Decreto n.º 20/2006

TEXTO :

Decreto n.º 20/2006

de 4 de Agosto

Tendo Portugal assinado o Protocolo sobre Água e Saúde à Convenção de 1992 Relativa à Protecção e Utilização dos Cursos de Água Transfronteiriços e dos Lagos Internacionais em Londres em 17 de Junho de 1999;

Considerando a necessidade de serem tomadas medidas adequadas que garantam a protecção dos recursos em água potável, um saneamento adequado que proteja a saúde humana e o ambiente, uma protecção efectiva dos recursos hídricos e dos seus ecossistemas contra a poluição, salvaguardas adequadas contra as doenças relacionadas com a utilização da água para fins recreativos, na aquicultura e na produção ou exploração de moluscos, bem como com a utilização de águas residuais na irrigação e de lamas de depuração na agricultura ou na aquicultura:

Assim:

Nos termos da alínea c) do n.º 1 do artigo 197.º da Constituição, o Governo aprova o Protocolo sobre Água e Saúde à Convenção de 1992 Relativa à Protecção e Utilização dos Cursos de Água Transfronteiriços e dos Lagos Internacionais, cujo texto, na versão autenticada na língua inglesa, bem como a respectiva tradução na língua portuguesa, se publica em anexo.

Visto e aprovado em Conselho de Ministros de 8 de Junho de 2006. - José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa - Diogo Pinto de Freitas do Amaral - Francisco Carlos da Graça Nunes Correia.

Assinado em 14 de Julho de 2006.

Publique-se.

O Presidente da República, ANÍBAL CAVACO SILVA.

Referendado em 17 de Julho de 2006.

O Primeiro-Ministro, José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa.

PROTOCOL ON WATER AND HEALTH TO THE 1992 CONVENTION ON THE PROTECTION AND USE OF TRANSBOUNDARY WATERCOURSES AND INTERNATIONAL LAKES

The Parties to this Protocol:

Mindful that water is essential to sustain life and that the availability of water in quantities, and of a quality, sufficient to meet basic human needs is a prerequisite both for improved health and for sustainable development;

Acknowledging the benefits to human health and well-being that accrue from wholesome and clean water and a harmonious and properly functioning water environment;

Aware that surface waters and groundwater are renewable resources with a limited capacity to recover from adverse impacts from human activities on their quantity and quality, that any failure to respect those limits may result in adverse effects, in both the short and long terms, on the health and well-being of those who rely on those resources and their quality, and that in consequence sustainable management of the hydrological cycle is essential for both meeting human needs and protecting the environment;

Aware also of the consequences for public health of shortfalls of water in the quantities, and of the quality, sufficient too meet basic human needs, and of the serious effects of such shortfalls, in particular on the vulnerable, the disadvantaged and the socially excluded;

Conscious that the prevention, control and reduction of water-related disease are important and urgent tasks which can only be satisfactorily discharged by enhanced cooperation at all levels and among all sectors, both within countries and between States;

Conscious also that surveillance of water-related disease and the establishment of early-warning systems and response systems are important aspects of the prevention, control and reduction of water-related disease;

Basing themselves upon the conclusions of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), in particular the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and Agenda 21, as well as upon the programme for the further implementation of Agenda 21 (New York, 1997) and the consequent decision of the Commission on Sustainable Development on the sustainable management of freshwater (New York, 1998);

Deriving inspiration from the relevant provisions of the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes and emphasizing the need both to encourage more widespread application of those provisions and to complement that Convention with further measures to strengthen the protection of public health;

Taking note of the 1991 Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, the 1992 Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents, the 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses and the 1998 Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters;

Further taking note of the pertinent principles, targets and recommendations of the 1989 European Charter on Environment and Health, the 1994 Helsinki Declaration on Environment and Health, and the Ministerial declarations, recommendations and resolutions of the "Environment for Europe» process;

Recognizing the sound basis and relevance of other environmental initiatives, instruments and processes in Europe, as well as the preparation and implementation of National Environment and Health Action Plans and of National Environment Action Plans;

Commending the efforts already undertaken by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation for the prevention, control and reduction of water-related disease;

Encouraged by the many examples of positive achievements by the States members of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the States members of the Regional Committee for Europe of the World Health Organization in abating pollution and in maintaining and restoring water environments capable of supporting human health and well-being:

have agreed as follows:

Article 1

Objective

The objective of this Protocol is to promote at all appropriate levels, nationally as well as in transboundary and international contexts, the protection of human health and well-being, both individual and collective, within a framework of sustainable development, through improving water management, including the protection of water ecosystems, and through preventing, controlling and reducing water-related disease.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Protocol:

