Pursuant to Section 10 of EO No. 74 series of 2019, the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) was issued to prescribe the necessary requirements, rules and regulations for the approval of reclamation projects and reclamation components of development/infrastructure projects.

Listed below are the documents related to applying for a reclamation project:

1.Executive Order No. 74 series of 2019 and its IRR
2.Flowchart on Processing of Applications to Reclaim
3.Reclamation Fees

Reclamation is a deliberate process of converting foreshore land, submerged areas or bodies of water into land by filling or other means using dredge fill and other suitable materials for specific purpose (s).

Land reclamation is of two different types. One involves a change from an area's natural state, the other restoring an area to a more natural state. The first one can refer to creating dry land from an area covered by water, such as a sea, lake or swamp, while the second one can refer to bringing the land, damaged from natural or human causes, back into use for growing trees or agricultural crops.

Reclamation component refers to the reclamation as a component of a development or infrastructure project such as roads, expressways, bridges, ports, airports, power plants and other similar projects which must be adjacent to the main project area.

Dredging is a process of excavating materials underwater. It is used to deepen waterways, harbors, and docks and for mining alluvial mineral deposits, including tin, gold, diamonds and marine sand for reclamation purpose.

It is an excavation activity usually carried out underwater, in shallow seas or freshwater areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location.

The uses are:

• Capital: dredging carried out to create a new harbor, berth or waterway, or to deepen existing facilities in order to allow larger ships access.
• Preparatory: work and excavation for future bridges, piers or docks/wharves, often connected with foundation
• Maintenance: dredging to deepen or maintain navigable waterways or channels which are threatened to become silted with the passage of time, due to sedimented sand and mud, possibly making them too shallow for navigation.
• Land reclamation: dredging to mine sand, clay or rock from the seabed and using it to construct new land elsewhere. The material may also be used for flood or erosion
• Beach nourishment: mining sand offshore and placing on a beach to replace sand eroded by storms or wave action. This is done to enhance the recreational and protective function of the beaches, which can be eroded by human activity or by storms.
• Harvesting materials: dredging sediment for elements like gold, diamonds or other valuable trace substances.
• Seabed mining: a possible future use, recovering natural metal ore nodules from the sea's abyssal plains.
• Construction materials: dredging sand and gravels from offshore licensed areas for use in construction industry, principally for use in concrete.
• Anti-eutrophication: Dredging is an expensive option for the remediation of eutrophied (or de-oxygenated) water bodies. However, as artificially elevated phosphorus levels in the sediment aggravate the eutrophication process, controlled sediment removal is occasionally the only option for the reclamation of still waters.
• Contaminant remediation: to reclaim areas affected by chemical spills, storm water surges (with urban runoff), and other soil contaminations. Disposal becomes a proportionally large factor in these operations.
• Removing trash and debris: often done in combination with maintenance dredging, this process removes non-natural matter from the bottoms of rivers and canals and harbors.
• Flood prevention: this can help to increase channel depth and therefore increase a channel's capacity for carrying water.
• Peat extraction: in former times, so-called dredging poles or dredge hauls were used on the back of small boats to manually dredge the beds of peat-moor waterways before extracting the peat for use as a fuel.
• Oyster dredging or harvesting.
• As a hobby: hobbyists examine their dredged matter to pick out items of potential value, similar to the hobby of metal detecting, or the hobby form of dumpster diving, on land

The activity of dredging can create the following principal impacts to the environment:

• Release of toxic chemicals (including heavy metals and PCB) from bottom sediments into the water column
• Collection of heavy metals lead left by fishing, bullets, 98% mercury reclaimed [natural occurring and left over from gold rush era].
• Short term increases in turbidity, which can affect aquatic species metabolism and interfere with spawning. Suction dredging activity is allowed only during non-spawning time frames set by fish and game (in-water work periods).
• Secondary impacts to marsh productivity from sedimentation
• Tertiary impacts to avifauna which may prey upon contaminated aquatic organisms
• Secondary impacts to aquatic and benthic organisms' metabolism and mortality
• Possible contamination of dredge spoils sites
• Changes to the topography by the creation of "spoil islands" from the accumulated spoil
• Releases toxic compound Tributyltin, a popular biocide used in anti-fouling paint banned in 2008, back into the water.

