Circular No. 14/2009/TT-BTC guides the preparation, management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for implementing tasks and projects under the River Basin Environmental Protection Program as decided by the Prime Minister.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for the preparation, management, use, and settlement of state budget funds to implement tasks and projects under river basin environmental protection programs as decided by the Prime Minister

project under the watershed environmental protection program pursuant to the Prime Minister's Decision

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The Minister of Finance issues this Circular regulating the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of funds supported by the State budget for organizations assigned or authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to perform tasks of selecting, introducing, and managing Vietnamese workers working for foreign organizations and individuals in Vietnam.

Pursuant to Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2008, of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decision No. 256/2003/QĐ-TTg dated December 2, 2003 of the Prime Minister approving the National Environmental Protection Strategy until 2010 and orientations until 2020;

Pursuant to Decisions of the Prime Minister: No. 174/2006/QĐ-TTg dated July 28, 2006 approving the Overall Program on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Ecological Environment and Landscape of the Red River Basin; No. 187/2007/QĐ-TTg dated December 3, 2007 approving the Program on Environmental Protection of the Dong Nai River Basin until 2020; No. 57/2008/QĐ-TTg dated April 29, 2008 approving the Overall Program on Environmental Protection of the Nhue-Red River Basin until 2020;

The Ministry of Finance hereby provides guidelines for the preparation, management, use, and settlement of state budget funds to implement tasks and projects under river basin environmental protection programs as decided by the Prime Minister as follows:

This technical regulation sets out technical requirements, testing methods, sampling procedures; management requirements; responsibilities of organizations and individuals producing, trading, and importing cigarettes.

1. This Circular guides the preparation, management, use, and settlement of state budget funds to implement tasks and projects under river basin environmental protection programs as decided by the Prime Minister.

2. Funds for implementing tasks and projects primarily managed by central ministries and agencies shall be guaranteed by the central budget; funds for implementing tasks and projects primarily managed by localities shall be guaranteed by the local budgets.

3. Agencies, units, and individuals using funds to implement tasks and projects must comply with the approved project content, adhere to regulations, operate economically and effectively, be subject to inspection and supervision by competent authorities, and settle accounts annually and conduct final evaluations of tasks and projects according to current regulations.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. Contents of expenditures and sources of state budget funds invested in tasks and projects for environmental protection in public welfare areas (including ODA and aid funds).

1.1. Expenditures covered by the central budget:

a) Expenditures from environmental service funds:

- National water quality monitoring activities in river basins;

- Construction of a database on the quality of the entire river basin environment;

- Environmental planning for river basins;

- Comprehensive treatment of public utility facilities causing serious environmental pollution under central management for projects funded from environmental service funds;

- Conservation of biodiversity and ecological environments in river basins;

- Strategic environmental impact assessment for overall river basin plans;

- Compilation, analysis, and evaluation of the current status of pollution sources in the entire river basin;

- Publicizing and disseminating laws on river basin environmental protection; training specialized knowledge and skills on river basin environmental protection to provincial levels;

- Professional inspection, supervision, and monitoring activities for environmental protection throughout the entire river basin;

- Activities of the River Basin Commission Office.

b) Expenditures from economic service funds:

- Compilation of results from surveys and statistics on pollutant sources in the entire river basin;

- Preparation of plans for managing and utilizing water resources in the entire river basin.

c) Expenditures from development investment funds according to approved projects:

- Comprehensive treatment of public utility facilities causing serious environmental pollution under central management for projects funded from development investment funds;

- Construction of national water quality monitoring stations in river basins under central management listed in Decision No. 16/2007/QĐ-TTg dated January 29, 2007 of the Prime Minister on the "Overall Plan for the National Network of Resource and Environmental Monitoring until 2020."

1.2. Expenditures covered by local budgets:

a) Expenditures from environmental service funds:

- Water quality monitoring activities in river basins within local jurisdiction;

- Construction of databases on the quality of the river basin environment within local jurisdiction;

- Conservation of biodiversity and ecological environments in river basins;

- Surveys, analyses, and evaluations of the current status of pollution sources in river basins within local jurisdiction;

- Supplementary surveys of the actual pollution status caused by industrial, small-scale industrial, agricultural, and residential activities;

- Supervision and inspection of pollution sources within local jurisdiction;

- Comprehensive treatment of facilities causing serious environmental pollution under local public utility management for projects funded from environmental service funds;

- Comprehensive environmental impact assessment for river basin plans within local jurisdiction;

- Publicizing and disseminating environmental laws; raising community awareness, responsibility, and consciousness in protecting river basin environments; specialized training on environmental protection;

- Professional inspection, supervision, and monitoring activities for environmental protection in river basins within local jurisdiction.

b) Expenditures from economic service funds:

- Surveys, statistics, and classification of pollutant sources in river basins within local jurisdiction;

- Preparation of plans for managing and utilizing water resources in river basins under local jurisdiction;

c) Expenditures from development investment funds according to approved projects:

- Construction of environmental monitoring networks in river basins under local jurisdiction according to approved plans;

- Comprehensive treatment of facilities causing serious environmental pollution under local public utility management for projects funded from development investment funds;

- Remediation of heavily polluted river sections, dredging and channeling important river sections, and reinforcing weak river banks within local jurisdiction as necessary;

- Construction of water retention structures to prevent depletion;

- Construction of centralized wastewater treatment plants in urban and residential areas in provinces and cities along the river according to approved plans.

