HWR CIVWARE Special Class

Instructions:

1. Read the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the “Philippine Clean water Act of 2004”.
2. Work with your group today (same assignment), organize and share your thoughts, perceptions
about the implementing rules and regulations of the Clean Water Act of 2004.
3. Make sure you read the definitions in Article 2, so you will have a common understanding of
terms.
4. Seek to answer the questions (research!).
5. Take notes of the important points of your discussions and use these to prepare a report.
6. The report can be in a bulleted ( key points) and annotated ( with concise discussions) format.
7. Be ready to submit a draft report on Friday in class. We will format it later.

Here are the Contexts and Questions:

In, SEC5. Chapter 2 Article 1, General Provisions, the National Water Resource Board (NWRB)
shall designate the water quality management areas (WQMAs) using physiographic units such as
watershed, river basins or water resources regions and shall be governed by a board composed
of representatives of mayors and governors of member LGUs among others identified in the
provisions.

Q1: Given the institutional arrangements among local and national agencies, and organizational
requirements explained in Chapter 2 Section 5 and Chapter 3 (Institutional mechanisms), do you
think that the management of the WQMA areas and esp. the management of Non- attainment
Areas (see Section 6) can be addressed by the provisions of Section 5. You may look at it in
terms of the composition of the governing board, the mandates and functions of the board, the
technical working groups and sub-groups formed, availability of funds. What are your thoughts?
Please explain.

In Chapter 2- section 6, and Chapter 3- section 20, Management of Non-attainment Areas, the
LGUs play an important role in addressing water quality problems of their cities and
municipalities. If we consider the City of Manila as a case, what do you think about the
following:

Q2: Given the requirements of SectionC2- 6, to designate and delineate non-attainment areas,
investigate existing pollution sources in non-attainment areas, upgrade water quality with
national government agencies, and prepare contingency plans (Section 6.1.4), among others;
what do you perceive as the major challenges of the City Government of Manila in carrying out
these provisions and as also described in C3-section 20? Name as many and discuss the top
three challenges.
HWR CIVWARE Special Class

In Section 7, National Sewerage and Septage Management Program, national agencies such as
DPWH, LGUs and other concerned agencies are required to prepare a national program on
sewerage and septage management -i.e. domestic sewage collection, treatment and disposal
(Read Section 8).
Q3: What are the ways domestic sewage can be managed based on the provisions of Section 8,
Rule 8- Domestic sewage management. It identifies about seven approaches. Which do you
think are the more critical approaches. Can you rank these, based on your Group’s agreements?
Explain.

Q4: Read about the Incentives and Rewards (Chapter 4) of undertaking outstanding and
innovative projects, technologies and techniques or activities in water quality management.
What is your understanding of incentives? Are incentives important? Why?

In Section 9, The National Water Quality Management Fund will be used to finance risk
management-prevention, mitigation and preparedness for ensuring effective implementation of
the Clean Water Act. In section 10, the Area Water Quality Management Fund-will be establish
for the maintenance and upkeep of water bodies in the WQMA. These are sourced from fines
incurred by the establishments located in rural areas before effectivity of this Act. (Please read)

Hence in Sections 13 and 14, the water pollution permits, charges system and discharge
permission process are discussed.

Q5: The group is tasked to prepare a flow chart (diagram) of the permissions process for first
time applicants and those seeking renewal of discharge permits. Include the process for
exemptions.

In Chapter 5, Civil liability and penal provisions, it lists the prohibited acts related to pollution.
Please read.

In Article 3, Section 15, Financial liability mechanisms are important to ensure enforcement of
WQMAs. The Environmental Guarantee Fund (EGF) is part of the environmental management
plan that is required from developers and builders in an environmental compliance certification
process (ECC). This ECC process, for example, is part of the building construction permissions
process. This is a guarantee, should operators (organizations) fail to comply with the ECC
provisions required from them, these can be used to maintain, rehabilitate the areas that may
be damaged during the project’s implementation.

Section 16. Clean Up operations-addressed violations by a person who causes pollution in or

pollutes water bodies in excess of the applicable and prevailing standards. They will be
responsible to contain, remove and clean-up any pollution incident at their own expense. Read
HWR CIVWARE Special Class

Chapter 5, Section 28 for the fines and penalties and Chapter 6 Actions, on who may the file
complaints.

Q6: Think about ordinary situations and individual actions where violations identified in Chapter
5-Section 27 are made but appear to be not penalized. Would you consider yourself also a
violator in some instances? How do we reduce these violations?