Question & AnswerQ&A (ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 42)
In addition to the Secretary of DENR, the Director and Regional Directors of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) are authorized to grant or deny the issuance of ECCs.
It declares that optimum economic development shall be achieved without delay and pursued to ensure sustainable needs of present and future generations through an integrated approach balancing environmental concerns and national development.
For environmentally critical projects (single project) – 120 working days; for non-environmentally critical projects located in critical areas – 60 working days; for projects not covered by the EIS system – 15 working days.
The ECC application is deemed automatically approved, and the approving authority must issue the ECC within five (5) working days after the prescribed processing timeframe.
DENR-EMB shall be limited to a maximum of two (2) official requests for additional information in writing from the ECC applicant.
No, projects that have no significant environmental impact are not required to secure an ECC.
The EMB, in coordination with the DTI, is authorized to review and update technical guidelines on the EIS Systems implementation, including definitions of Environmentally Critical Projects and Environmentally Critical Areas.
DENR Regional Offices are responsible for implementing laws, policies, plans, programs, projects, rules and regulations to promote sustainability, productivity, social equity in natural resource utilization, and environmental protection in their regions, including processing ECC applications.
The EIA ad hoc division at the EMB Central Office and Regional Offices shall be converted into a full-fledged division with new position items created from existing budget and vacant positions, to effectively manage ECC processing.