(Promulgated by Decree No. 53 of the Ministry of Water Resources of January 17, 2023)

Chapter I General rules

Article 1 These Measures are formulated in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on Soil and Water Conservation and other laws and regulations for the purpose of standardizing and strengthening the management of water and soil conservation programs for production and construction projects and preventing and controlling soil erosion that may be caused by production and construction projects.

Article 2 These Measures shall apply to the compilation, submission and approval of water and soil conservation plans for production and construction projects, the implementation of the plans, the acceptance of facilities and the supervision and inspection.

Article 3 The Ministry of Water Resources shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of water and soil conservation programs for production and construction projects.

The river basin management agency under the Ministry of Water Resources (hereinafter referred to as the river basin management agency) shall, in accordance with laws, administrative regulations and the authorization of the Ministry of Water Resources, be responsible for the supervision and management of soil and water conservation programs of production and construction projects within its jurisdiction.

The department of water administration of the local people's government at or above the county level shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of water and soil conservation plans for production and construction projects within its administrative area.

Article 4 Production and construction units shall be responsible for the prevention and control of soil erosion in production and construction projects, and shall strengthen the management of soil and water conservation throughout the whole process, optimize the construction process and timing, improve the utilization efficiency of soil and water resources, reduce surface disturbance and vegetation damage, take timely soil and water conservation measures, and effectively control the soil erosion that may be caused.

All units and individuals have the obligation to protect water and soil resources, prevent and control water and soil erosion, and have the right to report acts that damage water and soil resources or cause water and soil erosion.

Chapter II Compilation, examination and approval

Article 5 In mountainous areas, hilly areas, sandstorms areas and other areas prone to soil and water erosion as defined in the soil and water conservation plans approved by the people's governments at or above the county level or the departments authorized by them, production and construction units shall prepare and report plans for soil and water conservation.

The term "production and construction projects that may cause soil erosion" as mentioned in these Measures refers to projects that undergo surface disturbance, excavation and filling of earth and rock in the process of production and construction, and which require approval, approval and filing procedures according to law.

Article 6 Plans for water and soil conservation shall be drawn up by production and construction units themselves or entrusted to units with appropriate technical conditions and capabilities.

The departments and units conducting the examination and approval, technical review, supervision and inspection of water and soil conservation plans shall not recommend or designate units for the preparation of water and soil conservation plans for production and construction units.

Article 7 Water and soil conservation plans shall be divided into reports and report forms.

For production and construction projects whose land area is more than 5 hectares or whose total amount of excavated and filled earth and rock is more than 50,000 cubic meters, reports on plans for water and soil conservation shall be prepared. For production and construction projects whose land area is more than 0.5 hectares and less than 5 hectares or whose total amount of excavated and filled earth and rock is more than 1,000 cubic meters and less than 50,000 cubic meters, a water and soil conservation plan report form shall be prepared.

Production and construction projects whose land area is less than 0.5 hectares and the total amount of excavated and filled earth and rock is less than 1,000 cubic meters do not need to draw up soil and water conservation plans, but the prevention and control of soil erosion shall be done well in accordance with the relevant technical standards for soil and water conservation.

Article 8 Water and soil conservation plans shall include the scope, objectives, measures and investments for the prevention and control of water and soil loss.

The specific contents and format of the report and the report form of the water and soil conservation program shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Water Resources.

Article 9 Production and construction units shall complete the compilation and submission of soil and water conservation plans and obtain approval procedures before the start of construction of production and construction projects. Where the production and construction unit has not formulated a water and soil conservation plan or the water and soil conservation plan has not been approved, the production and construction project may not start construction.

Article 10 Water and soil conservation plans shall be examined and approved by different levels.

For production and construction projects examined, approved and filed by The State Council or relevant departments under The State Council, the water and soil conservation plan shall be examined and approved by the Ministry of Water Resources.

