Circular No. 68/2020/TT-BTC on the management, use, and settlement of regular budget funds for dike maintenance, repair, and emergency handling of dike incidents

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CIRCULAR

Regulations on management, use, and settlement of recurrent expenditure funds for maintenance, repair, and emergency handling of dike incidents
Implementation of maintenance, repair of dikes and emergency handling of dike incidents

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

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

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 Dikes;

Pursuant to Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/NĐ-CP dated July 26, 2017 of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Director of the Administrative and Public Institution Department;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular regulating management, use, and settlement of recurrent expenditure funds for maintenance, repair of dikes and emergency handling of dike incidents;

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

Article 1. Scope of Regulation: This Circular guides the regime of management, use, and settlement of recurrent expenditure funds for maintenance, repair of dikes and emergency handling of dike incidents.

Article 2. Applicability: Agencies, units, organizations, and individuals related to the use of funds for maintenance, repair of dikes and emergency handling of dike incidents.

Article 2. Sources of Funds

1. The central budget ensures recurrent expenditure funds for maintenance, repair of dikes and emergency handling of dike incidents for special grade, Grade I, II, and III dike lines; supports disaster aftermath recovery, urgent repairs, and emergency handling of dike incidents caused by natural disasters, floods for Grade IV and V dike lines managed by localities, in accordance with the laws on state budget.

2. The local budget ensures recurrent expenditure funds for maintenance, repair of dikes and emergency handling of dike incidents for Grade IV and V dike lines.

3. For specialized dikes of sectors and economic organizations; maintenance, repair of dikes and emergency handling of dike incidents funds shall be guaranteed by the project owners.

Article 3. Principles of Management and Use of Funds

1. Agencies, units, organizations, and individuals using recurrent expenditure funds for maintenance, repair of dikes and emergency handling of dike incidents must comply with the contents approved by the competent authority; manage and use funds according to regulations, economically, and effectively; be subject to inspection and supervision by competent authorities; settle the used funds, implement public financial disclosure in accordance with current regulations.

2. Determination of work volume and budget estimates, guidance, and inspection of implementation plans for maintenance and repair of dikes shall be based on the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, including:

a) Economic and technical norms, unit prices, service fees for maintenance and repair of dikes;

b) Procedures for formulating and implementing annual maintenance and repair plans for dikes;

c) Procedures and time limits for handling urgent dike incident responses.

Chapter II

INTERNAL EXPENSES AND EXPENSE LIMITS

Article 4. Contents of Expenditure for Maintenance, Repair, and Emergency Handling of Dike Incidents from Central Budget Sources

1. Contents of Expenditure for Maintenance and Repair of Dikes

a) Repairing, renovating, reinforcing dike surfaces;

b) Repairing and reinforcing dike access roads, dike footpaths, and slopes within the dike protection area;

c) Repairing and planting grass on dike slopes, dike cores, dike bases, and retaining wall slopes;

d) Filling soil, planting wave-breaking plants;

đ) Surveying, detecting, and handling dike body defects and hidden dangers; injecting grout to reinforce dike body quality;

e) Inspecting and evaluating the quality of under-dike culverts; handling minor damages; dredging upstream and downstream areas of under-dike culverts;

g) Inspecting the condition of protective retaining walls; repairing minor damages to retaining walls;

h) Supplementing, repairing facilities serving dike management and protection: dike markers, boundary markers, water level markers, dike warning systems, monitoring stations and equipment, warehouses, and storage areas for flood prevention materials;

i) Repairing facilities serving dike management and protection: flood diversion structures, emergency spillways, pressure relief wells, dike watchtowers;

k) Supplementing, maintaining, collecting flood prevention materials related to dikes under the responsibility of the central government;

l) Surveying topography, geology, periodic cross-sectional surveys of rivers, measuring changes in riverbeds; measuring changes in front dike beaches; supplementing dike data for dike management and flood prevention;

m) Other works directly related to dike maintenance and repair as prescribed in the Law on Dikes, relevant laws, and approved by the competent authority (if applicable);

