to act in the same time with the development of sewage and wastewater systems in the respective cities, and also, in the same measure the treatment of industrial or agriculture (animal farms) wastewater. Water sector, including the complex arrangement of water courses in order to avoid crisis phenomenon or risk situations (floods or drought) is a primary interest sector in environmental, agricultural and land management policy. This imposes the promotion of several joint-sector programs such as Agriculture-Environment, Health-Environment, Administration-Environment, etc. The basis of such programs should be the development of regional systems (economic development regions) and in the field of water, on the principle of hydrographic basin water management. This fact imposes that water operators, largely organized today at city level, restructure themselves as hydrographic basin regional operators. Such a structure generates certain changes and legal adaptation to facilitate the formation of inter-communal associations Demand Scenarios Demographic and economic trends and projections From the point of view of demographic evolution there is an evident decreasing tendency of population due to birth rate decrease, emigration and long term work force migration. On the other side, from the point of view of water supply, the tendency is to bring in the system new users due to the displacement of rural population to the city, the connection of rural towns to the existing systems, the development of economic and industrial agents established in the range of city water supply systems. The evolution in the last 15 years indicates the tendencies: % % (compared with 1990) % % This decrease does not include the population migrated as long term work force, estimated in 2004 at almost 2 mil inhabitants. If this tendency is maintained, it can be expected that Romania s population will still decrease with 1 mil inhabitants until Also, along with the integration of Romania in the European Union and the free access to the work force market, the long term GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 21

25 work force migration tendency will be kept. This will lead to considerable reduction of resident population. On the other hand, in the last years, the national economic growth was 4-8% per year. It is predicted that the integration of Romania in the European Union will lead to a maintaining of the growth around 5% per year. In these conditions, there will be a strong development of medium and small enterprises and services at local level and, also, of drinking water consumers. The equilibrium between the two opposing tendencies, from the point of view of drinking water demand, it is hard to control or quantify. But, also, by taking into consideration the rehabilitation of the water transport system (meaning the reduction of losses), the household metering (resulting consumption reduction) and the increase of water price, it is probable that the present capacities will be able to satisfy the water demand at city level. The issue of isolated villages has to be address in a special manner. There are certain differences between the developments of water systems from different Romanian regions. In general the more developed regions like Banat and Transylvania have better systems compared to Moldova or Oltenia. Also there is a considerable difference between different rural or urban areas. Rural areas, in their large majority, do not have assured access to safe, standard complying drinking water. This is a problem that Romania needs to solve in the next period. At this time, drinking water capacity at national level is 120 m 3 /s. Drinking water quantity provided to consumer in one year is 1968 million m3, from witch 811 million m 3 for domestic use. In these conditions, even if, at this time, the entire Romanian population (we mention that currently approximately 45% of the population is not connected to a centralized water supply system) would be connected to the existing water supply system, it can be assured a specific flow of almost 200 litters/inh./day. This value is more then enough and it is close to European Union values. Unit Water Demand From the experience of the last years, in the cities where rehabilitation programs for water-wastewater systems were promoted, pipe changing and household water metering actions lead to a decrease of consumption from litters/inh./day to litters/inh./day (in cities like Oradea, Cluj, Bistrita, Pitesti and Buzau). Once this level is attained the consumption reduction tendencies will not be so accentuated, a specific, minimum consumption level is necessary. The cities that will enter in the near future in this kind of programs, the tendencies will be similar. In rural towns, specific consumption it expected to be smaller due to the degree of equipments presence in the households. On the other hand, Romanian rural areas households include animal raising and land cultivation (small agricultural activities in need of irrigation) around the house that can influence the specific consumption. In the measure in witch water price in rural towns will be large, the farmer will tend to maintain the traditional solution for irrigation and animal watering. Due to water price, the water usage in town industrial activities or services will reach optimal levels from the technical and economical point of view. The use of raising water prices in regard to a base price imposed by the specific norms for industrial water, can stimulate such a tendency. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 22

26 User Charges In the establishing of the water price, a important competence is that of the local authorities. The price proposed by the operator and approved by the local council on the basis of the agreement from the national regulating authority. The water price varies very much among different Romanian cities, being between 0,8 and 2,5 Lei RON per m 3 depending on the specificities of the system and if the council agrees to include in this price the amount needed for system development. Usually, the tendency is that the water bill does not exceed 2-3% of the family income. Even in these conditions, there are difficulties to pay the water bills in numerous cities. The percentage of unpaid bills is up to 25-30%. Special efforts are made by the operators to recover the debts by several means including stopping the supply or using the judicial system. Along with the promotion of new projects, based also on loans, there is a real tendency to raise the water price and this will create more difficulties for the consumer Using Public-Private Partnerships and/or the bonds system can be a solution to maintain the affordability and the accessibility of the population to the water supply system. Total drinking water need Table 5: Forecast Annual Water Demand in 2013 Low Demand Scenario Medium Demand Scenario High Demand Scenario Population (million) 20 20,5 21 Households (million) 7,407 7,592 7,777 Unit water supply (l per inh. per day) Total domestic water demand (million m³ per year) Economic gross product (million euro) , Specific water consumption per gross product (m³/euro) Total industrial drinking water demand (million m³ per year) Total drinking water demand (million m³ per year) 0,036 0,036 0, The total industrial water demand in 2003 (including other sources than the drinking water service) was 3195 million m 3 /year Drinking Water Quality A global approach is needed in almost all the water supply systems in order to comply with all of the almost 60 parameters present in the drinking water legislation. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 23

27 The efforts can be made on different aspects: Changing the surface water supply sources to medium and high depth ground water sources; Protection of the intake areas for surface water sources; Introducing efficient technologies to correct part of the sensitive parameters (using active charcoal, ozone, complementary chemical substances, etc.). Cleaning and upkeep of the water transport and distribution systems; Re-chlorination points for long and branched drinking water distribution systems. The introduction of individual additional purification systems for sensitive consumers (hospitals, schools etc.); Development of laboratory analysis capability, including the certification of water treatment plants process laboratories. In situ monitoring development; etc. These measures will be able to reduce: nonconformities; Incidents caused by use of improper water. Reduction of costs for sickness treatment due to the use of improper water Remain, still unsolved, the problems of water supply in remote rural areas. In these areas there can be analyzed several alternatives: The use of medium and high depth ground water sources along with possible small size plants to correct a few quality indicators that do not comply with the standard. The delivery of bottled drinking water for the consumers (2-3 litters/inh./day) State of Infrastructure Need for Improvement / Replacement of Obsolete or Non- Compliant Infrastructure The key elements for investments are considered in 2 categories: Water transport and distribution systems replacing the old pipes, the pipes made with asbestos and cement. This will result in a reduction of water loss at this time, the losses are around 40-50% in several towns. Based on the experience of some rolling projects, by replacing the pipes it can be counted on a reduction of the losses with 20-25%. Also, the pipes made with asbestos and cement have to be replaced due to the European legislation on asbestos. The completion of existing water treatment plants with efficient procedures and processes mentioned above. The two types of investments are generally valid for the Romanian centralized water supply systems, with the exception of large cities that have rolling projects GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 24

28 beginning with 1995 (Cluj, Oradea, Arad, Timisoara, Iasi, etc.) but did not totally solve their problems. The beneficiaries of these actions are the 55% of Romanian population connected to a urban centralized water supply system. Also, we have to take into consideration that the unconnected rural population will not benefit, in a first stage, from this activity, and their problems have to be solved as presented previously Physical investment needs Table 6: Physical investment needs Type of investment Indicators Minimum scenario Average scenario Maximum scenario Drinking water reservoirs Reservoirs (to store surface water) Billion m 3 2 3,5 5 Extra volume needed in reservoirs (million m³) Drinking water production Transport and connection Plants in need of investment to improve drinking water quality, surface water production (number) Extra volume needed of groundwater reaching drinking water quality standards (million m³) Long distance drinking water network needed (km) new and renovation Local drinking water network needed (km) new and renovation ,500 2, House connections needed (number) Monitoring & metering Extra monitoring points needed (number) House metering needed (million) 1,2 2 3 Note: For drinking water reservoirs (to store surface water) it is recommended a volume that can ensure 24 hours of water for the consumers. The current capacity ensures water for only about 12 hours. Referring to the surface water reservoirs, these have to be correlated with elements of water administration and management based on hydrographic basins. The work for water management schemes based on hydrographic basins is still under way. These schemes will take under consideration certain demands: floods, drought, irrigations and energy needs. In the appreciation of the extra ground water volume it has been taken under consideration that almost 50% of the present surface water consumption will be changed to ground water sources. The number of new monitoring points is approximated starting from a present number of 2800 monitoring points. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 25

