Joint Circular No. 48/2009/TTLT/BTC-BNN guiding the management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for maintenance and repair of dike systems

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for economic maintenance and repair of dykes and flood control works

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Pursuant to the Law on Dikes dated November 29, 2006;

Pursuant to the Law on Flood Control and Storm Prevention 1993; Ordinance Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Flood Control and Storm Prevention 2000;

Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 08/2006/NĐ-CP dated January 16, 2006 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Law on Flood Control and Storm Prevention which has been amended and supplemented on August 24, 2000;

Pursuant to Decree No. 113/2007/NĐ-CP dated June 28, 2007 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Dyke Management,

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development hereby issue guidelines on the management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for economic maintenance and repair of dykes and flood control works as follows:

Article 1. Scope of Application

This Circular guides the management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for economic maintenance and repair of dykes and flood control works and emergency handling of dyke incidents (hereinafter referred to as maintenance and repair funds for dykes).

Article 2. Sources of funds for maintaining and repairing dykes

1. The central government budget ensures funds for the maintenance and repair of dykes from Class III to Special Class; supports urgent repairs to address dyke incidents for Class IV and V dykes.

2. Local government budgets ensure funds for the maintenance and repair of dykes below Class III and participate in ensuring the maintenance and repair of dykes from Class III to Special Class.

3. For specialized dykes of various sectors and facilities, the maintenance and repair funds for dykes shall be guaranteed by the owners of such projects.

Article 3. Principles of fund usage

Units responsible for using state budget funds for economic maintenance and repair of dykes and emergency handling of dyke incidents must use these funds for their intended purposes and in accordance with established regulations; they are subject to inspection and oversight by competent authorities; at the end of the year or upon completion of a project, they must settle accounts for the funds used according to current regulations.

Article 4. Regulations on the management, use, and settlement of funds for the maintenance and repair of dykes from Class III to Special Class, which are guaranteed by the central government budget

1. Content of expenditure:

a) Expenditure on repairs, improvements, and reinforcement of the dyke surface;

b) Expenditure on repairs and reinforcement of access roads, footpaths along the dyke, and ramps up and down the dyke within the protected area of the dyke;

c) Expenditure on repairs and planting grass on the dyke slope, dike core, base, and revetment;

d) Filling soil, planting wave-breaking plants;

d) Expenditure on surveys, detection, and treatment of dyke pests and hidden dangers; injection of grout to reinforce the quality of the dyke body;

e) Expenditure on inspections and evaluations of the quality of culverts under the dyke; minor repairs; dredging upstream and downstream of culverts under the dyke;

g) Expenditure on inspections of the condition of protective revetments; minor repairs to damaged parts of the revetments;

h) Supplementary and repair of facilities serving the management and protection of dykes: markers on the dyke; boundary markers, water level markers; dyke warning signs; monitoring stations and equipment; warehouses and storage areas for emergency supplies during typhoons and floods; Repairs to facilities serving the management and protection of dykes: flood diversion structures, flood retardation structures; pressure relief wells; dyke watchtowers;

i) Supplementary, maintenance, and collection of emergency flood prevention materials under the responsibility of the central government;

k) Expenditure on emergency handling of dyke incidents;

l) Expenditure on topographic, geological surveys, periodic cross-sectional surveys of riverbeds, measurements of channel changes; measurements of beach changes before the dyke; updating databases on dykes for management and flood prevention;

m) Other tasks directly related to the maintenance and repair of dykes (if any).

2. Preparation, execution, and settlement of annual budgets for the maintenance and repair of dykes

The preparation, execution, and settlement of annual budgets for the maintenance and repair of dykes are carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law and other guiding documents; this Circular provides guidance on certain points as follows:

a) Establishment of budget estimates:

Each year, based on the state budget expenditure plan announced by the Ministry of Finance; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announces the plan to the National Dyke Management and Flood Control Bureau (NFCD); the NFCD assigns the plan to provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development managing dykes from Class III to Special Class to allocate to subordinate units and forecast the plan directly implemented by the NFCD;

Based on the condition of the managed dyke section, economic and technical standards; the content of expenditures specified in Clause 1 of Article 4 of this Circular, approved unit prices and cost standards; current financial expenditure regulations and the assigned plan by the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the unit prepares a detailed budget for the maintenance and repair of dykes, reports it to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for review and consolidation, then submits it to the NFCD for review and consolidation, and finally reports it to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (including the budget directly implemented by the NFCD) for submission to the Ministry of Finance as required.

b) Execution of the budget:

Allocation of the state budget expenditure plan assigned: Based on the state budget expenditure plan assigned by the competent authority; based on the state budget expenditure plan announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; based on the maintenance and repair plan for dykes assigned by the competent authority; the NFCD formulates a plan for allocating the state budget expenditure plan, including: funds managed by provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development for dykes from Class III to Special Class and funds directly implemented by the NFCD as stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 4 of this Circular; detailed by each dyke section, volume, and funds (excluding emergency funds for handling dyke incidents, which will be allocated later based on actual occurrences), reported to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for review and consolidation, and submitted to the Ministry of Finance for approval as required.

After receiving the unified opinion of the Ministry of Finance on the budget allocation plan for state budget expenditures, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall allocate the state budget expenditure to the Directorate of Dike Management and Flood Control (including funds to be implemented by Provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development and funds to be directly implemented by the Directorate of Dike Management and Flood Control); the Directorate of Dike Management and Flood Control shall allocate the budget to Provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development managing dike lines from Class III to Special Class; simultaneously send to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance, the State Treasury, and the State Treasury where the unit has its transaction account for coordination in implementation. The Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall allocate the budget to subordinate budget units; simultaneously send to the Directorate of Dike Management and Flood Control, and the State Treasury where the unit has its transaction account for coordination in implementation.

