Environmental Planning Board Exam Roadmap

I wished someone showed me a roadmap of topics I needed to study when I prepared and took my Environmental Planning (EnP.) Board Exam in 2015. The coverage is overwhelming. I really do not know where to start. Fortunately, I passed the exam and became an Urban Planner. Nevertheless, I do not want future test takers to experience my chaotic system in preparing for the Board Exam. Hence, this is the reason for this blog entry.

Are you the type of person who wants to see the big picture and its small components? Do you want to see how the parts fit in the bigger picture? If you are a checklist / to-do list type of person, do you want to cross-out the item that you already accomplished/read/studied? Somewhat giving you a sense of accomplishment, small win, and motivation to go on to the next task? Then, what you need is a Roadmap, something tangible that you can monitor your progress and help you manage your time. You need a roadmap for your upcoming exam.

A Planner always sees the big picture and how the small important parts fit in the big picture.

I made a simple roadmap and I’ll share it with you. The roadmap is a product of a combination of the provisions of RA 10587 (Environmental Planning Act of 2013), my subjects when I studied in the University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning (UP SURP), and my EnP. Board exam and American Institute of Environmental Planners (AICP) review materials.

Environmental Planning Board Exam Roadmap

Based on RA 10587 (Environmental Planning Act of 2013) a test taker should obtain a weighted average of not less than seventy percent (70%) and a rating of not less than fifty percent (50%) in the three areas (exams) in the EnP. Board exam. The three areas are the following:
(a) History, concepts, theories and principles of environmental planning;
(b) Environmental planning process, methods/techniques and strategies; and
(c) Environmental plan implementation, legal aspects and administration.

According to the law the subject areas and syllabi shall include topics and subtopics in accordance with the syllabi or tables of specifications of subjects for licensure examinations by the Board in consultation with the academe and the Accredited Professional Organization (APO) and that the subject areas and syllabi may be revised as the need arises to conform to changes and new developments brought about by trends in the practice of environmental planning.

However, when I checked if there are already an updated subject areas and syllabi, I always end up downloading Board of Environmental Planning Resolution No. 01, Series of 2000 Revised Syllabi for the Environmental Planner Licensure Examination. It has 5 Areas of coverage. In this blog, allow me to follow the new law (2013) and expound on its 3 coverage areas.

Board of Environmental Planning Resolution No. 01, Series of 2000 Revised Syllabi for the Environmental Planner Licensure Examination.

The first area (Area 1) is what I call the Planning Basics.

It consists of topics related to history, concepts, theories and principles of environmental planning. I’m adding another topic in Area 1 which is Functional Areas of Practice. This is where we can find actual application of planning theories and concepts. I further subdivided it into sectoral, temporal, and level/organization.

The sectoral functional area of practice can be subdivided into five (5) sectors which we can still subdivide into sub-sectors. The first sector is economic. The economic sector has primary, secondary and tertiary sub-sectors. The second sector is environment. The environment sector has air, water, and land sub-sectors. The third sector is social. The social sector has may sub-sectors such as health, education, housing, peace and security, water supply and sanitation, transport and poverty alleviation, among others. You will learn the concepts of equality, equity and inclusive in the social sector. The fourth is the infrastructure sector. The infrastructure sector supports the other sectors by providing the needed facility such as buildings, roads, bridges, utility infrastructure, etc. The last is the institutional sector. This is the administration and management side of planning. You will learn the concepts of efficiency, accountability, transparency, good governance and citizen participation, among others, in the social sector.

It is easy to get confused in studying the different sectors because all these sectors are inter-related. You cannot plan a sector without considering the influence of the other sectors nor its effects to the other sectors.

The temporal-based simply deals with the timeframe of a plan. There are long-term, medium-term, short-term, annual, and term-based plans. You need to get familiar to the different types of plans.