2. Contents of Expenditure for Emergency Handling of Dike Incidents

Dike incidents that need urgent handling to ensure the safety of the dike system are those occurring before, during, and after the annual flood season, which have not been included in the annual maintenance and repair plan and budget, including:

a) Handling dike slope collapse and retaining wall slope collapse;

b) Handling dike breaches;

c) Handling termite damage on dikes;

d) Handling dike body subsidence and settlement;

đ) Handling riverbank erosion with potential impact on dike safety;

e) Handling dike body leakage, seepage, termite damage, and other defects;

g) Handling sinkholes, seeps, beach seeps, mudflows, and collapsed ground;

h) Handling cases where floodwaters overflow the dike crest;

i) Handling damages to culverts passing through dikes;

k) Dike reinforcement;

l) Handling abnormal operation of pressure relief wells: muddy water and sediment escaping from inside the well and surrounding filter areas.

Article 5. Content of maintenance, repair, and urgent handling of dyke incidents from local budget funds

Based on the content of maintenance and repair of dykes stipulated in Article 4 of this Circular; the actual status of the dyke system managed by the locality and financial capacity; the Provincial People's Committee shall submit to the Provincial People's Council for approval the content and tasks of maintenance, repair, and urgent handling of dyke incidents in the dyke system managed by the locality, ensuring the safety of the dyke line managed by the locality.

Article 6. Budget Expenditure Levels

The expenditure levels for implementing the maintenance and repair of dykes shall be carried out according to the current standards, unit prices, and financial expenditure regulations prescribed by competent state agencies.

Chapter III

ESTABLISHMENT, ALLOCATION, IMPLEMENTATION OF PROVISIONAL ACCOUNTING AND FINAL ACCOUNTING

Article 7. Establishment, allocation, implementation of provisional accounting, and final accounting of funds from the central budget

The establishment, allocation, implementation of provisional accounting, and final accounting of funds for maintenance, repair, and urgent handling of dyke incidents from the central budget shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law and related guiding documents. This Circular provides detailed guidance on certain contents as follows:

1. Preparing budgets

Annually, based on the guidelines for building the state budget of the competent authorities at all levels, based on the condition of the assigned dyke line, economic and technical norms, unit prices, and the expenditure content stipulated in Article 4 of this Circular, the expenditure level issued by the competent authority, and the current financial expenditure regulations:

a) The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development managing special grade, Grade I, Grade II, and Grade III dyke lines shall prepare the budget estimate for maintenance and repair of dykes from the central budget (in detail according to the expenditure content) and send it to the General Department of Flood and Storm Control.

b) The General Department of Flood and Storm Control shall prepare the budget estimate for the expenditure content it implements; consolidate it with the budget estimate for maintenance and repair of dykes (the part proposed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as per point a, Clause 1 of this Article) into the state budget estimate of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and send it to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and submission to the competent authority as prescribed.

2. Allocation and assignment of budget estimates

a) Based on the state budget expenditure estimate assigned by the competent authority; based on the budget estimate for maintenance and repair of dykes allocated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the General Department of Flood and Storm Control shall approve the detailed allocation according to the expenditure content stipulated in Article 4 of this Circular; detailing the name of the project, the approved budget estimate according to each dyke line, quantity, and funding, including: The budget estimate for maintenance and repair of dykes for special grade, Grade I, Grade II, and Grade III dyke lines authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development to implement; the budget estimate for the expenditure content directly implemented by the General Department of Flood and Storm Control, and the budget estimate for urgent handling of dyke incidents.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, based on the situation of the previous year's implementation, forecasted natural disasters that may occur in the planning year, and the actual status of the dyke system, will allocate the budget estimate for urgent handling of dyke incidents within the scope of the budget estimate assigned by the competent authority. This portion of the budget can only be allocated based on actual occurrences and after obtaining the opinion of the Ministry of Finance as prescribed. The expenditure content and management procedures for the budget for urgent handling of dyke incidents shall be implemented in accordance with Clause 2, Article 4 of this Circular and Point c, Clause 2 of this Article.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development assigns the budget to the General Department of Flood and Storm Control (including the budget for urgent handling of dyke incidents) and the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development managing special grade, Grade I, Grade II, and Grade III dyke lines authorized to implement; simultaneously sending it to the Ministry of Finance, State Treasury, and the State Treasury where transactions take place for implementation.

