Improving the management of natural resources and environment through the audit results of the State Audit

The audit results of the State Audit have helped the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment review and improve institutions, policies and laws, ensuring that state management in the fields under the management of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is increasingly better, contributing to preventing acts of abuse of power and law evasion leading to corruption, waste and negativity.

According to the provisions of Decree No. 68/2022/ND-CP dated September 22, 2022 of the Government , the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is a Government agency performing the function of state management in the fields of: land; water resources; mineral resources, geology; environment; hydrometeorology; climate change; surveying and mapping; integrated management of resources and protection of the marine and island environment; remote sensing; state management of public services in the fields under the management of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

In the past time, in addition to auditing the management and use of public finance and public assets, the State Audit has conducted thematic audits on the functions and tasks of state management of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, including: State management of mineral resources in the period of 2017-2021 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam National Coal - Mineral Industries Group, Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation and 28 provinces; auditing of scrap import management activities in the period of 2016-2018 at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Finance ; management and use of capital for the Target Program on Climate Change Response and Green Growth in the period of 2016-2020; management of water resources in the Mekong River basin associated with the implementation of sustainable development goals; implementing the Project on restructuring the system of credit institutions associated with bad debt settlement in the period 2016-2020 issued under Decision No. 1058/QD-TTg dated July 19, 2017 of the Prime Minister on approving the Project at the State Bank of Vietnam, Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, and Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade.

With the assessment that through the audit work, the shortcomings and inadequacies will be pointed out and recommendations will be made to improve the effectiveness of state management of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; therefore, immediately after receiving the Audit Conclusion Notices of the State Audit, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment directed its affiliated units to seriously rectify, learn from experience, overcome the shortcomings and limitations and fully implement the conclusions and recommendations of the State Audit pointed out in the management of natural resources and environment for the state management function of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Deputy State Auditor General Nguyen Tuan Anh and Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan chaired the Conference to announce the Decision to audit the Special Topic on State management of mineral resources in the period of 2017 - 2020 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the provinces: Yen Bai, Thua Thien - Hue, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, Bac Kan, Ha Giang, Phu Tho, Thai Binh, Binh Dinh, Binh Phuoc, Cao Bang in 2022.

Basis for perfecting institutions and policies on mineral activities

Regarding the mineral sector, the State Audit has made many effective recommendations, consistent with practice, as a basis for perfecting institutions and policies on mineral activities. Specifically as follows:

Firstly, the State Audit recommends reviewing and proposing amendments and supplements to Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP dated November 29, 2016 providing guidance on the composition and form of documents in the application for a mineral exploitation license in areas with construction projects specified in Clause 1, Article 65 of the Law on Minerals; supplementing and amending Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP and Decree No. 67/2019/ND-CP to unify the time for determining and paying fees for granting mineral exploitation rights.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has studied and accepted the proposal for the contents stipulated in Clause 11, Article 1 of the draft Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decrees in the field of minerals, which is being submitted to the Government for consideration and promulgation in Submission No. 83/TTr-BTNMT dated October 20, 2023.

Second, the State Audit recommends the issuance of additional regulations on methods and ways to calculate the increased sedimentation of sand and gravel reserves in the mine area every year; there are no regulations or methods to determine the radius of influence that can lead to riverbank erosion in Circular No. 01/2016/TT-BTNMT dated January 13, 2016 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The recommendation has been accepted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as stipulated in Article 1 of the draft amended Circular. Currently, the draft Circular is being posted on the electronic information portal of the Government and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to collect opinions from organizations and individuals before promulgation.

Recommendations to institutionalize and supplement regulations suitable for environmental reality

In the environmental field, through thematic audits and operational audits at localities, the State Audit has made recommendations to institutionalize and supplement regulations in accordance with the actual operating situation.

Firstly, the State Audit recommended amending and supplementing Decree No. 155/2016/ND-CP, including adding specific sanctions for violations in the field of plastic bag production; promulgating regulations prohibiting the production of non-degradable plastic bags with a film thickness of less than 30 micrometers according to the Government's Project issued under Decision No. 582/QD-TTg dated April 11, 2013. The proposal was accepted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and included in the provisions of Article 28 of Decree No. 45/2022/ND-CP dated July 7, 2022, regulating sanctions for administrative violations in the field of environmental protection (replacing Decree No. 155/2016/NDCP dated November 18, 2016 of the Government, regulating sanctions for administrative violations in the field of environmental protection).

