Decision No. 37/2019/QD-TTg Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of Decision No. 01/2016/QD-TTg dated January 19, 2016 of the Government on the Mechanism and Procedures for Supporting Financial Resources to Localities to Mitigate the Consequences of Natural Disasters

Pursuant to …;

Amending and supplementing some articles of Decision No. 01/2016/QĐ-TTg dated January 19, 2016 of the Government on mechanisms and procedures for providing financial support to localities to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters

||| Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the State Budget Law dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control dated June 19, 2013;

At the proposal of the Minister of Finance;

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain Articles of Decision No. 22/2021/QĐ-TTg dated July 2, 2021 of the Prime Minister on Criteria for Classifying State-Owned Enterprises and Enterprises with State Capital for Ownership Transformation, Restructuring, and Divestment during the Period 2021-2025 01/2016/QĐ-TTg dated January 19, 2016 of the Government on mechanisms and procedures for providing financial support to localities to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Decision No. 01/2016/QĐ-TTg dated January 19, 2016 of the Government on mechanisms and procedures for providing financial support to localities to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters (hereinafter referred to as Decision No. 01/2016/QĐ-TTg)

1. Clause 2, Article 2 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“2. Reports from the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities on losses caused by natural disasters that fall within the responsibility of localities to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters, needs for rescue and support of localities; mobilizing local resources to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters (local budget reserves; Disaster Prevention and Control Fund; Financial Reserve Fund; other lawful financial sources as prescribed by law); proposing the Prime Minister to provide financial support to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters.”

2. Article 3 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 3. Procedures and contents of supporting localities to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters

1. The People's Committee of provinces and centrally governed cities shall be responsible for:

Directing the Provincial Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control and Search and Rescue to take the lead in coordinating with relevant departments and People's Committees at all levels to compile the financial requirements for implementing tasks to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters as stipulated in Article 30 of the Law on Flood and Storm Control; reporting to the provincial People's Committee for consideration and decision on using local resources including: local budget reserves, Disaster Prevention and Control Fund, Financial Reserve Fund, and other lawful resources to support livelihoods, restore infrastructure and production; using the budget for road maintenance as allocated to repair and restore damaged road works due to natural disasters.

a) Organizing the repair, restoration, and upgrading of economic and social infrastructure works damaged to ensure traffic safety, dam and dike safety, and irrigation and drainage for water conservancy works, medical facilities, and educational institutions, and restoring economic and social infrastructure works as prescribed in the Law on Flood and Storm Control.

For the management and construction of works to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters with urgent nature: Implementing according to the provisions of the Construction Law and Clause 2, Article 43 of Decree No. 59/2015/NĐ-CP dated June 18, 2015 of the Government on project management.

Central budget support is aimed at repairing and restoring existing infrastructure; in special cases where localities combine repairs and restorations with infrastructure upgrades, local budgets are arranged to implement according to the State Budget Law and Public Investment Law.

b) Based on reports on losses caused by natural disasters from the Provincial Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control and Search and Rescue, the provincial People's Committee decides to provide livelihood support to households affected by losses, including: food assistance; assistance for seriously injured persons; funeral expenses for families with deceased members; housing construction and repair according to the level of support prescribed in Decree No. 136/2013/NĐ-CP dated October 21, 2013 of the Government on social assistance policies for social welfare beneficiaries (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 136/2013/NĐ-CP).

c) Regarding support for mitigating the consequences of natural disasters (infrastructure, production recovery) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as defined by the Law on Support for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises No. 04/2017/QH14 dated June 12, 2017 (excluding SMEs that are subsidiaries or have controlling shares of large enterprises); cooperatives; cooperatives, after obtaining opinions from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance, the provincial People's Committee reports to the Standing Committee of the People's Council for consideration and decision to allocate funds from the local budget and other lawful sources (the central budget does not support) and report to the provincial People's Council at the nearest session.

d) Regarding support for recovering production in areas affected by natural disasters: Implementing according to the provisions of Decree No. 02/2017/NĐ-CP dated January 9, 2017 of the Government on mechanisms and policies to support agricultural production to recover production in areas affected by natural disasters and epidemics (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 02/2017/NĐ-CP).

Based on the results of mitigating losses caused by natural disasters, the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities aggregate and report to the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control to take the lead in coordinating with relevant ministries and agencies to report to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision on providing financial support to localities. Local reports include: On-site inspection records; loss determination and financial requirement for mitigation confirmed by members of the Provincial Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control and Search and Rescue, district-level steering committees, and related units; decisions of local People's Committees on expenditures for mitigating natural disaster consequences; specifying the sources of funds expended: local budget reserves, Disaster Prevention and Control Fund, Financial Reserve Fund, and other lawful resources.

2. The Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control aggregates losses, rescue and support needs of localities, and mechanisms for supporting localities to mitigate natural disaster consequences in terms of livelihoods and repairing and restoring infrastructure as stipulated in Article 4 of this Decision; mechanisms for supporting the recovery of production in areas affected by natural disasters as stipulated in Decree No. 02/2017/NĐ-CP; proposing the Prime Minister to consider and provide financial support from the central budget to localities for mitigating the consequences of natural disasters.

3. Based on the documents of the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control and opinions of the Ministries of Finance, Planning and Investment and related agencies, the Prime Minister decides on financial support for localities.

4. In cases of significant damage exceeding the local budget's capacity to balance, the Ministry of Finance shall supplement part of the funds from the central budget to support affected localities according to the Prime Minister’s Decision.

4. Clause 2 of Article 5 is amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 4. Central Support Mechanism for Localities to Mitigate the Consequences of Natural Disasters

Based on the provisions of Article 2 of this Decision and the support requests of localities under point d, Clause 1, Article 3 of this Decision, the central budget shall provide support for livelihoods and infrastructure restoration as follows:

1. Mountainous provinces and the Central Highlands: Provide maximum support of up to 80% of the assistance from the state budget.

2. Localities receiving supplementary balancing funds from the central budget: Provide maximum support of up to 70% of the assistance from the state budget.

3. Localities with a distribution revenue sharing ratio to the central budget below 50%: Provide maximum support of up to 50% of the assistance from the state budget.

4. Localities with a distribution revenue sharing ratio to the central budget of 50% or more: Shall proactively utilize the local budget and other legitimate resources to implement.

5. Other special cases shall be examined and decided by the Prime Minister.

4. Article 5 is amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 5. On Damage Support Due to Heatwaves and Drought

Implement according to the procedures, contents of support, and central support mechanisms for localities as stipulated in Articles 3 and 4 of this Decision. In cases where the local budget's capacity to balance exceeds the required financial needs for drought prevention and control, the Prime Minister shall decide to provide support from the central budget reserve according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 10 of the State Budget Law.

5. Points a and b, Clause 5, Article 6 are amended and supplemented as follows:

"a) Aggregate and report on the assessment of damage situations and results of disaster aftermath mitigation efforts within their jurisdiction to the Central Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control and relevant ministries and sectors. Localities are responsible for the accuracy of reported data.

b) Proactively utilize the local budget, local budget reserves, Financial Reserve Fund, Disaster Prevention and Control Fund, and mobilize other legitimate financial sources to immediately address the aftermath of natural disasters to stabilize people's lives and restore production."

Article 2. Implementation clause

1. This Decision takes effect from February 15, 2020.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of agencies under the Government, Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities are responsible for implementing this Decision./.