DENR Administrative Order No. 15 of 2013 on the Guidelines on the Operationalization of the Area Water Quality Management Fund (AWQMF) under Republic Act No. 9275.

This Administrative Order, consisting of 21 sections, establishes the Guidelines on the Operationalization of the Area Water Quality Management Fund (AWQMF) under Republic Act No. 9275. This Order shall set forth the procedures to be followed in the operationalization of the AWQMF designated for each WQMA. This Order shall cover all the AWQMF to be designated in all WQMA to support the maintenance, management and protection of water bodies within the WQMA. It aims at protecting and preserving the country's fresh, brackish and marine waters, through the following: a. streamlining of the processes and procedures in the prevention, control and abatement of pollution; b. formulating an integrated water quality management framework through proper delegation and effective coordination of functions and activities; c. formulating and enforcing an accountability system for short and long-term adverse environmental impact of a project, program of activity; d. designating of Water Quality Management Areas (WQMAs) for effective integrated management of physiographic units such as watersheds, river basins, or water resource regions; and e. establishing AWQMF to be used in accordance with Section 10 and its utilization for the most cost-effective strategies to achieve such objective.