Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology: Environmental Impact Assessment (Eia)

Republic
of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines

ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED

Chemistry and Environmental Science Department- College of Arts and Sciences

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)

Submitted by:

DANILET VI M. MENDOZA, RCh., MSc.

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in

PDS 323 Seminar in Environmental Science
Submitted to:
MIGUEL R. SANTOS, PhD.

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Transforming Communities through Science and Technology Email:
www.neust.edu.ph
Republic of the Philippines



TOPIC OUTLINE

I. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Definition
II. Objectives of EIA
III. Basic Principles of EIA
IV. Operating Principles
V. EIA in Philippine Setting
A. EIA Definition
B. Purpose of EIA
C. Coverage of EIA
D. The EIA Process
E. EIA Report Contents
F. Public Participation in the EIA Process
G. EIA Application Decisions
H. Fines/Penalties/Sanctions for Violators
I. Current Issues on Philippine EIA Process
References

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)
The process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and
other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and
commitments made. (International Association for Impact Assessment & Institute of
Environmental Assessment, UK. 1999. Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment Best
Practice)

Objectives of EIA
• To ensure that environmental considerations are explicitly addressed and
incorporated into the development decision making process
• To anticipate and avoid, minimize or offset the adverse significant biophysical, social
and other relevant effects of development proposals
• To protect the productivity and capacity of natural systems and the ecological
processes which maintain their functions
• To promote development that is sustainable and optimizes resource use and
management opportunities.

Basic Principles of EIA
Purposive
The process should inform decision making and result in appropriate levels of
environmental protection and community well-being.
Rigorous
The process should apply “best practicable” science, employing methodologies and
techniques appropriate to address the problems being investigated.
Practical
The process should result in information and outputs which assist with problem
solving and are acceptable to and able to be implemented by proponents.
Relevant
The process should provide sufficient, reliable and usable information for
development planning and decision making.
Cost-effective
The process should achieve the objectives of EIA within the limits of available
information, time, resources and methodology.
Efficient
The process should impose the minimum cost burdens in terms of time and finance
on proponents and participants consistent with meeting accepted requirements and
objectives of EIA.
Focused
The process should concentrate on significant environmental effects and key issues;
i.e., the matters that need to be taken into account in making decisions.

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Adaptive
The process should be adjusted to the realities, issues and circumstances of the
proposals under review without compromising the integrity of the process, and be iterative,
incorporating lessons learned throughout the proposal's life cycle.
Participative
The process should provide appropriate opportunities to inform and involve the
interested and affected publics, and their inputs and concerns should be addressed explicitly
in the documentation and decision making.
Interdisciplinary
The process should ensure that the appropriate techniques and experts in the
relevant bio-physical and socio- economic disciplines are employed, including use of
traditional knowledge as relevant.
Credible
The process should be carried out with professionalism, rigor, fairness, objectivity,
impartiality and balance, and be subject to independent checks and verification.
Integrated
The process should address the interrelationships of social, economic and biophysical
aspects.
Transparent
The process should have clear, easily understood requirements for EIA content;
ensure public access to information; identify the factors that are to be taken into account in
decision making; and acknowledge limitations and difficulties.
Systematic
The process should result in full consideration of all relevant information on the
affected environment, of proposed alternatives and their impacts, and of the measures
necessary to monitor and investigate residual effects

Operating Principles
• The EIA should be applied:
ü As early as possible in decision making and throughout the life cycle of
the proposed activity
ü To all development proposals that may cause potentially significant effects
ü To biophysical impacts and relevant socio-economic factors, including
health, culture, gender, lifestyle, age, and cumulative effects consistent with
the concept and principles of sustainable development
ü To provide for the involvement and input of communities and industries
affected by a proposal, as well as the interested public
ü In accordance with internationally agreed measures and activities.

• The EIA should provide for:
ü Screening- to determine whether or not a proposal should be subject to EIA
and, if so, at what level of detail
ü Scoping- to identify the issues and impacts that are likely to be important and
to establish terms of reference for EIA

