DENR to audit all key projects deemed threats to environment

THE DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it completed an audit of two coal-fired power plants and is about to put together national guidelines for reviewing various projects that pose critical threats to the environment.

“So far two coal plants have been audited ahead of the (national) audit guidelines… I will reveal (more) when all the plants have been audited,” Environment Officer-incharge Undersecretary for Legal, Maria Paz G. Luna said at a briefing in Quezon City on Monday.

She was referring to the review of the plants’ environmental compliance certificates (ECCs), a pre-requisite for their operations. She did not identify the plants.

In a separate phone interview with BusinessWorld also on Monday, Ms. Luna clarified that the audit of the two coal-fired plants was conducted under the regular policies of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) but the agency will add to the review if the new guidelines so require.

The DENR Undersecretary added that the agency may start off with 25 critical projects.

“It may not even be 25 it might even be more,” Ms. Luna said, noting that the initial review will prioritize critical projects “but will not be as if everyone else is free from the audit so you can expect this audit to last as long as it takes.”

“We will look at the submission for compliance with conditions more closely now… that’s one of the objectives of the audit in the sense that we will change the standards and maybe the processes and requirements for the EIA (environmental impact assessment) system not in order to add more requirements but to streamline so they can know immediately what they’re supposed to get,” Ms. Luna said.

Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez has criticized existing procedures on the release of ECCs, particularly where the government provides certain conditions that are ”difficult” to meet but the project proponent has to execute an undertaking promising to do so prior the issuance of the certificate.

Ms. Lopez said that an ECC should not be given to any business entity in the first place if its operations are assessed to significantly pose a negative impact

An ECC is issued by the Environment department through the EMB as part of a firm’s application process for a project.

Under the DENR Administrative Order No. 2003- 30 or the Implementing Rules and Regulations for the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System, the ECC contains specific measures and conditions that the project proponent has to undertake before and during the operation of a project, and in some cases, during the project’s abandonment phase to mitigate identified environmental impacts.

Asked on when the guidelines for the review will be complete, Ms. Luna said: “We don’t expect it to take very long,” adding that the draft guidelines will be subject to public consultation within the month to address the concerns of stakeholders.

She noted that the criteria for the selection of the 25 most environmentally critical projects will be based on complaints received by the agency, and whether the activity poses irreparable damage that cannot be mitigated or may be difficult to fix, among other criteria.

“We should do it by this year,” Ms. Lopez said during the briefing, referring to the timetable for the start of the ECC audit for 25 critical projects, adding that by year’s end, the agency will announce the new policies of the EMB, which are expected to “totally transform” the Environment department.

“Any condition that will remain unfulfilled in the ECC will result in a suspension of the ECC until they comply with condition,” Ms. Luna added.

Critical projects under the law include extractive industries, major infrastructure projects, and major agro-industrial operations, among other projects.

Ms. Luna said, that the agency is targeting within the year to come up with a decision on the fate of the 31 metal mines whose environmental management practices were reviewed.

“The target is within the year if we get all the documents in,” she said, adding, however that the agency is due to reveal within the week its decision for Filminera Resoures Corp., one of the 20 miners the audit recommended to suspend.

“I want to credit the company because they’re willing to fix whatever’s there. If the company is dynamic in fixing things, I think there will be a future,” said Ms. Lopez.

“Filminera for now because the other bureaus have not reviewed the other mines. One for this week and then we will submit the schedule for the rest,” Ms. Luna said.

The agency said that it is in the process of gathering and consolidating other documents from mining companies.

“Fairness requires that we look into all the documents and not just the compliance,” said Ms. Luna referring to the ECC.

Mines that have been suspended or identified for possible suspension, make up 55.5% of last year’s nickel output of the Philippines.

The country has since been the top supplier of nickel ore to China, the world’s biggest consumer of the metal, after Indonesia banned raw ore exports in 2014.