29 For house metering, we can estimate a present percentage of 40% - medium value for the country, including meters for apartments, buildings, blocks and transport networks Unit Investment & Operating Costs Unit costs are influenced by the realism of other utilities unit costs (energy supply, salaries) and by population affordability. Romania s water supply industry is still partially sustained financially by the state. There is a clear tendency of efficiency improvement and cost reduction (reduction of energy consumption, reduction of water loss). On the other hand these actions require investments and loans that affect the unit costs of water that the population has to pay. In the future the unit cost will, certainly, rise. On the other hand it is hoped that in the future will also grow the population average income and implicitly the payment capacity. Equilibrium between the two tendencies will be needed in order to cover the production costs on one hand and population affordability on the other hand. Table 7: Unit investment & operating costs Type of investment Indicators Investment cost Operating and maintenance cost Range Average value Range Average value Reservoirs (to store surface water Drinking water production Cost per volume needed in reservoirs (Euro per million m³) Cost to provide drinking water quality from surface water (Euro per production plant) 0,45 0,7 0,65/m 3 /m 3 Cost for the treatment of groundwater to drinking water quality (Euro per million m³) Transport and connection Cost for the installation of a long distance drinking water network (Euro per km) Cost for the installation of a local drinking water network (Euro per km) Cost of a house connection (Euro per connection) Euro/month Monitoring & metering Cost for monitoring (Euro per monitoring point) Cost for house metering (Euro per house) GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 26

30 3.2.7 Indicative Investment Requirement Water Supply Investment level estimates are hard to be made due to a number of elements not yet under control: The evolution of the rural sector from the point of view of water supply; Demographic evolution at urban and rural level; The evolution of economic agents within urban and rural cities; The possibility to involve private capital in the water supply sector; The rhythm of development of regional water operators. The total environmental expenditure in 2003 represented almost 1,5% from national GDP (expenses of Romanian government). In the environmental expenditure are included air and water protection, waste management, etc. From these, the expenditure related to the water sector is estimated at 0,3% from GDP. The needed level is estimated to be 0,6% from GDP, including only water supply, drainage networks and wastewater treatment, not taking into consideration European Union founds. It is estimated that the contribution of structural and cohesion founds will represent, in the water sector, a value three times larger than the national contribution. The operating cost of water treatment will have a significant increase without being able to reach, at the end of the period, the E.U. level taking into consideration the income of the population. We underline, once again, the requirement that water supply solutions for rural areas has to take into consideration the especially low income rate of rural population compared to urban population. The analysis of previous periods concerning investments in the water sector and the environment in general, indicates large deficiencies in regarding the absorption of international founds. This is a serious issue that is debated at governmental structures level and at sector level to try and find solutions to correlate the needed found, allocated founds and the needs of the sector on one hand and the capacity to absorb these founds on the other hand. Shortened and more efficient procedures with short promotion periods must be developed on the level of national and European Union structures. The objectives are challenging. They correspond to the needs but, the possibility to achieve these objectives supposes that, on the whole economy, this subject has to be a priority. For Romania there is a large number of priority issues (health, education, land development, etc.) and even in the field of the environment there are several priorities (flood control and prevention, waste management, soil protection erosion, etc.) so, there is a risk that the needed level will not be reached. There will be created, nevertheless, the premises for the next stage. It is expected the in the future, the water sector will become more attractive for private water companies from the European Union, in these conditions, the concessions, the joint-ventures and other forms of cooperation will lead to a more efficient sector on one hand and the growth of unit costs on the other hand. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 27

31 An equilibrium has to be maintained between the upgrade of the technologies, the maintenance of existing systems and expansion in order to support new activities and sector developments in rural areas. A new strategy for water sources has to be adopted. The development of large and medium depth ground water sources is necessary. These sources provide the safety of good and constant water quality at superior parameters. For many years before , investments in the water supply sector were very low. In all areas of the country there are installations and equipments with over due functioning period. This means that in the period , a large replacement rate is needed, that implies a large financial, managerial and administrative effort. The total investment cost for the whole period is presented in Table The evaluators re-calculated the values for the financial period and the data is presented in the same table. Table 8: Summary of investment cost water supply Type of investment Reservoirs (eg to store surface waters) Indicative Investment Cost ( ) M Euro Indicative Investment Cost ( ) M Euro Drinking water production plant - ground/surface (quality) Water transport (long distance) Distribution of water (local network and house connections) Monitoring 8 25 Metering (eg households) Total investment Total yearly 1,58 % 2,16 % investment (% of GDP / year) Summary, Insights, needs etc. In order of priority, investments should focus on: 24 GOVERNMENT OF ROMANIA, Implementation Plan for Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for water consumption, October 2004, 20water.pdf 25 GOVERNMENT OF ROMANIA, Implementation Plan for Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for water consumption, October 2004, The amount relates to the period Until the rehabilitation of the water treatment plants GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 28

32 extending or replacing water transport and distribution systems both for loss reduction (the present figure is around 30%) and for connection of new users; ensuring safe drinking water intake in rural areas, field that was completely neglected until now. Increasing water quality analysis, control and monitoring in all sections of the water intake system. The objectives for the next period will be oriented on finding the solution to the water supply issues of rural areas and small cities. For this new elements regarding institutional, administrative, regional operators and health monitoring institutions will be needed in order to promote new projects and to manage the systems. New conceptual development types will be necessary for the development of small and compact (factory ready) groundwater treatment plants. Regional operators will be able to compensate for the high costs of small water supply systems. The development and use of new and efficient technologies such as UV treatment, cartridge filters, etc., will have to be used considering also the specificities of local water sources. Water supply in rural areas can offer the favourable environment for inter-operators competition taking into consideration the elasticity of water sources and of water treatment equipment. The promotion of such concepts can be successful only after the implementation of pilot projects or demonstrative projects that can attract the interest and availableness of the local population. The concept of continuous rehabilitation and modernization has to be implemented in the existing large water supply systems considering the system s dynamic. Taking into consideration the life span of transport and distribution systems, at least 2-4% of their entire length has to be changed annually. Another needed element is the increase of the safety degree of all equipment and installations involved, and finding alternative solutions for emergency and crisis situations. Another important need is the implementation of new monitoring and management methods in the exploitation of water supply systems. Considering the magnitude of future water supply works correlated with the works for the wastewater systems, there is an evident need for significant increase in founds absorption capacity, the organizing of local competitive builders that can win projects and the organizing of regional operators that can face successfully the possible EU market competition. Because of quality problems with drinking water produced from surface waters, Romania intends to change the surface water supply sources to medium and high depth ground water sources. In our opinion, and taking into account EU policy this strategy seems to be incorrect. The following arguments can be presented: The use of surface water is more sustainable than the use of ground water: one can never use more of it in any year than what the hydrological cycle is providing. Ground water on the other hand can be over-exploited ; Where drinking water is being produced from surface water at present, we can see no reason to change this. The surface water quality should not further deteriorate. To the contrary: according to the Water Framework Directive good status should be reached everywhere within 15 years; It is easier to monitor surface water quality than to monitor ground water quality. In case of quality problems appropriate measures can be taken in time when a quality problem occurs upstream (stop the intake). GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 29

33

34 4 WASTEWATER TREATMENT (WWT) 4.1 Current situation Current State of Provision From the overall waste water quantity, almost 25% is adequately treated. There are some towns where this problem has an important impact on emissary rivers due to non treated or non adequate treated waste water. Particular difficulties are faced in all towns on the Danube riverside; also Bucharest does not have a waste water treatment plant. Of the total volume of 2.284,105 million m 3 /year of waste water needing to be treated (year 2003), 789,190 million m 3 /year, meaning about 34%, were (properly) treated. The remaining, as many as 724,200 million m 3 /year, meaning about 32%, are non-treated waste waters and as many as 770,715 million m 3 /year - about 34%, insufficiently treated waters. 27 Concerning waste water needing to be treated, the biggest amounts were discharged by the following activities: communal husbandry: 1, million m 3 /year - about 73%; chemical processing: million m 3 /year - about 8%; metallurgic industry and machine constructions: million m 3 /year about 4%; extractive industry: million m 3 /year about 4%. The largest amounts of untreated waste water are provided by units operating in the following fields: communal husbandry: million m 3 /year - about 94%; chemical processing: million m 3 /year - about 3%; metallurgic industry and machine constructions million m 3 /year about 1%. Referring to the insufficiently treated waste water, the activities with the biggest weight are arranged as follows: communal husbandry: million m 3 /year about 73%; chemical processing: million m 3 /year - over 12%; extractive industry: million m 3 /year over 4%. metallurgic industry and machine constructions: million m 3 /year over 2%. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 31

35 Surface water quality Surface water quality assessment is based on a technical norm. In general the degradation of surface waters is due 50% to point sources (sewers, municipal water treatment plants) and 50% to diffuse sources (agriculture, irrigation). The improvement of surface water quality was visible: in 2005, 60% of surface water was of 1 st quality degree while in 1995 this was only 45%. The distribution of the current chemical surface water quality as a percentage of the total river length is the following: 26 (2003 figures) 27 64,5 % is category 1; 22,9 % is category 2; 6,5 % is category 3; 6,1 % is category D; The categories are defined in the standard STAS 4706/88 28 and have the following meaning: 1st category it groups the waters that could be turned potable in order to supply with water the populated centers or that could be used in supplying the animal and the trout farms; 2nd category it contains the surface waters that could be used in fish farming (excepting the salmons farming) namely the water supply for the technological needs of the industries and for leisure; 3rd category it represents the waters that could be used to the crops irrigation, to produce electric power in the power plants, in the cooling installations in industry, laundries and other utilities that agree with such a quality; D category is the category of degraded waters where the fish fauna cannot grow State of infrastructures The state of the sewers infrastructure is less developed or modernized in comparison to water intake systems due to smaller consideration in towns and total neglect in rural areas. Presently there are 644 localities that benefit from public sewage networks, out of which: 266 cities and towns; 378 rural localities 26 Indicates the real water quality, NOT the distribution of water quality objectives; 27 Romania Ministry of Environment and Waters Managements : Report on the environmental state in Romania during 2004, Bucharest According to the Ministerial order nr. 1146/2003, the standard STAS 4706/88 has been updated. The order specifies the equivalence coefficients of the limits from STAS 4706/88 with the new norms GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 32

36 The sewage network is km long. The length of streets equipped with sewage network represents 51,8% of total streets length. The main reasons for week infrastructure are inefficient treatment technologies, incomplete sludge treatment, and inadequate maintenance of the installations. There are some waste water treatment plants or sewer networks that were replaced, completed or modernized. a) Sewage Treatment Plants (STP): - describe The situation of sewage treatment plants (STP) in the country is the following. Out of 2609 agglomerations that have been defined: 692 have a STP in place that complies with the UWWTD standards have a STP that is not fully compliant; Mechanical treatment plants Mechanicalbiological treatment plants Mechanicalbiologicalchemical treatment plants Mechanicalchemical treatment plants Total treatment plants (in urban areas) b) Sludge treatment Most sewage treatment plant (have/do not have) adequate sludge treatment. The most common final disposal routes for sewage sludge are: (agriculture, soil, landfill, incineration, other) The requirements of the Sewage Sludge Directive will pose significant implementation problems for Romania, with the advent of additional urban wastewater treatment. Plans are not yet in place for how this challenge will be met. 30 c) Sewerage systems 52% of the population is connected to the sewer system. 40 % of the population is connected to a sewer system that is connected to an STP. In total km of sewerage networks are in place: Prices of the waste water service In Romania there is a waste water pricing system but this price is reduced in comparison to drinking water price and for the population it is included in only one bill per building. In general, waste water price for the population and for the industries located in towns depends on the local policy. For the waste water discharged from industrial platforms the amounts paid to Apele Romane (Romanian Waters) National Council Directive 86/278/EEC on Sewage Sludge /2003/ /html/kap03_eng.htm GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 33

37 Authority, for the right to discharge are calculated based on a norm of accepted quality indicators. This rate is not an incentive to reduce waste water production. The price is set in order to partially cover the price of treatment and in order to be bearable by the population Affordability is an important problem because not only the waste water is take into account but also rain water. It is not a realistic or substantial source of revenue to fund projects or operating costs of infrastructure. The perception of high costs for sewage operation and efficient waste water treatment is not yet present. Institutional issues In general waste water system and waster water treatment plant operators are organized as regia s or commercial companies, in which the only shareholder is the local council (municipal or county). Necessary founds are partially covered by the water price, the operators benefiting from financial help from central or local authorities for ample investments or current activities. The involvement of the administration is present either by the concession of the contract or by direct appointment of the service. In two situations, the cities of Bucharest and Ploiesti, the service was given into concession to a foreign company (Veolia Water). The public-private partnerships aspect is under a large debate in Romania, while looking in each case for a specific method of application. In the two concession cases mentioned previously the local municipal administration is in a partnership with the private company. At present there is a large interest manifested from other companies to participate in a partnership with the local administrations for waster water sewage services. Waste water sewage investments are large value investments, and in this moment, in Romania, almost al the funds are form the European Union, bank loans and small participation form central and local administration. Institutionally and administratively the local authorities have the responsibility of the sewerage and waste-water treatment infrastructure. The Ministry of Waters and Environmental Protection has the responsibility of the complete harmonization of the Romanian legislation with the requirements of this Directive, of the sensitive areas establishment and of the monitoring of the way the legislation in force is implemented in the territory, by its territorial departments. The Ministry of Waters and Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Public Administration and the local authorities will establish the program of all actions and measures to be taken in order to comply with the UWWTD requirements. 31 Conclusions In conclusion, taking into consideration the demands of the European Framework Directive, and the general status of waste water sewage systems in Romania, a massive support form the European Union is imposed in order to comply with the negotiated implementation plans. This support must take into consideration not only final report of the Tisza River Basin Sustainable Development Programme initial Phase. The project was implemented during the period of August June 2002 by The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe and Tisza Szamos Public Benefit Company GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 34

38 the investment aspects but also the management practices, improvement of the institutional capacity and population awareness. At this time it is difficult to establish priorities regarding which infrastructures need particular attention, but a massive orientation towards rural area is necessary in order to connect the cities to a water infrastructure inexistent in this moment. A second important direction is to implement sewage systems and waste water treatment to the cities that already have water intake systems. At last, a third priority is the modernization and upgrade of the existing waste water sewage systems for the cities with to inhabitants. As sensitive environmental issues there can be presented, the large frequency of sewer leaks in cities that leads to the pollution of the soil, weak treatment and storage on simple drying beds of the waste water treatment plant sludge resulting in environmental pollution. Since 1995 a large number of large projects were promoted in large cities to rehabilitate the sewage and waste water treatment plant systems. These projects were made possible with international help in the form of twinning programs (with Denmark, Holland, France, Germany, etc.) or in European Union programs Experience of Previous Investment Programmes Past and present investments in waste water sector were a complex financial arrangement with between 50 and 70% of EU founds, 10-15% central or local founds and the rest loans from EBRD or EIB. In the case of twinning programs investments were completely covered by the country that offered the help. Legal or administrative reporting is an obligation in grant procedures. At this time a number of programs are rolling with ISPA. In general, water sector problems are debated as a package in order to solve all issues regarding water intake and sewage systems. In the debate of these issues are equally involved central environment, health and administration authorities, professional associations like the Romanian Water Association, universities and representatives of the European Union delegation to Bucharest. ISPA programme ( ) The total Ispa Environment budget (all environmental sectors) committed to date and scenario for is presented in Table 2 and Table 3. Over the period , 32 projects with a waste water component have been approved under ISPA (including Technical Assistance projects), with a total value of 823 Million Euro) 32. This budget also includes the national contribution. Good Practice Lessons or Examples The experience of past projects from the period 1995 to 2005 revealed the attention needed for the correct estimation of project dimension. Introduction of water meters 32 Delegation of the European Commission in Romania, ISPA in Romania, 15 June This figure has been calculated by the consultants, based on the project list included in the above document. In the case of project covering multiple environmental sectors (e.g. Drinking Water and Waste Water), the budget has been divided arbitrarily (in equal proportions) over the sectors. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 35

