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Law No. 326 Of 28 June 2001 Of The Public Services Of Communal Household

Original Language Title:  LEGE nr. 326 din 28 iunie 2001 a serviciilor publice de gospodărie comunală

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LEGE no. 326 326 of 28 June 2001-(* updated *) of public services of communal household ((updated until 18 September 2003 *)
ISSUER PARLIAMENT




------------- *) The initial text was published in the OFFICIAL GAZETTE no. 359 359 of 4 July 2001. This is the updated form of S.C. "Territorial Center of Electronic Computing" S.A. until September 18, 2003, with the amendments and additions made by: EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 9 9 of 7 February 2002 ; EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 197 197 of 18 December 2002 rejected by LAW no. 255 255 of 10 June 2003 ; EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 5 5 of 20 February 2003 ; ORDINANCE no. 65 65 of 28 August 2003 . The Romanian Parliament adopts this law + Chapter 1 General provisions + Article 1 This law establishes the unitary legal framework on the establishment, organization, monitoring and control of the functioning of public services of communal household in counties, cities and communes. + Article 2 (1) Public services of communal household represent all activities and actions of utility and local interest, carried out under the authority of the local public administration, aimed at providing public utility services, through which shall ensure: a) water supply; b) sewage and rainwater sewage and sewage treatment; c) sanitation of localities; d) centralized heat supply, except for the production of thermal energy in cogeneration; e) repealed; f) public lighting; g) local public transport; h) administration of the public housing stock; i) public domain administration. (2) Depending on the needs, by decision of the county council, respectively by decision of the local council, other public services of communal household may be established, having as object other activities than those provided in par. ((1). ((3) The areas mentioned in par. (1) and (2) will be detailed by special laws or by Government decisions, as the case may be. (4) In the organization, functioning and development of public household public services the general interest of citizens is a priority. -------------- Letter d) a par. ((1) art. 2 was amended by EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 9 9 of 7 February 2002 published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 120 120 of 14 February 2002. Letter e) a par. ((1) art. 2 was repealed by EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 9 9 of 7 February 2002 published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 120 120 of 14 February 2002. Letter f) a par. ((1) art. 2 was amended by EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 9 9 of 7 February 2002 published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 120 120 of 14 February 2002. + Article 3 (1) Public services of communal household shall be carried out by means of a construction assembly, technological installations, functional equipment and specific facilities, hereinafter referred to as public communal household systems; these systems are an integral part of the publishing infrastructure of the localities. (2) Public systems of communal household, including related land, being of use, interest or public utility, belong, by their nature or according to the law, to the public and/or private domain of administrative-territorial units. (3) If the establishment and realization of public communal household systems, namely the development of existing ones, require the final occupation of some land or the decommissioning of buildings, other than those belonging to the public domain, they will be listed in public property, according to the law + Article 4 Public communal household systems, including related land, are highlighted and inventoried in real estate cadastres organized at the level of administrative-territorial units according to the law, in order to identify, register and representation on maps and cadastral plans, as well as on general urban plans. + Article 5 Public services of communal household shall be organized and administered in compliance with the following principles: a) the sustainable development principle; b) the principle of local autonomy; c) principle of decentralisation of public services d) the principle of responsibility and legality; e) principle of participation and consultation of citizens f) the principle of inter-communal association and partnership; g) the principle of linking requirements with resources; h) the principle of protection and conservation of natural and built environment; i) the principle of efficient administration of goods from public property of administrative-territorial units; j) the principle of ensuring competitive environment; k) the principle of free access to information on these public services. + Article 6 This law guarantees all persons the right to use public services of communal household, by: a) equal accessibility to public services of communal household; b) access to information on public services of communal household; c) the right of association in non-governmental organizations to defend, promote and support users ' interests d) the right to be consulted directly or through non-governmental organizations of users in the process of elaboration and adoption of decisions, strategies and regulations on activities in the public services sector communal household; e) the right to address, directly or through non-governmental organizations, public administration authorities or courts in order to prevent or repair a direct or indirect damage. + Article 7 The state supports through legislative and economic measures to ensure the quantitative and qualitative development and improvement of public services of communal household, as well as the urban infrastructure of localities. + Article 8 ((1) The financing and the realization of investments related to public communal household systems shall be made in compliance with the legislation in force on the initiation, foundation, promotion and approval of public investments, pursuant to the following principles: a) promotion of economic and managerial profitability and efficiency by keeping a part of the revenues made from these activities at the level of local communities; b) strengthening