In its recent report, the State Audit Office of Hungary made recommendations among others for amendments to legislation promoting the prevention and reduction of industrial water pollution, measures to improve the effectiveness of management, control and supervisory activities.
Threats to the quality of surface and groundwater resources include the release of heavy metals, nutrients, chemicals and hazardous waste from mining, industry and agriculture. Industrial water pollution has serious consequences such as harm to the natural environment, damage to health and reduction in the scope of water uses. As water scarcity and over-polluted water bodies may become disincentives to economic growth in the future, an important element of sustainable water management is to maintain environmental balance while ensuring economic development.
The SAO’s audit assessed the complex system put in place to prevent and reduce industrial water pollution, with a focus on management, permitting, control activities, the financing environment for sustainable water management and the measures taken to strike a balance between environmental, water and industrial policy objectives. The audit found that the legislative environment has not provided a flexible response to the development of industrial technologies and changes in industrial structure. For the emergence of pollutants and process emissions not yet covered by legislation, legislative efforts in Hungary have been hampered by a lack of academic and research background. The strategic approach to industrial water management has not been fully applied in environmental and water permitting procedures.
The workload of water management and protection authorities increased during the audited period, their human resource capacities were not adapted to the volume of tasks to be carried out and were not in line with the territorial distribution of industrial operators, thus not always ensuring an effective geographical presence.
Despite the continuous tightening of measurement requirements and the emergence of new types of pollutants, there was a lack of laboratory improvements, which also posed a risk as (new types of) pollutants can enter water bodies, threatening ecosystems and drinking water resources.
Due to pre-announced inspections, limited presence by authorities and a level of fines that has not changed for a couple of decades, inspections by water management and protection authorities had no deterrent effect. The effectiveness of control by water utilities receiving significant amounts of industrial waste water and used water was reduced by more limited control powers/competence compared to those of the authorities. This has not been compensated by initiatives incentivising a change in technology.
Obstacles to striking a balance between environment and water policies as well as industrial policy include the lack of a strategic approach to industrial water management and the absence of strategic environmental assessments needed for industrial policy strategies.
Based on the results of the audit, the SAO made recommendations for amendments to legislation promoting the prevention and reduction of industrial water pollution, the implementation of permitting procedures with a strategic approach to industrial water management, measures to improve the effectiveness of management, control and supervisory activities and the overhaul of the system of fines.
Furthermore, the SAO proposed an assessment of the utilisation of laboratory capacities of water utilities, the strengthening of the network of academic and research institutes for water, the establishment of a system of financial guarantees and the creation of a water protection fund/appropriation.
The full report in Hungarian is available here.