39 and the increase of the water price both led to a drastic decrease in water consumption and therefore of the necessary installation capacity. Another lesson regards the correct appreciation of the population s capacity to pay a large value of water bills. A good practice lesson is to promote, in parallel with the investment, a training program for maintenance and exploitation personnel. Form the point of view of lessons in relation to the setting of priorities, the period mentioned above, witnessed a strong orientation towards solving the specific problems of large cities with over inhabitants. In the future, rural areas, small cities and less developed geographical areas of Romania will need to be addressed also, taking into account however the priority that is given to larger agglomerations by the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive and cost effectiveness considerations. Another priority is to promote technical solutions adapted to the geographical specifics (hills, delta) or spatial positioning (households situated at large distances between). Rural development is an important objective for Romania. This issue is addressed by the Rural Development Project: Study on the water supply systems and hygiene for the rural areas Recommendations for policy development in the field of water supply systems and hygiene in rural areas. The water/wastewater and solid waste management operators are addressing the rural areas by means of the development of regional systems. In this way, social solidarity between rural and urban areas will be achieved, the living conditions in rural areas will be improved and the regional development funds will be used more effectively. From the point of view of implementation lessons signals of excessive bureaucracy were signaled, fact that lead to large periods of time needed to promote and implement investments, miscorrelation between different structures involved in the activity. Conclusions The international aid had a imperative role in modernizing and technological upgrade of water-sewage systems to the European requirement levels. Despite small deficiency or miss-functionalities signaled previously, the European programs managed to transfer necessary know-how in Romania. The objectives of the aid programs were reached and the cities that were object of the projects represent now transfer centers for the experience for the benefit of neighboring areas. 4.2 Needs for the future Review of Policy Objectives and Targets Romania,has declared, by the Governmental Decision nr.352/2005, all its territory as a sensitive area. This implies that, for all urban agglomerations larger than population equivalent waste water treatment plants with nutrient removal must be built. Under these conditions, Romania s conformation to the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/EC has been negotiated until the year 2018, with an estimated implementation cost of over 9,5 billion Euro for investment, out of witch 5,7 billion for waste water treatment plants and 3,8 for sewerage systems. The percentage of the population that benefits at this moment of both drinking water supply and waste water sewerage systems is 52%. 16% of the population benefits only from drinking water supply system while 32% of the population do not benefit from drinking water supply or waste water sewerage systems. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 36

40 The objective for 2018 is to ensure complete drinking water and waste water services in urban areas for 10 millions inhabitants (87,7% from the total of 11,4 millions inhabitants in urban areas), under the assumption that the urban population remains constant, and for 8 millions inhabitants in rural areas (77,6% from the total of 10,3 millions inhabitants in rural areas). Table 9: Transposition Dates for Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (New Member States) 33 DIRECTIVE BG CY CR EE HU LV LT MT POL RO SK SI Urban Waste Water State of Infrastructure At this time, in Romania, there are 263 municipal waste water treatment plants which treat only 77% of the flow carried by the sewerage networks. 47 large urban agglomerations (e.g. Bucharest, Craiova, Braila, Galati, Tulcea) discharge the waste waters directly in natural recipients without a primary treatment. 11,5 million inhabitants (from the total of 21,733 millions) benefit from sewerage services. 10,3 million of them live in urban areas (90% of urban population), and 1,15 million in rural areas (10% of rural population). Taking into consideration all types of urban agglomerations, there are 340 waste water treatment plants, of which 112 are mechanical treatment plants, 212 mechanical and biological treatment plants, 10 mechanical, biological and chemical treatment plants and 6 mechanical and chemical treatment plants. Given the present situation, to comply with the requests of the UWWTD there are the following needs: 47 large new plants with nutrient removal, 112 treatment plant upgrades from the mechanical stage to nutrient removal 35, and 218 plants have to be upgraded to nutrient removal. Further, for all existing waste water treatment plants, as well as for the development of the implementation of the three stage treatment, significant investments are needed to replace worn out installations and equipments. Referring to the sewerage networks situation at the end of 2004, the number of cities serviced was 675, with a total system length of km out of witch km in /271, amen 35 The term 3 stage treatment is not really suitable, because nutrient removal can be realized in a biological STP (a low loaded active sludge system with the appropriate configuration of aerobic, anaerobic and anoxic zones) that looks the same as a plant for BOD removal. We prefer the following terminology: - Mechanical treatment (= non-compliant) - Biological treatment for BOD removal - Nutrient removal GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 37

41 urban areas. It has to be specified that this value represents only 73% of total urban areas street length. There has not been a tight correlation between the development of sewerage systems and the development of waste water treatment plants. Also there has not been a continuous maintenance of the sewerage networks, resulting in a severe degradation of parts of these systems which need to be replaced now. In general, the development of sewerage systems in cities has been done based on the principle of unitary sewerage (all in the drain). In this situation, also industrial water is discharged in the sewerage networks, and these waters to do not comply with the legal parameters. This imposes that the implementation of pre-treatment plants should be another main objective of the next period. Leaks in the sewers can create infiltrations and ex-filtrations, resulting in pollutions of urban areas grounds and possible interactions between the sewerage and water supply networks. Due to this phenomenon, in several areas, diluted sewerage parameters have been measured, that leads to difficulties in the waste water treatment Physical investment needs GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 38

42 Nominal load of the agglomeration, expressed in PE (population equivalent) Table 10: Physical investment needs sewage treatment plants Number of Agglomerations Total nominal load of the agglomerations, expressed in PE (population equivalent) Number of existing STP Compliant Organic biodegradable capacity of existing STPs Compliant Number of STP under construction (completion before 31/12/2006) Organic biodegradable capacity of STP under construction Number of Planned STPs Organic biodegradable capacity of planned STPs [PE 36 ] Number [PE] Number Number [PE] [PE] Number [PE] Number [PE] Noncompliant Noncompliant > Total * Total number 340 Total capacity Total Organic biodegradable capacity (existing + under construction + planned) PE : population equivalent = the amount of waste water produced by 1 person = 1 PE = 60 gbod/day 37 According to the ISPA program GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 39

43 Table 11: Physical investment needs sewers Type of sewer system sewage connection rate (% of population or households connected) Length of trunk sewers/collectors Pumping stations Separate [%] Combined [%] 100 Current situation [%] 52% Future situation (2013) [%] 70% current situation [km] Length in need of rehabilitation [%] under construction (completion before 31/12/2006) [%] Planned new sewers/collectors [%] present number [ ] unknown Planned [ ] unknown Demographic and economic trends There are several contradictory trends: the migration of urban population back to rural areas, the long term migration of work force abroad, emigration, and the reduction of birth rate. This makes it very difficult to predict the evolution of the population in the different types of urban agglomerations. Unit demand for waste water treatment For industrial waste waters from the plants situated outside the cities, the adequate legislation is enforced, for those situated in urban areas that benefit from the city s sewerage network, for each separate case the necessity of an adequate pre-treatment plant will be analyzed in order to comply with the waste water discharge in urban networks legislation. On the other hand, it is expected that the industry, by applying the best available technology and the best environmental practice, will reduce drinking water consumption, and the waste water volume discharged, and will by this diminish the efforts in this area. In any case, the industry must significantly contribute to the effort to accomplish the water, sewerage and waste water treatment sector objectives in Romania. The on-site treatment of industrial waste water in urban areas where there is no space remaining is very difficult. In these cases the solution of pre-treatment of industrial waste water may be appropriate. Related to the capacity of the existing water supply and sewerage networks, and by taking into consideration the drastic reduction of consumption and discharge from the population (due to metering and price increase) there is capacity available for new connections either for industrial users or for other cities. User charges At this time the collection of the water charges is done by the water supply and sewerage operator and, in general, the amounts are both on the same invoice. In the last 5-10 years the price of the waste water sewerage services has raisen in the same time as the price of drinking water but at a very slow rate. At this time the price of the waste water management services represents about 1/3 or 1/5 from the price of drinking water services. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 40

