Laguna Lake Development Authority

Laguna Lake Development Authority
LLDA
Agency overview
Formed October 1, 1969 (1969-10-01)
Headquarters LLDA Green Building, National Ecology Center, East Avenue, Diliman Quezon City 1101 Philippines
Agency executive
  • Jaime "Joey" C. Medina, General Manager
Parent department Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Website www.llda.gov.ph

The Philippines' Laguna Lake Development Authority abbreviated as LLDA is one of the attached agencies of the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources responsible in the preservation, development and sustainability of the Laguna de Bay and its 21 major tributary rivers.The Laguna Lake Development Authority was created by Republic Act No. 4850 (as amended by Presidential Decree 813), entitled: AN ACT CREATING THE LAGUNA LAKE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, PRESCRIBING ITS POWERS, FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREOF, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

History

The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) was established in 1966 as a quasi-government agency that leads, promotes, and accelerates sustainable development in the Laguna de Bay Region.[1] Regulatory and law-enforcement functions are carried out with provisions on environmental management, particularly on water quality monitoring, conservation of natural resources, and community-based natural resource management.[2]

Its mission is to catalyze Integrated Water Resource Management in the Laguna de Bay Region, showcasing the symbiosis of man and nature for sustainability, with focus on preserving ecological integrity and promoting economic growth with equitable access to resources.

While water levels in Angat and La Mesa reservoirs remain at alert level, Laguna de Bay boasts of its abundant water that is now tapped by Maynilad Water Services, Inc. to supply the water needs of the communities in Muntinlupa, Las Pinas and nearby areas.

The LLDA, as early as August 7, 2009, approved the water permit application of Maynilad to allow the West Zone concessionaire to abstract 100 million liters per day of lake water to be made available for domestic consumption. Maynilad started the production of 50 MLD last June 2010 and expects to produce 100 MLD in September this year using surface raw water from Laguna de Bay.[3]

Programs

The Environmental User Fee System

To realize the objectives of the creation of LLDA, the agency implemented policies to curb the possibility of stressing the lake’s assimilative capacity. The most recent policy was the Environmental User Fee System (EUFS). The EUFS was implemented by virtue of LLDA Board Resolution 22 in 1996. The objective of the policy was to “…(reduce) the pollution loading in to the Laguna de Bay by enjoining all discharges of liquid wastes to internalize the cost of environmental degradation…”. Formally, the said board resolution aptly defined the EUFS as a “market–based” policy instrument aimed at reducing the pollution loading in the lake. As such, companies found to have unusually high concentration of pollutants in their emissions, need to pay fines or lake “user–fees”.

The system encourages companies to invest in and operate pollution prevention and/or abatement systems in their establishment. Applying the "polluter pays principle", the system effects direct accountability for damage inflicted on the integrity of the Laguna de Bay region thereby encouraging individuals and business establishments to internalize into their decision-making process the environmental impacts of their day-to-day activities. The EUFS covers all enterprises in the administrative jurisdiction of LLDA that discharge wastewater in the Laguna de Bay system. These include commercial and industrial establishments; agro-based industries and establishments (such as swine farms and slaughterhouses); clustered dwellings (i.e., residential subdivisions); and domestic households[5]

Under the EUFS, a firm is required to secure a discharge permit which is renewed annually at the LLDA. The discharge permit effectively allows the firm to discharge its wastewater to the lake or through its main tributaries. The discharge permit gives the establishment a legal right to dispose their waste water in the Laguna de Bay region. Wastewater is basically sewage, storm water, and water used around the community, including firms.

Domestic wastewater includes black water, or wastewater from toilets, and gray water, which is wastewater from all sources except toilets. Black water and gray water have different characteristics, but both contain pollutants and disease-causing agents that require monitoring. Nondomestic wastewater is generated by offices, businesses, department stores, restaurants, schools, hospitals, farms, manufacturers, and other commercial, industrial, and institutional entities. Storm water is a nonresidential source and carries trash and other pollutants from streets, as well as pesticides and fertilizers from yards and fields.[6]

The EUF is paid for the amount of pollution that is discharged into the tributary rivers in the Laguna de Bay region. It is composed of a fixed fee and a variable fee. The fixed fee covers the administrative cost implementing the Environmental Users Fee System and is based on the volume of wastewater that is discharged.

According to LLDA Board Resolution 33, as amended, the fixed fee is different for those firms that discharge wastewater without or with heavy metals.

Wastewater without heavy metals:

Fee Volume of Wastewater Discharge
PhP 24,000 More than 150 m3 per day
PhP 16,000 Between 30 and 150 m3 per day
PhP 8,000 Less than 30 m3 per day

Wastewater with heavy metals:

Fee Volume of Wastewater Discharge
PhP 12,000 Less than 150 m3 per day
PhP 24,000 More than 150 m3 per day

The fixed fee also depends on the volume of wastewater discharged. For a firm that discharges wastewater without heavy metals, the fee is PhP 24,000 if the discharge is more than 150 m3 per day, PhP 16,000 if the discharge is between 30 and 150 m3 per day, and PhP 8,000 if the discharge volume is less than 30 m3 per day. Those firms that discharge wastewater with heavy metals pay higher fixed fees. The fee is PhP 12,000 for a firm that discharge less than 150 m3 of wastewater with heavy metals per day and PhP 24,000 if the discharge is more than 150 m3 per day.

The variable fee is calculated with the reference to the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) loading as well as to the volume and concentration of the wastewater being discharged. According to the same policy, the variable fees is PhP 30 per kilogram of total BOD5 when the BOD5 concentration is less than 50 milligrams per liter and PhP 30 per kilogram of total BOD5 when the BOD5 concentration is greater than 50 milligrams per liter.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "LLDA Mandate". Asian Environmental Compliance & Enforcement Network (AECEN). Retrieved 2007-03-02.
  2. ↑ "LLDA Permits and Guidelines". Philippine Economic Zone Authority. Archived from the original on 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2007-03-02.
  3. ↑ "Maynilad allowed to draw water from Laguna Lake". Gma Network.
  4. ↑ Canonoy, Francis (1997). "Lake Laguna's Environmental User Fee System". UN ESCAP. Archived from the original on 2007-08-11. Retrieved 2007-03-02.
  5. ↑ Laguna Lake Development Authority (2001) Annual financial report CY 2001. Pasig City, Metro Manila: Author
  6. ↑ "Wastewater, 2005". Taylor, C, Yahner J., & Jones, D. Archived from the original on 2007-03-16. Retrieved 2007-01-07.

See also

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