the local fiscal autonomy in order to create the necessary financial means for the functioning of public utilities; c) promoting the creation of local capital markets; d) strengthening the local autonomy regarding contracting and guaranteeing necessary loans for the financing of public utilities, under the law. ((2) The financing of the current capital expenditures of the local public household systems shall be ensured from the revenue and expenditure budgets of the operators/providers of public services of communal household, by collecting from users of the amounts representing the value of the services provided/provided and by the establishment of special taxes, according to the law, and in addition, from budgetary allocations granted by the Government or, as the case may be, from the local budgets + Article 9 (1) Public household public services are carried out by suppliers/providers of local public services of specialized communal household, which can be: a) specialized compartments from the own apparatus of local councils, authorized under the law by national regulatory authorities or by the authority of the local public administration, for activities that do not enter into competence of the national regulatory authority; b) economic agents certified under the conditions of this law by the national regulatory authorities or by the authority of the local public administration, for activities that do not fall within the competence of the national regulatory authority. (2) Attestation, namely the authorization of economic agents operators/providers of public household public services will aim to present sufficient financial guarantees and managerial skills and will be made by commissions of specialty whose organization and functioning will be determined by Government decision. (3) The testing, respectively the authorization refers to both suppliers/providers of public household services under the authority of the local public administration, as well as to the suppliers/providers who will be established after the date the entry into force of this Law. + Article 10 Public services of communal household under the authority of the local public administration are organized, under the conditions of this law, depending on the economic and social importance of the localities, the size and the degree of their development and in report with existing edilitary facilities and equipment. + Article 11 (. Public household services shall meet the following essential conditions: a) continuity from a quantitative and qualitative point of view, under contractual conditions; b) adaptability to consumer requirements; c) equal accessibility to the public service, under contractual conditions; d) ensuring public health and quality of life. (2) The organization, operation and operation of public services of communal household must ensure: a) satisfying the quantitative and qualitative requirements of the users, corresponding to the contractual provisions; b) optimal, safe operation, profitability and economic efficiency, construction, equipment, facilities and facilities, corresponding to the technological parameters designed and in accordance with the specifications, with the operating instructions and the organisation and operation regulations; c) protecting the public domain and the environment by complying with legal regulations; d) informing and consulting citizens in order to protect the health of the population benefiting from those services. (3) The obligations of the operators/providers of public services of communal household to the consumer are mainly the following: a) operate with the public utility system; b) to serve all users in the coverage area for which they were authorized/attested; c) comply with the performance parameters established by the local public administration authorities, respectively by the national regulatory authority; d) to provide the authority of the local public administration, respectively to the national regulatory authority, the requested information and to ensure access to the documentation of the respective utilities, in accordance with the terms of the operating contract. + Chapter 2 Tasks and responsibilities of public administration authorities in the field of public household services + Section 1 Tasks and responsibilities of local public administration authorities + Article 12 (1) The local public administration authorities have exclusive competence regarding the establishment, organization, coordination, monitoring and control of the functioning of the public service of communal household, as well as the creation, administration and the exploitation of public property assets in the edilitary infrastructure of administrative-territorial units. (2) The administration of public patrimony goods, specific to the public communal household systems of the administrative-territorial units, is done with the diligence of a good owner. (3) Local public administration authorities may adopt decisions in relation to: a) establishment of programs for rehabilitation, extension and modernization of existing facilities, as well as programs for the establishment of new public systems of communal household, under the law; b) coordination of the design and execution of technical-urban works in order to achieve them in a unified conception and correlated with the programs of economic and social development of localities, of spatial planning, urbanism and environment; c) intercommunal association in order to carry out investments of common interest from technical-urban infrastructure; d) delegating the management of public household services, as well as goods belonging to the public patrimony in the technical-urban infrastructure; e) the participation of local public administration authorities with social capital or with goods to companies for the realization of works and services of local or county public interest, as the case may be, on the basis of conventions in which financial resources representing the contribution of each local public administration authority concerned. The conventions shall be concluded by the principal authorising officers, under the terms of the mandates approved by each local council, county or by the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest, as the case may be, involved in collaboration or in association; f) contracting or guaranteeing, under the law, loans for the financing of investment programs in the communal household infrastructure of localities regarding