Circular No. 09/2016/TT-BTNMT on the construction and examination of weather modification plans

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the preparation and review of weather modification plans

Pursuant to the Law on Meteorology and Hydrology"b) In addition to the lists of public services issued according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree, specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees shall report to the provincial People's Committee for decision-making on amending, supplementing, or issuing the list of public services funded by the state budget within their jurisdiction and consistent with the local budget capacity within the approved budget by the Provincial People's Assembly, and send it to the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and sectors for supervision during implementation." dated May 11 Pursuant to Decree No. 32/2019/NĐ-CP dated April 10, 2019 of the Government on assigning tasks, procurement or tendering for the supply of products and services using state budget from regular operating expenses;15;

/NĐ-CP of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the State Bank of Vietnam;1/2013/2013/ND-CPgdated March 4, 2013 of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and responsibilitiesonvề nhiệm vụ và cơ cấu tổ chức của Bộ Tài nguyên và Môi trường;

Considering the proposal of the Director of the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology"b) In addition to the lists of public services issued according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree, specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees shall report to the provincial People's Committee for decision-making on amending, supplementing, or issuing the list of public services funded by the state budget within their jurisdiction and consistent with the local budget capacity within the approved budget by the Provincial People's Assembly, and send it to the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and sectors for supervision during implementation." and the Head of the Legal Departmentamendof the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, amended and supplemented by Decree No. 109/2025/NĐ-CP and Decree No. 193/2025/NĐ-CPThe Minister of Natural Resources and Environment issues this Circular regulating the preparation and review of weather modification plans"b) In addition to the lists of public services issued according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree, specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees shall report to the provincial People's Committee for decision-making on amending, supplementing, or issuing the list of public services funded by the state budget within their jurisdiction and consistent with the local budget capacity within the approved budget by the Provincial People's Assembly, and send it to the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and sectors for supervision during implementation." This Circular regulates the preparation and review of weather modification plans in accordance with Clause 8, Article 44 of the Law on Meteorology and Hydrology.

This Circular applies to agencies, organizations, and individuals related to weather modification activities.rime Minister cArticle 3. Preparation of Weather Modification Planspolicies 1. Agencies and organizations specified in Article 43 of the Law on Meteorology and Hydrology that have a need for weather modification shall prepare weather modification plans in accordance with Appendix No. 01 of this Circular and submit them to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for review and approval within their authority or for approval by the Prime Minister in accordance with regulations.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

2. Weather modification plans under the cases specified in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of Article 42 of the Law on Meteorology and Hydrology shall be prepared, approved, and implemented for each instance of weather modification.

Article 2. Applicability

3. Weather modification plans under the case specified in Clause 4 of Article 42 of the Law on Meteorology and Hydrology shall be prepared, approved, and implemented multiple times within a period of 12 months from the date of approval.

Article 4. Soliciting Opinions on Weather Modification Plans

1. Agencies and organizations specified in Clause 1 of Article 3 of this Circular must organize the collection of opinions from the local community directly affected during the process of preparing weather modification plans in accordance with Clause 3 of Article 44 of the Law on Meteorology and Hydrology, following the procedures as follows:

a) Agencies and organizations send weather modification plans to the People's Committee of communes, wards, towns (hereinafter referred to collectively as the People's Committee at the commune level) or the People's Committee of districts, cities directly under provinces, provincial cities (hereinafter referred to collectively as the People's Committee at the district level) according to the cases specified in Clauses 3, 4, and 5 of this Article, along with a request for comments.

b) Within a maximum of 20 working days from the date of receipt of the plan preparation agency or organization's document, the People's Committee at the commune level or the People's Committee at the district level shall provide feedback on each content of the weather modification plan.

2. Collecting opinions from the local community on weather modification plans shall be conducted through community meetings comprising representatives of the Vietnam Fatherland Front at the commune level, political and social organizations, occupational social organizations, and representatives of some residential wards, villages, and hamlets directly affected by the weather modification plan.

4. In cases where the area directly affected by the weather modification plan involves two or more administrative units at the commune level, the plan preparation agency or organization shall coordinate with the People's Committee at the district level to collect opinions from community representatives of the administrative units at the commune level where the plan is expected to be implemented.

5. In cases where the area directly affected by the weather modification plan involves two or more administrative units at the district level, the plan preparation agency or organization shall coordinate with each People's Committee at the district level to collect opinions from community representatives of the administrative units at the commune level where the plan is expected to be implemented.

