Author(s)

LILIAN BECHARA ELABRAS VEIGA & ALESSANDRA MAGRINI

Abstract

In Brazil, Law 9,433, enacted in 1997, established the National Water Resources Policy and created the National Water Resources Management System, introducing a new integrated approach to environmental management policies. This law defined the hydrographic basin as the unit of planning, considering multiple water uses, introducing many changes at the institutional and policy instruments levels. Fifteen years after the enactment of the above law, improvements still need to be done. Evidence of this is the process of revising the rules on pollutant discharge on water bodies. Despite the latest changes, there still exist improvements that could be considered. This paper aims to contribute to this effort, by comparing the Brazilian water pollution control model with the American model, which can provide valuable insights in terms of defining pollutant discharge limits based on industrial typologies, and especially for having pollution control instruments such as the total maximum daily load and the water quality trading policy. Finally, based on the US model, this paper makes suggestions that could be incorporated in Brazil to make water pollution control more effective.

Keywords

Brazil, effluent discharge, pollution control, total maximum daily load, United States, water quality, water quality index.