Published July 6, 2017, 10:01 PM By Madelaine B.
Miraflor
Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu has scrapped the order of former
environment chief Regina Paz Lopez to restrict the issuance of environmental
compliance certificates (ECC) and instead orders to expedite it.
In the DENR Administrative Order
(DAO) No. 2017-18, Cimatu suspended indefinitely a previous DAO issued by Lopez
that limited the authority to issue ECCs for both environmentally critical
projects (ECPs) and non-ECPs only to the DENR Secretary.
To recall, Lopez issued the said DAO
as part of her efforts to alleviate corruption within the DENR as well as
prevent the unscrupulous issuance of ECCs to mining projects despite the
moratorium.
Cimatu is particularly giving back
the authority to issue such permits back to the director and regional directors
of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), a line bureau of the DENR.
ECPs refer to development projects
that have high potential for significant negative environmental impact. These
include heavy and resource-extractive industries, such as mining, energy, and
infrastructure projects.
ECAs, on the other hand, refer to
national parks and sanctuaries, tourist spots, habitats of threatened wildlife
species, tribal community areas, prime agricultural lands, and water bodies and
other coastal and marine ecosystems.
An ECC is issued to certify that
based on representations of the proponent, as reviewed and validated by the
Environmental Impact Assessment Review Committee, the proposed project or
undertaking will not cause a significant negative environmental impact.
It also certifies that the proponent
has complied with all the requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment
system and is committed to implement its approved Environmental Management
Plan.
“In the interest of service and in
order to expedite the issuance of the ECC in regional level consistent with the
directive of the President to fast track issuance of government permits and
licenses, [DAO] No. 2017-04 is hereby suspended indefinitely,” Cimatu’s
administrative order reads.
It was in October last year when Lopez
ordered the “intense evaluation” on as much as 800 ECCs that are
“environmentally critical”.
The call for the audit on 800 ECCs
came after DENR’s decision to suspend the environment permits of Austral-Asia
Link Mining Corp. for its mining operation in Davao Oriental as well as that
of Century Communities Corp.’s, which has a housing project inside the La
Mesa Eco Park.
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