6. The People's Committee at the district level specified in Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article may invite representatives of the participants specified in Clause 2 of this Article to participate in the community meeting through the People's Committee at the commune level in the directly affected area.

7. The plan preparation agency or organization shall be responsible for compiling a report summarizing the opinions of the local community.

7. The agency or organization drafting the weather modification plan shall be responsible for compiling a report summarizing the opinions of the community.

Opinions of participants in the community meeting must be fully and truthfully reflected in the minutes of the meeting and the summary report of the community's opinions attached to the dossier of the weather modification plan submitted for review and approval by the competent state authority.

The documents for requesting review of weather modification plan shall be prepared in five (5) sets to be submitted to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, including the following documents:

1. A document requesting approval of the weather modification plan established according to Appendix No. 02 of this Circular.

2. The weather modification plan as stipulated in Article 3 of this Circular, accompanied by documents soliciting opinions from the local community directly affected by the plan.

Article 6. Review of Weather Modification Plan

Depending on each specific case, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall invite representatives of ministries, sectors, localities, scientists, and experts related to participate in reviewing the weather modification plan.

2. The review documents of the agencies specified in Clause 1 of this Article must ensure detailed and comprehensive evaluations of each content as prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 44 of the Law on Meteorology and Hydrology.

4. In cases where the weather modification plan requires amendments, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall send a document along with the review report to the agency or organization that has established the plan to perfect the plan.

5. The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting shall assist the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment in organizing the review work of weather modification plans in accordance with the regulations; prepare the review report as prescribed in Clause 6 of this Article.

6. The review report of the weather modification plan shall include the following main contents:

a) The appropriateness of legal bases;

b) The necessity, urgency, feasibility, and practical significance of the plan;

c) The compliance of the plan's content with the provisions of the Law on Meteorology and Hydrology and related legal documents;

d) A summary report of the review opinions including the opinions of relevant agencies, organizations, experts, and scientists.

7. The maximum time limit for the review shall not exceed thirty (30) working days from the date the agency receiving the review documents receives all the requested review documents.

Article 7. Documents for Submitting Approval of Weather Modification Plan

1. The documents for submitting approval of weather modification plan shall include:

a) A proposal for approval and draft Decision on approving the plan;

b) The review report as prescribed in Clause 6 of Article 6 of this Circular;

c) The completed weather modification plan;

d) Review and opinion documents of relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals;

đ) Relevant documents and files related to the weather modification plan.

2. The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting shall assist the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment in completing the documents and files specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

1. Cases where the weather modification plan needs adjustment:

a) There is a change in one of the basic contents of the weather modification plan as stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 44 of the Law on Meteorology and Hydrology and personnel mentioned in the approved weather modification plan, leading to an impact on the implementation of the plan;

b) There is an objective fluctuation in meteorological and hydrological conditions, national defense, and security affecting the implementation of the weather modification plan;

c) At the request of the authorized person approving the weather modification plan.

2. Forms of adjusting the weather modification plan:

a) Adjusting the entire plan when the purpose and measures of the plan have changed after approval;

b) Adjusting part of the plan when the adjusted content does not affect the purpose and measures of the plan already approved.

1. For adjustment of the entire weather modification plan, the documents and number of documents shall be implemented according to the provisions of Article 5 of this Circular.

2. For partial adjustment of the weather modification plan, the documents shall be prepared in five (5) copies and submitted to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, including:

a) A request document for partial adjustment of the plan;

b) An explanatory report on partial adjustment of the plan.

Article 10. Review of Adjustment of Weather Modification Plan

1. The review of adjustment of the entire weather modification plan shall be conducted similarly to the process of soliciting opinions and reviewing a new weather modification plan as stipulated in this Circular.

2. The review of partial adjustment of the weather modification plan shall be organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to solicit opinions from relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals related to the approved plan, compile the review opinions, examine, approve within their authority, or submit to the competent state agency for examination and approval.

The time limit for reviewing partial adjustment of the weather modification plan shall not exceed twenty (20) days from the date the reviewing agency receives all documents for review.

Article 11. Responsibilities of Relevant Agencies and Organizations

2. The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees under the central government, and relevant agencies and organizations are responsible for enforcing the provisions of this Circular.

Article 12. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from July 1, 2016.

2. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, agencies, organizations, and individuals are requested to promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for research, amendment, and supplementation.