FRAMEWORK OF ENVIRONMENTAL

REGULATIONS AND EMB

MANDATES, PLANS AND
PROGRAMS

Speaker:
Engr. BUENA FE AQUINO-RIOFLORIDO
Chief, Environmental Management Specialist
Chief, Clearance and Permitting Division
DENR-EMB MIMAROPA Region
Article II, Section 16 of the 1987 Phil.
Constitution

“The State shall protect and advance the right of

the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in
accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature”

3
 Organizational Function
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
The DENR is the premier government institution engage in environmental
management and protection. As provided under Sec. e of EO 192,the DENR is
mandated to be the primary government agency responsible for the
conservation, management, development, licensing, regulation and proper
use of the county’s environment and natural resources.
Environmental Management Bureau
To spearhead the government’s efforts in environmental protection and
management the EMB was created as a staff bureau of the DENR pursuant to
EO 192 and later became a line bureau as per RA 8749, otherwise known
as the “Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999”.
DENR ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
DENR Central Office
Bureaus
 Environmental Management Bureau (EMB)-Line
 Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (MGB)-Line
 Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB)-Staff
 Forest Management Bureau (FMB)-Staff
 Land Management Bureau (LMB)-Staff
 Ecosystem and Research Development Bureau (ERDB)-Staff
Attached Agencies
 National Water Regulatory Board (NWRB)
 National Mapping and Resource Information Agency (NAMRIA)
 Laguna Lake Development Agency (LLDA)
 Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD)
 National Resource Development Corporation (NRDC)
 Philippine Mining Development Corporation (PMDC)
 Metro Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS)
 Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA)
LLDA Administrative Jurisdiction
Quezon
Rizal
 Lucban
Laguna

Metro Manila
Cavite
 Taguig City
 Silang
 Caloocan City
 Carmona
 Pasay City
 GMA
 Muntinlupa City
 Tagaytay City
 City of Manila
 Pasig City
Batangas
 Marikina City
 Tanauan City
 Quezon City
 Malvar
 Pateros
 Sto. Tomas
 HIERARCHY
DENR Central Office

Staff Bureaus

18 DENR Regional Offices

1. Regional Offices 1,2,3,4a,4b,5,6,7,8,9,10, 11, 12, 13, NCR, CAR, NIR, BARMM
2. Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO)
3. Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO)

For Line Bureaus

1. 18 Regional Offices 1,2,3,4a,4b,5,6,7,8,9,10, 11, 12, 13, NCR, CAR, NIR BARMM
2. Provincial Environment Management Unit (PEMU)
3. (Provincial) Environmental Management Service (EMS)
4. Environmental Management Service (EMS) in every CENR Offices
Secretary Raphael Lotilla assumes policy
continuity and regulatory focus
An ethical stewardship to serve with excellence and
virtue; uphold shared environmental values; and scientific
and technical excellence.
Invest in scientific risk-based approach
Efficiency, technical excellence in the conduct of work
especially in government transactions
Efficient Use of our resources
The digitization and modernization of Information
Management Systems
Strategies
Emphasize the DENR’s crucial role in the accounting of the natural resources of
the country
Involve the use of science and technology, financial management and economics
Build resilient communities along with other government agencies through risk-
sensitive and balanced development of resources.
Work with our cities.
Combat the climate emergency through practical climate change adaptation
measures, the use of science to approach national scale as well as local scale
impacts of climate change.
Strive to continuously protect our indigenous species as part of our natural
heritage and at the same time harness these resources for the benefit of our
country
 Theory of Change
• a comprehensive description and illustration
• how and why a desired change is expected to happen in a particular
context
• mapping out or “filling in” what has been described as the “missing
middle” between what a program or change initiative does (its activities or
interventions) and how these lead to desired goals being achieved
• first identifying the desired long-term goals and then works back from
these to identify all the conditions (outcomes) that must be in place (and
how these related to one another causally) for the goals to occur

DENR Region 2 Management Conference

 Theory of Change

• a method
• explains how a given intervention, or set of interventions, is
expected to lead to specific development change
• drawing on a causal analysis based on available evidence

