Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004

The State shall pursue a policy of economic growth in a manner consistent with the protection, preservation and revival of the quality of our fresh, brackish
and marine waters.
Act shall apply to water quality management in all water bodies: Provided, That it shall primarily apply to the abatement and control of pollution from land
based sources: Provided, further, That the water quality standards and regulations and the civil liability and penal provisions under this Act shall be enforced
irrespective of sources of pollution.
DENR shall be the primary government agency responsible for the implementation and enforcement of this Act unless otherwise provided. The Department
shall gradually devolve to the LGUs, and to the governing boards the authority to administer some aspects of water quality management and regulation
LGUs shall share the responsibility in the management and improvement of water quality within their territorial jurisdictions.
The Department shall implement programmatic compliance with the environmental impact assessment system, in the different types of development
The Department may allow each regional industrial center established pursuant to the PEZA law to allocate effluent quotas to pollution sources within its
jurisdiction that qualify under an environmental impact assessment system programmatic compliance program.
The Department, in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), other agencies and academic research institutions, shall establish
a national research and development program for the prevention and control of water pollution.
There must be Water Quality Management Area that shall create a multisectoral group to establish and affect water quality surveillance and monitoring
network including sampling schedules and other similar activities. The group shall submit its report and recommendation to the chairman of the governing
board. The DENR representative shall chair the governing board.
DENR shall implement a Wastewater Charge System in all WQMA through the collection of wastewater charges/fees. However, the system shall not
apply to wastewater from geothermal exploration. Industries whose water effluent are within standards shall only be charged with minimal reasonable
amount which shall be determined by the DENR after due public consultation, giving account to volumetric rate of discharge and effluent concentration
Nonattainment areas (NAA) are water bodies, or portions thereof, where specific pollutants from either natural or manmade source have already exceeded
Water Quality Guidelines for the exceeded pollutants as designated by the DENR. DENR shall prepare and implement a program that will not allow new
sources of exceeded water pollutant in nonattainment areas, UNLESS: Theres a corresponding reduction in discharges from existing sources OR the
pollutant is naturally occurring AND the effluent concentration of discharge shall not exceed the naturally occurring level of such pollutant in the area
AND The effluent concentration and volume of discharge shall not adversely affect water supply, public health and ecological protection.
A Water Quality Management Fund (WQMF) is established as special account in the National Treasury to be used to finance the projects that is being
promoted by the law and the Board. Further, there must be an Area Water Quality Management Fund( A-WQMF), established for the maintenance and
upkeep of the water bodies in a WQMA..
Discharge Permit (DP) is legal authorization granted by the DENR to discharge wastewater and shall specify among others, the quantity and quality of
effluent that said facilities are allowed to discharge into a particular water body, compliance schedule and monitoring requirement.
Any person who pollutes water bodies in excess of the applicable standards shall be responsible to contain, remove and clean-up any pollution incident at his
own expense to the extent that the same water bodies have been rendered unfit for utilization and beneficial use
The Department or its duly authorized representative shall, after proper consultation and notice, require any person who owns or operates any pollution
source or who is subject to any requirement of this Act to submit reports and other written information as may be required by the department.
There should also be incentive scheme and rewards such as tax exemption, grants and financial assistance program for LGUs, private entities, individuals.
The Department shall require proponents to put up environmental guarantee fund (EGF) as part of the environmental management plan attached to the ECC.
What are the prohibited acts?
Discharging, depositing or causing to be deposited material of any kind directly or indirectly into the water bodies or along the margins of any
surface water, where, the same shall be liable to be washed into such surface water, either by tide action or by storm, floods or otherwise, which
could cause water pollution or impede natural flow in the water body; Discharging, injecting or allowing to seep into the soil or sub-soil any
substance in any form that would pollute groundwater. In the case of geothermal projects, and subject to the approval of the Department,
regulated discharge for short- term activities (e.g. well testing, flushing, commissioning, venting) and deep re-injection of geothermal liquids may
be allowed: Provided, That safety measures are adopted to prevent the contamination of the groundwater; Operating facilities that discharge
regulated water pollutants without the valid required permits or after the permit was revoked for any violation of any condition therein; Disposal
of potentially infectious medical waste into sea water by vessels unless the health or safety of individuals on board the vessel is threatened by a
great and imminent peril;Unauthorized transport or dumping into sea waters of sewage sludge or solid waste as defined under Republic Act
No.9003;Transport, dumping or discharge of prohibited chemicals, substances or pollutants listed under Republic Act No.6969;Operate facilities
that discharge or allow to seep, willfully or through gross negligence, prohibited chemicals, substances or pollutants listed under R. A. No. 6969
into water bodies or wherein the same shall be liable to be washed into such surface, ground, coastal, and marine water; Undertaking activities or
development and expansion of projects, or operating wastewater/sewerage facilities in violation of Presidential Decree. No.1586 and its
implementing rules, and regulations;Discharging regulated water pollutants without the valid required discharge permit pursuant to this Act or
after the permit was revoked for any violation of condition therein; Non-compliance of the LGU with the Water Quality Framework and
Management Area Action Plan. In such a case, sanctions shall be imposed on the local government officials concerned; Refusal to allow entry,
inspection and monitoring by the Department in accordance with this Act; Refusal to allow access by the Department to relevant reports and
records in accordance with this Act; Refusal or failure to submit reports whenever required by the Department in accordance with this Act;
Refusal or failure to designate pollution control officers whenever required by, the Department in accordance with this Act; and Directly using
booster pumps in the distribution system or tampering with the water supply in such a way as to alter or impair the water quality.