1) "Water-related disease» means any significant adverse effects on human health, such as death, disability, illness or disorders, caused directly or indirectly by the condition, or changes in the quantity or quality, of any waters;

2) "Drinking water» means water which is used, or intended to be available for use, by humans for drinking, cooking, food preparation, personal hygiene or similar purposes;

3) "Groundwater» means all water which is below the surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil;

4) "Enclosed waters» means artificially created water bodies separated from surface freshwater or coastal water, whether within or outside a building;

5) "Transboundary waters» means any surface or ground waters which mark, cross or are located on boundaries between two or more States; wherever transboundary waters flow directly into the sea, these transboundary waters end at a straight line across their respective mouths between points on the low-water line of their banks;

6) "Transboundary effects of water-related disease» means any significant adverse effects on human health, such as death, disability, illness or disorders, in an area under the jurisdiction of one Party, caused directly or indirectly by the condition, or changes in the quantity or quality, of waters in an area under the jurisdiction of another Party, whether or not such effects constitute a transboundary impact;

7) "Transboundary impact» means any significant adverse effect on the environment resulting from a change in the conditions of transboundary waters caused by a human activity, the physical origin of which is situated wholly or in part within an area under the jurisdiction of a Party to the Convention, within an area under the jurisdiction of another Party to the Convention. Such effects on the environment include effects on human health and safety, flora, fauna, soil, air, water, climate, landscape, and historical monuments or other physical structures or the interaction among these factors; they also include effects on the cultural heritage or socio-economic conditions resulting from alterations to those factors;

8) "Sanitation» means the collection, transport, treatment and disposal or reuse of human excreta or domestic waste water, whether through collective systems or by installations serving a single household or undertaking;

9) "Collective system» means:

whether provided by a body in the public sector, an undertaking in the private sector or by a partnership between the two sectors;

10) "Water-management plan» means a plan for the development, management, protection and or use of the water within a territorial area or groundwater aquifer, including the protection of the associated ecosystems;

11) "The public» means one or more natural or legal persons, and, in accordance with national legislation or practice, their associations, organizations or groups;

12) "Public authority» means:

This definition does not include bodies or institutions acting in a judicial or legislative capacity;

13) "Local» refers to all relevant levels of territorial unit below the level of the State;

14) "Convention» means the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, done at Helsinki on 17 March 1992;

15) "Meeting of the Parties to the Convention» means the body established by the Parties to the Convention in accordance with its article 17;

16) "Party» means, unless the text otherwise indicates, a State or a regional economic integration organization referred to in article 21 which has consented to be bound by this Protocol and for which this Protocol is in force;

17) "Meeting of the Parties» means the body established by the Parties in accordance with article 16.

Article 3

Scope

The provisions of this Protocol shall apply to:

Article 4

General provisions

1 - The Parties shall take all appropriate measures to prevent, control and reduce water-related disease within a framework of integrated water-management systems aimed at sustainable use of water resources, ambient water quality which does not endanger human health, and protection of water ecosystems.

2 - The Parties shall, in particular, take all appropriate measures for the purpose of ensuring:

3 - Subsequent references in this Protocol to "drinking water» and "sanitation» are to drinking water and sanitation that are required to meet the requirements of paragraph 2 of this article.

4 - The Parties shall base all such measures upon an assessment of any proposed measure in respect of all its implications, including the benefits, disadvantages and costs, for:

which takes account of the differing new impacts of any proposed measure on the different environmental mediums.

5 - The Parties shall take all appropriate action to create legal, administrative and economic frameworks which are stable and enabling and within which the public, private and voluntary sectors can each make its contribution to improving water management for the purpose of preventing, controlling and reducing water-related disease.

6 - The Parties shall require public authorities which are considering taking action, or approving the taking by others of action, that may have a significant impact on the environment of any waters within the scope of this Protocol to take due account of any potential impact of that action on public health.

7 - Where a Party is a Party to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, compliance by public authorities of that Party with the requirements of that Convention in relation to a proposed action shall satisfy the requirement under paragraph 6 of this article in respect of that action.

8 - The provisions of this Protocol shall not affect the rights of Parties to maintain, adopt or implement more stringent measures than those set down in this Protocol.

9 - The provisions of this Protocol shall not affect the rights and obligations of any Party to this Protocol deriving from the Convention or any other existing international agreement, except where the requirements under this Protocol are more stringent than the corresponding requirements under the Convention or that other existing international agreement.

Article 5

Principles and approaches

In taking measures to implement this Protocol, the Parties shall be guided in particular by the following principles and approaches: