Joint Circular No. 15/2005/TTLT/BTC-BTNMT guiding the management and use of financial resources for economic public services to fulfill environmental protection tasks.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for managing and using funds

economic enterprises performing environmental protection tasks

WHEREAS Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 10, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law;

WHEREAS Decree No. 175-CP dated October 18, 1994 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Environmental Protection Law, and Decree No. 143/2004/NĐ-CP dated July 12, 2004 of the Government amending and supplementing Article 14 of Decree No. 175/CP dated October 18, 1994 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Environmental Protection Law;

In order to unify the management and use of funds for economic enterprises performing environmental protection tasks, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment jointly issue guidelines on the content and certain expenditure regulations for implementing environmental protection tasks as follows:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. This Circular stipulates the management and use of funds for economic enterprises performing environmental protection tasks guaranteed by the state budget.

2. Environmental protection tasks carried out by ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and other central agencies shall be funded from the central budget; environmental protection tasks carried out by local agencies and units shall be funded from the local budget.

3. Tasks related to environmental protection funded from other sources (such as scientific research expenses, construction investment capital, Vietnam Environmental Protection Fund) are not within the scope regulated by this Circular.

PART II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. Classification of expenditure tasks for environmental protection.

a. Expenditure tasks of the central budget include:

- Basic surveys of environmental components (land, water, air, biodiversity...); surveys and statistics of waste, pollution conditions, degradation, and environmental incidents at key areas, industrial zones, and sites left with toxic chemicals from war;

- Surveys, investigations, and assessments of environmental issues and their impacts on the environment to serve the development and improvement of mechanisms, policies, strategies, plans, legal documents, procedures, technical standards, and benchmarks for state management of environmental protection;

- Environmental monitoring and analysis activities managed by central agencies; collection, processing, storage, provision of information and data from environmental surveys and monitoring; annual national environmental status reports, regular and special environmental reports;

- Development and organization of pilot demonstrations of environmental management models, application of scientific and technological progress in environmental protection;

- Implementation of environmental impact assessment projects;

- Construction of national databases, regional databases, and large river basin databases on the environment;

- Inspection activities; supervision and control of environmental pollution, waste management, and environmental incidents; post-assessment activities of environmental impact assessment reports by state environmental management agencies;

- Issuance, renewal, and revocation of certificates of compliance with environmental standards and other environmental permits according to legal provisions;

- Directing and organizing environmental information dissemination, publicity, legal education, and awareness campaigns;

- Organizing training, international cooperation, seminars, and specialized workshops on environmental protection;

- Environmental awards for organizations and individuals contributing to environmental protection tasks, decided by competent authorities;

- Procurement and repair of equipment serving specialized environmental protection tasks;

- Counterpart funds for environmental protection-related projects;

- Operating costs of environmental protection steering committees, management boards, and permanent offices established by competent authority decisions;

- Other tasks related to environmental protection.

Specifically, the task of reviewing environmental impact assessment reports is funded from the revenue of "fees for preparing and reviewing environmental impact assessment reports" as provided for in Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Fees and Charges.

b. Expenditure tasks of the local budget include:

- Basic surveys of environmental components (land, water, air, biodiversity...) to serve environmental protection and socio-economic development at the local level;

- Surveys and assessments of environmental pollution conditions at key economic development areas, industrial zones, and sites left with toxic chemicals from war at the local level;

- Activities of local environmental monitoring and analysis stations; collection, processing, exchange, and storage of environmental information and data; local environmental status reports and other environmental reports;

- Sampling and initial analysis for the implementation of environmental protection fees;

- Surveys, trials, and implementation of model management and environmental protection practices at the local level;

- Implementation of environmental impact assessment projects at the local level;

- Construction of local environmental protection databases;

- Inspection, supervision, and control of environmental pollution, waste management, and environmental incidents; post-assessment activities of environmental impact assessment reports by local state environmental management agencies according to their jurisdiction;

- Issuance, renewal, and revocation of certificates of compliance with environmental standards and other environmental permits according to legal provisions;

- Organization of environmental information dissemination, publicity, legal education, training, and specialized workshops on environmental protection at the local level;

- Environmental awards for organizations and individuals contributing to local environmental protection tasks, decided by competent authorities;

- Procurement of equipment serving local environmental protection tasks;

- Counterpart funds for international environmental protection projects at the local level;

- Other tasks related to local environmental protection tasks.