Notes: DENR may provide variance in water quality criteria and standards that provides adequate protection of beneficial use of water bodies, downstream
of the geothermal project. DENR may also formulate analogous water quality criteria and standards for oil and gas exploration

The areas within the jurisdiction of the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) shall be designated as one management area under the administration
of LLDA in accordance with R.A. No. 4850, as amended: Provided, However, That the standards promulgated pursuant to this Act and wastewater charge
system established pursuant hereof shall be enforced in said area.

Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990
It is the policy of the State to regulate, restrict or prohibit the importation, manufacture, processing, sale, distribution, use and disposal of chemical
substances and mixtures that present unreasonable risk and/or injury to health or the environment; to prohibit the entry, even in transit, of hazardous and
nuclear wastes and their disposal into the Philippine territorial limits for whatever purpose; and to provide advancement and facilitate research and studies on
toxic chemicals.
The importation, manufacture, processing, handling, storage, transportation, sale, distribution, use and disposal of all unregulated chemical substances and
mixtures in the Philippines, including the entry, even in transit as well as the keeping or storage and disposal of hazardous and nuclear wastes into the
country for whatever purpose.
The Inter-Agency Technical Advisory Council is attached to the DENR and is composed of the Secretary of DENR as the Chairman, with the Director of the
Philippine Nuclear Research Institute and the Secretaries of Health, Trade and Industry, Science and Technology, National Defense, Foreign Affairs, Labor
 and Employment, Finance and Agriculture, respectively, as members. A representative from a non-governmental organization on health and safety shall
likewise be a member.
The Council is tasked to assist the DENR in the formulation of pertinent rules and regulations for the implementation of the Act; to assist the DENR in
preparing and updating its inventories; to conduct preliminary evaluation of the he characteristics of chemical substances and mixtures to determine their
toxicity and effects on health and the environment; and to perform such other functions as the DENR Secretary may require.
Before any new chemical substance or mixture can be manufactured, processed or imported for the first time as determined by the DENR, the manufacturer,
processor or importer shall submit the following information: the name of the chemical substance or mixture; its chemical identity and molecular structure;
proposed categories of use; an estimate of the amount to be manufactured, processed or imported; processing and disposal thereof; and any test data related
to health and environmental effects which the manufacturer, processor or importer has.
What are the cases where chemicals may be subject to testing?
1.there is a reason to believe that the chemical substances or mixture may present an unreasonable risk to health or the environment or there may be
substantial human or environmental exposure thereto;
2.there are insufficient data and experience for determining or predicting the health and environmental effects of the chemical substance or mixture; and
3.the testing of the chemical substance or mixture is necessary to develop such data.
The manufacturers, processors or importers shall shoulder the costs of testing.
The public shall have access to records, reports, or information concerning chemical substances and mixtures including safety data submitted, data on
emission or discharge into the environment, and such documents shall be available for inspection or reproduction during normal business hours except those
that the DENR may consider a record, report or information or particular portions thereof confidential and may not be made public when such would divulge
trade secrets, production or sales figures or methods, production or processes unique to such manufacturer, processor or distributor, or would otherwise tend
to affect adversely the competitive position of such manufacturer, processor or distributor. The DENR, however, may release information subject to claim of
confidentiality to a medical research or scientific institution where the information is needed for the purpose of medical diagnosis or treatment of a person
exposed to the chemical substance or mixture.
What are the chemical Substances exempt from pre-manufacture notification?
1. those included in the categories of chemical substances and mixtures already listed in the inventory of existing chemicals;
2. those to be produced in small quantities solely for experimental or research and developmental purposes;
3. chemical substances and mixtures that will not present an unreasonable risk to health and the environment; and
4. chemical substances and mixtures that exist temporarily and which have no human or environmental exposure such as those which exist as a result of
chemical reaction in the manufacture or processing of a mixture of another chemical substance.
What are the prohibited acts?
Knowingly use a chemical substance or mixture which is imported, manufactured, processed or distributed in violation of this Act or implementing rules and
regulations or orders; Failure or refusal to submit reports, notices or other information, access to records, as required by this Act, or permit inspection of
establishment where chemicals are manufactured, processed, stored or otherwise held; Failure or refusal to comply with the pre-manufacture and pre-
importation requirements; and Cause, aid or facilitate, directly or indirectly, in the storage, importation, or bringing into Philippines territory, including its
maritime economic zones, even in transit, either by means of land, air or sea transportation or otherwise keeping in storage any amount of hazardous and
nuclear wastes in any part of the Philippines.