Second, regarding the proposal to supplement regulations on the recycling recovery rate and mandatory conditions for implementing a recycling recovery plan for enterprises producing environmentally friendly plastic bags, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has accepted and supplemented the provisions in Article 64 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP dated January 10, 2022 of the Government detailing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection on the roadmap to restrict the production and import of single-use plastic products, non-biodegradable plastic packaging and products and goods containing microplastics.

Third, the State Audit proposed and recommended supplementing regulations on environmental auditing for organizations, production, business and service establishments to improve the efficiency of waste management, economical use of resources, prevention and reduction of pollution and environmental protection of these entities. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has accepted and submitted to the Government and the National Assembly to supplement regulations on environmental auditing in Articles 74 and 160 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 to enhance the environmental management capacity of enterprises, help enterprises identify gaps in environmental management and have solutions to adjust environmental management activities more effectively. In addition, Article 160 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 also added regulations on the State Audit to conduct audits in the environmental field in accordance with the provisions of the State Audit Law and relevant laws.

Perfecting water resources planning

In the field of water resources, the recommendations of the State Audit have been seriously implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment according to its functions and tasks in water resources management. Specifically:

Perform assigned functions and tasks in formulating and submitting to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval of general resource plans of the whole country, water resource plans of inter-provincial river basins, inter-provincial water sources; master plans for basic investigation of water resources, recommendations have been accepted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to implement the formulation of plans to submit to the Prime Minister. Up to now, the general plan of the whole country, master plan for basic investigation and 8/13 inter-provincial river plans, 05 inter-provincial river basin plans have been approved, the remaining plans will be completed in 2024.

Regarding the proposal to build and operate a network system for monitoring and supervising water resources according to the provisions of the Law on Water Resources 2012, Decree No. 201/2013/ND-CP dated November 27, 2013, Circular 47/2017/TT-BTNMT dated November 7, 2017, which has not ensured the quality and progress of data connection, has not reviewed and strictly handled cases of failure to connect, especially facilities with installation deadlines before December 31, 2019, implementing the recommendation of the State Audit, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has implemented the Project "Building a system to monitor and manage the evolution of surface water, groundwater and water exploitation, use and discharge activities into water sources to serve the monitoring of compliance with water resource licenses and direction and operation". Up to now, the system has basically completed its functions, meeting the management of water resource licenses for both central and local use; integrated with the monitoring system for exploitation, use and discharge of wastewater into central water sources. The system has also basically completed its functions, meeting the goal of automatically monitoring parameters on exploitation and use of water resources as prescribed.

Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of land management and use

State auditors conduct on-site audits (Photo: NL)

In the land sector, implementing the recommendations of the State Audit, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has institutionalized them in the provisions of the Land Law and Decrees guiding the Law to continue to innovate and improve institutions and policies, and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of land management and use. Specifically as follows:

Regarding the proposal to study, propose and amend the provisions of the Land Law to remove difficulties and obstacles in accepting mortgages of land use rights of organizations other than credit institutions, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has accepted and supplemented the provisions that economic organizations to which the State allocates land with land use fees, leases land with one-time land rent for the entire lease term are entitled to mortgage land use rights and assets owned by them at credit institutions permitted to operate in Vietnam, other economic organizations or individuals according to the provisions of law in Article 35; economic organizations to which the State leases land with annual land rent are entitled to mortgage assets owned by them attached to the land and lease rights in land lease contracts at credit institutions permitted to operate in Vietnam in Article 36. Currently, the Land Law has been passed by the National Assembly at the 5th Extraordinary Session of the 15th National Assembly.

In summary, the audit results of the State Audit have helped the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment review and improve institutions, policies and laws, ensuring that state management in the fields under the management of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is increasingly better, contributing to preventing acts of abuse of power and law evasion leading to corruption, waste and negativity. In addition, the recommendations of the State Audit have contributed to creating favorable conditions for organizations and individuals to participate in natural resources and environmental activities, promoting the effective use of environmental resources and sustainable development, creating a premise for the development and transparency of national finance./.

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