Article 6

Waste Management Facilities

Sec. 36. Inventory of Waste Disposal Facilities. - Within six (6) months from the
effectivity of this Act, the Department, in cooperation with the DOH, DILG and other
concerned agencies, shall publish an inventory of all solid waste disposal facilities or sites
in the country.

Sec. 37. Prohibition Against the Use of Open Dumps for Solid Waste. - No open dumps
shall be established and operated, nor any practice or disposal of solid waste by any
person, including LGUs, which constitutes the use of open dumps for solid wastes, be
allowed after the effectivity of this Acts: Provided, That within three (3) years after the
effectivity of this Act, every LGU shall convert its open dumps into controlled dumps, in
accordance with the guidelines set in Sec. 41 of this Act: Provided, further, That no
controlled dumps shall be allowed five (5) years following the effectivity of this Act.

Sec. 38. Permit for Solid Waste Management Facility Construction and Expansion. - No
person shall commence operation, including site preparation and construction of a new
solid waste management facility or the expansion of an existing facility until said person
obtains an Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the Department pursuant to
P.D. 1586 and other permits and clearances form concerned agencies.

Sec. 39. Guidelines for Controlled Dumps. - The following shall be the minimum
considerations for the establishments of controlled dumps:

(a) Regular inert cover;

(b) Surface water and peripheral site drainage control;

(c) Provision for aerobic and anaerobic decomposition;

(d) Restriction of waste deposition to small working areas;

(e) Fence, including provisions for litter control;

(f) Basic record-keeping;

(g) Provision of maintained access road;

(h) Controlled waste picking and trading;

(i) Post-closure site cover and vegetation; and

(j) Hydro geological siting.

Sec. 40. Criteria for Siting a Sanitary Landfill. - The following shall be the minimum
criteria for the siting of sanitary landfills:
 (a) The site selected must be consistent with the overall land use plan of the LGU;

(b) The site must be accessible from major roadways or thoroughfares;

(c) The site should have an adequate quantity of earth cover material that is easily
handled and compacted;

(d) The site must be chosen with regard for the sensitivities of the community’s
residents;

(e) The site must be located in an area where the landfill’s operation will not
detrimentally affect environmentally sensitive resources such as aquifer,
groundwater reservoir or watershed area;

(f) The site should be large enough to accommodate the community’s wastes for a
period of five (5) years during which people must internalize the value of
environmentally sound and sustainable solid waste disposal;

(g) The site chosen should facilitate developing a landfill that will satisfy budgetary
constraints, including site development, operation for many years, closure, post-
closure care and possible remediation costs;

(h) Operating plans must include provisions for coordinating with recycling and
resource recovery projects; and

(i) Designation of a separate containment area for household hazardous wastes.

Sec. 41. Criteria for Establishment of Sanitary Landfill. - The following shall be the
minimum criteria for the establishment of sanitary landfills:
(a) Liners - a system of clay layers and/or geosynthethic membranes used to
contain leachate and reduce or prevent contaminant flow to groundwater;

(b) Leachate collection and treatment system - installation of pipes at the low areas
of the liner to collect leachate for storage and eventual treatment and discharge;

(c) Gas control and recovery system - a series of vertical wells or horizontal
trenches containing permeable materials and perforated piping placed in the
landfill to collect gas for treatment or productive use as an energy source;

(d) Groundwater monitoring well system - wells placed at an appropriate location

(e) Cover - two (2) forms of cover consisting of soil and geosynthetic materials to
protect the waste from long-term contact with the environment:

(i) a daily cover placed over the waste at the close of each day’s operations,
and;
 (ii) a final cover, or cap, which is the material placed over the completed
landfill to control infiltration of water, gas emission to the atmosphere, and
erosion.

(f) Closure procedure with the objectives of establishing low maintenance cover
systems and final cover that minimizes the infiltration of precipitation into the
waste. Installation of the final cover must be completed within six (6) months of
the last receipt of waste;

(g) Post-closure care procedure - During this period, the landfill owner shall be
responsible for providing for the general upkeep of the landfill, maintaining all of
the landfill’s environmental protection features, operating monitoring equipment,
remediating groundwater should it become contaminated and controlling landfill
gas migration or emission.