For production and construction projects examined, approved and filed by local people's governments at or above the county level and their relevant departments, the water and soil conservation plans shall be examined and approved by the water administrative departments of the people's governments at the same level.

For cross-administrative production and construction projects, the water and soil conservation plans shall be examined and approved by the department of water administration of the people's government at the next higher level.

Article 11 Where a production and construction unit applies for examination and approval of a water and soil conservation plan, it shall submit an application to the department of water administration with the power of examination and approval, and provide a report on the water and soil conservation plan or a report form in triplicate.

Article 12 The water administrative department shall, within 5 working days from the date of receiving all the application materials, make a decision on acceptance or rejection according to law.

Article 13 The competent department of water administration shall, in examining and approving the report of the water and soil conservation plan, make an administrative licensing decision within 10 working days from the date of accepting the application. If a decision cannot be made within 10 working days, it may be extended for 10 working days upon approval by the head of the examination and approval department, and the applicant shall be informed of the reasons for the extension.

The department in charge of water administration may organize the technical evaluation institution to conduct technical evaluation on the report of the water and soil conservation plan. The cost of technical review shall be borne by the examination and approval department and incorporated into the department budget in accordance with relevant provisions. The time required for technical review shall not be counted within the period specified in the first paragraph of this article, but shall not exceed 30 working days.

Before the Ministry of Water Resources makes a decision on the approval of the report of water and soil conservation plan for production and construction projects, it shall seek the opinions of the relevant river basin management institutions.

The report form of soil and water conservation program shall be managed under the promise system. The applicant shall fulfill the commitment formalities according to law, and the water administrative department shall handle it immediately after acceptance.

Article 14 Technical review institutions shall conduct technical review in strict accordance with laws, regulations and technical standards, and be responsible for technical review opinions.

The technical assessment institution shall not collect any fees from the production and construction units and the units engaged in the preparation of water and soil conservation plans.

Article 15 Water and soil conservation plans shall conform to the requirements of laws, regulations and technical standards.

Under any of the following circumstances, the water administrative department shall make a decision not to grant an administrative license:

(1) Unreasonable objectives and scope of responsibility for soil erosion prevention and control;

(2) The comprehensive utilization investigation of the abandoned soil and slag has not been carried out or the comprehensive utilization plan is not feasible, and the location of the soil collection site and the slag disposal site is not clear or the site selection is unreasonable;

(3) The protection and utilization measures of topsoil resources are not clear, the allocation of soil and water conservation measures is unreasonable, the system is incomplete, and the grade standards are not clear;

(4) The site selection of a production and construction project involves the key prevention and management areas of soil erosion, but fails to optimize the construction plan and raise the level of soil and water conservation measures in accordance with the requirements of soil and water conservation standards and norms;

(5) The basic data of the water and soil conservation program is obviously untrue, and the content has major defects or omissions;

(6) There are other circumstances in which laws, regulations and technical standards stipulate that the approval of soil and water conservation plans shall not be approved.

Article 16 Where any of the following circumstances exists after the approval of the water and soil conservation plan, the production and construction unit shall supplement or modify the water and soil conservation plan and submit it to the original examination and approval department for examination and approval:

(1) Engineering disturbance involving new key prevention areas or key management areas of soil and water loss;

(2) The scope of responsibility for the prevention and control of soil erosion or the total amount of excavated and filled earth and rock increased by more than 30%;

(3) The length of some lines with lateral displacement of more than 300 meters in mountainous and hilly areas of linear engineering reaches more than 30% of the length of this part of the line;

(4) the amount of topsoil stripping or the total area of plant measures has been reduced by more than 30%;

(5) Changes in engineering measures of important units of water and soil conservation, which may lead to significant reduction or loss of water and soil conservation functions.

Due to the reduction of the scope of engineering disturbance, the number of corresponding topsoil stripping and plant measures is reduced, it is not necessary to supplement or modify the soil and water conservation program.

