Water Quality Management and LGU Roles

Republic Act No. 9275: Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004

• Enacted on March 22, 2004, to provide comprehensive water quality management

Declaration of Policy

• The State aims for economic growth while protecting and reviving the quality of fresh, brackish, and marine waters.
• Sustainable development serves as the framework for achieving these goals.
• The State's policy includes streamlining processes for pollution prevention, control, and abatement.
• The State's policy includes promoting environmental strategies and economic tools for water resource protection.
• Aims include formulating a holistic national water quality management program.
• The interconnectedness of water sources, ecological protection, water supply, public health, and quality of life is acknowledged.
• The State will develop an integrated water quality management framework through proper delegation and effective coordination.
• The State will encourage environment-friendly and energy-efficient commercial and industrial practices and products.
• The State will foster cooperation and self-regulation among citizens and industries.
• Using incentives and market-based instruments promotes a shared responsibility for public health and environmental protection.
• The State will provide a comprehensive management program for water pollution, focusing on prevention.
• The State will enhance public awareness and encourage active participation in water quality management and monitoring.
• The State will create and enforce accountability systems for short and long-term environmental impacts of projects.
• The State will engage civil society, labor, academia, and business in addressing environmental issues at local and national levels.

Coverage of the Act

• The Act applies to water quality management in all water bodies.
• It primarily focuses on abating and controlling pollution from land-based sources.
• Regulations, standards, civil liability, and penal provisions apply regardless of the pollution source.

