Waters Protection Act (WPA)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Chapter 1 Repeal and Amendment of Current Legislat
Art. 74 Repeal of the Waters Protection Act
The Federal Act of 8 October 1971 on the Protection of Waters against Pollution (the Waters Protection Act) is repealed.
[AS 1972 950; 1979 1573 Art. 38; 1980 1796; 1982 1961; 1984 1122 Art. 66 No 3;1985 660 No I 51; 1991 362 No II 402, 857 Annex No 19; 1992 288 Annex No 32]
Art. 75 Amendments to federal legislation
…
The amendments may be consulted under AS 1992 1860.
Chapter 2 Transitional Provisions
Section 1 Disposal of Non-polluted Wastewater, Man
Art. 76 Disposal of non-polluted wastewater
The cantons shall ensure that at the latest 15 years after this Act comes into force the operation of any water treatment plant is no longer impaired by permanent flows of non-polluted wastewater (Art. 12 para. 3).
Art. 76 — The correction of 8 Sept. 2015 made by the DrC concerns the French text only (AS 2015 3021).
Art. 77 Manure storage facilities
The cantonal authorities shall lay down the transitional period for the adjustment of manure storage facility capacities according to the urgency of individual cases. They shall ensure that at the latest 15 years after the entry into force of this Act all such storage facilities are improved.
Art. 78 and 79
Repealed by No II 33 of the FA of 20 March 2008 on the Formal Revision of Federal Legislation, with effect from 1 Aug. 2008 (AS 2008 3437; BBl 2007 6121).
Section 2 Water Withdrawals
Art. 80 Remediation
1 In cases where a watercourse is substantially affected by water withdrawals, it shall be remediated below the point of withdrawal according to the instructions of the authorities in so far as is possible without infringing existing water use rights to the extent of justifying a claim for compensation by the user. 2 The authorities shall order more extensive remediation measures in cases which concern watercourses situated in landscapes or including habitats which are listed in national or cantonal inventories, or in cases where overriding public interests require it. The procedures for ascertaining whether compensation must be paid and for fixing their amount shall be based on the procedures contained in the Compulsory Purchase Act of 20 June 1930. 3 If small hydro-electric power plants or other installations on waters of historic value are affected by the order for more extensive remediation measures in areas listed in inventories in terms of paragraph 2, the authority shall weigh u
Para. 2 — SR 711 Para. 3 — Inserted by No I of the FA of 11 Dec. 2009 (Restoration), in force since 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 4285; BBl 2008 8043 8079).
Art. 81 Transitional periods for remediation
1 The authorities shall lay down the latest date for the completion of remediation measures according to the urgency of individual cases. 2 They shall ensure that remediation is completed by the end of 2012 at the latest.
Para. 2 — Amended by No I 11 of the FA of 19 Dec. 2003 on the 2003 Budget Relief Programme, in force since 1 Jan. 2005 (AS 2004 1633; BBl 2003 5615).
Art. 82 Basic principles of remediation
1 The cantons shall establish an inventory of existing water withdrawals according to Article 29, which shall contain information on: a. the amount of water withdrawn; b. the residual flow; c. the required water endowment; d. the legal situation. 2 They shall evaluate the water withdrawals listed in the inventory and adjudicate whether and to what extent remediation is necessary. Their findings shall take the form of a report. As far as possible this shall include the timespans over which remediation must be completed. 3 They shall present their inventories to the federal authority within two years and their report within five years after this Act comes into force.
Art. 83 Water withdrawals in accordance with licences already granted
1 In cases of planned water withdrawals for which licences were granted before the entry into force of this Act, the protection of waters below the point of withdrawal shall be guaranteed by the measures required by the law in so far as this is possible without causing infringements of existing water utilisation rights which would require compensation. No right of compensation shall exist in respect of measures taken under Article 31 of this Act in cases where licenses were granted after June 1, 1987. 2 In cases where overriding public interests require more extensive protection, the authorities shall require all necessary measures to be taken in accordance with this Act. The procedures for ascertaining whether compensation must be paid and fixing their amount shall be based on the procedures contained in the Compulsory Purchase Act of 20 June 1930. 3 The authorities shall require such measures to be taken at the latest before the commencement of the building work for the water withdra
Para. 2 — SR 711
Section 2bis Hydropeaking and Bed Load Budget
Inserted by No I of the FA of 11 Dec. 2009 (Restoration), in force since 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 4285; BBl 2008 8043 8079).
Art. 83a Remediation measures
The persons responsible for existing hydropower plants and of other installations on waters are obliged, within 20 years of this provision coming into force, to take the appropriate remediation measures in accordance with Articles 39a and 43a.
Art. 83b Planning and reporting
1 The cantons shall plan the measures in accordance with Article 83a and specify the deadlines for their implementation. The planning also includes the measures that must be implemented by persons responsible for hydropower plants in accordance with Article 10 of the Federal Act of 21 June 1991 on Fishing. 2 The cantons shall submit the plans to the Confederation by 31 December 2014. 3 They shall report to the Confederation every four years on the measures that have been implemented.
Para. 1 — SR 923.0
Section 3 …
Art. 84
Repealed by No I of the FA of 21 March 2014, with effect from 1 Jan. 2016 (AS 2014 3327; BBl 2013 5549).
Chapter 3 Referendum and Commencement
Art. 85
1 This Act is subject to optional referendum. 2 The Federal Council shall determine the commencement date. Commencement date: 1 November 1992
Para. 2 — FCD of 5 Oct. 1992.