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ü Examination of alternatives- to establish the preferred or most
environmentally sound and benign option for achieving proposal objectives
ü Impact analysis- to identify and predict the likely environmental, social and
other related effects of the proposal
ü Mitigation and impact management- to establish the measures that are
necessary to avoid, minimize or offset predicted adverse impacts and, where
appropriate, to incorporate these into an environmental management plan or
system
ü Evaluation of significance- to determine the relative importance and
acceptability of residual impacts (i.e., impacts that cannot be mitigated)
ü Preparation of environmental impact statement (EIS) or report- to document
clearly and impartially impacts of the proposal, the proposed measures for
mitigation, the significance of effects, and the concerns of the interested public
and the communities affected by the proposal
ü Review of the EIS- to determine whether the report meets its terms of
reference, provides a satisfactory assessment of the proposal(s) and contains
the information required for decision making
ü Decision making- to approve or reject the proposal and to establish the terms
and conditions for its implementation
ü Follow up- to ensure that the terms and condition of approval are met; to
monitor the impacts of development and the effectiveness of mitigation
measures; to strengthen future EIA applications and mitigation measures; and
where required, to undertake environmental audit and process evaluation to
optimize environmental management

EIA in Philippine Setting
EIA in the Philippines principles and operating procedures coincide with the international
standards. It covers the “process that involves predicting and evaluating the likely impacts
of a project (including cumulative impacts) on the environment during construction,
commissioning, operation and abandonment. It also includes designing appropriate
preventive, mitigating and enhancement measures addressing these consequences to
protect the environment and the community’s welfare”. (Environmental Management
Bureau, Philippines. 2007. Revised Procedural Manual for DENR Administrative Order No.
30 s. 2003). The e EIA system was first introduced in Presidential Decree 1151, also known
as the Philippine Environment Policy which was further strengthened by PD 1586.

Purpose of EIA
EIA is under the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) System aiming for
sustainable development which emphasize its importance as a decision-making tool. It is one
of the task assigned to the DENR in implementing a systems-oriented and integrated
approach to ensure rational balance of the socio-economic development and environmental
protection in the country for the present and future generations. Specifically, the DENR-EMB
(Environmental Management Bureau) is tasked to review EIA reports required from both
government and private entities prior to establishing infrastructures in all parts of the
country.
It aims to integrate environmental concerns in the planning process of projects starting at
the feasibility stage. Thus, adverse environmental impacts of proposed actions are
considerably reduced through a reiterative review process of project siting, design and other
alternatives, and the subsequent formulation of environmental management and monitoring
plans. It is the vital requirement for the issuance of an Environmental Compliance
Commitment (ECC) document, to be conformed to by the Proponent and represents the
project’s Environmental Compliance Certificate. The release of the ECC allows the project to

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proceed to the next stage of project planning, which is the acquisition of approvals from
other government agencies and LGUs, after which the project can start implementation.

Coverage of EIA
Projects covered by the EIA process is pursuant to a Presidential Decrees (PD). Based on PD
1586 (1978), it covers projects originally declared as Environmentally Critical Projects
(ECPs) or projects in Environmentally Critical Areas (ECAs) due to its significant impacts on
the quality of the environment (table 1). Non-environmentally critical project (NECP) types
located in ECAs may also have significant impacts on the environment and thus is included
to undergone the process (table 2). However, the DENR may exclude certain projects,
regardless of location or threshold/project size, due to insignificant environmental impacts
due to clean technology and due to the very nature of the projects’ mitigation of
environmental issues or enhancement of the quality of the environment.

Table 1. List of Environmentally Critical Project (ECP) and Environmentally Critical Area
(ECA) covered by EIA Process (EMB, 2007).

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Table 2. Non-Environmentally-Critical Project in ECA covered by the EIA Process (EMB,
2007).

EIA Reports review by the EMB are guided by three general criteria:
1. that environmental considerations are integrated into the overall project
planning,
2. that the assessment is technically sound and proposed environmental mitigation
measures are effective, and
3. that the EIA process is based on timely, informed and meaningful public
participation of potentially-affected communities

As such, in order for the EMB EIA Reports review to be effective and efficient, accurate and
informative disclosure of relevant information by project Proponents and other
stakeholders should be done.

The EIA Process
REVISED PROCEDURAL MANUAL FOR DAO 2003-30

Detailed
Findings and assessment,
recommendations of EIA identification of
considered in various mitigation needs,
permits and licenses inputs to CBA
needed
Site selection,
envi screening,
Feasibility -
Pre-feasibility initial
assessment,
Detailed design of scoping
mitigation
measures
Project
Detailed Engineering Conceptualization/
& Design Improvement
Implementation of
mitigation
Monitoring,
measures Validation and
Project Construction Operation & Evaluation/Audit
of Environmental
& Development Maintenance Compliance and
Over-all
Performance

Figure 1-1. EIA Process within the Project Cycle
Figure 1. EIA Process (source: Revised Procedural Manual DAO 03, 2007).
5) The EIA Process in Relation to Enforcement of Other Laws
The PEISS is supplementary and complementary to other existing environmental
laws. As early as the project’s Feasibility Study (FS) stage, the EIA process
identifies the likely issues or impacts that may be covered later by regional
environmental permits and other regulatory bodies’ permitting requirements. In
addition, where there are yet no standards or where there is a lack of explicit
definitions in existing laws, the EIA process fills in the gap and provides appropriate
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cover for environmental protection and enhancement-related actions. For example,
the planting of greenbelts is not a requirement under any environmental law but is
included in the ECC as a contractual obligation and commitment of the project www.neust.edu.ph
Proponent to the DENR.