Article 17 If a new slag disposal site is established in addition to the slag disposal site determined in the soil and water conservation plan, or the grade of the slag disposal site is raised due to the increase in the amount of slag disposal, the production and construction unit shall carry out demonstration of the reduction and resource utilization of slag disposal, and prepare a supplementary report on the soil and water conservation plan before the slag disposal and submit it to the original examination and approval department for examination and approval.

Article 18 Where the water and soil conservation plan expires three years from the date of approval and the production and construction project starts construction, the water and soil conservation plan shall be submitted to the original examination and approval department for re-examination. The original examination and approval department shall, within 10 working days from the date of receiving the water and soil conservation plan of the production and construction project, notify the production and construction unit of the examination and approval opinions in writing.

Chapter III implementation of the program

Article 19 Production and construction units shall, in accordance with the approved plans for soil and water conservation, take measures to prevent and control soil erosion.

For production and construction projects requiring the preparation of a preliminary design, the preliminary design shall include a soil and water conservation chapter, specifying soil erosion prevention measures, standards and soil and water conservation investment, and the design of the construction drawings shall specify the design of soil and water conservation measures.

The production and construction units shall incorporate the tasks and contents of water and soil conservation into the construction contract, fulfill the responsibilities of water and soil conservation of the construction units, and simultaneously implement the water and soil conservation measures proposed in the water and soil conservation plan during the construction process, so as to ensure the quality, implementation schedule and capital input of the water and soil conservation measures.

Article 20 For large and medium-sized production and construction projects that may cause serious soil erosion, the production and construction units shall organize the monitoring of soil erosion caused by production and construction activities, timely and quantitatively grasp the situation of soil erosion and prevention and control, scientifically evaluate the effectiveness of prevention and control, and report the monitoring situation to the water administrative department in accordance with relevant provisions.

Article 21 The supervision of soil and water conservation of production and construction projects shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the supervision of water conservancy project construction and the standards of soil and water conservation supervision.

Chapter IV Facilities acceptance

Article 22 Before a production and construction project is put into operation, the production and construction unit shall, in accordance with the standards and requirements prescribed by the Ministry of Water Resources, carry out an independent inspection and acceptance of water and soil conservation facilities, and make the results of the inspection and acceptance public and report to the water administrative department in charge of examining and approving water and soil conservation plans for the record. The water administrative department shall issue a record receipt.

Where a water and soil conservation program report is prepared, the production and construction unit shall organize a third-party institution to prepare a report on the acceptance of water and soil conservation facilities. The units undertaking the technical evaluation, monitoring and supervision of water and soil conservation plans of production and construction projects shall not be the third party institutions for the preparation of the acceptance report of water and soil conservation facilities of such production and construction projects.

Article 23 Where water and soil conservation facilities have not been checked and accepted or have failed to pass the check and acceptance, a production and construction project shall not be put into operation.

Under any of the following circumstances, the acceptance conclusion of soil and water conservation facilities shall be unqualified:

(1) failing to perform the procedures for compilation, reporting and approval of water and soil conservation plans or to carry out monitoring and supervision of water and soil conservation in accordance with laws and regulations;

(2) The abandoned soil and slag are not piled up in the special storage places determined by the approved water and soil conservation plans;

(C) soil and water conservation measures system, grade and standard or soil and water loss prevention indicators are not implemented in accordance with the requirements of the soil and water conservation program approval;

(4) there is a potential risk of soil erosion;

(5) The acceptance materials for water and soil conservation facilities are obviously untrue, and there are major missing items or omissions in the contents;

(6) There are other circumstances in which laws, regulations and technical standards stipulate that it is not allowed to pass the acceptance inspection of water and soil conservation facilities.

Article 24 After the acceptance of water and soil conservation facilities for production and construction projects has passed, the production and construction units or operation and management units shall prevent and control water and soil loss in the course of production and operation according to law, strengthen the management and maintenance of water and soil conservation facilities, and ensure that water and soil conservation facilities play their long-term benefits.