Definition of Terms

• Aquifer: An underground layer of water-bearing rock that transmits water.
• Aquatic life: All organisms residing in freshwater, brackish, and marine environments.
• Beneficial use: The use of the environment or its elements that contributes to public or private welfare, safety, and health.
• Examples: domestic use, municipal use, irrigation, power generation, fisheries, livestock raising, and industrial or recreational activities.
• Classification/Reclassification: Categorization of water bodies based on existing quality, size, depth, volume, flow, gradient, current and future use.
• Considers residential, agricultural, aquacultural, commercial, industrial, navigational, and recreational uses; wildlife conservation; aesthetic purposes; and vulnerability to contamination. Water bodies are assessed for their vulnerability to pollutive wastes, hazardous wastes, agricultural chemicals, and underground petroleum storage.
• Civil Society: Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and people's organizations (POs).
• Cleaner Production: An integrated environmental strategy to maximize efficiency while reducing risks to the public and environment.
• Clean-up operations: Actions taken to remove pollutants from a water body and restore the affected areas.
• Contamination: The presence of substances not naturally found in water, making it less desirable or unfit for its intended use.
• Department: The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
• Discharge: Spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, releasing, or dumping any material into a water body or onto land where it can flow or drain into water.
• Drinking water: Water intended for human consumption or food preparation.
• Dumping: Unauthorized or illegal disposal of wastes, toxic, or hazardous materials into any body of water or land.
• Effluent: Discharge from known sources into a water body or land, including wastewater from industrial, commercial, and recreational facilities.
• Effluent standard: Legal limits on the quantity, rate, and concentration of physical, chemical, or biological parameters in effluent.
• Environmental management: A comprehensive system for conservation, regulation, pollution minimization, clean production, waste management, environmental education, and impact mitigation.
• Environmental management system: A structure for planning, implementing, achieving, reviewing, and maintaining environmental policy.
• Freshwater: Water with less than 500 ppm dissolved common salt, such as groundwater, rivers, ponds, and lakes.
• Groundwater: Subsurface water found beneath the water table in soils, rocks, or geological formations.
• Groundwater vulnerability: The relative ease with which contaminants can migrate to an aquifer or deep well.
• Groundwater vulnerability map: Identifies land areas where groundwater quality is at risk.
• Hazardous waste: Waste that causes or contributes to increased mortality or serious illness due to its toxicity, persistence, and potential for accumulation.
• Industrial waste: Solid, semi-solid, or liquid waste material with no commercial value from manufacturing or processing plants.
• Integrated Water Quality Management Framework: Guideline integrating government frameworks with water quality goals, compliance periods, control strategies, education, and human resources programs.
• Margin: The edge adjacent to water bodies or the limit beyond where the saturation zone ceases.
• National Water Quality Status Report: A report by the DENR about water bodies, their quality, uses, pollution sources, and water quality management areas.
• Non-Point source: Any diffuse pollution source not identifiable as a point source, such as runoff from irrigation or rainwater.
• Pollutant: Any solid, liquid, gaseous, or radioactive substance that alters water quality, is hazardous to health, causes objectionable changes, or exceeds allowable limits.
• Point source: Any identifiable source releasing pollutants into a water body.
• Pollution control technology: Devices, apparatuses, processes, or other means to control or reduce water pollution.
• Potentially infectious medical waste: Include isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, and other disposable medical equipment and material that may pose a risk to the public health, welfare or the marine environment.
• Septage: Sludge from individual onsite wastewater disposal systems like septic tanks and cesspools.
• Sewage: Water-borne human or animal wastes from residences, buildings, institutions, and commercial establishments, including groundwater and storm water.
• Sewerage: A system for collecting, transporting, pumping, and treating sewage to a point of disposal.
• Sludge: Solid, semi-solid, or liquid waste from wastewater or water supply treatment plants.
• Surface water: All water open to the atmosphere and subject to surface runoff.
• Treatment: Any method to alter the physical, chemical, biological, or radiological characteristics of waste or wastewater to reduce or prevent pollution.
• Toxic amount: The concentration of pollutants that can cause acute or lethal effects on aquatic life or human health.
• Waste: Any discarded material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural, or community activities.
• Wastewater: Waste in liquid state containing pollutants.
• Water body: Natural or man-made bodies of fresh, brackish, and saline water.
• Includes aquifers, groundwater, springs, creeks, streams, rivers, ponds, lagoons, water reservoirs, lakes, bays, estuarine, coastal and marine waters excluding water treatment and storage facilities.
• Water Pollution: Any alteration of the physical, chemical, biological, or radiological properties of a water body that impairs its purity or quality.
• Water Quality: Water features that define its use based on physical, chemical, biological, bacteriological, or radiological characteristics. Water quality guidelines: Numerical values that classify water resources and their use without significant health risks and serves only for water quality management purposes. Water Quality Management Area Action Plan: Includes goals and targets, schedules, control techniques, education program and resource requirements.

Water Quality Management System

• The Department, with the NWRB, designates water quality management areas based on watershed, river basin, or water resource region.
• Management areas share similar conditions affecting pollutant reactions or have common interests/problems.
• A governing board governs each management area, composed of representatives from LGUs, national agencies, NGOs, water utilities, and the business sector.
• The DENR representative chairs the governing board.
• The governing board formulates strategies and monitors action plan compliance.
• Multi-sectoral groups establish water quality surveillance and monitoring networks in each area.
• A technical secretariat supports the governing board, with members qualified in law, engineering, chemistry, hydrology, geology, or biology.
• The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA)'s jurisdiction is designated as a single management area, following R.A. No. 4850.
• Regulations and wastewater charge systems will be enforced in the area

Management of Non-attainment Areas

• The Department identifies water bodies exceeding water quality guidelines as non-attainment areas.
• Programs are implemented to prevent new pollution sources in these areas without reductions from existing sources are restricted.
• If pollutants occur naturally, discharges may be allowed if effluent concentrations don't exceed natural levels and don't affect water supply, health, or ecology.
• The Department, with various agencies, takes measures to improve water quality in non-attainment areas.

National Sewerage and Septage Management Program

• The DPWH, with the DENR, LGUs, and other agencies create a national program on sewerage and septage management.
• The program prioritizes projects for LGUs based on population, growth, water degradation, topography, geology, vegetation & facilities.
• National government allocates funds annually based on the national listing.
• LGUs must allocate required land for sewage and/or septage treatment.