Sec. 42. Operating Criteria for Sanitary Landfills. - In the operation of a sanitary land
fill, each site operator shall maintain the following minimum operating equipment:
(a) Disposal site records of, but not limited to:
(1) Records of weights or volumes accepted in a form and manner approved
by the Department. Such records shall be submitted to the Department
upon request, accurate to within ten percent (10%) and adequate for overall
planning purposes and forecasting the rate of site filling;

(2) Records of excavations which may affect the safe and proper operation
of the site or cause damage to adjoining properties;

(3) Daily log book or file of the following information: fires, landslides,
earthquake damage, unusual and sudden settlement, injury and property
damage, accidents, explosions, receipts or rejection of unpermitted wastes,
flooding and other unusual occurrences;

(4) Record of personnel training; and

(5) Copy of written notification to the Department, local health agency, and
fire authority of names, addresses and telephone numbers of the operator
or responsible party of the site;

(b) Water quality monitoring of surface and ground waters and effluent, and gas
emissions;

(c) Documentation of approvals, determinations and other requirements by the

(d) Signs:
 (1) Each point of access from a public road shall be posted with an easily
visible sigh indicating the facility name and other pertinent information as
required by the Department;

(2) If the site is open to the public, there shall be an easily visible sign at the
primary entrance of the site indicating the name of the site operator, the
operator’s telephone number, and hours of operation; an easily visible sign
at an appropriate point shall indicate the schedule of changes and the
general types of materials which will either be accepted or not;

(3) If the site is open to the public, there shall be an easily visible road sign
and/or traffic control measures which direct traffic to the active face and
other areas where wastes or recyclable materials will be deposited; and

(4) Additional signs and/or measures may be required at a disposal site by

(e) Monitoring of quality of surface, ground and effluent waters, and gas emissions;

(f) The site shall be designed to discourage unauthorized access by persons and
vehicles by using a perimeter barrier or topographic constraints. Areas within the
site where open storage, or pounding of hazardous materials occurs shall be
separately fenced or otherwise secured as determined by the Department. The
Department may also require that other areas of the site be fenced to create an
appropriate level of security;

(g) Roads within the permitted facility boundary shall be designed to minimize the
generation of dust and the tracking of material onto adjacent public roads. Such
roads shall be kept in safe condition and maintained such that vehicle access and
unloading can be conducted during inclement weather;

(h) Sanitary facilities consisting of adequate number of toilets and handwashing

(i) Safe and adequate drinking water supply for the site personnel shall be
available;

(j) The site shall have communication facilities available to site personnel to allow
quick response to emergencies;

(k) Where operations are conducted during hours of darkness, the site and/or
equipment shall be equipped with adequate lighting as approved by the
Department to ensure safety and to monitor the effectiveness of operations;

(l) Operating and maintenance personnel shall wear and use appropriate safety
equipment as required by the Department;
(m) Personnel assigned to operate the site shall be adequately trained in subject
pertinent to the site operation and maintenance, hazardous materials recognition
and screening, and heavy equipment operations, with emphasis on safety, health,
environmental controls and emergency procedures. A record of such training shall
be placed in the operating record;

(n) The site operator shall provide adequate supervision of a sufficient number of
qualified personnel to ensure proper operation of the site in compliance with all
applicable laws, regulations, permit conditions and other requirements. The
operator shall notify the Department and local health agency in writing of the
names, addresses, and telephone number of the operator or responsible party. A
copy of the written notification shall be placed in the operation record;

(o) Any disposal site open to the public shall have an attendant present during
public operating hours or the site shall be inspected by the operator on a regularly
scheduled basis, as determined by the Department;

(p) Unloading of solid wastes shall be confined to a small area as possible to

(q) Solid waste shall be spread and compacted in layers with repeated passages of
the landfill equipment to minimize voids within the cell and maximize compaction.
The loose layer shall not exceed a depth approximately two feet before compaction.
Spreading and compacting shall be accomplished as rapidly as practicable, unless
otherwise approved by the Department;

(r) Covered surfaces of the disposal area shall be graded to promote lateral runoff
of precipitation and to prevent pounding. Grades shall be established of sufficient
slopes to account for future settlement of the fill surface. Other effective
maintenance methods may be allowed by the Department; and

(s) Cover material or native material unsuitable for cover, stockpiled on the site for
use or removal, shall be placed so as not to cause problems or interfere with
unloading, spreading, compacting, access, safety drainage, or other operations.