Legal basis and integration with other rules
- The order is implemented to ensure compliance with the Clean Air Act of 1999.
- The order aligns monitoring with Articles 4 to 9 of the DTI-DOTC JAO No. 1, Series of 2001.
- The order also requires compliance with other relevant orders, rules and regulations set by the DENR, DOTC, and DTI.
- The order expressly references penalty provisions under Section 46 of the CAA and Section 45 of the DTI-DOTC JAO No. 01 Series of 2001 for PETC-related irregularities.
Policy objectives of emission test monitoring
- The order aims to ensure that emission testing prior to renewal of motor vehicle registration, redemption of confiscated license plate(s), and registration of imported used and rebuilt vehicles is properly implemented as required by the Clean Air Act of 1999.
- The order aims to monitor and ensure PETCs and LTO emission testing activities comply with the Clean Air Act of 1999 and the relevant DTI-DOTC JAO No. 1, Series of 2001, and other applicable issuances.
- The order aims to ensure that no motor vehicle is registered without undergoing and passing the required emission test.
- The order aims to preserve the integrity of the emission test reflected in the official/accountable DOTC Certificate of Emission Compliance (CEC) forms.
Coverage: what the rules monitor
- The order establishes guidelines and procedures for monitoring the compliance of accredited and authorized Private Emission Testing Centers (PETCs) and LTO Emission Testing activities.
- The order covers monitoring of emission testing performed prior to the registration requirement under the Clean Air Act of 1999.
- The order governs on-site inspection and monitoring of PETC/LTO testing centers involved in issuing CECs and supporting vehicle registration processes.
Monitoring structure and operations
- The order requires the Monitoring Committee to create Monitoring Teams to conduct actual monitoring activities.
- Each Monitoring Team must have at least four (4) members, composed of:
- a DOTC representative as team leader;
- an LTO representative;
- at least one (1) representative from either DENR and MMDA (for Metro Manila) or the LGU where the PETC is located; and
- at least one (1) from NGO or media.
- PETC representatives, transport operators, and the Ombudsman may be invited as observers when necessary.
- The order requires a Secretariat composed of DOTC Transport Planning Service personnel to assist the Monitoring Committee and Teams by:
- accepting and documenting complaints;
- maintaining records; and
- coordinating activities related to the order.
Team duties, review, and reporting timelines
- The Monitoring Team must have responsibilities that include:
- reviewing pertinent documents about the PETC/LTO testing center to be visited;
- preparing detailed monitoring procedures subject to Monitoring Committee approval;
- conducting monitoring activities; and
- submitting a monitoring report to the Monitoring Committee within seven (7) days after monitoring is conducted.
- The Team Leader must:
- inform team members of monitoring schedules;
- hold a brief pre-monitoring meeting;
- provide documents used during onsite monitoring;
- hold a brief post monitoring meeting; and
- assign tasks to each team member.
- Team Members must:
- perform assigned monitoring tasks; and
- report findings and observations during the post monitoring meeting.
- Government agency Monitoring Team members must undergo Training on Monitoring Procedures to be conducted by DOTC, and volunteers must file an application and undergo the same training.
- The Monitoring Committee must approve the training module and the applications for membership.
On-site inspection requirements for PETCs
- The Monitoring Team must inform the PETC operator that an on-site inspection will be conducted.
- The PETC operator must present the following for the inspection:
- valid PETC accreditation and authorization;
- record of CEC issued for the month being monitored, including copies of receipts issued;
- calibration certificate of test equipment;
- valid technician authorization;
- test equipment interfaced with the PETC-IT system; and
- serial number of test equipment that corresponds to the accreditation record.
- The PETC technician must conduct an emission test of the test vehicle during monitoring.
- The test result must be compared with previous test results.
- A discrepancy—where a vehicle passes when actually failed or fails when actually passed—constitutes a violation.
