A/HRC/15/31 B. Operation of services 46. When non-State actors are involved in service provision, the obligation remains with the State to ensure that the involvement does not result in violations of the rights to sanitation and water; adequate regulation is thus required. Regulation is often understood to refer “to the promulgation of an authoritative set of rules, accompanied by some mechanism, typically a public agency, for monitoring and promoting compliance with these rules”39 that are aimed at the protection of consumers, investors and the environment. Accordingly, regulatory activities pertain to environmental regulation, consumer protection (including in case of disconnections), the regulation of water quality, economic regulation, and general monitoring of the sector.40 In order to be effective, regulation requires, inter alia, “independent monitoring, genuine public participation and imposition of penalties for non-compliance.”41 In this section, the independent expert will introduce the relevant human rights standards, consider the responsibilities of non-State actors in the operation of services, highlight the need for institutional and regulatory capacity, pay particular attention to the regulation of informal small-scale providers, and stress the significance of complementary social policies. 1. Setting standards 47. One of the key roles of regulation is to set and monitor performance standards. The regulatory framework has to set specific standards for providers to comply with in line with the human rights to water and sanitation and the obligation to progressively realize these rights in particular with regard to: (a) Sufficient quantity. Water must be available in a quantity sufficient to satisfy all personal and domestic needs; (b) Water quality. It must not pose a threat to human health. The World Health Organization Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality serve as an important reference in this regard; (c) Regularity of supply. Water supply must be sufficiently reliable to allow for the collection of amounts sufficient to realize all personal and domestic needs over the day; (d) Safety of sanitation facilities. Human, animal and insect contact with human excreta must be effectively prevented. Regular maintenance, cleaning and – depending on the technology – emptying is necessary to that extent. Sludge and sewerage must be properly disposed of to avoid negative impacts on water quality and human health; (e) Acceptability. Sanitation facilities, in particular, must be culturally acceptable. This will, for instance, often require privacy as well as separate male and female facilities when these are shared; (f) Accessibility of services. Services must be available within or in the immediate vicinity of each household as well as schools, workplaces, health-care settings and public places. Access must be ensured in a sustainable manner; (g) Affordability of services. Regulation also has to set standards regarding pricing. Water and sanitation services do not have to be provided for free and tariffs are necessary to ensure the sustainability of service provision. To meet human rights standards, the essential criterion is that tariffs and connection costs are designed in a way, including 39 40 41 16 Baldwin and others, cited in Prasad, Social Policies (see footnote 1 above), p. 5. OECD, Private Sector Participation (see footnote 8 above), p. 25. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 15, para. 24.