DENR- EMB National Management Conference

 VISION
Sustainable, Inclusive, Resilient Development
DENR’s Theory of Change
NATURE-BASED
STRATEGIES SOLUTIONS:
● Operationalizing an Integrated and Ecosystems-based MAJOR ACTIVITIES
Approach: Ridge to Reef, IWRM, ICM
● Establishing Geospatial National Natural Resources IMPROVING
Database
● Increase forest cover
● Instituting Accounting for Nature (Natural Capital ● Conserve protected areas ENVIRONMENTAL
Accounting and Valuation of Natural Resources and and biodiversity resources GOVERNANCE
Ecosystem Services) ● Improve air and water quality,
● Adopting climate risk lens in national planning and
policies
and waste management ● Tools and Technologies
● Applying Science and evidence-based environmental ● Ensure water security and ● Multi-stakeholder
management resilience Engagement
● Sustainably and responsibly ● DENR’s Operational
manage mineral resources Efficiency
● Enhancing Land
OUTCOMES Management
● Forest cover increased and Governance
● PAs and biodiversity resources conserved
● Air and Water Quality and Solid and Hazardous Waste
Management improved
● Water security and resilience in high-water stressed areas
ensured
● Mineral resources sustainably and responsibly managed
● Land Management and governance enhanced
● Green and Blue Jobs supported

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 The Environmental
Management Bureau
(EMB)
Brief History

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 984, August 16, 1976

 PROVIDING FOR THE REVISION OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 3931,

COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE POLLUTION CONTROL LAW, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES
 Creation of National Pollution Control Commission (NPCC)
 NPCC Rules and Regulations (IRR)
 PD 1151
PHILIPPINE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, June 6, 1977

Took note of the conflicting demands of:

 The individual
 Population growth
 Industrial expansion
 Rapid natural resource utilization
 Increasing technological advances

Recognized the right of the people to a healthy environment

Stressed the urgent need to formulate an intensive, integrated program of

environmental protection through EIA
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PD 1152: Environmental Code

Air Quality Management

Water Quality Management
Land use Management
Natural Resources Management and Conservation
Waste Management
PD 1586: The Philippine Environmental Impact
Statement System
Established to facilitate the attainment & maintenance of a
rational & orderly balance between socio-economic growth
& environmental protection (Sustainable Development) to
be implemented by the National Environmental Protection
Council (NEPC).
Presidential Proclamation 2146, December 14, 1981
 Proclaiming certain areas and type of projects as
environmentally critical and within the scope of the EIS
System established under PD 1586
 Environmentally Critical Areas (ECAs) and Environmentally
Critical Projects (ECPs)
Executive Order No. 192, 10 June 1987
Reorganization of the DENR which lodged upon the EMB the
power and function to :

“recommend rules and regulations for pollution control and

environmental impact assessments, and provide technical
assistance for their implementation and monitoring”

Merging of NPCC, NEPC and Environmental Center of the

Philippines (ECP)
Implemented PD 984 and PD 1586
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EMB Mandate

The EMB shall be the primary government agency under

DENR to formulate, integrate, coordinate, supervise and
implement all policies, programs, projects and activities
relative to the prevention and control of pollution as well
as management and enhancement of environment.
Major Policy Thrust for the Environmental Sector

 Improved Air Quality

 Improve Water Quality
 Improve Management of Solid Waste
 Effective Management of Toxic Substances and Hazardous Wastes
 Implement the Streamlined EIS System
 Fast Track Disposition of Pending Pollution Cases
 Improved Organizational Performance to respond to Expanded
Mandate of the Bureau
FRONTLINE SERVICES
 Wastewater Discharge Permit
 Permit to Operate on Air Pollution Source and Control Facilities
 Phil. Inventory of Chemicals and Chemical Substance Certification
 Small Quantity Importation Clearance
 Registration of User, Manufacturer, Dealers and Resellers of Chemicals under
Chemical Control Order (CCO)
 Permit to Transport of Hazardous Waste
 Registration Certificate as Hazardous Waste Generator
 Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC)
 Certificate of Non-Coverage (CNC)
 Application for Request of Analysis
 Accreditation of Pollution Control Officer (PCO)
Green Economy Model Sites Rehabilitation
Aims to replicate the success of rehabilitation activities done in Boracay,
which led the Department to identify five (5) more ecotourism sites to restore
and protect the beauty of its physique.
The sites selected to be part of rehabilitation and restoration activities are
 Coron,
 El Nido,
 Panglao,
 Puerto Galera, and
 Siargao