new works, expansions, capacity developments, rehabilitation, modernisation and retrofitting of existing systems; g) guarantee, under the law, of loans contracted by the providers of public household services for the formation and insurance of liquid fuel stocks for the cold season; h) elaboration and approval of local norms and regulations for the functioning of service providers regarding the regulation of communal household activity, based on the framework norms developed by the central authority; i) the establishment of taxes and the approval of tariffs for communal household services, in compliance with the regulations in force. + Article 13 (1) In the exercise of competence and responsibility the local public administration authorities have the following obligations to the users of the public household public services: a) the delegation of management, namely the direct management of public services of communal household, on the basis of competitiveness and managerial efficiency; b) promoting the rehabilitation of infrastructure in the public utilities sector; c) regular monitoring and control of public service provision activities and taking measures if the operator does not ensure the performance for which he or she obliged; d) ensuring the continuity of public services of communal household; e) consultation with users of public household services in the establishment of local policies and strategies, adoption of local norms and negotiation of contract delegation contracts; f) periodic information of users on development policies in the field of public household utilities and on the situation of public household public services, as well as on the need to establish some taxes; g) mediation of conflicts between the user and the service operator at the request of one of the parties. (2) The rights of local public administration authorities to public service operators of communal household are as follows: a) request information on the level and quality of the service offered; b) to invite the service operator for hearings in order to reconcile the differences between the consumer and the operator; c) to rule on the price adjustments proposed by the operator; d) to sanction the public service operator of the communal household if it does not operate to the efficiency parameters to which it was obliged, by: -refusal to approve the tariff adjustments proposed by the service operator; -the proposal made to the national regulatory authority to revoke the operating licence; -revocation of the decision approving the management delegation. (3) The obligations of local public administration authorities to public service operators of communal household are as follows: a) ensure equal treatment for all public service operators of the communal household within the respective community; b) to ensure a transparent business environment through the local norms adopted in the exercise of the prerogatives established by this law; c) keep the confidentiality of information on the activity of public service operators of communal household. (4) Against the decisions of the local public administration authorities, adopted in application of this law, interested natural or legal persons may apply to the administrative court, under the law. + Section 2 Tasks and responsibilities of central public administration authorities + Article 14 (1) The Government shall ensure the implementation of the general state policy in the field of communal household, in accordance with the governing program and the objectives of the economic and social strategy of the country, by: a) the initiation and submission for adoption of draft laws on the regulation of the activity in the communal household sector; b) adoption of decisions for the approval of norms, regulations and normative in the field of communal household, where regulation is required at the central level; c) support the local public administration authorities for the establishment, development and improvement of public services of communal household and infrastructure in this field. (2) The government periodically examines the state of public household services and establishes measures for sustainable development and increasing their quality corresponding to the requirements of users and needs of localities, based on strategies specific. (3) The Government shall exercise the powers referred to in paragraph (1) under the following principles: a) harmonization of strategies and policies in the field of communal household with those on socio-economic development, urban planning and spatial planning, protection and conservation of the environment; b) decentralization of public communal household services and strengthening of local autonomy regarding the establishment, organization, monitoring and control of the activity in the field of public services; c) the development of local strategies and policies on these services under the subsidiarity principle; d) implementation in the sphere of public household services of the mechanisms specific to the market economy, by creating a competitive environment, attracting private capital, promoting delegated forms of management; e) strengthening the decision-making and managerial capacity of local public administration authorities in the exercise of their tasks regarding the establishment, coordination and control of the functioning of public services of communal household; f) promotion of partnership and intercommunal association for the establishment and exploitation of technical-urban systems; g) to promote the partnership and association of local public administration authorities and private household operators-Romanian or foreign-for the financing, lending and joint exploitation of public services communal household; h) decentralization of public services, restriction and regulation of areas where the conditions of natural monopoly prevail; i) establishing the legal framework in fixing tariffs and tracking their evolution for public services of a natural monopoly. (4) The government will support the local public administration authorities for the establishment and organization of public services of communal household, at their request, for the purpose of efficient administration of the respective services. Support will be provided through the specialised departments of the competent central public administration authorities in the form of technical and financial assistance. + Chapter 3 Organization and functioning of public services of