Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
for developed countries and prohibitive for developing countries. However, it should be
noted that developing countries could consider this concept as a future development and
could orientate towards a data collection and monitoring strategy, which could help in the
future implementation of the WACC.
5.3
Setting regulatory instruments
Setting regulatory instruments is a complicated and sensitive process, which needs to be
undertaken carefully in order to obtain the final goal of protecting public health and the
environment together with a sustainable economic and social development. Regulations
might allow industries or municipalities to dump a certain amount of pollutants into water
bodies, in order to support development needs. However, they should not be set at
minimum levels so that the natural water quality should be destroyed for future
generations. Also, they should prevent a polluter from profiting at the expense of other
water users, and in addition, they should allow a certain level of flexibility,
compensating, for example, for differences in summer and winter and dry versus wet
years. During the process of setting or evaluating standards, some basic considerations
should be followed to provide for a successful enforcement practice and achievement
goals. These could be summarized as follows:
• Criteria and requirements should be based on sound logical and scientific grounds. The
application of risk assessment techniques with respect to public and environmental
health hazards is strongly recommended, in order to protect the public from chronic
and acute water borne diseases. Both the environment and the public health should be
protected from toxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic pollutants.
• Actual water quality values are statistical variables, which vary randomly. Therefore,
water quality standards must specify not only the limiting value, but also, how often
this value could be exceeded and for how long. These recommendations are usually
based on specific research methods for the evaluation of chronic and acute toxicity of
prescribed chemicals with respect to different biological species.
• Formulation of attainable and affordable goals - this consideration refers to many cases
in the past, when high-level requirements were set in the regulatory instruments, and
because of the fact that these goals were too difficult to attain, the regulations were
never implemented in practice. Thus, the process of setting the objectives or
requirements should consider actual conditions in terms of time and implementation
cost. The cost should include the collection, transport and treatment of polluted water
(construction and operation), and the cost of monitoring and the enforcement of the
regulatory instruments as well.
• A phased approach in the implementation of regulatory instruments is highly
recommendable, especially for developing countries.
• All stakeholders' participation during the process of setting standards is very important
in order to provide for a common ground of the decisions taken, for the consideration
of different opinions and points of view, and consequently, for the acceptance of the
measures to be undertaken as a result of the regulations.
• Public awareness of existing regulatory instruments and new or upgraded ones would
allow the gaining of public support and would make the public aware of the costs