 San Vicente, Palawan

In recent years, the Philippines has strengthened pollution
control laws by passing new or amendatory legislation on specific
issues: RA 6969-Toxic Substances and Nuclear Waste Control
Act, RA 8749-Clean Air Act (1999), RA 9003-Ecological Solid
Waste Management Act (2000), and RA 9275-Clean Water Act
(2004). While implementation mechanisms are slightly different
under each law, enforcement remains a significant challenge. In
addition, each new law adopts different regulatory strategies,
giving varied powers and responsibilities to regular agencies
(EMB, etc.), LGUs and specially-constituted multi-sectoral
management bodies. For example, the Clean Air and Clean
Water Acts both create specialized management areas with
local governing boards, while solid waste management remains
primarily a local government concern.
There are five (5) Major National Laws
that define policy and deal with the
abatement, control and
management of pollution .
1. PD 1586 Philippine EIS System
Established to facilitate the attainment & maintenance of a
rational & orderly balance between socio-economic growth &
environmental protection
Introduced the concepts of Environmentally Critical Projects
(ECPs) and projects within Environmentally Critical Areas
(ECAs) as projects requiring the submission of an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
EIA Decision Document – Environmental Compliance
Certificate (ECC) or Denial Letter
Compliance Monitoring of Project issued with ECC

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PD 1586 : Philippine EIS System

No person, partnership or corporation shall undertake

or operate any such declared ECP or project within
an ECA without first securing an Environmental
Compliance Certificate (ECC)

Non-critical projects may be required to provide

additional environmental safeguards as the NEPC may
deem necessary

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PD 1586 : Philippine EIS System

require ECP and Projects located in ECA to submit an environmental

impact statement (detailing the environmental consequences of
construction and operation) prior to the development activity.

imposition and collection of fines/penalty in the amount not to

exceed PhP 50,000.00 for violations (operating without an ECC or
violation of the conditions of the ECC)

EMB may issue a “cease and desist order” that effectively closes down
a project for violation of the regulations “to prevent grave and
irreparable damage to the environment”
PD 1586 : Philippine EIS System

Implement simplified procedures (Environmental

Compliance Certificate (ECC) format, manual for EIS
Review)
On-Line ECC and CNC application at [Link]
Prioritize and Intensify compliance monitoring of all
projects with ECCs issued (PEMAPS Questionnaire as tool)
Integration of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate
Change Adaptation in the PEISS
2. RA 6969 or Toxic Substances, Hazardous and
Nuclear Waste Control Act

deals with the importation, exportation, use, manufacture,

distribution, processing, storage, possession and sale of chemicals
considered toxic substances and hazardous wastes

record-keeping by waste generators and transporters to keep track

of the movement and disposal of listed chemicals

Secretary of the DENR is authorized to inspect, require the keeping

of records, confiscate chemicals that are improperly documented
or used, and impose fines on violators. In addition, criminal
sanctions may also be imposed on violators
3. Clean Air Act (R.A. No. 8749)

Covers abatement and management of air pollution from

stationary (EMB) and mobile sources (DOTr-LTO)

EMB issues Permit to Operate Air Pollution Sources Equipment

and Control Facilities

Stiff penalties for violations (counted on a daily basis for

continuing emissions that exceed standards
4. RA 9003 or Ecological Solid Waste Management Act
provides for the proper management of wastes generated by
households, commercial establishments and industries
sets definite timetables for the conversion of open dumps
to better disposal facilities
mandates local governments, especially the barangays, to initiate
and implement a system of segregating garbage for recovery of
recyclable, re-usable materials to reduce garbage volume
principal responsibility for implementation is given to local
governments

DENR
participates in providing guidelines for management programs,
setting standards for disposal facilities and
providing general technical support for local governments
 RA 9003
DENR shall Provide Technical Assistance (TA) to LGUs on all aspects of ESWM:

Segregation at source;
Segregated collection;
Recovery & processing (MRF); and
Final disposal (closure of open dumpsites (OD) & Controlled Dump Facilities (CDF) &
categorized final disposal facility)

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 11898, July 23, 2022

● AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING THE EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY ON

PLASTIC PACKAGING WASTE, AMENDING FOR THIS PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT
NO. 9003, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2000”
Furniture made of recycled materials/plastic at
EMB MIMAROPA Conference Room
 Monitoring of all Sanitary Landfills Nationwide
 Promote CDM as an incentive in sanitary landfills
 Establish/operationalize the National Ecology Center (NEC) Green
Building and 15 Regional Ecology Centers (REC)*

Sustain the Linis Estero Program Nationwide

Rivers for Life : Lower BOD and higher DO

concentrations

ONE MIMAROPA foRivers Program

5. RA 9275, The Clean Water Act

provides for a program and regulations for the abatement and

management of water pollution from point and non-point
sources
strengthens enforcement by providing stiffer penalties for
violations of standards
law creates special “Water Quality Management Areas”
(WQMAs) governed by a board composed of local chief
executives, representatives of national government agencies
and private sector/ civil society
RA 9275 The Clean Water Act