The EIA process starts during the Feasibility Study (FS) stage when a Proponent defines its
range of actions and consider project alternatives, thus consideration is given to all parts of
the project in relation to environmental protection. Based on Administrative Order No. 42,
proponents are tasked to conduct simultaneously the environmental impact study and the
project planning or Feasibility Study (FS).
• During the Project Concept and Pre-Feasibility Stages of the project cycle, self-
screening whether the development proposal is covered or not by the Philippine EIS
System should be assessed, and if so covered, the self- determination of all
requirements in preparation for the application process should be prepared. At this
stage the Proponent should conduct initial rapid site and impact assessment to
determine the points and issues that may arise regarding the concept and principles
of EIA.

• During the preparation of the project FS, the Proponent initiates the detailed
environmental impact assessment. In the FS, costs and benefits are then weighed as
a basis for decision making of the Proponent on its final project option, siting and
design. It is at this stage when the formal EIA application is initiated, wherein positive
review and evaluation of the submitted EIA documentation is expected to result to an
issuance of a DENR decision document containing the Proponent’s commitments and
other requirements for the Proponent to comply with existing environmental
regulations and environmental best practices. At this stage an ECC will be awarded to
the proponent upon compliance to all the comments, suggestions and revisions
required by the EMB upon review of the EIA documents submitted.

• During the project’s Detailed Engineering Design (DED) stage, the generic measures
identified during the EIA study at the FS stage will now be detailed based on the
project facility design and operational specifications. Additional baseline monitoring
may also be required prior to construction or implementation of the project to
provide a more substantive basis for defining the environmental management and
monitoring plans.

• Upon initiation of Project Construction/Development/Operations and throughout
the project lifetime, environmental mitigation measures are fully implemented, and
monitoring of the Proponent’s environmental performance is continuously done,
findings and learnings from which shall be fed back into the project cycle for continual
improvement of the project, with corresponding updating of the environmental
management plans of the project. Major improvements may need new formal
applications for DENR approvals, which shall then be related to previous approvals
for an integrated environmental management approach of the project.

EIA Report Contents

A typical EIA Report includes several parts:
1. Project Description

It includes the location, scale and duration, rationale, alternatives, phases and
components, resource requirements, manpower complement, estimate of waste
generation from the most critical project activities and environmental aspects,
project cost.

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2. Baseline Environmental Description

It includes environmental description of the land, water, air and people focused on
the sectors and resources most significantly affected by the proposed project.

3. Impact Assessment

It includes vital environmental impacts in relation to all parts of the project from pre-
construction, construction/development, operation up to decommissioning stages. It
also includes cumulative, unavoidable and residual impacts to the environment of the
project.

4. Environmental Management Plan

This part includes mitigation plan, areas of public information, education and
communication, social development program proposal, environmental monitoring
plans (with multi-sectoral public participation for EIS-based projects) and the
corresponding institutional and financial requirements/ arrangements in relaton to
the identified impacts.

Public Participation in the EIA Process
The public is an integral part of the whole EIA process. As based on the Revised Procedural
Manual For DAO 2003-30, the conduct of the EIA Study shall include local stakeholders
(Figure 2).

Figure 2. EIA Process Flowchart in relation to Public Involvement. (Revised Procedural
Manual For DAO, 2003).

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They may serve as local expert sources, aides/guides and resource persons in primary data
collection to optimize access to indigenous knowledge of the environment, or as
interviewers/ interviewees in the socio-economic/perception surveys which shall be used
as the basis for the subsequent formulation of social development plans, monitoring plans
and other components of the environmental management plans. LGUs and government
agencies should be consulted and involved in the drafting of the project’s EIA report. The EIA
Report may include sections for a presentation and discussion of Public Participation
process and outcomes which is subject to the review of the EIA Review Committee and
evaluation of the EMB during site visits. A Public Hearing or Public Consultation may be done
simultaneously, where applicable.
Findings of the EIA study should be disclosed in a form of Public Hearing which is required
for all new ECPs. A waiver of the Public Hearing requested by the Proponent may be granted
by the DENR-EMB subject to the absence of mounting opposition or written request for one
with valid basis and Public Consultation may be conducted instead of Public Hearing. The
Proponent is required to give copies of the full EIA Report to the EMB RO and host
municipalities, copies of Executive Summary to the host barangays and copies of Project Fact
Sheets to other stakeholders for a well-informed participation in the hearing/consultation
process prior to the scheduled Public Hearing/Consultation.
Once an ECC/CNC is issued, the EIA recommendations are transmitted by the DENR- EMB to
the concerned government agencies and LGUs to be considered in their decision-making
process for integrated, coordinated and participative safeguarding of environmental
concerns. Thus, monitoring of both concerned government agencies and LGUs as well as the
public is continuously sought by EMB task force assigned as such.

