Water conservancy (Water conservancy) departments (bureaus) of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, water conservancy (water conservancy) bureaus of cities separately designated under the plan, water conservancy Bureau of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, river basin management agencies, and relevant units:

"Measures for the Management of Soil and Water Conservation Programs for Production and Construction Projects" (Order No. 53 of the Ministry of Water Resources, hereinafter referred to as Order No. 53) will be officially implemented on March 1, 2023. In order to ensure the orderly connection of soil and water conservation management of production and construction projects, the relevant matters are hereby notified as follows:

1. From March 1, 2023, water administrative departments at all levels shall, in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of Decree No. 53, accept and approve water and soil conservation plans for production and construction projects at different levels. For those that have been accepted before, the water administrative department accepting the application for examination and approval shall continue to conduct examination and approval in accordance with the procedures.

2. Since March 1, 2023, if it is necessary to establish a new slag disposal site other than the slag disposal site determined in the soil and water conservation plan, or if the slag disposal site is upgraded due to the increase in the amount of slag disposal, the production and construction unit shall, in accordance with the provisions of Article 17 of Decree No. 53, carry out the demonstration of slag reduction and resource utilization, prepare a supplementary report on the soil and water conservation plan before slag disposal, and obtain the approval of the original examination and approval department. The change of the newly established slag dump that has previously obtained the consent of the county-level water administrative department for first use shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Opinions of the Ministry of Water Resources on Further Deepening the Reform of" Discharge Management Service "and Comprehensively Strengthening the supervision of Soil and Water Conservation" (Water Protection [2019] No. 160).

3. As of March 1, 2023, the administrative approval decision of the water and soil conservation plan for production and construction projects approved by the water and soil conservation department at all levels shall be valid for three years, and the water and soil conservation plan shall expire three years from the date of approval, and the production and construction project shall start construction, its water and soil conservation plan shall be submitted to the original approval department for re-examination.

4. Since March 1, 2023, the units that undertake the technical evaluation, soil and water conservation monitoring, and soil and water conservation supervision of production and construction projects shall not be the third party institutions for the preparation of the acceptance report of soil and water conservation facilities of the production and construction projects. Where the above units have previously signed a technical service contract for the preparation of the acceptance report of soil and water conservation facilities, they shall continue to perform the relevant obligations in accordance with the contract.

Local water administrative departments at all levels should effectively play the role of water and soil conservation industry departments, strengthen organizational leadership, strengthen responsibility, increase publicity and training efforts, and ensure that the requirements of Decree 53 are implemented in place. Other departments for the examination and approval of water and soil conservation programs determined by local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with Decree No. 53 and the requirements of this circular, do a good job in the examination and approval of water and soil conservation programs. All river basin management agencies should strengthen the supervision and management of soil and water conservation programs of production and construction projects within the scope of management, organize supervision and performance supervision according to their duties, and guide local water administrative departments at all levels to implement Order 53.