communal household + Section 1 Administration and management of public communal household services + Article 15 The organization, management, administration, management, coordination and control of the functioning of the public household public services are attributes of the local public administration authorities. + Article 16 (1) The management of public household services may be organized in the following ways: a) direct management; b) indirect management or delegated management. (2) The choice of the form of management of public household public services is made by decision of the local public administration authorities, depending on the nature of the service, the current and prospective interests of the units administrative-territorial, as well as the size and complexity of public communal household systems. + Article 17 (1) In direct management the local public administration authorities shall assume directly all tasks and responsibilities regarding the organization, management, administration and management of public services of communal household. (2) Direct management is carried out through specialized compartments organized within the own apparatus of the local council, authorized according to the provisions of art. 9 9 para. ((1) lit. a). (3) The conduct of activities specific to each public service of communal household, organized and exploited in the direct management system, is based on a regulation of organization and functioning. The organization and functioning regulations shall be drawn up by the specialized department and approved by the local council. + Article 18 (1) In the case of delegated management the local public administration authorities may call, for the realization of the services, to one or more public service operators, to whom they entrust-based on a contract of delegation of management-management proper services, as well as the administration and exploitation of the necessary technical-publishing public systems in order to achieve them. (2) The delegation of management shall be subject to the law. (3) In accordance with the powers and duties assigned to the law, the local public administration authorities shall maintain the prerogatives regarding the adoption of policies and strategies for the development of services, respectively development of public communal household systems, as well as the right to pursue, control and supervise: a) the manner of compliance and fulfilment of the contractual obligations assumed by the operators/providers of public services; b) quality of services provided/pre-state; c) the parameters of the services provided d) module of administration, exploitation, preservation and maintenance in operation, development and/or modernization of public systems in the urban-urban infrastructure entrusted by the concession contract; e) how to train and set tariffs for public services. + Article 19 The conduct of activities specific to each public service of communal household, organized and carried out in the system of delegation of management, is made on a contract basis. + Section 2 Public service operators of communal household + Article 20 (1) Public service operators of communal household are companies authorized to provide/provide public services under the conditions established by the local public administration authorities, pursuant to this law. (2) Public service operators of communal household shall benefit, under this law, from the same legal regime, regardless of the form of organization or property. ((3) Public service operators of communal household whose activity is carried out in a field under the coordination of a national regulatory authority shall be certified by it. (4) The delegation of the management of public household services to certified operators will be made in conditions of transparency, by public auction organized according to the law. + Article 21 (1) Commercial household companies under the authority of the local public administration may be privatized under the law. (2) The shares of the commercial household companies, held by the Authority for Privatization and Administration of State Participation, will be transferred to the private property of the administrative-territorial units within 30 days from the date of entry into force of this Law. At the same time the goods belonging to the public domain whose value was included in these actions will be reintegrated into the public patrimony of the administrative-territorial units. + Article 22 (1) The commercial household companies established by the local public administration authorities, according to the law, depending on the territorial limits in which they act, may be of local and county interest. (2) Commercial household companies of local interest are under the coordination of local councils and are organized for one or more public utility services, depending on the size of the localities, the degree of equipment Their technical-edilitary and other local specific factors. (3) The commercial companies of communal household of county interest shall be organized, as a rule, under the authority of the county councils, respectively of the General Council of Bucharest, for the following activities: a) construction, maintenance, modernization and operation of roads and bridges of county interest; b) water supply, namely sewage and wastewater treatment in regional system; c) production and distribution of thermal energy in regional system; d) collection, transport, valorisation, storage and neutralization of household waste in a regional system; e) repealed; f) repealed; g) the transport of persons, including the transport of students between the county's (4) Commercial household companies established by local public administration authorities may also operate in other territorial limits, thus participating in the development of the free market of suppliers/suppliers of services. (5) In the case of the provision of several types of services the operator will keep a separate record of the activities carried out, with a distinct accounting for each type of service and operating locality, as the case may be, so that its activities in Different sectors are easy to assess, monitor and control. ------------ Letters e) and f) of art. 22 were repealed by EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 9 9 of 7 February 2002 published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 120 120 of 14 February 2002. + Article 23 (1) The National Regulatory Authority for the