EIA Application Decisions
Upon Proponent’s submission of EIA documents, the EMB will assess and review the
documents. A decision will be prepared by the EMB in response to the submitted documents
within 15 to 180 days depending on the scale of the project. It may either be an
Environmental Compliance Commitment (ECC), Certificate of Non-Coverage (CNC) or a
Denial Letter.
• ECC is issued after DENR-EMB explains the ECC conditions. The Proponent will sign
the sworn undertaking of full responsibility over implementation of specified
measures. It reiterates the vital measures needed to ensure to comply with existing
environmental regulations or to operate within best environmental practices that are
not currently covered by existing laws. It is intended to critically guide the
Proponent’s performance against its EIA commitments. As such, the requirement of
very specific dimensions of project facilities or billboards announcing the ECC
issuance shall not be made an ECC condition to allow the Proponent flexibility in its
project design within the limits and context of its ECC application. Once a project is
implemented, the ECC remains valid and active for the lifetime of the project.

• CNC is given if, based on the submitted Project Description Report, the project is not
covered by the EIS System and is not required to secure an ECC. The EMB will also
include in the CNC, suggestions and recommendations to the Proponent regarding
other documents/permits needed by the Proponent to comply with the requirements
of other DENR offices, LGUs or other government agencies where the project is
covered. However, it is important to take note that DENR-EMB cannot require an ECC
or deny a CNC application for a project that is confirmed to be not an ECP and not
within an ECA as evident on the decided case in Davao (DENR Region XI vs. City of
Davao, G.R. #148622).

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• A Denial Letter will be given by EMB in case of disapproval of the application. It
includes an explanation and guidelines on how the application can be improved to a
level of acceptability in the next EIA process. In cases where additional information is
requested by the EMB and still the documents still deemed to be unsatisfactory, a
denial letter is also given. While non-submission of an additional information within
the agreed timeframe may only result to a return of the EIA Report. Should the
Proponent fail to resubmit the EIA Report within a prescribed period, the application
is considered dropped instead of denied. Thus if the Proponent decides to pursue
acquisition of an ECC after the agreed timeframe, a new application will be submitted
together with payment of new processing fees.

Fines/Penalties/Sanctions for Violators
The fines, penalties and sanctions for violators of the Philippine EIS System is governed by
the provision of P.D. 1586, as follows: “Penalty for Violation. Any person, corporation or
partnership found violating Section 4 of this Decree, or the terms and conditions in the
issuance of the Environmental Compliance Certificate, or of the standards, rules and
regulations issued by the National Environmental Protection Council pursuant to this Decree
shall be punished the suspension or cancellation of his/its certificate and/or a fine in an
amount not to exceed fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) for every violation thereof, at the
discretion of the National Environmental Protection Council.”
Moreover, Section 4 of P.D. 1586 also states that “No person, partnership or corporation shall
undertake or operate any such declared environmentally critical project or area without first
securing an Environmental Compliance Certificate issued by the President or his duly
authorized representative.”
The directors of EMB Central Office or Regional Office are tasked to impose these
fines/penalties/sanctions upon persons or entities found violating provisions of P.D. 1586
and its Implementing Rules and Regulations. In cases where detrimental effects and impacts
to the environment is evident due to project implementation, the EMB Director or the EMB-
RD may issue a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) whenever violations under the Philippine EIS
System which cannot be attributed to existing specific environmental laws. Such CDO shall
be effective immediately. Moreover, the EMB may also publish the identities of violators of
the said PD along with repeated Notices of Violation.
Fines, penalties and sanctions for violators are based on the classification of their offenses.
It can be classified into minor and major offenses in relation to ECC based on the severity of
the offenses.
1. MINOR Offenses

These include violations of administrative conditions in the ECC and the EIS System
procedures, rules and regulations that will not have direct significant impact on the
environment but can impede or delay compliance against other ECC conditions
and/or EMP commitments which the Proponent is required to comply or can
prevent/deter EMB from performing monitoring or audit functions on the
Proponent’s environmental performance. It covers:
• non-submission or delay in submission of reports/requirements, transfer of
ownership of the project/ECC without prior approval from ECC-issuing
authority
• delay or failure to initiate formation or implementation of ECC conditions
• non-compliance with other administrative conditions in the ECC

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• non-compliance with administrative and technical procedural guidelines in
the DAO 2003-30 and its Revised Procedural Manual; and
• Other offenses deemed “minor” at the discretion of the EMB CO/RO Director.