- Invest in solid waste treatment facilities in provinces and cities within the watershed under local management according to approved planning;

- Construct clean water supply projects in some urban and rural areas within the watershed.

d) Allocate funds from the project budget for planting five million hectares of new forests:

- Restore degraded protective forests and headwater forests;

- Protect and develop forests, increasing forest coverage on the watershed.

In cases where tasks and projects (as stipulated in Clause 1, Section II) are developed into integrated projects funded from various sources: development investment capital and regular expenditures, relevant ministries, central agencies, and localities shall approve the projects based on the characteristics of each funding source in accordance with current regulations.

2. Besides state budget funds, tasks and environmental protection projects under the Watershed Environmental Protection Program also mobilize other sources: loans with preferential interest rates and support from the Vietnam Environment Protection Fund; investment capital from enterprises, community residents, organizations, and individuals both domestically and internationally as prescribed by law.

3. Level of expenditure:

The expenditure levels for implementing tasks and projects under the Watershed Environmental Protection Program shall be carried out according to current financial expenditure standards and norms.

The determination of each type of funding source is specified in the following documents:

- Environmental public service funds as prescribed in Circular Joint No. 114/2006/TTLT-BTC-BTNMT dated December 29, 2006, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment guiding the management of environmental public service funds; Circular Joint No. 01/2008/TTLT-BTNMT-BTC dated April 29, 2008, issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Finance guiding the preparation of budgets for environmental protection work from environmental public service funds.

- Funds for thoroughly treating public utility facilities causing severe environmental pollution as prescribed in Decision No. 58/2008/QD-TTg dated April 29, 2008, issued by the Prime Minister regarding the provision of targeted financial support from the state budget to thoroughly address, mitigate, and reduce environmental degradation for certain public utility sectors.

- Economic public service funds as prescribed in Circular No. 120/2007/TT-BTC dated October 15, 2007, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the management, use, and settlement of funds for surveys from public service funds of the state budget and related documents; Circular No. 24/2008/TT-BTC dated March 14, 2008, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the management, use, and settlement of economic public service funds for planning tasks and projects.

- Projects using official development assistance (ODA) funds as prescribed in Decision No. 61/2006/QĐ-BTC dated November 2, 2006, issued by the Minister of Finance establishing certain expenditure standards applicable to projects/programs utilizing ODA funds.

- Funds for the project to plant five million hectares of new forests as prescribed in Circular Joint No. 58/2008/TTLT-BNN-KHĐT-TC dated May 2, 2008, issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of the Prime Minister's Decision on the objectives, tasks, policies, and organization of the project to plant five million hectares of new forests for the period 2007-2010.

- For development investment capital, implementation follows current regulations on construction investment expenditures.

4. Budget Preparation, Execution, and Settlement

The preparation, execution, and settlement of regular expenditure funds and development investment capital for implementing tasks and projects under the Watershed Environmental Protection Program shall be carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law and current guiding documents. This circular provides detailed guidance on the following matters:

a) Basis for task and budget preparation (for projects funded by public service funds): For projects with economic and technical norms, the budget is prepared based on the volume of work multiplied by the budget unit price. For tasks and projects without economic and technical norms and budget unit prices, the budget preparation is based on specific volumes of work, current financial systems, and approved by the competent authority.

b) Procedure for preparing the budget:

Annually, based on the Prime Minister's Directive, the Circular guiding the preparation of the state budget by the Ministry of Finance; assigned tasks and projects according to the Prime Minister's Decision (for each watershed of the Red River, Dong Nai River, and Nhue-Day Rivers); progress in implementing tasks and projects, contents and volumes of work to be carried out in the planned year; economic and technical norms; current financial expenditure systems and provisions in this Circular; relevant agencies and units prepare the budget for watershed environmental protection activities according to each task and project, accompanied by detailed explanatory notes, report to the higher budgetary unit for consolidation into the state budget under their jurisdiction, submit to the finance and planning and investment authorities at the same level for review and consolidation, and send to the Watershed Environmental Protection Committee for consolidation and monitoring.

Specifically, for tasks and projects funded from environmental public service funds, the procedures for preparing and allocating the budget are implemented in accordance with Point b, Clause 3, Section II of Circular Joint No. 114/2006/TTLT-BTC-BTNMT dated December 29, 2006, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment guiding the management of environmental public service funds.

c) Settlement work: Units allocated the budget to implement watershed environmental protection tasks and projects must prepare settlement reports and consolidate them into the annual budget settlement of the unit in accordance with the State Budget Law and guiding documents of the Law.

5. Reporting, Inspection, and Supervision Work.

a) Every six months and at the end of the fiscal year, units responsible for tasks and projects shall report to the Ministry or central agency (for tasks and projects led by the Ministry or central agency) and the People's Committee of the province or centrally governed city (for tasks and projects led by localities). The Ministries, central agencies, and localities shall compile the implementation status of assigned tasks and projects pursuant to the Prime Minister's Decision and send it to the River Basin Environmental Protection Committee (through the Office of the River Basin Committee), with copies sent to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

b) Ministries, central agencies, and localities assigned to carry out tasks and projects shall coordinate with relevant Ministries and agencies to periodically or urgently inspect the implementation of tasks and projects and ensure that funds are used for their intended purposes and effectively.

For the project funding of planting five million hectares of new forests implemented in accordance with Circular No. 89/2008/TT-BTC dated October 15, 2008, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding the management, allocation, and settlement of state budget capital for the Project of Planting Five Million Hectares of New Forests.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

This Circular shall take effect 45 days from the date of issuance.

During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, the Ministries, central agencies, and localities are requested to reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for research and resolution./.

DEPUTY MINISTER

DEPUTY MINISTER

(signed)

Pham Sy Danh