44 The large projects started for the rehabilitation of drinking water and sewerage systems have caused a significant increase of the prices. Unfortunately this growth is far from ensuring the self-financing of the operators and a development fund is needed. There is an awareness of factors to significant increase the waste water sewerage price. All the increases in price are conditioned by the population s capacity to pay. Another important element is the need to try to establish an equilibrium between the demands and the possibilities of the population. Total need for waste water treatment Table 12: Forecast wastewater treatment demand Demand (PE) Wastewater volume discharged (DWF) Organic biodegradabl e load Nitrogen load Phosphorous load Minimum scenario Average scenario Maximum scenario Permanent Population (PE) 20,0 mio 20,5 mio 21,0 mio Target connection rate to drinking water supply Target connection rate to sewage treatment Permanent Population connected to sewage treatment (PE) 85% 90% 95% 70% 77% 80% 14,0 mio 15,8 mio 16,8 mio Seasonal Variations (PE) unknown unknown unknown Industry and services (PE) 15,5 mio 15,5 mio 14,8 mio Total demand (PE) 29,5 31,3 31,6 Unit drinking water supply (l/pe/day) by permanent population (1000 m³/day) by permanent population connected to sewage treatment (1000 m³/day) Seasonal Variations (1000 m³/day) unknown unknown unknown Economic growth scenario (%/year) 4,5% 5% 5,5% Specific water consumption per gross product (m³/1000 euro) Total industrial water demand (1000 m³/day) Total wastewater volume discharged (1000 m³/day) Unit load (g BOD/PE/day) Total organic biodegradable load (tonnes BOD/day) Unit load (g N/PE/day) Total nitrogen load (tonnes N/day) Unit load (g P/PE/day) Total phosphorous load (tonnes P/day) GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 41

45 4.2.4 Unit Investment & Operating Costs In the implementation plan for the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) 38, the following unit investment costs are used: Table 13: Unit investment & operating costs 38 Type of investment Indicators Investment cost Range Average value New STP with a capacity between 2,000-10,000 PE for non-sensitive areas New STP with a capacity between PE for nonsensitive areas New STP with a capacity above PE for non-sensitive areas Cost per PE [Euro per PE] Cost per PE [Euro per PE] Cost per PE [Euro per PE] Not applicable Not applicable New STP with a capacity between PE for sensitive areas New STP with a capacity above PE for sensitive areas Sewer systems for agglomerations above 5000 PE Sewer systems for agglomerations under 5000 PE Cost per PE [Euro per PE] Cost per PE [Euro per PE] Cost per PE. [Euro per PE] Cost per PE. [Euro per PE] In the opionion of the evaluators and based on a comparison with Belgian prices, the unit investment costs for the larger plants (above PE) are on the high side and the unit prices for small plants (below PE) are on the low side Indicative Investment Requirement and Comparison Wastewater treatment The total investment cost for the period is presented in Table 14. Figures are based on the official implementation plan for the UWWTD and on the estimates of the evaluators. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 42

46 Table 14: Summary of investment cost wastewater treatment ( ) Type of investment New STPs Renovation / upgrading of STPs Indicative Investment Cost M Euro M Euro M Euro 38 Indicative Operating cost M Euro New sewerage M Euro M Euro 39 Renovation / (2.100 M Euro 39 ) upgrading of sewerage Sewage pumping stations CSO upgrading Sludge treatment Sludge disposal 38 Total M Euro M Euro M Euro/y Total yearly 2,14 % 38-2,18 % 39 1,04 % investment (% of GDP) The estimates of the evaluators (based on Belgian unit costs) for STPs are lower than the official ones. The estimates for new sewers are comparable. The total estimate of the evaluators is lower than the official one, but this difference is made up by the cost for renovation and upgrading of sewerage, which is not included in the official estimates. The evaluators re-calculated the values for the financial period and the data is presented in Table 15 below. 38 GOVERNMENT OF ROMANIA, Implementation Plan for Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban waste water treatment, October water.pdf The investments are related to the period Evaluator s estimate GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 43

47 Table 15: Summary of investment cost wastewater treatment ( ) Type of investment New STPs Renovation / upgrading of STPs Indicative Investment Cost M Euro M Euro M Euro 38 Indicative Operating cost M Euro New sewerage M Euro M Euro 39 Renovation / (1.060 M Euro 39 ) upgrading of sewerage Sewage pumping stations CSO upgrading Sludge treatment Sludge disposal 38 Total M Euro M Euro M Euro/y Total yearly 2,71 % 38-2,77 % 39 1,04 % investment (% of GDP) The total investment cost for sewage management infrastructure for the period amounts to M Euro Summary, Insights, needs etc. New STPs with the associated new sewerage network should be constructed in order to cover all the agglomerations according to UWWTD. All 340 existing STPs need rehabilitation/expansion in order to enhance their effectiveness or/and capacity. The sewerage network ( km including all sewer systems and collectors) is not in good condition and needs to be upgraded. The total investment cost for sewage management infrastructure for the period amounts to M Euro. The total estimate of the evaluators is lower than the official one, but this difference is made up by the cost for renovation and upgrading of sewerage, which is not included in the official estimates. A massive orientation towards rural area is necessary in order to connect these agglomerations to a sewage management infrastructure inexistent at this moment (but always taking into consideration cost-effectiveness). A second important direction is to implement sewage systems and waste water treatment to the agglomerations that already have drinking water systems. A third priority is the modernization and upgrade of the existing sewage management systems for the cities with to inhabitants. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 44

48 In this field, projects are very much acquis driven and the type of projects to be funded will be mostly a continuation of the previous funding period; within the type of projects, the order is typically a function of the size of the projects (e.g. number of PE per agglomeration for a STP); it is to be expected that in the coming period, the scale of the projects will decrease, hence establishing (i) a greater need for capacity building and (ii) the need to combine projects into groups (e.g. water projects in the same river basin). In some urban areas sewerage networks are in place that are not yet connected to a STP (because there is no STP is in place yet.). STPs in these areas should get the first priority. In agglomerations that have no waste water management infrastructure at all, the sewer system should be developed in parallel with the associated STPs. Sludge treatment and disposal have the same priority for compliance as STP: both are required by the UWWTD. Sludge treatment constitutes about half of the sewage treatment problem. All components of the sewage management system are about equally important for the improvement of environmental quality. Renovation of STP relatively contributes more, because it can be very cost effective. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 45

49

50 5 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE 5.1 Current situation Current State of Provision Of the 36,7 million tons of waste generated in 2000, some 22% was municipal waste and the remaining 78% production waste. Municipal waste generation has remained fairly stable since Industrial waste has shrunk dramatically from , due to decreased industrial activity, improved production technologies and better environmental management, but has risen again since then. Present waste flows The figures in the SOP 41 (dating from 2004) are more up to date than the figures of the National Waste Management Plan (dating from 2002), but the figures of the SOP are limited and anecdotic. The most structured data are provided in the Implementation Plan for Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste 40. Data regarding the management of waste in Romania make a distinction between two main categories of waste: 41 Municipal waste and similar waste from commercial activities, industry and institutions, construction and demolition waste and waste water treatment sludge; Production waste. During , the percentages of the two categories varied from one year to another, the average values were 29% municipal waste and 71% production waste. Table 16 presents the waste quantities generated for the two main categories: Table 16: Waste quantities generated (in Million tonnes) Municipal waste 6,77 8,07 8,96 8,82 9,58 8,43 8,19 Production waste ,25 24,5 30,54 28,51 The quantity of municipal waste generated has shown a general rising trend from , but seems to decreasing since Data on generation and management of municipal waste in 2004 are presented in Table GOVERNMENT OF ROMANIA, Implementation Plan for Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste, October Ministry of Environment and Water Management, Sectoral Operational Programme Environment, Romania, April 2006 GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 47