b) The Ministry of Finance shall conduct inspections of the budget allocation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development distributed and assigned to budgetary units in accordance with the State Budget Law, guiding documents of the State Budget Law, and the provisions of this Circular.

c) For the budget for urgent handling of dyke incidents

During the year, if erosion causing loss of safety in special grade, Grade I, Grade II, and Grade III dyke lines authorized occurs, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall inspect, formulate a repair plan, report to the General Department of Flood and Storm Control for review of the volume and budget estimate for implementation. In cases of erosion during typhoons or floods requiring immediate repairs to ensure the safety of the dyke system, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall report to the Provincial People's Committee to promptly implement rescue measures, then complete the documentation and report to the General Department of Flood and Storm Control for review.

Based on the review results, the General Department of Flood and Storm Control shall consolidate and estimate the budget for urgent handling of dyke incidents for the locality, detailing by project, from the budget for urgent handling of dyke incidents already allocated and assigned in the General Department of Flood and Storm Control's budget estimate, and report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

On the basis of the proposal of the General Department of Flood and Storm Control, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall decide to adjust the budget estimates assigned to budgetary units, specifically: Reduce the budget estimate assigned to the General Department of Flood and Storm Control, while increasing the budget estimate for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development corresponding to the approved budget for urgent handling of dyke incidents in the locality, within the total budget for urgent handling of dyke incidents already assigned to the General Department of Flood and Storm Control as stipulated in point a, Clause 2 of this Article. The adjusted budget for urgent handling of dyke incidents for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development includes the budget for urgent handling of dyke incidents occurring in the year and the budget for urgent handling of dyke incidents implemented in the previous year but not yet settled.

After adjusting the budget estimates, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall send them to the Ministry of Finance for inspection and adjustment of the budget estimates, and simultaneously send them to the State Treasury where transactions take place for implementation.

The Ministry of Finance shall inspect the adjustment of the budget estimates assigned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to budget-using units in accordance with the regulations. The time for adjusting the assigned budget estimates that budget-using units must complete before November 15 of the current year.

3. Implementation of Budget Expenditure Estimates

a) Based on the budget expenditure estimates assigned by the competent state agency, budget-using units shall withdraw the estimates at the State Treasury where transactions take place.

b) The State Treasury where transactions take place shall supervise and make payments for expenditures according to the provisions of Government Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP dated January 20, 2020, regarding administrative procedures under the State Treasury sector, and Circular No. 62/2020/TT-BTC dated June 22, 2020, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding supervision and payment of regular expenditures from the state budget through the State Treasury.

4. Funds Carried Over to the Next Year: The handling of the end-of-year surplus funds for dike maintenance, repair, and emergency response to dike incidents shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law and related implementing documents.

5. Settlement

a) Units assigned budget estimates for dike maintenance, repair, and emergency response to dike incidents must carry out closing accounting work and prepare settlement reports. The procedures for preparing, forms, submission deadlines, and responsibilities for reviewing and auditing settlement reports shall be implemented in accordance with current regulations. The settlement report must include a list of projects assigned plans during the year, detailed settlement according to each authorized expenditure item as stipulated in Article 4 of this Circular.

b) The review and audit of annual settlement reports for dike maintenance, repair, and emergency response to dike incidents shall be conducted in accordance with Circular No. 137/2017/TT-BTC dated December 25, 2017, issued by the Ministry of Finance, concerning the review, audit, notification, and summary of annual settlements; in which, the review and audit of settlement reports for emergency response to dike incidents shall be delegated to relevant entities in accordance with Article 9 of Circular No. 137/2017/TT-BTC.