Domestic Sewage Collection, Treatment and Disposal

• Within 5 years of the Act, agencies providing water supply and sewerage in Metro Manila and other highly urbanized cities (HUCs), must connect existing sewage lines in subdivisions, condominiums, commercial centers, hotels, sports, recreational facilities, hospitals, market places, public buildings, industrial complexes and other similar establishments including households to available sewerage systems unless sources had their own.
• Connections are subject to sewerage charges, but all sewage & septage sources must comply with requirements in accordance with laws and regulations
• In non-HUCs, the DPWH, with the DENR and DOH, employs septage or combined sewerage-septage management systems.
• The DOH formulates guidelines for the collection, treatment, and disposal of sewage, with respect to the establishment, operation, and the centralization of sewage treatment systems.

National Water Quality Management Fund

• A special account in the National Treasury is established and managed by the Department in coordination with other agencies.
• The fund is for containment/clean-up operations, ecosystem restoration, research, enforcement, technical assistance, rewards, and information campaigns.
• Fines, damages, permit proceeds, donations, and grants are part of the fund.
• Donations, endowments, grants, and contributions are deductible for income tax purposes.
• Disbursements are subject to accounting/budgeting rules.

Area Water Quality Management Fund

• This fund is established for the maintenance of water bodies within a water quality management area.
• It supports rewards for entities with better effluent discharges, loans for improving wastewater facilities, and regular maintenance.
• Up to 10% of the fund can be used for operational expenses, including water quality surveillance.
• Funds originate from fines from establishments in rural areas, plus fees from the wastewater discharge system.
• Disbursements are also subject to accounting/budgeting rules.

Water Quality Variance for Geothermal and Oil and Gas Exploration

• The Dept. may provide variance in water quality criteria and standards for geothermal exploration with re-injection constraints
• Water quality is adequately protected in bodies downstream

Categories of Industry Sector

• The Department must revise and publish a list of industry sector categories with effluent standards for significant wastewater parameters every two years.
• Additional classifications are provided based on parameters specifically associated with industry discharges.
• Includes providing procedures to link water quality guidelines with pollution loadings total allocations in the discharge permits

Water Pollution Permits and Charges

• The Department will implement a wastewater charge system through fees in all management areas.

• Wastewater charges will be based on payment to government for wastewater discharge.

• The wastewater charges system should provide economic incentives for polluters modify production or invest in technologies to reduce pollution

• Fee will be based on the net waste load of effluent

• The net waste load is the difference between the initial abstracted water waste load and the final discharge’s waste load.

• The formula for determining this fee shall be established after public consultation within six months of the Act’s effectivity.

• No net waste load shall be lower than the abstracted water load.

• Wastewater charge system shall not apply to geothermal exploration wastewater.

Discharge Permits

• The Department requires owners/operators of facilities with regulated effluents to secure a discharge permit.
• The permit specifies effluent quantity and quality, compliance schedule, and monitoring requirements.
• Permitting procedures will encourage waste minimization and treatment technologies when cost effective.

Financial Liability Mechanism

• The Department requires program/project proponents to establish an environmental guarantee fund (EGF) for maintenance of ecosystem health and the conservation of watersheds and aquifers.
• An EGF may be in the form of a trust fund, environmental insurance, surety bonds, letters of credit, self-insurance or other instruments identified by the Dept.