Pollution Adjudication Board v. CA

The Board may issue an ex parte cease and desist order when there is prima facie evidence of an establishment exceeding such allowable standards. However, It should
perhaps be made clear the Court is not here saying that the correctness of the ex parte Order and Writ of Execution may not be contested by Solar in a hearing before the
Board itself. Where the establishment affected by an ex parte cease and desist order contests the correctness of the prima facie findings of the Board, the Board must
hold a public hearing where such establishment would have an opportunity to controvert the basis of such ex parteorder. That such an opportunity is subsequently
available is really all that is required by the due process clause of the Constitution in situations like that we have here. The Board's decision rendered after the public
hearing may then be tested judicially by an appeal to the Court of Appeals

MMDA, et. al. v. Concerned Residents of Manila Bay

1. The cleaning or rehabilitation of Manila Bay can be compelled by mandamus. A perusal of other petitioners respective charters or enabling statutes and pertinent
laws would yield this conclusion: these government agencies are enjoined, as a matter of statutory obligation (based on their own charters, administrative code and
environmental laws among others), to perform certain functions relating directly or indirectly to the clean-up, rehabilitation, protection, and preservation of the Manila
Bay. They are precluded from choosing not to perform these duties.
2. Secs. 17 and 20 of PD 1152 are not limited to clean-up of specific pollution incidents. When the Clean Water Act (RA 9275) took effect, its Sec. 16 on the
subject, Clean-up Operations, amended the counterpart provision (Sec. 20) of the Environment Code (PD 1152). Sec. 17 of PD 1152 continues, however, to be
operational. A perusal of Sec. 20 of the Environment Code, as couched, indicates that it is properly applicable to a specific situation in which the pollution is caused
by polluters who fail to clean up the mess they left behind. In such instance, the concerned government agencies shall undertake the clean-up work for the polluters
account. The complementary Sec. 17 of the Environment Code comes into play and the specific duties of the agencies to clean-up come in even if there are no
pollution incidents staring at them.

MMDA v. CONCERNED CITIZENS OF MANILA BAY RESOLUTION

The powers and functions of the Executive Branch headed by the President of the Philippines is not encroached if time frames are set by the Court for the agencies to
perform their tasks. The issuance of subsequent resolutions by the Court is simply an exercise of judicial power under Art. VIII of the Constitution, because the
execution of the Decision is but an integral part of the adjudicative function of the Court. The writ of continuing mandamus issued in MMDA means that until
petitioner-agencies have shown full compliance with the Courts orders, the Court exercises continuing jurisdiction over them until full execution of the judgment.

Summit One Condominium Corporation (SOCC) v. PAB and EMB-NCR

EMB-NCR conducted an inspection of wastewater samples from the sewage treatment facility of SOCC and it was found that it failed to comply with the DENR
Effluent Standards. When SOCC was notified, it agreed to introduce bio-remediation to lower concentration of water of bacteria in its sewage water and it hired
Milestones Water Industries to conduct an independent analysis on its wastewater where it was revealed that it passed the Effluent Standards. PAB imposed a penalty of
a fine of Php 2,790,000 against SOCC for its failure to comply. SOCC avers mitigation of fines since it exerted its effort in good faith in complying with the standards.
Issue is whether the fine should be mitigated. The SC ruled in the negative stating that these statements indicate that SOCC was aware that it failed to comply with the
DENR Effluent Standards test. It further held that Milestones was not a DENRaccredited laboratory. By reason of their special knowledge and expertise, PAB and
EMBNCR are in a better position to pass judgment thereon, and their findings of fact are generally accorded great respect, if not finality, by the courts. The least that
SOCC could do is to be more responsible, more familiar and more responsive to the call of environmental conservation.