Chapter V Supervision and inspection

Article 25 The competent department of water administration of the people's government at or above the county level shall implement the management of the list of items for examination and approval of water and soil conservation programs, publicize the scope, procedures and results of examination and approval according to law, promote the standardization, standardization and facilitation of examination and approval of water and soil conservation programs, and improve the efficiency of examination and approval.

Article 26 The water administration departments and river basin management institutions of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with their duties, strengthen the supervision of the whole process of the whole chain of water and soil conservation programs, and make full use of satellite remote sensing, unmanned aerial vehicles, big data, "Internet + supervision" and other means. To supervise and inspect the implementation of soil and water conservation programs, soil and water conservation monitoring, soil and water conservation supervision, and acceptance of soil and water conservation facilities for production and construction projects, and to deal with problems found in accordance with laws and regulations.

Where the water administrative department of the people's government at or above the county level or the river basin administrative agency finds in the course of supervision and inspection that the independent acceptance of water and soil conservation facilities for production and construction projects has been falsified or has failed to meet the acceptance standards and conditions, it shall be deemed to have failed the acceptance of water and soil conservation facilities.

Water administration departments and river basin management agencies of the people's governments at or above the county level shall establish coordinated supervision and joint law enforcement systems such as regulatory information sharing, interconnection of illegal clues, case notification and transfer, improve the mechanism of administrative law enforcement and criminal justice, and cooperation with procuratorial public interest litigation, and do a good job in the supervision, supervision and inspection of soil and water conservation programs.

Article 27 Departments of water administration and river basin management of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with relevant provisions, strengthen credit supervision over production and construction units and units that prepare, evaluate, monitor, supervise, construct and inspect water and soil conservation plans. Where relevant units and their personnel fail to carry out their work in accordance with regulations or practice fraud, conceal problems, fabricate or tamper with data in their work, they shall be included in credit records according to law.

Article 28 Production and construction units shall cooperate with the supervision and inspection of water administration departments and river basin management agencies, and if corrections are necessary according to law, they shall formulate correction plans and measures in accordance with the requirements and make corrections within the prescribed time limit.

Chapter VI Rules of punishment

Article 29 Where departments of water administration, river basin management institutions and their staff of the people's governments at or above the county level abuse their power, neglect their duties or engage in malpractices for personal gains in the examination and approval, supervision and inspection of water and soil conservation plans, if the case constitutes a crime, they shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law; If the case does not constitute a crime, administrative sanctions shall be imposed according to law.

Article 30 In violation of the provisions of these Measures, production and construction units have one of the following acts, in accordance with the provisions of the "People's Republic of China Soil and Water Conservation Law" and other laws and regulations punishment:

(1) Construction projects for which water and soil conservation plans should be formulated according to law, and construction starts without preparation of water and soil conservation plans or without approval of the prepared water and soil conservation plans;

(2) Major changes have taken place in the location or scale of a production and construction project, and the water and soil conservation plan has not been supplemented or modified, or the supplementary or modified water and soil conservation plan has not been approved by the original examination and approval authority;

(3) Making major changes to the measures for water and soil conservation in the course of the implementation of the water and soil conservation plan without the approval of the original examination and approval authorities;

(4) Water and soil conservation facilities have not been inspected or have failed to pass the inspection, and a production and construction project has been put into use;

(5) Dumping sand, stone, soil, gangue, tailings, waste residue, etc., in areas other than the special storage areas determined in the water and soil conservation plan;

(6) failing to control water and soil erosion caused by production and construction projects.

Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions

Article 31 Other departments for examination and approval of water and soil conservation programs designated by the local people's governments at or above the county level shall exercise the duties of examination and approval of water and soil conservation programs in accordance with the provisions of these Measures.

Article 32 Measures for the administration of water and soil conservation programs for production and construction projects in the development zones shall be formulated separately by the Ministry of Water Resources.

Article 33 The competent department of water administration of the people's government at the provincial level may formulate specific provisions in accordance with these Measures and report them