Public Service of Communal Household, which exercises its powers and duties to all operators/providers of public service of communal household, shall be established, except operators of public and private domain management services of administrative-territorial units. (2) The National Regulatory Authority for Public Services of Communal Household is a public institution of national interest, with legal personality, in the coordination of the Prime Minister. The Authority is financed from own revenues obtained from the granting of licenses and authorizations, from the contribution of suppliers/providers of public services of communal household, as well as from other sources, under the law. The amount of the contribution will be determined by Government decision. (3) The National Regulatory Authority shall operate under the following principles: a) promoting economic efficiency in the public sector public services sector and protecting the interests of consumers; b) ensuring non-discriminatory treatment from local public administration authorities for all operators/providers of public services of communal household; c) conservation of resources and environmental protection. (4) The National Regulatory Authority has the following main tasks: a) attestation/authorization of public service operators of communal household; b) the collection of information on the activity of public service operators of communal household and their publication; c) control of documents and records of public service operators of communal household; d) establishing the mechanism for adjusting the tariffs in compliance with the management contracts; e) making tariff adjustments at the request of one of the contracting parties, under the law; f) the resolution of conflicts between the operator and the consumer of public service of communal household; g) request from the service operators of the activity improvement programs, if their benefits do not correspond to the parameters established in the operating license, respectively in the contract of delegation of the management; h) withdrawal of operating licences, if the public service operator of the communal household refuses to take measures to improve the activity. (5) The National Regulatory Authority shall exercise the powers conferred by this law to all operators, regardless of the form in which the management of the service is carried out within the respective local community. (6) The organization and functioning of the National Regulatory Authority for Public Services of Communal Household will be determined by Government decision. ------------- Alin. ((1), (2) and (6) of art. 23 were amended by ORDINANCE no. 65 65 of 28 August 2003 published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 618 618 of 30 August 2003. + Article 24 Violation of the provisions of this law attracts disciplinary, material, civil, contravention or criminal liability, as appropriate. + Chapter 4 Transitional and final provisions + Article 25 (1) The natural and legal persons benefiting from the communal household services, as well as the legal entities consuming electricity and heat, natural gas and fuels are obliged to pay the value of the invoices representing the services provided, namely the utilities provided, within 30 days from the date of issue of the invoice. ((1 ^ 1) Abrogat. (2) The delay in payment of the amounts due, after the expiry of the term provided in (1), attract late increases equal to those used for non-payment of obligations to the state budget; the amount of penalties will not exceed the amount of the debit and is constituted income of the provider. (3) If the amounts due, including the increases, have not been paid within 30 calendar days from the expiry of the term provided in par. (1), the supplier/public service provider may suspend the performance of the contract, with a notice of 5 working days. (4) The resumption of the supply/provision of the service will be made within a maximum of 3 working days from the payment; the expenses related to the suspension, respectively the resumption of the supply/provision of the service will be borne by the subscriber. ------------ Alin. ((1) art. 25 was amended by EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 197 197 of 18 December 2002 *) published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 956 956 of 27 December 2002. Alin. ((1 ^ 1) art. 25 was introduced by EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 197 197 of 18 December 2002 *) published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 956 956 of 27 December 2002. Alin. ((2) art. 25 was amended by EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 197 197 of 18 December 2002 *) published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 956 956 of 27 December 2002. Alin. ((3) art. 25 was amended by EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 197 197 of 18 December 2002 *) published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 956 956 of 27 December 2002. Alin. ((1 ^ 1) art. 25 was repealed by EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 5 5 of 20 February 2003 published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 119 119 of 25 February 2003. ------------ * *) EMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 197 197 of 18 December 2002 has been rejected by LAW no. 255 255 of 10 June 2003 published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 429 429 of 18 June 2003. + Article 26 This law shall enter into force 30 days from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, except art. 2 2 para. ((3), art. 9 9 para. ((2) and art. 23 23 para. ((6), which shall enter into force from the date of publication. + Article 27 The legal regulations necessary for the application of the provisions of this law shall be elaborated by the Government within 30 days from the date of its entry into force. + Article 28 The date of entry into force of this Law shall be repealed Municipal household law no. 4/1981 ,, published in the Official Bulletin, Part I, no. 48 of July 9, 1981, as amended, as well as any other provisions contrary to this law. This law was adopted by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in the joint meeting of 14 June 2001, in compliance with the provisions of art. 74 74 para. ((1) and of art. 76 76 para. (2) of the Romanian Constitution. CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES PRESIDENT VALER DORNEANU p. SENATE PRESIDENT, DORU IOAN TARACILA -------