A sea change in water quality

Poland has until 2015 to comply with E.U. environmental standards for water and sewage management

Poland will have to streamline its efforts to modernize the country’s water and sewage systems to bring the country into compliance with E.U. standards by 2015, said Joanna Kopczyńska from the team administering the E.U.’s Infrastructure and Environment operational program at the Polish Ministry of the Environment. She spoke at a joint meeting of the AmCham Infrastructure Committee and Environment & Energy Committee in June.

Poland is taking advantage of Infrastructure and Environment to modernize its water management infrastructure. The program is the biggest aid scheme in E.U. history, totaling EUR 37.6 billion. The amount includes EUR 27.9 billion from the union’s central coffers and EUR 9.7 billion shouldered by national funds, with another EUR 2.3 billion from private funds. The money is channeled into several priority goals, or “axes,” which include such areas as water and sewage management (Priority Axis One, EUR 2.8 billion), waste management and protection of soil (EUR 1.2 billion), resource management and counteracting environmental risks (EUR 557 million), initiatives aimed at adapting enterprises to meet environmental protection requirements (EUR 200 million), and environmental protection and promotion of ecological habits (EUR 90 million). The program also supports such goals as the development of eco-friendly road and air transportation networks, environment-friendly energy infrastructure, and energy efficiency and energy security, including diversification of energy sources. Overall responsibility for implementation of those programs rests with the Ministry of Environment.

While the government focuses equally on all programs, the water and sewage management program—Municipal Sewage Treatment—is of strategic importance. The program is aimed at fulfilling the obligations Poland assumed in the E.U. accession treaty, which, in short, calls for Poland to comply with the Urban Wastewater Directive (Council Directive 91/271/EEC) by the end of 2015. By that time Poland needs to construct, expand and upgrade sewage treatment plants in 318 cities and towns with a population above 15,000, upgrade sanitary networks in 459 cities and extend them to a total length of 20,000 km, and build, expand and upgrade sewage treatment plants in towns with a population above 2,000.

The EUR 2.8 billion earmarked for this program comes from the E.U. Cohesion Fund. Specifically, the fund carries the cost of financing construction, expansion and upgrade of sewage systems and wastewater treatment plants. As elements of complex projects, construction and upgrade of water supply systems and rainwater management systems may also be covered by E.U. aid.

The beneficiaries of this program include regional and local governments and their associated companies, but also public utility companies owned by local municipalities. They can receive financial grants in two ways. Projects included in the official list prepared jointly by the Ministry of the Environment and the National Environmental Protection Fund and approved by the Ministry of Regional Development automatically receive financing, because these projects have been found to be essential for timely implementation of the Urban Wastewater Directive.

Another way of getting a grant is to take part in a call for proposals, which is an open competition. Project announcements appear on the websites of the Ministry of the Environment, the E.U. Cohesion Fund and the environmental protection funds operating in each of the 16 provinces, as well in national newspapers.

The extent of the program can be seen from the following numbers. In 2004 Poland had 955 wastewater treatment plants. By 2013 the country needs to carry 1,273 projects to be on the right track to complying with the Urban Wastewater Directive by 2015. So far contracts for only 82 projects have been signed.

When it comes to extending and upgrading sewage system networks, Poland needs to connect about 810,000 more people to the system by 2013. Projects contracted so far will connect 787,289 people to the system.
To comply with the E.U. directive for providing running water, Poland needs to connect 80,000 more people by 2013. So far contracts covering an estimated 77,500 have been signed.

In terms of the number of the length of sewage systems that Poland needs to build or upgrade, 9,000 km need to be completed by 2013. So far contracts for 8,778 km have been signed.

While these projects relate mainly to urban areas, many localities are facing a real challenge. Out of 193 cities and towns in Poland that need to upgrade their water management systems to meet the E.U. requirements, so far only 7 have done so since 2004.

Part of the problem is that there has not been enough money to cover all the projects so far. There were six calls for proposals—the most recent one last year—under Priority Axis One, which generated 403 applications, and 28 of those projects made it onto the indicative list.

Some of the 111 projects approved for funding by either the Ministry of the Environment or the European Commission were put on hold, and only 137 individual contracts were signed, for a total value of PLN 8 billion. So far only PLN 562 million was paid out to the beneficiaries and only two projects have been finished.

More information about tenders is available from Tenders Electronic Daily www.ted.europa.eu, the online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union dedicated to E.U. public procurement.

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