For independent construction projects, components, or packages using dike maintenance and repair funds, in addition to annual settlement as prescribed above, they must also comply with the settlement regulations stipulated in Circular No. 10/2020/TT-BTC dated February 20, 2020, issued by the Ministry of Finance, concerning the settlement of completed projects funded by state capital.

Article 8. Preparation, Allocation, Execution of Budget Estimates, and Settlement of Dike Maintenance, Repair, and Emergency Response Funds from Local Budgets

1. Based on the actual situation of the locality, the Provincial People's Committee shall decide on the implementation of decentralization of management work for dike maintenance and repair systems at the provincial, district, and commune levels as appropriate.

2. The preparation, allocation, execution of budget estimates, and settlement of dike maintenance, repair, and emergency response funds from local budgets shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law and related implementing documents.

a) Based on the provisions of the State Budget Law and related implementing documents, the Department of Finance shall coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to advise the Provincial People's Committee on specific guidance for the preparation, allocation, execution of budget estimates, and settlement of dike maintenance and repair funds in line with the characteristics of the locality.

b) The withdrawal of budget estimates and payment of dike maintenance and repair funds shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Government Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP dated January 20, 2020, regarding administrative procedures under the State Treasury sector, and Circular No. 62/2020/TT-BTC dated June 22, 2020, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding supervision and payment of regular expenditures from the state budget through the State Treasury.

c) The review and audit of annual settlement reports for dike maintenance and repair funds, and emergency response to dike incidents shall be conducted in accordance with Circular No. 137/2017/TT-BTC dated December 25, 2017, issued by the Ministry of Finance, concerning the review, audit, notification, and summary of annual settlements.

For independent construction projects, components, or packages using dike maintenance and repair funds, in addition to annual settlement as prescribed above, they must also comply with the settlement regulations stipulated in Circular No. 10/2020/TT-BTC dated February 20, 2020, issued by the Ministry of Finance, concerning the settlement of completed projects funded by state capital.

3. For emergency response funds managed by localities: During the year, if dike incidents threatening the safety of Class III and below dikes are discovered, the Provincial People's Committee shall direct relevant local agencies to promptly handle them to ensure the safety of the dike system managed by the locality from the local budget (including economic activities and local budget reserves). In cases of major natural disasters where the aftermath recovery exceeds the local budget's capacity, the central government will provide support in accordance with the laws on state budget.

Article 9. Inspection Work

1. To ensure the proper and effective use of dike maintenance, repair, and emergency response funds, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (General Department of Flood and Storm Control), the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and relevant local agencies shall cooperate with financial authorities at the same level to periodically and randomly inspect the management, use, payment, and settlement of dike maintenance and repair funds at units.

2. Any expenditures exceeding the standard, not in accordance with the regulations, or deviating from the specified content in this Circular must be recovered and returned to the state budget in accordance with the laws on state budget and public finance; at the same time, the person who made the incorrect decision must compensate the public treasury and bear legal responsibility.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 10. Transitional Provisions

1. For the expenditure items specified in Article 4 of this Circular that have been approved by the competent authority before the Circular takes effect and are currently being implemented, they shall continue to be implemented according to the approved estimates.

2. For the contents of expenditures specified in Article 4 of this Circular that have not been approved by the competent authority, the leading unit shall submit to the competent authority for approval of the budget estimate in accordance with this Circular.

Article 11. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from March 1, 2020.

2. Circular Joint Circular No. 48/2009/TTLT-BTC-BNN dated March 12, 2009 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding the management, use, and settlement of state funds for maintenance and repair of dykes ceases to be effective from the date this Circular takes effect.

3. In cases where laws and regulations cited in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced by other laws and regulations, the corresponding Articles, Clauses, and Points in the amending, supplementing, or replacing laws and regulations shall apply.

4. During implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, agencies and units are requested to report to the Ministry of Finance for coordination and resolution./.