Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 9275)
The short title of Republic Act No. 9275 is the "Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004."
The policy is to pursue economic growth in a manner consistent with the protection, preservation, and revival of the quality of fresh, brackish, and marine waters through a framework for sustainable development.
It primarily applies to the abatement and control of pollution from land-based sources affecting all water bodies, regardless of the source of pollution.
Water pollution means any alteration of the physical, chemical, biological, or radiological properties of a water body resulting in the impairment of its purity or quality.
The DENR is the lead agency responsible for implementation and enforcement of the Act, including preparing water quality reports and management plans, enforcing regulations, issuing permits, monitoring, education campaigns, and coordinating with government and other sectors.
It is a designated area composed of watersheds, river basins, or water resources regions with similar hydrological, hydrogeological, meteorological, or geographic conditions affecting pollutant reactions and diffusion, managed by a governing board with representatives from LGUs, national agencies, NGOs, water utilities, and business sectors.
They must secure a discharge permit from DENR specifying limits and conditions for wastewater discharge, compliance schedules, and monitoring requirements.
It is a system of fees collected by the government from polluters based on the amount and quality of wastewater discharged into water bodies to incentivize reduction in pollution and help cover costs for water quality management programs.
Fines range from ₱10,000 to ₱200,000 per day of violation, increasing by 10% every two years. Serious violations can result in closure orders, imprisonment between 2 to 12 years, and fines up to ₱3,000,000 per day for gross violations.
DENR can enter premises, inspect pollution sources, test discharges, require reports, issue orders, impose penalties, and take emergency actions to prevent or abate water pollution.
It is a fund put up by program/project proponents to finance ecosystem maintenance, watershed conservation, emergency response, cleanup, and rehabilitation related to their activities as part of environmental compliance.
They are entitled to fiscal and non-fiscal incentives such as tax and duty exemption on imported capital equipment, tax credits, inclusion in investment priority plans, and access to government financial assistance.
Gross violations include deliberate discharge of toxic pollutants in toxic amounts, five or more violations within two years, or blatant disregard of orders such as continuing operations after closure orders.
LGUs share responsibility in water quality management within their jurisdiction, preparing compliance schemes, monitoring, emergency response, coordination with agencies and civil society, and may be delegated some enforcement powers when ready.
The Department of Health (DOH) is primarily responsible for promulgating, revising, and enforcing drinking water quality standards.