Sanitation milestone: investment in the sector needs to more than double to meet universalization targets, study points out

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In total, 33 million Brazilians still live without access to treated water, and 93 million do not have access to sewage collection. Annual investment in sanitation needs to more than double to meet the universalization goals of the New Legal Framework, points out a study by Igor Mota Three years after the approval of the New Legal Framework for Basic Sanitation, the level of Brazilian investment in the area is still far below what is needed to the universalization targets established by law. The amount invested per year in works, services, investments and expansion of water and sewage services would need to more than double by 2033 to be able to universalize services, points out a study by Instituto Trata Brasil with GO Associados published this Wednesday (12 ). The study evaluates the sector three years after the approval of the New Legal Framework for Basic Sanitation, on July 15, 2020. Among the goals of the new framework is the universalization of services by the year 2033, ensuring that 99% of the country’s population have access to potable water and 90% to sewage treatment and collection. The reality of the country, however, is still far from that. According to the most up-to-date data from the National Sanitation Information System (SNIS), which are from the year 2021, 84% of Brazilians have water coverage and only 56% are connected to the sewage network. In practice, this means that 33 million people live without access to treated water and 93 million do not have access to sewage collection – which causes hundreds of hospitalizations due to diseases, in addition to economic, educational and social effects. The study points out that: In the last five years, the annual average investment in the basic sanitation sector was R$ 20 billion. In 2021, for example, which is the most up-to-date data available, Brazil invested BRL 17.3 billion in the sector. To be able to universalize water and sewage for all Brazilians, this value would need to be R$ 44.8 billion per year. In other words, the country needs to more than double its investments to be able to meet the universalization target by 2033. The New Legal Framework for Basic Sanitation was proposed and approved precisely to encourage investments in the sector and, as a consequence, universalize access to water and sewage in the country. For this, he established targets for service indicators, in addition to better market conditions and sector regulation. “Investments translate into works, and works translate into more people having access to services. There is no other rationale for universalizing basic sanitation”, says Luana Pretto, executive director of Instituto Trata Brasil. READ MORE: Government prepares new version of sanitation decrees and tries to avoid defeats in the Senate Lula signs decrees that change the Sanitation Legal Framework Changes in the new sanitation framework worry the private sector Slow advances As already shown above, however, advances are advancing in slow motion — and not just under the direct investment optimism. The “bureaucratic” part is also slow: 30 million Brazilians still live in cities with pending sanitation contracts – and 70% of the people who live in these cities do not have sewage collection. These cities are considered “pending” because they have not yet presented the documentation that proves that they have the financial conditions to meet and advance in the goals established by the New Legal Framework. “The comparison between the cities that have already delivered these proofs and those that are still pending says it all”, says Luana Pretto. “Pending municipalities invest much less, an average of R$55 reais per inhabitant, while the regular ones invest much more, R$113. How are these pending cities going to change reality by investing much less than cities that are already doing better? that story: the top one goes up and the bottom one goes down.” And what needs to be done to increase investments? The answer is not simple, but it is already contemplated in the New Legal Framework – and in subsequent decrees, which are “tuning” the regulations of the legislation, according to Pretto. “It is necessary to have a joint effort between the public and private sectors. The public continues to provide resources, but there needs to be a legal framework so that there is security in the contribution of private investment to guarantee universalization”, she says. What has already been done? In this sense, the study also highlights the initiatives that have already been carried out in these three years since the approval of the New Legal Framework – mainly projects related to regionalization and concession of services. See below some highlights: Regionalization To increase investments, the New Legal Framework encouraged regionalization to provide services, mainly in metropolitan regions and groups of cities. Of the 26 states liable to go through this process, 3 have legislative pendencies in the structuring of regional blocks: Acre, Pará and Minas Gerais. On the other hand, 3 states have already gone through a bidding process that includes the structuring of regionalized service provision blocks: Amapá, Mato Grosso do Sul and Rio de Janeiro. In other cases, even if they already have laws approved that regulate the formation of these blocks, the other states have not yet put these processes into practice. PPPs and concessions Another objective of the New Legal Framework is to attract investment to the sector through concessions or public-private partnerships with regional providers. In the last three years, the study points out that there have been significant bidding processes in the country – with emphasis on projects for the concession of sanitation services in the following states: Amapá, Rio de Janeiro, Ceará and Alagoas. Taken together, the projects already under way foresee investments of almost BRL 68 billion, with coverage for more than 31 million people. The study also highlights 29 projects in the sector that are expected to be completed in the next three years and that directly impact the lives of more than 46 million people. Among them is the privatization of Sabesp, in the state of São Paulo (whose bidding estimate is for the year 2025), and concessions in the states of Pará, Sergipe, Paraíba, Rondônia, among others. Perspectives for the coming years In view of these advances, Pretto says that there is still the possibility that at least part of the country will be able to reach the goals of the New Legal Framework by 2033. “The country has different realities. of the states in the South, Southeast and Midwest. But the situation is different in the North and Northeast. Some states will need to make radical changes to make sanitation a priority. If they don’t do that, they won’t comply [as metas].” New decrees on the Legal Framework Sanctioned in 2020 by then-president Jair Bolsonaro, the Legal Framework for Sanitation provided that new hires for the provision of services could only be made through open competition, with equal conditions between the public sectors and private. In April of this year, new rules were issued by President Lula. They allow state-owned companies to provide sanitation services without bidding with municipalities in the metropolitan region, urban agglomeration or microregion. Lula signs decrees that change the Sanitation Legal Framework As changes left the private sector apprehensive. Parliamentarians claimed that the regulation exceeded the limits of the legislation approved by Congress three years earlier. In May, the Chamber of Deputies approved the overthrow of the devices modified by Lula. The matter is under analysis in the Senate. To avoid defeats in the house, the federal government is preparing a new version of the decrees to modify the New Legal Framework. Understand what the sanitation framework is and what changes if Congress overturns excerpts modified by Lula

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