Regulação dos serviços de esgotamento sanitário: um estudo da atuação da Agência de Regulação de Pernambuco (Arpe)

Abstract

It is the right of all Brazilian citizens to have access to basic sanitation services, as determined by the Brazilian Federal Constitution. Despite this, the sanitary sewage sector is still very deficient. In the state of Pernambuco only 30.8% of the population is served by a sewage system. With the legal framework of basic sanitation, established by Law 11.445/2007, the sector's regulatory agencies now play an important role in the search for the universalization of these services. This study aimed to analyze the performance of the Pernambuco Regulatory Agency (Arpe) in the regulation of sanitary sewage services provided by Pernambuco Sanitation Company (Compesa). To this end, it was sought to identify and describe the procedures adopted by Arpe for the technical-operational regulation of the sector and also to analyze the rates of service to its users in solving problems related to sanitary sewage services. The theoretical referential brings discussions about legislations and positioning of several authors about the theme in question. The information about the procedures adopted by Arpe was obtained directly from the agency, with the application of a questionnaire; the qualitative method was used for data collection and analysis. The research revealed that the regulatory activities carried out by Arpe are based on norms. The inspection of the sanitary sewage services provided by Compesa occurs every 2 (two) years and verifies in loco the infrastructure, the operation, the maintenance and the functionality of the systems, the quality, the safety, the adequacy to the technical standards and the compliance to the pertinent legislation. The indices of attendance to service users' complaints and the inspection reports recording the irregularities and the deadlines stipulated for Compesa to solve the problems identified are not made available to the population. Despite the difficulties encountered, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this research contributed to list the activities currently developed by Arpe in the area of sanitary sewage. These actions seek to contribute to guaranteeing the quality and satisfaction of the users of these services.