by
EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ
on
[ manilatimes.net ]
Establishments required to build sewage treatment plants
THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has
suspended the environmental compliance certificates (ECC) of all
business establishments on Boracay Island to allow a review of their
compliance with environmental laws.
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, through Memorandum Circular 2018-08
dated July 18, 2018, ordered the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau
(EMB) office in Region 6 (Western Visayas) to continue monitoring
Boracay establishments during the suspension of their ECCs to ensure
that there would be no violation of environmental laws.
The order also requires all properties along Boracay’s
beachfront to have sewage treatment plants (STPs) whether they connect
to the sewer lines of Boracay Island Water Company (BIWC) or not.
Small
restaurants, bars and hotels along the beachfront with five rooms and
below, and with no available space for the construction or installation
of individual or clustered STPs, are exempted from the STP requirement,
provided they secure discharge permits from the EMB Region 6 stating the
volume and quality of wastewater to be discharged.
These establishments will also be required to install pre-treatment facilities like grease traps, subject to DENR inspection.
“Those connected to the sewer line of BIWC shall also be required to
secure a Certificate of Exemption from the requirement of Discharge
Permit under Republic Act 9275 or the Clean Water Act from EMB Region 6.
This requirement is applicable to all establishments in the island
connected to BIWC sewer line. The BIWC is task[ed]to notify all its
clients of this requirement,” Cimatu said.
DENR Region 6 Director Sophie Manuel said the deadline for the
submission of applications for permits and registration as a hazardous
waste generator, as well as necessary documents for the lifting of ECC
suspension, would be on August 15.
Applications may be submitted to the National Task Force at Casa
Pilar Resort Boracay. New permits will be issued on or before September
15.
A committee composed of representatives from the DENR, EMB and Mines
and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), will be formed “very soon” to review all
Boracay establishments, Undersecretary Jonas Leones said.
Under Memorandum Circular No. 2018-08, the committee will review
establishments’ compliance with all existing ECCs and Environmental
Management Plans.
Results of a Cadastral Mapping and Carrying Capacity Study shall also be taken into full consideration.
The committee is required to submit a report to the DENR chief, either for the lifting of the suspension or cancellation.
Earlier, Cimatu said only compliant establishments would be allowed to operate when Boracay reopens on October 26, 2018.
The interagency task force for the rehabilitation of Boracay is preparing the guidelines for the reopening of the island.
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