Name: LYGIA MARIA SARLO WILKEN

Publication date: 27/03/2017
Advisor:

Name	Role
ADRIANA FIOROTTI CAMPOS	Co-advisor *
EDNILSON SILVA FELIPE	Advisor *

Examining board:

Name	Role
ALEXANDRE OTTONI TEATINI SALLES	External Examiner *
ALVIM BORGES DA SILVA FILHO	Internal Examiner *
EDNILSON SILVA FELIPE	Advisor *

Summary: A decade ago, Law No. 11.445/2007, of January 5, 2007, considered a regulatory framework for basic sanitation, defined guidelines for this sector, emphasizing planning and regulation as requirements for the provision of services and establishing that these were provided on the basis of thirteen fundamental principles, one of them the universalization of access. Due to the importance of basic sanitation, mainly sanitary sewage, to the maintenance of public health, environmental preservation and sustainable development, this study aims to evaluate the role and performance of external control exercised by the country Accounts Courts – in particular, by the Court of Audit of the State of Espírito Santo (TCEES) – in favor of universal access, based on actions implemented to induce planning in the Metropolitan Region of Grande Vitória (RMGV) and to improve the performance of the agency set up for regulation and supervision of the services rendered by Companhia Espírito Santense de Saneamento (Cesan) in the metropolitan municipalities. In the exploratory phase, the study involves a bibliographical research about the theory of economic regulation and documentary research related to the attributions of the external control and regulation organs and to the characteristics of the basic sanitation sector, in relation to sanitary sewage. It then focuses empirically on a qualitative approach, which includes conducting interviews and applying questionnaires. As a result, it points out that the edition of Law No. 11.445/2007 triggered, at the federal and regional levels, the construction of a weak legal and institutional framework to induce Brazilian municipalities – including those of RMGV – to prepare in a timely manner their municipalities plans of basic sanitation, even if these are required to obtain Union resources for sanitation and for the validity of concession contracts. It also notes the fragility of the regulatory apparatus to promote universal access to sewage collection and treatment, to the point WHERE half of the metropolitan population has still not been served, reflecting a reality that is also the reality of the Espírito Santo State and Brazil. In this context, it verifies that, having its scope of activities expanded in function of the Law, the TCEES, as the others country Account Courts, executes an incipient external control to incite the planning, the regulation and, consequently, the universalization of the services of sanitary sewage, much for the culture of acting in a legalistic way, instead of acting for the effectiveness of public policies. This, the technical and financial deficiency of municipalities, the insufficiency of the regulatory agency’s staf and experience and the frequent informational asymmetry in this sector are identified as obstacles to the full applicability of the regulatory framework, despite its completeness. Thus, the study brings, to the agents involved in this process, propositions of initiatives whose implementation can have a positive impact on compliance with Law No. 11.445/2007

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