Dredge fill Materials refers to suitable materials taken from the seabed which may be used for reclamation without undergoing processing.

Based on the specifications of the Department of Public Works and Highways, the possible filling materials that could be used in the construction of earth embankments and/or reclamation are marine sand, river sand and aggregates, selected earth and volcanic soil that possess strong flexural and compressive strength. The ideal filling material should likewise possess an specific gravity of about 1.50 tons per cubic meter and particle sizes ranging in diameter from 0.0625 mm (or  1⁄16 mm) to 2 mm. “Aggregates” refers to unconsolidated or loose sand, gravel or boulder on the seafloor that is suited for reclamation, concreting and other engineering works.

Contractors and Proponents can source these filling materials from inland quarry sources (i.e. flat lands, hills and mountains), rivers, coastal, offshore areas provided these aggregates possesses the minimum standard specifications for reclamation purposes, and from seafloor or bodies of water.

Anything can be built on a reclaimed land just like a natural land feature provided that the reclamation is properly done. Power plants, water systems, commercial buildings, industrial establishments, airports, seaports, and housing units, among others, can be built on reclaimed land.

We reclaim land when overriding public interest requires it, not just for profit nor the passion of filling the sea. In doing so, these gives an opportunity for the creation of a well-planned place and community when the nearby urban areas are experiencing decay and overcrowding or where businesses and the people are no longer happy to live, work and do business. Likewise, we reclaim land to create a large space as a viable and practical option rather than procure right–of-ways in decongested urban areas to be used as platform for vital government infrastructure projects such as airports, ports, roads, bridges, water and power utilities or simply to decongest traffic in a particular area.

The following maybe considered as benefits of reclamation:

1. Could be used as satellite area of nearby urban centers where infrastructure project/s are urgently necessary to be available at an expected time or when urban centers offers no alternative at all;
2. New spaces for economic, social and governmental activities;
3. A place to choose where people can happily live and work together;
4. To protect the coastal zone from the effects of climate change.

Land reclamation increases the area of usable land. With the amount of usable land increased, the land can now support more people. Land reclamation is a solution to the problem of overcrowding. It allows further growth of the country's industries as there is now space for them to expand.

Reclaimed land can be used for any purpose. It can be used for agriculture, building houses, schools, offices, factories and roads, as well as recreational purposes.

An individual and/or partnership of Filipino citizens and or local and foreign firms or a consortium thereof provided that it possesses all the legal qualifications under the Philippine Laws and Constitution and are likewise qualified under the rules, regulations and guidelines issued by pertinent government agencies and instrumentalities are all qualified to undertake reclamation projects in the Philippines.

• Projects initiated/proposed by the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA)
• Initiated by local government units (LGUs) pursuant to RA.7610, otherwise known as Local Government Code of 1991, that are either: (i) wholly funded out by LGUs and for public use; and (ii) funded through partnership with private sector/entity through Public Private Partnership (PPP) in accordance with the Philippine Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law, Joint Venture (JV) Guidelines, or such other applicable laws, rules and regulations, and for any use.
• Reclamation projects/components of a development or infrastructure project of any national government or any national government agencies or government-owned and –controlled corporations (GOCCs) defined under RA No. 10149 known as GOCC Governance Act of 2011, mandated under existing laws to reclaim but not limited to, the following agencies: Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corp. (PHIVIDEC), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and National Power Corporation (NPC), that are either: (i) wholly funded out of the GOCC corporate funds/National Government Agency (NGAs) allotment from the General Appropriations Act (GAA), proceeds from loan, borrowing or similar instruments; and (ii) funded through partnership with private sector/entity through PPP in accordance with the Philippine BOT Law, JV Guidelines, or such other laws, rules and regulations, and for any use.