2. MAJOR Offenses

These include violations of substantive conditions in the ECC and the EIS System
procedures, rules and regulations that will have significant impact on the
environment and which the Proponent is required to comply. It covers:
• non-implementation of substantive conditions in the ECC on the EMP and
EMP and other related substantive commitments in the EIA Report, including
modifications during EIA Report Review
• exceedance of project limits or area
• significant addition of project component or product without prior DENR-
EMB approval
• major change in project process or technology resulting in unmitigated
significant impacts not addressed by approved EMP
• Other offenses deemed “major” at the discretion of the EMB CO/RO Director.

Violation of one condition in the ECC is an offense separate and distinct from the violation of
another condition and as such has cumulative fine. It is possible that a respondent be
subjected to a fine of more than P50,000.00 if more than one ECC condition is violated. The
summary of fines is presented on table 3 below.
Table 3. Fines imposed on Violators of ECC conditions based on PD 1586.

Current Issues on Philippine EIA Process
Parallel to EIA Systems of other countries, the current EIA Process of the Philippines pose
several issues regarding its implementation. Several advantages and disadvantages of its
implementation were assessed by both local and international researchers considered as
experts in the field which were published in reputable journals for wider dissemination.
It is a fact that institutional problems and bias are vital barriers to effective implementation
of EIA. As such, the inclusion of public consultation which was made compulsory in 1996 is
an advantage of the Philippine EIA Process which was adopted by other countries such as
Pakistan. However, as based on the study of Nadeem et al. (2016), EIA related documents in

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the Philippines are not easily accessible to the public due to fear, uncertainty and lack of
experience in handling controversial projects. Moreover, public hearings are conducted
haphazardly with inadequate and poor presentation due to time constraints and lack of skills
within the government to handle social issues (Gera, 2016). As such, there is a weak influence
of the public concerns on the decision due to imbalance weighing of economic benefits and
possible environmental impacts of the project. Thus, the process is lacking in terms of
conflict management and dispute resolution. An example was the CALA National Road
Project in the country which was implemented in 2006. The statistics of the said project was
presented by Kamijo and Huang in their published research article in 2017. In their study, it
was presented that even though local government representatives were present as well as
members of the barangay, their concern regarding environmental issues were limited to 5%
and 3% respectively. Thus, their public involvement only corresponds to 14% and 21%
respectively which is mainly attributed to their concern regarding social issues.
Thus, despite the strong and strengthened legal framework regarding EIA implementation
in the country, several DENR Department Administrative Orders created loop holes on the
process (Osorio et al., 2015). DENR Department Administrative Order 30 s. 2003 no longer
includes the conduct of public consultations as mandatory requirements for imposing social
acceptability of a project as part of the EIA Report submitted to EMB. As such, emphasis must
be given towards preserving the remaining natural resource base in the country by exploring
options to review and improve the present environmental framework and other related
actions where EIA is vital.

References

Eisma-Osorio, R. L., & Estenzo-Ramos, G. Legal and Policy Responses towards Climate Change
Adaptation in the Philippines. Rule of Law for Good Environmental Governance, 82.
Environmental Management Bureau, Philippines. 2007. Revised Procedural Manual for
DENR Administrative Order No. 30 s. 2003
Gera, W. (2016). Public participation in environmental governance in the Philippines: The
challenge of consolidation in engaging the state. Land use policy, 52, 501-510.
International Association for Impact Assessment & Institute of Environmental Assessment,
UK. 1999. Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment Best Practice.
Kamijo, T., & Huang, G. (2017). Enhancing the discussion of alternatives in EIA using
principle component analysis leads to improved public involvement. Environmental
Impact Assessment Review, 65, 63-74.
Nadeem, O., Hameed, R., & Haydar, S. (2016). Public consultation and participation in EIA in
Pakistan and lessons learnt from international practices. Pakistan Journal of
Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Presidential Decree 1586.

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)

MIGUEL R. SANTOS, PhD.

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