 Strengthen compliance monitoring activities of

companies into reduce BOD loadings
 Classify waterbodies nationwide in accordance to their
best usage
 Involve more industries, public and private sectors in
sustaining the Adopt an Estero Program.
 Maintain the Fecal Coliform Concentrations in Bathing
Beaches to Class SB (Beachwatch Program)
Climate Change Act of 2009(RA 9729)
 Mainstreaming Climate Change in the EMB Programs
(Ex. Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in
the EIA)
 Ecosystems-based Assessment (EBA)
 Computation of carbon footprint
On Adjudication of Pollution Cases

Fast track disposition of pending pollution cases

RO shall implement the imposition of Administrative fines / penalties.
Cross-sectoral Concerns
Pollution Research and Laboratory Services
 Implement Laboratory Recognition Scheme
 Upgrade the Regional Laboratory Facilities and Equipment

Education and Information Campaign

 Support to the implementation of the UN Education for
Sustainable Development, with the National
Environmental Education Action Plan
 Strengthen partnership with industries, LGUs and
academe and other government agencies
 The Provincial
Environmental
Management Unit (PEMU)
 Role of PEMU/EMS in the implementation of PD 1586

IEC (conduct orientation, training, seminar)

Participate in the scoping activities
Participate in Public Consultations and Public Hearing Activities
Guides proponent in ECC application
Conduct project survey
Monitor ECPs and projects within ECAs
Facilitate formation and operationalization of MMTs
Recommend actions to be taken on projects monitored or inspected
Monitor ECPs
Role of PEMU/EMS in the implementation
of R.A. No. 6969

Conduct IEC (training, seminar)

Survey of hazardous waste generators
Monitor hazardous waste generators
Monitor TSD facilities
Recommend actions to be tam ken on projects
monitored or inspected
Role of PEMU/EMS in the implementation of R.A. No. 8749

Conduct IEC (training, seminar)

Monitor PETCs
Conduct firm survey (without PTO)
Conduct firm monitoring (compliance with PTO issued)
Provide technical assistance to LGUs to identify priority sites for
greening
Recommend actions to be taken on projects monitored or
inspected
Role of PEMU/EMS in the implementation of R.A. No. 9003

Monitor LGUs compliance to Authority to Close (ATC)

and without ATC in violation of Sec 37 of RA 9003.
Should be finished in 2008
EnMOs are hired and assigned to all PEMU Offices and
EMS Offices in CENROs to monitor compliance of LGUs
Recommend actions to be taken on validated practices
of LGUs
Assist LGUs in their compliance with RA 9003
Conduct IEC on LGUs in AOR
Monitor MRFs
Provide Technical Assistance on proper
closure and rehabilitation of dumpsites
Clean Water Act (R.A. No. 9275)

Conduct IEC

Conduct firm survey (firms without DP)

Conduct firm monitoring (firms with DP)

Attend to complaints and recommends actions to be

taken by the EMB Regional Office
IMPORTANCE OF PEMU/EMS FINDINGS

Check company’s compliance with the 5 major environmental

laws
Basis in the issuance of Notice of Violation
Basis in the issuance of Cease and Desist Orders
Basis in the computation of penalties
Role of City ENRO/ MENRO in RA 9003
prepare and implement local solid wastes management
plans along with other stakeholders in the locality

ensure proper waste management through segregation at

source, composting, recycling

setting up of MRFs

efficient collection

establishment environmentally sound disposal system

Role of City ENRO/MENRO in PD 1586

Public Participation (Scoping, Consultations, Hearings)

Participate in MMT monitoring on Environmentally Critical
Projects and Dredging Projects
Participate in planning workshop relative to MMT activities
Ensure compliance of stakeholders with environmental
policies prior issuance of business permit
Closely coordinate with local DENR office pertaining to
projects covered by the Phil EIS System
Role of City ENRO/MENRO in R.A. 8749

Attend to nuisance odor and noise complaint (RA 7162, PD 984)

Coordinate with DENR in the conduct of inspection

Genesis 2:15 (NIV)
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it
and take care of it.”

Rev 11:18
“The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come. The time has come for
judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your
people who revere Your Name, both great and small – and for destroying
those who destroy the Earth.”
Speaker:
Engr. BUENA FE AQUINO-RIOFLORIDO
Chief, Environmental Management Specialist
DENR-EMB MIMAROPA Region