51 Table 17: Municipal waste generated in Thousand tons - Waste type Generated waste Waste recovery Disposed waste Collected household waste and similar waste Waste from municipal services (including sludge form wastewater treatment plant) ,5 830,5 Constructions and demolition waste 715 0,5 714,5 Non-collected waste (estimated on the basis of the average generation ratio) TOTAL MUNICIPAL WASTE The household waste and similar waste constitutes the largest share of the total municipal waste. Statistical data show that only 56% of the population was served by municipal waste collection services in In the urban area, the municipal waste management is carried out by specialized services belonging to the municipalities or by sanitation companies. The ratio of urban population covered by sanitation services increased from 73% in 1998 to about 90% in In the rural area, there are no organized services for waste management, the transportation of waste to dumping sites is done individually by each generator. Only a limited number of rural localities are covered by organized services for waste management, and especially rural localities situated in the neighbourhood of urban centres. In 2003, about 5% of the rural population was covered by sanitation services, whilst in 2004 this ratio has increased to about 6.5%. 44 Only of Romania s localities have organised systems of collecting, transporting and depositing urban waste. 45 So, in the large cities the management of MSW has been addressed to some extent, but in small or rural cities this problem has not been dealt with in a sufficient manner. Many waste management operators from the large cities have obtained operating licenses and concession contracts for this service. Compared to the situation from previous years, these preoccupations have lead to a significantly better situation in the municipal solid waste management. As regards to the available equipment and infrastructure, a lot remains to be done. The technological solutions (composting, 42 Ministry of Environment and Water Management, Sectoral Operational Programme Environment, Romania, April The National Waste Management Strategy and the National Waste Management Plan (GD 1470/2004). 44 Ministry of Environment and Water Management, Sectoral Operational Programme Environment, Romania, April The Government s Strategy concerning the Development of Local Public Services of Communal Husbandry", Government of Romania, Ministry of Public Administration, Bucharest, 2001 at page 8. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 48

52 incineration, landfills) must be upgraded to the level of the best available technologies and best environmental practices. Only a small proportion of the 28% of household waste (i.e. 1,4 million tons in 2004) made up of recyclable materials (paper, carton, glass, plastic, metals) is recovered. The rest is disposed into landfills together with other urban waste. In accordance with the EU waste framework requirements, the MWEP has prepared a National Waste Management Strategy and a National Action Plan for Management of Industrial and Urban Waste. The National Strategy sets out the necessary steps for collecting, recycling, treating and disposal of waste, as well as future trends and cost estimations. The final National Plan for Waste Management was finalized in early 2003 and approved by the Government. 46. Plans for waste management will be developed at regional level (not at county level) by the end of The development of the National waste management was the result of an interactive process, working in two directions: top down, and bottom up. The bottom up approach meant such plans were developed first at city and county level, secondly at regional level and finally they were centralized at national level. But significant practical problems of implementation remain. The main environmental concerns related to MSW in Romania are: waste disposal in inadequate conditions: less than 10% of the landfills respect the environmental regulations (cf. next paragraph); lack of clear separation of hazardous, inert or household waste circuit; waste recycling and recovery is almost inexistent; lack of public awareness regarding household waste management; Waste management is an area where Romania has much work in order to bring its situation up to EU standards. There is a general lack of adequate facilities to treat properly and dispose existing waste streams. Moreover, hazardous waste is often codisposed with ordinary household waste, leading to serious pollution from inadequately protected landfills. State of infrastructures Landfilling is and will remain the main method for municipal waste disposal in Romania. 48 In 2004, 251 landfills for municipal waste were functioning, out of which: o o 15 complying landfills; 236 non-complying landfills. In 2005, 3 complying waste municipal landfills started to function and 4 non-complying landfills were closed. 46 The National Waste Management Strategy and the National Waste Management Plan (GD 1470/2004). 47 Personal communication EC DG Regio July GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 49

53 Most (non-complying) landfills do not have insulating linings to stop hazardous substances contaminating groundwater and as such are major sources of surface and groundwater contamination. In Figure 3 the existing complying municipal landfills and the projects for integrated waste management are presented. Figure 3 : 49 Out of the total of 18 complying landfills, 11 were built before the European norms regarding landfills were introduced into the Romanian legislation, but they comply from the construction point of view with these norms (Constanţa, Chiajna, Brăila, Piatra Neamţ, Sighişoara, Sibiu Cristian, Ploieşti-Boldeşti, Vidra, Glina, Băicoi and Câmpina-Băneşti) and do not require major investments to meet the standards. The other 7 were built according to the EU norms and they began to operate during 2003, 2004 and 2005 (Braşov, Buzău-Gălbinaşi, Arad, Slobozia, Costineşti, Oradea, Craiova). During the accession negotiations for environment, Romania assumed the obligation to stop the activity of 137 landfills covering about 427 ha before 16 July 2009 and of 101 municipal waste landfills in urban area representing about 301 ha, between 16 July 2009 and 16 July Ministry of Environment and Water Management, Sectoral Operational Programme Environment, Romania, April Power Point presentation used by one of the experts of the MEWM at a training seminar with the Romanian Solid Waste Association held in August 2006 GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 50

54 Next to the landfills in urban areas, in Romania there are dumpsites in rural areas; most of them have a surface of about 1 ha. The closure and cleaning of these dumpsites will be done before 16 July 2009, together with the extension of the collection services in rural areas, the organization of transport and transfer systems and the construction of regional landfills. Currently, in Romania there are no installations for thermal treatment of solid municipal waste. 50. But Romania like most Member States expects to depend on incineration as part of its overall waste management strategy for handling a range of EU requirements from packaging to medical waste. It has obtained a transition period of 2010 for the Waste Incineration Directive 51 in order to construct incineration facilities that comply with the provisions concerning emissions of air, water and soil pollutants from incineration facilities. The following factors may have an influence on the treatment and disposal technologies for municipal solid waste: municipal wastes composition, depending on the lifestyle and on the living standards specific to each town; land prices are growing; the evolution of the techniques themselves. It seems that for the above reasons - the Romanian authorities do not wish to set a very rigid framework at national level for the treatment technologies to be used. Feasibility studies are needed for each regional system to determine the best choices. Composting is a recommended treatment method considering that in most Romanian cities the wet organic waste represents almost 50%. (But lately a significant decrease of this share is visible. Statistical data show that only 56% of the population was served by municipal waste collection services in Where the equipment is in place, it is old and/or inadequate. Lack of funds and interest from at the local administrations led to this situation. Waste charges Low end Medium value High end Present waste charges (EUR/tonne) 8 EUR/tonne 10 EUR/tonne 12 EUR/tonne In Romania there is a taxation system based on auctioning the service, the resulted tax is sanctioned by the National communal services regulatory authority and approved by the local administration. The tax grows constantly with the development of facilities, at the present moment being situated between 8 and 12 Euro/ton. There are several ways to collect these taxes, in some cases the operator gathers them directly from the 50 The National Waste Management Strategy and the National Waste Management Plan (GD 1470/2004). 51 Council Directive 2000/76/EC on the Incineration of Waste. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 51

55 population, in other cases the operator is paid by the municipality, the last gathering in a centralized manner the taxes. Unfortunately, both ways of collection showed many deficiencies. This process is made more difficult by the low incomes of the population. Nevertheless the taxes are low and do not represent an incentive to reduce waste production. Also the lack of public education and the interest of the operators do not contribute to this process. There are significant issues of affordability depending on the area. In more developed cities and areas with larger income rate per inhabitant the service is affordable. Also the issue of affordability depends on the present or past projects promoted in the respective area. As a rule, the fees are negotiated between the operator and the local administration by taking into consideration the capacity of the local population to sustain the service. The waste fee is not a realistic and substantial source of revenue to fund investment projects for the infrastructure or the operating costs. They only offer a source of income for the operator, covering his operational cost. Affordability will be a major issue for Romanian municipalities. Institutional issues Responsibility for waste management is shared by central government and by local public administration authorities. The MWEP s Waste and Dangerous Chemical Substances Management Division is responsible for transposing the EU waste management requirements, a task now largely completed, and for national strategies and implementation measures % of waste management operators are private companies, the rest being services of the local city hall. Different forms of concession contracts, services contacts and public-private partnerships are in place. As an example the case of the company Salubris in Iasi city is presented, an operator with the majority of the stakes owned by the state and the rest by private investors. Problems The following difficulties are faced by authorities in their efforts to solve these issues: 1. The use of inconsistent waste data; 2. Difficult cooperation between different authorities and institutions involved in the development and implementation of regional plans; 3. Lack of communication between the parties involved in the process 4. Insufficient personnel at the REPAs (Regional Environmental Protection Agencies) and frequent personnel changes; 5. Delayed start in the development of regional plans; 6. Lack of a competent authority at regional level that should be involved in taking decisions during the development of the regional plans /2003/ /html/kap03_eng.htm 53 The list is part of a Power Point presentation used by one of the experts of the MEWM at a training seminar with the Romanian Solid Waste Association held in August 2006 GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 52

