The mining-audit criteria now being finalized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will not just be about the technical aspects of mining operations, something big miners are confident of hurdling.
For the new DENR chief, the impact on people and the environment will get more weight.
“We will suspend all mining operations that lead to suffering and destroy the environment. The audit will not just be technical, it will [also be] social and environmental,” Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez said in a text message.
Lopez already ordered a moratorium on the approval of new mining projects, aside from the mining audit to evaluate the performance of all mining operations, including extraction of nonmetallic minerals, quarry and small-scale mining.
Asked if the mining audit criteria would also lead to the imposition of higher fines, she said: “I honestly don’t know if that’s in my area of decision. [I] will find out.”
The DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) will release the criteria that will be used to rate the performance of mining companies in operating their mines.
The criteria, MGB Director Leo L. Jasareno said, are not “new” and have been in the rules ever since. It would be in accordance with the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, Executive Order (EO) 79 and DENR Administrative Order 2015-07, which requires mining companies to secure an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification.
“They [audit criteria] are not new. They have just been there as part of the rules. They are just being included as part of the audit criteria,” Jasareno said.
Lopez, Jasareno added, wants the audit to be airtight and mining companies penalized based on the soon-to-be released criteria.
One of such criteria that would warrant possible stoppage of operation is the ISO 14001. It sets out the criteria for an Environmental Management System (EMS). It maps out a framework, which a company or organization can follow to minimize impact to the environment, comply with applicable laws, regulations and other environment-oriented requirements, and continually improve their operation.
Failure to comply with the requirement could lead to the suspension of the company’s environmental compliance certificate (ECC) and nonissuance of ore transport and/or mineral export permit.
Only about 30 percent of the more than 40 mining companies operating in the Philippines have secured ISO 14001 certification as of June 30, the deadline set by the order signed last year by Lopez’s predecessor, Ramon J.P. Paje.
“We are now coming up with a criteria in the conduct of the new mining audit. There will be a rating system, wherein mining companies would be evaluated based on their performance,” Jasareno said.
He said: “We want to see whether a specific violation would warrant suspension of operations.”
Jasareno added that the various complaints filed against mining companies would also be considered in the conduct of the mining audit.
The DENR-MGB central office receives copies of various complaints filed against mining companies at the city, provincial and regional level of the MGB. The MGB’s field offices are authorized to take appropriate measures based on their assessment on the ground, but Jasareno said the DENR-MGB will now conduct ground validation of the complaints, as well.
Meanwhile, Jasareno said that, as part of the previous mining audit under EO 79, the MGB had already caused the cancellation of 12 idle mining contracts and the suspension of 12 nickel mines for various violations of the mining law since 2012.
He said more than half of the 40 operating large-scale mines are frequent violators, but none of them were considered as “serious violations.”
The companies violating the conditions of their contract, majority of which were also slapped with equivalent amount of penalty depending on the discretion of who conducted the review, were suspended for a period ranging from one to three months.
Jasareno said the violations were mostly “minor” that warranted mere “slap in the wrist.” The most serious offense committed under the ongoing performance evaluation under EO 79, he said, was in 2014 in the province of Zambales, wherein all four nickel mines were issued suspension orders.
Two of the mines, which were issued a temporary lifting order for substantial compliance of the conditions set by the MGB, were issued a preventive suspension order on July 7 on account of the Supreme Court writ of Kalikasan issued on June 21, and EO 1 issued by the provincial government of Zambales on July 1. The orders, in effect, stopped all mining operations in the province.
The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) had earlier challenged the DENR and the MGB to release the result of the first review mandated by EO 79.
Sought for his reaction, Jasareno said 12 nonperforming mining contracts have been canceled by the DENR as a result of the ongoing review. This, he said, is in line with the “use it, or lose it” policy under the Aquino administration and Paje.
As far as the violations of operating mines are concerned, most involve housekeeping, failure to put up appropriate signage and maintaining the cleanliness of the mining facility.
“If there were serious offense, it would have warranted indefinite suspension or closure,” Jasareno said.
He said the nickel mines were suspended for “exceeding the TSS or total suspended solid” of wastewater discharged by the companies. This led to the discoloration of water bodies, such as rivers or coastal waters, in Zambales.
“Exceeding suspended solid of discharge by mining companies from water impoundment to water bodies, under the ECC, you are penalized,” he said. “Depending on excess [TSS limit], there is corresponding penalty.”