ABSTRACT
In order to establish practically the charges system, the minister in charge of economic and land use planning–which at that time had the tutelage of the basin agencies–asked the Council of State to specify the legal status of the charges. The effluent charge is not paid by the municipality to the basin agency, contrary to what had been decided at the initiation of the system in 1969. At the beginning of each year, knowing the population of the municipality and the level of the effluent charge per inhabitant-equivalent from the basin agency–one inhabitant-equivalent corresponding to 90 grams per day of suspended material and 57 grams per day of oxidizable material–the total effluent charge for the municipality is computed. The operator of the sewage treatment plant may receive, directly from the basin agency, a premium based on the amount of pollutants removed in treatment.
