1) The document discusses contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in surface waters, which challenge traditional water protection policy approaches based on establishing environmental quality norms for individual compounds. 2) It proposes that the precautionary principle is an appropriate strategy to deal with the uncertainties surrounding CECs given their diversity, unknown impacts, and constant introduction of new substances. 3) An international survey of decision-makers found support for precautionary, source-directed policies to reduce CECs rather than relying solely on the scientific testing and regulation paradigm currently used.

1. OECD Workshop
Policy strategies for contaminants of
emerging concern in water
Workshop: “Managing Contaminants of Emerging
Concern in Surface Waters“
Dr. Florence Metz
ETH Zürich
www.florencemetz.com
February 5, 2018

2. Overview
1. Contaminants of emerging concern as a new challenge for water protection
policy
2. The Precautionary Principle as a means to deal with uncertainties
3. Decision-makers’ perspective: Results from an international survey with
public, private, and civic actors about preferences regarding policies for the
reduction of CECs
4. Barriers to action
2

3. Environmental quality norms (EQN) as
traditional response to water quality issues
• Compound-by-compound approach
• Precondition: detection, risk
assessment, deduction of EQN
Challenges due to uncertainties
• Diversity of contaminants, sources,
inputs
• ”Unknowns”
• ”Cocktail effect”
• Constant engineering of new
substances
Wastewater treatment as traditional
response to water quality issues
Challenges
• Contaminants that are not
vulnerable to conventional
wastewater treatment are steadily
transported into the aquatic
environment.
1. CECs CHALLENGE TRADITIONAL
POLICY APPROACHES
3

4. 2. THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
• The Precautionary Principle justifies political action where suspicion exists, but
uncertainties remain about potential risks to humans or the environment
• Radical, inherent uncertainties
• Not an absence of knowledge, but
• Occurrence and damage of an event are incalculable
• “Uncertainty paradox”: Current policy approaches follow the scientific-
testing-and-regulation-paradigm and are ill-adapted to deal with
uncertainties inherent to CECs
4

5. 3. HOW DO ACTORS DEAL WITH
UNCERTAINTIES?
5
• 209 surveyed state and non-state actors participating in policy-making on CECs, April 2013 – August
2014

6. SUPPORT FOR PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES
BY ACTOR TYPE
6

7. PREFERENCES FOR POLICY APPROACHES
7

8. INSTRUMENT PREFERENCES
• Acceptance depends on cost efficiency of solutions.
8
Switzerland
Percent
RowCountTotals
Private Public Partnership
Research
Information
Voluntary
Control
Subsidy
Wastewater Fee
Product Charge
Emission Limit
Environmental Quality Norm
Best Environmental Practice
Best Available Technique
Disposal Requirement
Use Restriction
Authorization
50 0 50 100
39
40
40
40
38
40
40
35
39
39
40
40
38
39
40
Strongly Disagree Disagree somewhat Agree Somewhat Strongly Agree
Switzerland
Percent
RowCountTotals
Private Public Partnership
Research
Information
Voluntary
Control
Subsidy
Wastewater Fee
Product Charge
Emission Limit
Environmental Quality Norm
Best Environmental Practice
Best Available Technique
Disposal Requirement
Use Restriction
Authorization
50 0 50 100
39
40
40
40
38
40
40
35
39
39
40
40
38
39
40
Strongly Disagree Disagree somewhat Agree Somewhat Strongly Agree

9. Barriers to action
(OECD questionnaire results)
• Cost and lack of available resources
• Resistance from industry
Legislative barriers
• Lack of framework to develop legislation
• Legislation not flexible
• Lack of control of internet purchases
Knowledge-related barriers
• Lack of robust evidence / poor understanding
• Lack of systematic approach for risk assessment
9

10. CONCLUSIONS
1. CECs challenge traditional policy responses to water quality issues.
2. The precautionary principle is an appropriate strategy to deal with
uncertainties inherent to CECs.
3. Current policies build on scientific-testing and regulation paradigm, which
hampers adopting measures for the reduction of CECs.
4. There is support for precautionary, source-directed policies on behalf of
decision-makers.
Need for a reduction of regulatory boundaries to apply the precautionary
principle.
10

11. These are only back-up slides in case of questions
11

12. A TOOLBOX OF POLICY RESPONSES IN
WATER PROTECTION
Definition: policy instruments = single means through which political goals can be
reached
12
Source-directed End-of-pipe Control
Regulatory
instruments
• Substance bans
• Restrictions
• Authorizations
• Best environmental
practices(BEP)
• Best available
technologies (BAT)
• Technical standards
• Disposal requirements
• Environmental quality
norms (EQN)
• Emission limits
• Registries
• Monitoring
• Reporting
Economic
instruments
• Product charges
• Substance charges
• Subsidies for “green”
action
• Effluent/emission
charges
• Subsidies (e.g. for
improved wastewater
treatment)
• Subsidies for monitoring
Voluntary
instruments
• Information campaigns
(e.g. on waste disposal)
• Voluntary agreements
between private &
public
• Advice/consulting about
BAT
• Voluntary agreements
on wastewater
treatment
• Voluntary agreements
on control measures
Metz, F. & Ingold, K. (2014): http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/4/1992