Grounds for flagging PETCs/LTO units
- The order requires the following as bases for flagging a PETC and/or LTO-DO for monitoring:
- five (5) verbal complaints or one written and verified report of irregularities against a PETC, LTO-DO, or LTO testing facility;
- an unusually high or low rate of vehicles passing emission tests; and
- discrepancies between the number of CECs issued by PETCs and the number of motor vehicle registrations issued by an LTO-DO on a per-month basis.
- Complaints and irregularity reports must be documented by the Secretariat.
- Government agencies receiving complaints or reports must forward them to the Secretariat for information and proper disposition.
- Each report must identify: the name of the PETC or LTO-DO, the specific complaint, the name of the complainant, and the contact number.
- The Secretariat must regularly submit to the Monitoring Committee a summary of complaints received with a list of PETC and LTO-DO that must be monitored.
- PETC IT providers must submit the Secretariat a monthly report on the number of vehicles tested and CECs issued.
- The LTO must submit the Secretariat a monthly report on the number of motor vehicle registrations issued per LTO-DO.
- DOTC must forward the above information to the Secretariat for comparison, and the Secretariat must regularly submit to the Monitoring Committee a summary and a list of PETC, LTO-DO, and LTO testing facilities requiring monitoring.
Specific monitoring methods and triggers
- For reported tampering of test results by a PETC and/or LTO-DO, the order requires roadside monitoring where a monitoring team dispatches to the vicinity of a flagged center and flags down a vehicle that just completed the emission test for retesting.
- Roadside monitoring requires comparison of the Monitoring Team test result with the test result conducted in the PETC/LTO testing center.
- The roadside monitoring procedure must repeat until a total of three (3) vehicles show a large discrepancy in test results or are proven to have been tampered.
- For monitoring using a test vehicle, the Monitoring Team must dispatch a test vehicle to the flagged center like an ordinary vehicle owner seeking an emission test.
- The test vehicle’s test result must be compared with the test vehicle’s previous test results.
- A large discrepancy—where a vehicle passes when actually failed or fails when actually passed—constitutes a violation.
- For on-site inspection after complaints or alleged violations, the Monitoring Team must inform the PETC operator of the complaints/alleged violations and that on-site inspection will be conducted using the order’s procedures.
Procedures for non-appearance and vehicle registration fraud
- For reported issuance of CECs without actual emission tests (non-appearance), the Monitoring Team must verify the actual number of vehicles tested by discretely posting personnel to conduct an actual count of vehicles tested for at least one day.
- The counted number of vehicles must be compared with the number of CECs issued for that specific day.
- If the number of CECs issued is greater than the number of vehicles that entered the PETC, a violation is committed.
- For reported registration of vehicles without actual emission tests (non-appearance), the Monitoring Team must verify the actual number of vehicles tested by discretely posting personnel to count vehicles tested for at least one day.
- The counted number of vehicles must be compared with the number of registration for that specific day.
- A violation is committed if the number of vehicles registered is greater than the number of vehicles counted plus CEC received.
- The order requires that to ensure adherence to emission standards for renewed registration, the test result of PETC on a real-time basis must be considered as input to the Motor Vehicle Registration System (MVRS) module of the LTO-IT Project.
- The Monitoring Team, with approval of the Monitoring Committee, may implement other means necessary to prove irregularities committed by the PETC or LTO-DO.
Reporting obligations
- The Monitoring Team must furnish the Monitoring Committee a Monitoring Report and Recommendations within seven (7) working days after the conclusion of monitoring.
Penalties and consequences for violations
- For government personnel, DOTC and LTO personnel found to have committed any violation of the Clean Air Act and its implementing rules must be investigated by their respective departments for corresponding administrative sanctions and by the Ombudsman for criminal liability.
- For PETC operators and personnel, irregularities must be penalized in accordance with Section 46 of the CAA and Section 45 of the DTI-DOTC JAO No. 01 Series of 2001.