The division of specific budget tasks for environmental protection among provincial budgets, district budgets, and commune budgets shall be proposed by the provincial People's Committee to the provincial People's Council for decision.

Specifically, the task of reviewing Environmental Impact Assessment Reports carried out according to the分级授权由地方执行，确保从“环境影响评价报告编制和审查费”收入中提供资金，依据政府于2002年6月3日颁布的第57/2002/NĐ-CP号法令关于费用和收费实施细则的规定。

2- Certain specific expenditure levels:

- Expenditure for related contents to implement environmental protection tasks shall be implemented in accordance with current regulations.

- This Circular guides certain specific expenditure levels (as attached in the appendix).

3- Preparation, implementation, and settlement of state budget:

The preparation of estimates, disbursement, and settlement of funds for environmental protection tasks shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law and current guiding documents of the Ministry of Finance. This Circular specifically guides the following contents:

a- Regarding the preparation and allocation of estimates:

Annually, based on the Prime Minister's Directive, the Circular guiding the preparation of state budget estimates issued by the Ministry of Finance, the implementation situation of environmental protection tasks in the previous year, and the guidance documents of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment regarding the environmental protection tasks of the planning year; agencies and units directly assigned to carry out environmental protection tasks at the central level and local level shall prepare environmental protection expenditure estimates together with their unit's annual estimates and submit them to the superior management agency for consolidation and submission to the same-level finance agency, while also sending to the competent state management agency on the environment for coordination in implementation. The same-level finance agency will consolidate the environmental protection expenditure estimate into the annual state budget estimate and submit it to the competent authority for examination and decision.

The budget estimate for implementing environmental protection tasks shall be prepared and determined for the groups of work listed in the appendix of this Circular according to the following principles:

- For environmental protection expenditure tasks that have economic-technical norms: The budget estimate shall be determined based on the volume of work multiplied by (x) the current unit price. Economic-technical norms are issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment after consultation with relevant ministries and sectors.

- For environmental protection expenditure tasks without economic-technical norms: The budget estimate shall be prepared based on the volume of work approved by the competent authority and the current financial expenditure regulations of the state.

Based on the annual budget estimate assigned by the competent authority; ministries, central agencies, and local agencies shall specifically allocate the environmental protection task budget estimate together with the annual budget estimate for subordinate units and consolidate them for submission to the same-level finance agency for review in accordance with the State Budget Law.

b- Regarding the implementation of tasks, estimates, and audit-settlement:

- Regarding the approval authority for environmental protection programs and projects:

+ The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall lead the approval of national key environmental programs and projects (with inter-sectoral and inter-regional characteristics).

+ Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and government agencies shall approve environmental programs, projects, and tasks within their respective sectors; implement environmental protection tasks within the allocated budget estimates and conduct audit-settlement in accordance with the regulations.

+ Provincial People's Committees and municipal people's committees under the central government shall approve environmental programs, projects, and tasks assigned to localities for implementation.

The funds for implementing environmental protection tasks as stipulated in this Circular shall be reflected and settled in category 12 item 11 "Investigation, exploration, survey, consulting... activities" in the environmental sector, corresponding to the chapters of ministries, sectors, and localities, and detailed according to the state budget classification.

4- Inspection and supervision:

Central and local competent agencies have the responsibility to coordinate with finance agencies and state management agencies on the environment at the same level to regularly and randomly inspect subordinate units on the implementation of environmental protection tasks, management and use, and audit-settlement of environmental protection funds, ensuring that the funds assigned by the competent authority are used for their intended purpose and effectively.

PART III

IMPLEMENTATION

This Circular shall take effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette. All previous regulations contrary to this Circular are abolished.

During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, units are advised to report to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for study, amendment, and supplementation to ensure compatibility. /./