56 1. The use of inconsistent waste data; As mentioned earlier, there are different sources of data regarding this field. These data do not always correlate. Under these conditions some nonconformities can appear in decisions and estimations. A single organism has to be designated (the central environmental authority) in order to start a intensive and concentrated action meant to supply in a short time a valid and credible data base. Certainly the dynamics of this process imposes for this data base to be periodically revised in order for it to sustain the elements of an integrated waste management strategy. 2. Difficult cooperation between different authorities / institutions involved in the development and implementation of regional plans Starting from the previous point, difficulties are developing not only because the lack of concordance between data sources but also from the different visions of diverse institution regarding the development and implementation of local and regional integrated management plan. Very often the lack of necessary funds is invoked, or the presence of other priorities, also lack of public education, or much too frequent political changes both on local and regional levels. All these lead to a slow rhythm in the approach of an integrated waste management. 3. Lack of communication between the parties involved in the process The information flows, top-down, bottom-up and horizontal are not well organised. The responsible authority (the central environmental authority) has to elaborate and propose such a flow. The National Statistic Institute has to be a part of this. 4. Insufficient personnel at the REPAs (Regional Environmental Protection Agencies) and frequent personnel changes;. A significant dynamism is present at the level of central and regional authorities that is not always beneficial for this field. This dynamism manifests itself regarding both the structures and the personnel (decisional factors and experts). As a recent example we can mention that from the structure of the Ministry of Environment and Water Management a position of State Secretary was eliminated the State secretary responsible for environmental protection. The previous structure responding to this Secretary was transformed into a general department under the control of the European Integration State Secretary. Everything is still undergoing organization changes and this has repercussions on all subordinated institutions. There is no continuity in the way to approach issues or the possibility to maintain the priorities the specific sectors. 5. Delayed beginning in the development of regional plans The elements mentioned above at point 1-4 lead to certain delays in the development of regional plans. The regional agencies are in an intermediary position but they do not have inputs from the lower levels local operators, regarding the information and existing capacities, and no input from the upper levels that might enable them to develop the framework needed for the regional plans. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 53

57 All regional plans should be corroborated between each other. Not always the debated issue can be solved in a tight regional frame and also be integrated at the level of the national plan. From this point of view the need of an interactive method is evident for a know-how and information exchange that can stay at the base developing the integrated management plans. A deficiency of regional plans that has to be avoided is that of not including clear responsibilities and financial sources for different actions. 6. Lack of a competent authority at regional level that can and has to be involved in taking decisions during the development of the regional plans, This regional structure has to be neutral to all the counties of that region. To the previous difficulties we can add: 7. Lack of laboratory capacity In view of the decision regarding the types of processes to which the wastes are subjected, their analysis is needed along with the determination of their physical, chemical and biological characteristics. For this, licensed, neutral and well prepared with equipment and personnel laboratories are necessary. In Romania, there are no such laboratories, with the exception of 2-3 research institutes that do not have the capacity to cover the whole needs. Efforts are needed in order to support possible initiatives to organize such laboratories. 8. Lack of educated and well trained operating personnel 9. Foreign technical assistance Until now, technical assistance was oriented on the high level experts or decision factors. The technical assistance at operator level, of those actually involved in the physical activity solving the issue, has been less evident. Under these conditions, running know-how exchange programmes have to be considered along with visits to high performance installations for the actual operators. Conclusions Waste management is an area where Romania has much work in order to bring its situation up to EU standards. There is a general lack of adequate facilities to treat properly and dispose existing waste streams. Moreover, hazardous waste is often codisposed with ordinary household waste, leading to serious pollution from inadequately protected landfills. Romania will need significant investment in waste management infrastructure, including modern landfills and maybe incinerators, treatment facilities for biodegradable waste as well as capacity for collection and recycling of packaging waste. The most sensitive environmental issues are uncontrolled dumpsites, official landfills that do not comply with environmental regulations and rudimentary collection and transport of waste within the cities. GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 54

58 It will take up to 15 years to build the new landfills and composting facilities required for compliance with the Landfill Directive 54 and to close the existing inadequate landfills. According to the National Plan for Waste Management 55, the current number of landfills will be consolidated into about 60 regional landfills, with the necessary number of transfer stations. In some areas, were the technical infrastructure is completely absent, there is a clear need of large efforts and financial support. The Romanian integrated waste management strategy must be based on the following priorities and principles: A reduction of municipal waste generation. This implies changes in processes and technologies for goods and services and a review of packaging policy, etc. The promotion of selective collection in view of recycling certain reusable materials (glass, metal, paper, plastics, textiles). This implies the setting up of an entire logistic network of collection and recycling systems. Composting of biodegradable waste; Co- incineration can be a solution for some types of wastes (eg. rubber) or for municipal solid wastes in general. Ecological landfills will continue to be used as final solutions: - closure of dumping sites and old landfills, - construction of new landfills. Transport/collection equipment may be (as in some ISPA measures) left to the private operators. Nevertheless several municipalities take care of this themselves and in any case the collection system must be carefully planned because the success of the entire activity depends on it. The central environmental authority together with the National Environmental Protection Agency should revise the National Waste Management Strategy based on the above priorities and principles and taking into account the local specificity and the technical and economical possibilities. Feasibility studies are needed for each regional system to determine the best treatment and disposal technologies Experience of Previous Investment Programs There is past and present investment in municipal solid wastes. The large majority of founds were from the European Union programs. At this moment there are a number of rolling programs. A new national agency for environmental protection was recently setup with the purpose to coordinate the activity of transposing the national strategy of integrated management of waste that is periodically renewed. In the framework of this strategy ecological landfills were planned for the whole area of the country. However the projects promoted in 2005 did not always respect the 2003 strategy 54 Council Directive 1999/31/EC on Landfill of Waste. 55 The National Waste Management Strategy and the National Waste Management Plan (GD 1470/2004). GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 55

59 ISPA programme ( ) Establishment of adequate waste management systems (sanitary landfill sites including closure of existing sites; separate collection and recycling systems) represents Romania s second environmental priority under ISPA. 56 The total Ispa Environment budget (all environmental sectors) committed to date and scenario for is presented in Table 2 and Table 3. Over the period , 9 projects with a solid waste component have been approved under ISPA (including Technical Assistance projects), with a total value of 160 Million Euro) 57. This budget also includes the national contribution. (Integrated) solid waste management projects have been approved in Piatra Neamt, Ramnicu Valcea, Dambovita County, Teleorman County, Galati and Surroundings, Bacau and Arges County. 58 Good Practice Lessons or Examples A positive element that can be mentioned is noticeable in the management of the Environmental Fund that has focused lately on promoting projects from the field of waste management. At the level of the Environmental Ministry, as an integrator ministry, there is a department for management of waste and dangerous substances. This department has a preoccupation to estimate the future needs of the waste sector. There are also lessons in relation to the setting of priorities. The projects proposed for financing from the European Union came from areas with a large interest in solving these problems and with the possibility to create regional waste operators able to apply a cascade system in order to continue their activity. There is a growing interest for the private investors in this type of activity due to the fact that they see in waste management a source of income while solving a community environmental problem. Conclusions In the last years there has been a special interest to finance waste projects both from Romanian and external financing sources. Nevertheless the size of these investments was insufficient to satisfy the needs. Delays in the implementation occurred, due to the problems described in a paragraph dedicated to this subject in section Overall, the funds were effective in fulfilling the objectives they were meant to reach. 56 "National Strategy for Environment ISPA Implementation", MWEP, May Delegation of the European Commission in Romania, ISPA in Romania, 15 June This figure has been calculated by the consultants, based on the project list included in the above document. In the case of project covering multiple environmental sectors (e.g. Drinking Water and Waste Water), the budget has been divided arbitrarily (in equal proportions) over the sectors. 58 Delegation of the European Commission in Romania, ISPA in Romania, 15 June GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 56

