חוק הניקוז וההגנה מפני שיטפונות (תיקון מס' 7), התשפ"ב–2022Law on Drainage and Protection Against Floods (Amendment No. 7), 2022 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The Law includes a comprehensive amendment to the Drainage and Flood Protection Law, 1957, intended to improve regulation in the field of drainage, including supervision of the 11 drainage authorities, which are statutory corporations responsible for ensuring the orderly drainage of the area under their jurisdiction, including the establishment of drainage facilities. In addition, since the Law in its version prior to the amendment granted powers in the field of drainage to two governmental bodies – the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (hereinafter – the Ministry of Agriculture) and the Water and Sewage Authority Administration (hereinafter – the Water Authority), the amendment establishes that regulatory powers will generally be concentrated in the hands of the Ministry of Agriculture, so that there will be a single regulator for this field. Under the amendment, the said regulator will be an employee of the Ministry of Agriculture who will serve as the Commissioner for matters under the Law and will fulfill various roles under it (hereinafter – the Commissioner). The amendment also establishes a new arrangement regarding the National Council for Drainage Affairs (hereinafter – the Drainage Council), which is an advisory council to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Since over the years not all council members were appointed under the Law as it read before the amendment, it was determined that the chairperson of the Drainage Council will be the Commissioner, and its members will be government representatives and representatives of relevant bodies – public representatives, local government representatives, and a farmers' representative. In addition, detailed provisions appropriate to updated legislation were established regarding the tenure and working procedures of the Drainage Council. Another matter regulated by the amendment is the authorization of the director of the Water Authority to grant a drainage authority conditional approval for plans to establish drainage facilities that require approval from the Water Authority, with the aim of streamlining the procedures required by law for establishing drainage facilities. The conditional approval includes the granting of licenses under the Water Law required for establishing the drainage facility. The approval of the director of the Water Authority for the drainage facility will be conditional on the completion of the establishment of the drainage facility in accordance with the plan for establishing the drainage facility submitted for his approval. In addition, the amendment establishes the Commissioner's authority to temporarily replace the management of a drainage authority that is not properly fulfilling its duties under the Law and to appoint a special manager for it, in order to increase supervision over the drainage authorities and bring about their efficient functioning. Under the amendment, the procedure for appointing a special manager for a drainage authority will follow a graduated mechanism – the Commissioner may give a drainage authority written notice demanding that the authority correct the deficiencies in its conduct. If the drainage authority does not correct the deficiencies within a reasonable time, the Commissioner may issue it a warning, and notify that he will exercise his powers under the Law if it does not correct them as required. Only if the deficiencies are not corrected by the drainage authority even after the warning, may the Commissioner suspend the authority's director and its management from their positions, and appoint in their place a special manager as well as a committee to advise the special manager.

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