As for emergency expenses for dike incident handling: In cases where dike collapse causing system safety issues are discovered during the year, the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall inspect, formulate repair plans, report to the Directorate of Dike Management and Flood Control for review of volume and budget to implement; in cases where dike collapse occurs during typhoons or floods requiring immediate repairs to ensure system safety, the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall report to the People's Committee of the province to promptly deploy rescue measures, then complete the repair documentation and report to the Directorate of Dike Management and Flood Control for review. Based on the review results, the Directorate of Dike Management and Flood Control shall compile and estimate the detailed budget allocation for localities from the undistributed economic maintenance and dike protection funds assigned, report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for consideration, and submit to the Ministry of Finance for verification to allocate the budget to the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; emergency expenses for dike incident handling shall be withdrawn from the allocated budget according to regulations.

c) Advance payment and settlement of dike maintenance and protection expenses:

Based on the allocated state budget expenditure, subordinate budget units of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall withdraw the budget at the State Treasury where transactions are conducted to advance payments and settle with units implementing dike maintenance and protection according to regulations.

The State Treasury where transactions are conducted shall control expenditures before making advance payments and settlements upon the request of the head of the state budget using unit, specifically:

- For regular expenditure tasks: The State Treasury shall control expenditures according to current regulations;

- For investment expenditure tasks: Documentation basis; advance payment documentation; capital settlement, the State Treasury shall control expenditures according to current regulations of the Ministry of Finance on management and settlement of investment capital and public service capital with investment characteristics from state budget sources.

d) Settlement of dike maintenance and protection expenses:

- Settlement report: Units allocated the economic maintenance and protection budget shall prepare the settlement report according to the prescribed form and deadline as stipulated by the State Budget Law and guiding documents. The settlement report shall include a list of projects assigned in the year of implementation, settled in detail according to the expenditure content specified in Clause 1, Article 4 of this Circular;

- Review and verification of the settlement report: Annual review and verification of the economic maintenance and protection budget settlement shall be carried out according to current regulations of the Ministry of Finance guiding the review, verification, and notification of annual settlement for administrative agencies, public institutions, organizations supported by the state budget, and budgets at all levels; specifically: The Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for reviewing the settlement budget for subordinate budget units assigned maintenance and protection tasks and compiling the settlement report to send to the Directorate of Dike Management and Flood Control; the Directorate of Dike Management and Flood Control is responsible for reviewing the annual settlement of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for reviewing the settlement portion implemented by the Directorate of Dike Management and Flood Control and verifying the annual settlement of the Directorate of Dike Management and Flood Control (portion implemented by Provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development); the Ministry of Finance is responsible for verifying the settlement of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development according to regulations;

For investment tasks, they shall be implemented according to the capital investment management process; in addition to annual settlement and when the project is completed and put into use, final project settlement must be carried out according to the Ministry of Finance's guidelines on final settlement of projects funded by the state budget. In cases where the final project settlement approved by the competent authority differs from the total value already settled annually, the difference shall be adjusted into the settlement of the year approving the final project settlement.

Article 5. Management, use, and settlement of maintenance and repair funds for dikes and dykes guaranteed by local budgets

1. Content of expenditure: Based on the content of expenditure for economic public works maintenance and repair funds for dikes and dykes as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 4 of this Circular, the situation of dike systems managed by the locality, financial capacity, and the current state of dikes and dykes in the locality; the People's Committee of the province shall specify the content of expenditure for maintaining and repairing the dike system managed by the locality to ensure safety of the dike line managed by the locality.

2. Preparation, implementation, and settlement of funds:

a) Based on the actual situation of the locality, the People's Committee of the province shall implement the decentralization of management work for maintaining and repairing the dike system at the provincial, district, and commune levels appropriately;

b) Based on the provisions of the State Budget Law and guiding documents; the Department of Finance shall coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide specific guidance on the preparation, implementation, and settlement of funds for maintaining and repairing dikes in accordance with the characteristics of the locality (including sources of funds participating in ensuring maintenance and repair of dikes from Class III to special class).

Specifically, for emergency funds to handle dike incidents, in cases where dike incidents threatening the safety of dikes below Class III are discovered within the year, the People's Committee of the province shall direct relevant agencies of the locality to promptly handle such incidents to ensure the safety of the dike system managed by the locality from the local budget.

In case the local budget faces difficulties, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall coordinate with the Department of Finance to report to the People's Committee of the province, which will then report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for consideration, and submit to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and submission to the competent authority for consideration of support from the central budget, in the form of targeted grants to the local budget.

Article 6. Inspection Work

To ensure that maintenance and repair funds for dikes and dykes are used for their intended purposes and effectively, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Dike Management and Flood Control Bureau, and local dike management agencies shall be responsible for coordinating with financial authorities at the same level to regularly and urgently inspect the management, use, settlement, and final settlement of maintenance and repair funds for dikes and dykes at units.

Expenditures for maintaining and repairing dikes and dykes exceeding the standard, expenditures not in accordance with regulations, and expenditures deviating from the prescribed content in this Circular must be settled and recovered and submitted to the state budget; at the same time, those who decide on improper expenditures must compensate the public treasury and bear responsibility under the law.

Article 7. Implementation Organization

This Circular takes effect 45 days from the date of issuance and abolishes Circular Joint No. 61/TT-LB dated September 5, 1997, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding the management, allocation, use, and settlement of public works maintenance and repair funds for the dike system.

During implementation, if there are any difficulties, units are requested to reflect them to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for consideration and resolution./.