60 If certain geographic areas were neglected, this mainly depended on the local administration. If the local administration was proactive in solving the problems, funds were obtained. 5.2 Needs for the future Review of Policy and Targets The following objectives are put forward in Draft Sectoral Programme Environment 59 (SOP) under Priority Axis 2 Development of integrated waste management systems and reduction of old ecological burdens : Increase the connection rate to public sanitation services of adequate quality and at affordable tariffs Reduction in the quantity of waste deposited in the landfills Increase in the quantity of recycled and reused waste Reduction of the number of old ecological burdens The SOP refers to The National Waste Management Plan 60, which is supposed to present a detailed analysis of the waste management in Romania, prevention measures of waste production and of waste quantities reduction; recycling methods; the list of monitoring indicators. The National Plan also includes adequate actions and measures for compliance with the Community acquis in waste management field. Table 18 presents the General Strategic Objectives for Waste Management that are listed in the National Waste Management Plan: Table 18 : General Strategic Objectives for Waste Management Domain / Activity 1.Policies and legislative framework 2. Institutional and Organisational Matters 3.Human Resources Main objectives 1.1. Harmonising national policies and legislation in the field of waste management with European policies and legislation, as well as with the provisions of the international agreements and conventions Romania is a party to Integrating waste management related issues in sectoral and company policies. 1.3 Improving efficiency in the implementation of waste management legislation. 2.1 Adapting and developing the institutional and organisational framework in order to meet national requirements and make them compatible with European structures. 3.1 Securing a sufficient number of human resources, with adequate professional training 59 Ministry of Environment and Water Management, Sectoral Operational Programme Environment, Romania, April The National Waste Management Strategy and the National Waste Management Plan (GD 1470/2004). GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 57

61 4.Financing of the waste management system 5. Raising awareness among all parties involved 6. Information and data system on waste management 7. Preventing waste generation 8. Valorising the useful potential in wastes 9. Waste collection and transport 4.1. Setting up and using economic-financial systems and mechanisms for waste management while observing all general principles, in particular the polluter pays principle 5.1 Promoting an information, awareness-raising and incentive system for all parties involved 6.1. Obtaining complete and accurate data and information corresponding to the national and European reporting requirements 7.1. Maximising the prevention of waste generation 8.1. Exploiting all the technical and economic possibilities for waste recovery 8.2. Developing materials and energy recovery activities 9.1. Providing collection and transport services to as many waste generators as possible setting up systems covering the entire area of waste generators 9.2. Selecting the best options available for waste collection and transport, in order to allow effective recovery 10. Waste treatment Promoting waste treatment in order to ensure rational environmental management 11. Disposal Disposing of waste according to the requirements of the waste management legislation in order to protect human health and the environment 12. Research and development 12.1 Encouraging and supporting Romanian research in the field of integrated waste management In Table 19 we present the Specific Strategic Objective for Biodegradable waste, which is one out of a list of Specific Strategic Objectives for Certain Waste Flows, because biodegradable wastes play an important role in Landfill Directive (99/31/EC) 61 Table 19 : Specific Strategic Objectives for Certain Waste Flows 60 Waste category Sub-category Main objective 5. Biodegradable waste 5.1. Biodegradable waste: household waste, as well as similar waste from commercial, industrial, service, and institutional sources, street waste, urban Reducing the quantity of biodegradable waste by recycling and processing (minimising the amount of organic matter in the waste in order to reduce the quantity of leachate and landfill gas) 61 oc=31999l0031&model=guichett GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 58

62 sewage sludge) It must be noted that the National Waste Management Plan, although it is a vast document, is not very specific. In the Implementation Plan for Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste 62 the following objectives and priorities are presented : In Romania, the objectives of the management of waste are based on the order of priorities established at European level, namely: prevention ; reduction of quantities; material and energy recovery; disposal -incineration, landfilling. As regards the landfill of waste, the following objectives are established: reduction of the quantities of waste going to landfills (by preventing generation, material and energetically recovery); reduction of the quantities of biodegradable waste going to landfills (introducing the separate collection and recovery of certain types of municipal waste and mechanical-biological treatment of the municipal landfilled waste); providing the conditions for the landfill of the hazardous treated waste in order to reduce its hazardous content; implementation of the waste management plans both at county and regional level. In a general way the objectives of the SOP correspond to the applicable objectives of the National Waste Management Plan and the Implementation Plan for Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste. They are in line with the EU Acquis. Consistency between environmental and other policies and priorities Priority axes of SOP Environment are complementary to other key interventions included in SOP Competitiveness, Regional Operational Propgrammes, SOP Human Resources and National Plan for Rural Development. 63 Regional Development Benefits The SOP ENV intervention areas related to water and waste infrastructure will bring support in achieving the ROP s objectives - to create a balanced development of 62 GOVERNMENT OF ROMANIA, Implementation Plan for Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste, October Ministry of Environment and Water Management, Sectoral Operational Programme Environment, Romania, April 2006 GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 59

63 regions and attractive conditions for business in the regions, leading to growth and jobs - linked to the objectives of the Community Strategic Guidelines and Lisbon Agenda State of Infrastructure : Predicted Waste Flows of Municipal Solid Waste Based on the figures of Table 17 we have put together the current situation of waste flows of municipal solid waste presented in Figure 4. We subtracted the construction and demolition waste, which is not considered as municipal waste under the EU Directives. It is clear the separate collection and waste recovery are still very limited in Romania. Figure 4: Current situation Generation Municipal Solid Waste Generation (CURRENT SITUATION; year: 2004) 7483 thousand tonnes Collection Residual and Bulky Waste (III) Collection 5917,5 thousand tonnes Separate Collection 83,5 thousand tonnes Sorting Residual Waste NS tonnes Bulky Waste for Landfilling NS tonnes Recyclables NS tonnes Bio Waste NS tonnes Hazardous waste (I) NS tonnes Disposal & Recovery M/B Pre- Treatment (V) NS tonnes Thermal Treatment (IV) thousand tonnes Direct Landfilling NS tonnes Thermal Treatment (III) NS tonnes NS number of installations NS number of installations (II) Landfilling 5917,5 thousand tonnes (NS number of landfills) Compost NS tonnes 64 Figure from year 2002 from the The National Waste Management Strategy and the National Waste Management Plan (GD 1470/2004). GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 60

64 NS means that this figure is not specified in the available documents. Reliable data regarding the separate collection and recycling of wastes, at national level, are not available due to the fact that there are no centralized separate collection activities, just a few pilot projects or as part of public awareness and involvement in waste management campaigns. These pilot projects are organized and run by local waste management companies or partnerships between NGOs, municipalities and operators in cities like Iasi, Suceava and a small area of Bucharest. The results of these trials have not been yet properly centralized due to the fact that they started in and/or they are still underway. Regarding the issue of usage of reliable data and information on the municipal waste, a single organism has to be designated, like the central environmental authority, in order to start a intensive and concentrated action meant to supply in a short time a valid and credible data base. This data base has to be periodically revised in order for it to sustain the elements of an integrated waste management strategy. Future waste flows Prognosis of municipal waste generation The SOP Environment 65 does not provide a prognosis on municipal waste generation and waste collection. The National Waste Management Plan 66 provides the following forecast : Figure 5 : Population evolution compared to the evolution of municipal waste generation (in tonnes/year) err m unicipal waste evolution population evolution This prognosis is based on the following parameters : population evolution, the unit quantity of domestic waste generation and the unit quantity of municipal waste generation. These parameters were considered for dense urban areas, urban areas 65 Ministry of Environment and Water Management, Sectoral Operational Programme Environment, Romania, April The National Waste Management Strategy and the National Waste Management Plan (GD 1470/2004). GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 61

65 and rural areas respectively. Further assumptions were made for the evolution of sewage treatment sludge and construction- and demolition waste. Please be aware that these figures include construction- and demolition waste, so the comparable figure for 2004 in Table 17 is tonnes. The figure for 2003 does not correspond to the figure in Table 16, because the SOP Environment 65 is based on more recent figures than the National Waste Management Plan 66. Prognosis of municipal waste collection Future waste collection was estimated based on the collection targets in urban and rural areas, with the following overall result : Table 20 : Prognosis on the waste collection system 67 Year Waste collection percentage(% of served population) 56% 58% 84% Figure 6 : Municipal and similar waste collecting evolution (in tonnes/year) generated wastesdeseuri generate collected wastes Recycling and recovery The issue of recycling and recovery is dealt with in section Future waste flows Based on the figures of Figure 5, Figure 6 and the above discussion about organic waste recovery, the following overview of the expected future situation has been compiled by the consultants team. 67 The National Waste Management Strategy and the National Waste Management Plan (GD 1470/2004). GHK, ECOLAS, IEEP, CE 62