San Salvador Oeste reduces wastewater tariffs for social projects

The Municipal Council of San Salvador Oeste reformed the ordinance regulating the decentralized sewage treatment system of the district of Nejapa and created a specific tariff category for social interest projects. The measure is contained in Decree Number Seven, approved in the Session Hall on June 12, 2026, and published in the Official Gazette Volume No. 453 on October 5, 2026. The regulation comes into effect eight days after its publication.

The reform modifies the “Regulating Ordinance for the Provision of the Municipal Decentralized System for the Treatment and Management of Sewage of the Municipality of Nejapa,” which remains in effect following the territorial restructuring. The Council bases the decision on the “constant requests for connection to the sewage treatment system,” which in its view evidence the urgency of classifying new projects, including those of social interest, whether of a public or private nature.

The decree invokes articles 65, 204, and 205 of the Constitution of the Republic, articles 30, 32, and 35 of the Municipal Code, and articles 1 and 8 of the Special Law for Municipal Restructuring, the regulation that integrated the municipality with the districts of Apopa and Nejapa.

New rates for social interest projects

The decree incorporates three preferential values into the existing tariff tables of the ordinance:

• Feasibility fee: $0.01 per square meter of the property (article 33).
• System connection fee: $100.00 (article 34).
• Monthly rate: $0.30 per cubic meter (article 35).

These amounts are added as an additional row in the tables “Feasibility fee (USD) by Sector/Service,” “Connection fee (USD) to the system by Sector,” and “Monthly rate by Sector,” without replacing the rates applicable to other sectors.

Definition and procedure for the declaration

Article 3 of the decree adds to article 4 of the ordinance the definition of “social interest project”: that which is formally qualified through a Municipal Agreement, by which a preferential regime or status is granted to initiatives promoted by public entities, social assistance organizations, or to projects that, due to their particular socioeconomic characteristics and positive impact on the community, justifiably require such a declaration. The text specifies that it is also referred to as a Declaration of Social Interest.

The new article 38-A establishes the jurisdiction: all requests for the declaration are addressed to the Municipal Council, the authority empowered to grant or reject the legal qualification through the corresponding agreement.

Other adjustments and territorial scope

The decree also updates Article 3 to specify that the provisions are mandatory for all natural and legal persons with an establishment or residence in the district of Nejapa, municipality of San Salvador Oeste, department of San Salvador.

Likewise, it reforms the definition of “monitoring of wastewater or sludge,” which now refers to the current Salvadoran Technical Regulation established by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. The instrument bears the signatures of Mayor José Asunción Urbina Alvarenga and municipal secretary Danilo Josué Díaz Zepeda, and was registered under number F50319.

The reform substantially reduces the cost of sewer connections for housing and social projects in Nejapa, a district that until now had to process each request without its own tariff category. The change also transfers to the Council the authority to determine which initiatives deserve preferential treatment, such that the declaration becomes the decisive step to access the new rates.

Source: Official Gazette, Volume No. 453, October 5, 2026, Autonomous Institutions section – Municipal Mayoralties, pp. 12-13 (official reference: Decree Number Seven, Registry No. F50319).