O novo cenário institucional do saneamento no Brasil e sua repercussão no Estado da Bahia

Abstract

Sanitation is a sector of Public Policies that makes a decisive contribution to preventing human beings from different types of illnesses, in addition to integrating actions aimed at environmental preservation. However, the lack of sanitation in the country poses serious risks to the population, especially the most vulnerable, demanding large volumes of investments from the Central and State Governments in the sector. By being structured in the form of a federalism composed of a central Government (Federal Union) and two sub-governments (states and municipalities), the Brazilian Government has its competences decentralized among its entities in order to confer efficiency in the practice of Public Policies. In the field of water supply and sewage, it is up to the municipalities to meet local needs directly or under a concession or permission regime, while the states are responsible for managing and regulating services. Over the decades, the historical and social context of sanitation in Brazil presents periods of difficulties in accessing resources and services, as well as evolutionary periods, mainly from the 1970s with the elaboration and operation of National Sanitation Plan (PLANASA - 1971 to 1986), experimenting, again, scarcity of public resources from the 1980s onwards. The theme of basic sanitation was strongly included in the 1988 Constitution, where the duty and competences of federal entities in promoting universal access to services throughout the country were reinforced. However, only in 2020, in a new attempt to achieve universal access to sanitation, was the New Sanitation Framework enacted into Law, with new prospects for goals and investments for the sector. In this way, understanding the historical context of sanitation in the country and the new legal order, in particular the repercussions of its devices in the state of Bahia, especially from the point of view of investment, is essential to assess the perspectives for achieving universalization according to established goals. Thus, the objective of this research is to analyze the ability of the new regulatory framework to face the challenges of universal access to sanitation services within the established period that extends to 2033. To proceed with this analysis, a set of information contained in technical articles, in newspapers and specialized magazines, as well as legal provisions and books aimed at the Sanitation sector was assembled and examined. Finally, it was evaluated that the path to reach the intended goals is long, but the conditions present in the new legislation are necessary to attract private investors, one of the main obstacles to the progress of Sanitation in Brasil.