Clean-Up Operations

• Any person who causes pollution in water bodies exceeding applicable and prevailing standards is responsible at his own expense to remove such pollution.
• The person at his own expense, shall remove and clean-up any pollution incident to extend that the same water bodies have been rendered unfit for utilization and beneficial use

Programmatic Environmental Impact Assessment

• The Department shall implement programmatic compliance with the environmental impact assessment system, as in the following types of development:consisting of similar projects subdivided into stages whether situated in a contiguous area or geographically dispersed;
• Or consistsing of several components or cluster of projects in an area like an industrial estate, an export processing zone, etc

Environmental Impact Assessment System Programmatic Compliance with Water Quality Standards

• The Department may allow each regional industrial center established pursuant to Republic Act No.7916 (PEZA law), and in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 15867 and its implementing rules and regulations, to allocate effluent quotas to pollution sources within its jurisdiction.

Institutional Mechanisms

• The Department is the primary agency responsible for enforcement and implementation.
• Reports and Action Plans must be prepared in 12-24 months.
• The Department must conduct reviews, revise water quality guidelines, set Effluent Standards, determine water pollution information and causes, enact abatement measures, and cooperate with organizations.

Role of Local Government Units

• Share responsibility in the management and improvement of water quality within their territorial jurisdictions

Business and Industry Role in Environmental Management

• The Department, with the LGUs, and other government agencies should institute incentives for procedures that totally eliminate discharge of pollutants into water bodies

Linkage Mechanism

• The Department, LLDA, and attached agencies should coordinate and enter into agreements with various government agencies & sectors to further the objective of the Act

Requirement of Record-keeping, Authority for Entry to Premises, and Access to Documents

• The Department of it’s authorized rep. may require any that owns or operates a pollutions source

Pollution Research and Development Programs

• The Department in coordination with the DOST, other concerned agencies and academic research institutions should establish a national research and development program for the prevention and control of water pollution.

Incentives & Rewards

• Rewards, in the form of money or otherwise shall be given to private organization and individuals, who have undertaken outstanding and innovative water quality management projects.
• Investment in wastewater treatment/adoption of water pollution control technology will be listed as preferred.
• Tax and duties from capital will be exempt machinery is not domestically available.
• Legacies, gifts, donations and legacies to LGUs, WDs, private parties and enterprises, for maintenance of the support.
• Government financial institutions accord high priority in extending services related to sewage collection/treatment

Prohibited Acts

• The following acts are prohibited: a) discharging, depositing, or causing to be deposited material of any kind that pollutes the margins. b) In the case of geothermal projects,regulated discharge for short- term activities (e.g. well testing, flushing, commissioning, venting) and deep re-injection of geothermal liquids may be allowed with approval of safety measures. c) operating facilities that discharge regulated water pollutants without the valid required permits d) disposal of potentially infectious medical waste into sea water by vessels e) dumping sea waters of sewage sludge or solid waste as defined under act no. 9003 Other prohibited acts:
• Transporting, dumping, or discharging of chemicals, substances or pollutants listed under Republic Act No.6969;
• Operating facilities that discharge or allow to seep, willfully or through gross negligence, chemicals.
• Conducting activities or expansion projects that violates and operates facilities in violation of rules and regulations
• Discharging regulated water pollutants without the valid required discharge permit
• Non-Compliance of the LGU with the Water Quality Framework and Management Area Action Plan
• Refusal to allow for inspection with Act. The punishments of these acts are described in further detail below.

Fines, Damages and Penalties

The penalties are the following

• Fines range from P10,000 to P200,000 per day of violation with 10% increase every 2 years to adjust to inflation.
• The Secretary may order closure suspension ceasing of operations, depending on violations.
• Failure to do required operations will be punished with a fine between P50000-1000.000 or imprisonment of 2-4 years

Administrative Sanctions Against Non-compliance with the Water Quality Management Area Action Plan

Non-compliance of the LGU with the Water Quality Framework and Management Area Action Plan

Administrative Action

• Authority to institute action may be taken for violations of orders, standards or limitations

Repealing Clause

• Presidential Decree No.984 is hereby repealed act no. 6969

Separability Clause

• Provisions which are unconstitutional do not affect validity of other declaration

Appropriations

• One hundred million pesos for savings for Department