The third functional areas of practice subtopic under (Area 1) the Planning Basics is the level of planning/organizations. Planning and plans are formulated and implemented in different levels and organizations. There are agreements and policies such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the international level. There are plans at the national level. There are also plans at the local government unit (LGU) level (province, cities, municipalities and barangays). There are also plans made and implemented by the private sectors, non-government organizations, and people’s organizations.

The second area (Area 1) is composed of Environmental planning process, methods/techniques and strategies. I subdivided it into four sub-areas.

The first sub-area is the Rationalized Planning System (RPS). The main reference for this topic is the book of Prof. Serrote. It gives the reader the big picture of the actual planning system in the Philippines. It discusses the relationship of the different plans as well the actors involved in the plan formulation. It describes how the different small planning parts fit in the bigger planning system. If there is one book you should not miss to read in the review, it’s the RPS of Prof. Serrote.

The second sub-area is about Stakeholders Participation, GIS and Other Planning Tools. A part of every plan is the inputs of stakeholders. This may be in the form of market research, focus group discussion, surveys, etc. Plans are made to benefit a certain group of people (beneficiaries). It is common sense to involve them as early in the planning process. A geographic information system (GIS) is a data tool used in planning. It captures, analyses, and presents planning data/information. As for the exam, you do not need to learn how to formulate a map using GIS. What is important is you know the concepts, importance, and planning applications of GIS.

The third sub-area is research, quantitative methods and data collection. Plans are formulated based on data collected. These data are the basis of the plan. Planners decide on what data are needed, how to acquire these data and analyze them and make them useful information to be considered in plan formulation. As for the exam, you need to study basic background and methods used in research.

The fourth sub-area is Plan Making / Process. Planning is a journey and a plan is a tangible output. The output is the actual or physical plan (document). The journey is the process. The process is composed of steps. The planning steps are generic and simple. However, there are some modifications or differences in the steps depending on the plan or the institution that provided the guidelines. Two non-negotiable and must-know plans in the LGU level are the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) which is implemented through its Zoning Ordinance (ZO) and the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) and its Local Development Investment Program (LDIP). The former Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) now Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development e-CLUP guidelines are available online. The e-CLUP guidelines describe the process of formulating the CLUP. On the other hand, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) formulated the CDP guide which is also available online.

e-CLUP Guidebooks:https://dhsud.gov.ph/guidebooks/

CDP Guidelines: https://dilg.gov.ph/PDF_File/reports_resources/dilg-reports-resources-2017110_298b91787e.pdf

The third and last area includes environmental plan implementation, legal aspects and administration. I subdivided it into two sub-areas.

The first sub-area is planning laws. There are so many planning laws to study which is overwhelming. You need to develop a system on remembering all of them. Fortunately, these laws are discussed in different study topics that you will encounter along the way. By the time you will study the actual law, I am sure that you are already familiar with it. Nevertheless, these are some of the laws that you needed to be familiar with as follows: RA 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991), RA 7718 (Build Operate Transfer Law), RA 7279 Urban Development Housing Act, RA 7899 (Condominium Act), RA No. 8435 (Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997), RA 8749 (Philippine Clean Air Act), RA 9729 (Climate Change Act), RA 10121 (Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010), RA 11038 (Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System), Batas Pambansa 220 (Socialized Housing), and of course the Environmental Planning Act of 2013 (RA 10587), among others.

Don’t worry about the Planning Laws. You’ll learn them as you go along. It will just be a review for you when you are done with the other topics.

The second sub-area is project management. Plans are implemented through projects. There are different steps in project management. In project management, a planner must know the process groups and knowledge areas. I learned all these concepts only after I passed the EnP. Board exam and took my Project Management Professional exam. As for your exam, you just need to learn the steps in project management and you’re going to be fine.

I wish you luck on your journey in becoming an Urban/Environmental Planner.

You may want also want to check my related blog entries:

How to become an Urban (Environmental) Planner? – Qualifying for the Exam

What is Urban (Environmental) Planning?

What Does an Urban Planner Do?