Monday, October 13, 2008 Tourism projects may submit only a checklist, instead of full impact study By Liberty A. Pinili Of Sun.Star Cebu
ENVIRONMENTAL compliance certificates (ECCs) are merely tools that enable a project proponent to implement measures that will prevent or mitigate the project’s effects.
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is the sole agency authorized to issue ECCs.
It evaluates a set of documents describing a certain project, its processes and possible effects on the environment. This set of documents, as well as an EMB technical personnel’s knowledge, is supposed to guide EMB in deciding what conditions to impose in the ECC of a project.
The Environmental Impact Study System law requires an environmentally critical project (ECP) or that which is found in an environmentally critical area (ECA) to be covered by an ECC.
It also directs project proponents to submit an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study or an initial environmental examination.
Proponents are required to submit a full-blown EIA study that discusses in detail the project (from construction to post-operation), probable effects on the environment and strategies to mitigate or prevent these effects.
A full-blown EIA would have to be prepared by a technical expert.
ECC applications for environmentally critical projects—like heavy industries, cement plants and infrastructure, mining and golf course projects—are to be evaluated and processed by the EMB central office in Manila.
Former EMB 7 Director Alan Arranguez said ECC applications for other projects, including those located in ECAs, are evaluated and processed by EMB regional offices.
He said that under recent DENR administrative order providing for a streamlined EIA process, ECC applications—particularly for tourism-related projects, like beach resorts, in ECAs—are only required an IEE checklist.
An IEE checklist can be accomplished by the project proponent, even without the assistance of a technical expert.
Upon submission, an application for ECC undergoes a “pre-evaluation”—the first stage in the process where the EIA division of the EMB checks if all the necessary
information about the project is available.
After this pre-evaluation stage, a full-blown EIA study would need to be reviewed by a group of experts coming from different fields. This group of experts will look at, among others, structural safety, geological, hydrological and social issues related to the project.
An IEE checklist, however, does not have to be reviewed by a group of experts, said Arranguez.
If a project’s application qualifies for further processing, the EMB will then conduct site evaluation to verify, among others, if the information stated in the submitted documents are true.
If the site inspection team finds everything in order, it will then submit a review process report and recommend to the EIA division chief the granting of an ECC for the project.
If the EIA division chief concurs with the team’s recommendation, he or she causes the preparation of a draft ECC, which will be submitted and reviewed for the final time by the EMB director or regional director.
Arranguez said the EMB director or regional director has the prerogative to disagree with the recommendations of the EIA division chief.
However, Arranguez said that under DENR Administrative Order 2003-30, an application for ECC is deemed approved if not denied within 90 days.
As long as all requirements have been complied with, processing of ECC applications for ECPs can be completed within 120 working days.
Processing of ECC applications of projects in ECAs have to be completed within 60 working days.
