Wet and Dry Deposition Monitoring are conducted to measure the concentrations and fluxes of acidic and other substances deposited in the ground. It intends to provide the observational basis for the evaluation of long-range transport of pollutants and the validation of deposition models.

Soil and Vegetation Monitoring: Acid deposition due to acid precipitation and acidic gases may cause soil acidification, nutrient imbalance, and/or direct damage to plant body, and may become a cause of forest decline. Since the forest/tree declining process is relatively slow and complicated, it is important to monitor soil and vegetation for a long-term evaluation for the description of the acidification and declining processes.

Inland aquatic environment monitoring is conducted to accumulate baseline data on the inland aquatic environment and to evaluate the current situation and to detect possible impacts of acid deposition on the inland aquatic environment in early stages

Catchment-Scale Monitoring is an integrated monitoring that includes atmospheric deposition (wet deposition and dry deposition), soil, vegetation, and inland water to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative effects of acid deposition on the ecosystem.

This project aims to develop the Interim Sediment Quality Guidelines (SedQG) for Metals in Freshwater Sediment by generating evidence-based and site-specific data through the conduct of research studies. The SedQG for metals typically includes specific criteria for the concentrations of metals which could cause adverse effects to biota thriving in a particular ecosystem. Moreover, it can be used to complement the existing Philippine Water Quality Guidelines in assessing the overall quality of our inland/freshwater, and marine waters.

The development of interim SedQG for the Philippines can serve the following primary purposes: (1) to determine sediments that are highly impacted by contaminants or those in which concentrations of contaminants may pose adverse effects to aquatic organisms; and (2) to guide and enable environmental regulators in arriving at scientifically sound decisions especially those relevant to planning, permitting, environmental monitoring and assessment and risk-based assessments to enable the protection of aquatic environment.

The SCM is a simplified and standardized guide in sediment collection in various environments such as rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. It aims to improve and standardize sediment collection procedures for various analytical and biological testing to ensure more reliable and accurate sediment collection programs which follow international standards.

The intended users of SCM are the EMB technical staff in the Central and Regional Offices as well as for other agencies/institutions engaged in sediment sample collection.

The EMB is also part of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Monitoring Network in East Asia (POPsEA) Project. This is in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment – Japan (MoEJ) through the Japan Environmental Sanitation Center (JESC) which aims to establish a collaborative network and assist East Asian countries in building up their capabilities for POPs monitoring and providing data on levels of these pollutants in ambient air from the 11 member countries to the project.

The objective of the ambient air monitoring is to identify suitable monitoring sites in the East Asian Region for effectiveness evaluation under Article 16 of the Stockholm Convention.

For the Philippines, the identified site for the project was Mt. Sto. Tomas in Benguet.