Regulation of the People's Republic of China on Flood Control (2011 Revised)

Regulation of the People's Republic of China on Flood Control (2011 Revised) Regulation of the People's Republic of China on Flood Control (Promulgated by Order No.86 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on July 2nd, 1991, revised for the first time according to the Decision of the State Council on Amending the Flood Control Regulation of the People's Republic of China made on July 15, 2005, and revised for the second time according to the Decision of the State Council on Abolishing and Amending Some Administrative Regulations by the Order No.588 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on January 8, 2011) Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 The present Regulation is formulated in accordance with the Water Law of the People's Republic of China for the purpose of doing well the work of flood control and flood fighting, and ensuring the safety of the people's life and property and the smooth carrying out of economic construction. Article 2 The present Regulation shall be applicable to the carrying out of flood control and flood fighting activities within the territory of the People's Republic of China. Article 3 The guideline of “Safety first, being always on alert, prevention first, and rescuing emergency with all one's strength” shall be applied to flood control work, and the principle of solidarity in collaboration, and subjecting partial interests to the overall interests shall be followed. Article 4 Flood control shall be carried out under the system whereby the administrative chief of the people's government at any level assumes full responsibility and gives unified command with the departments at various levels assuming their respective responsibilities. All the relevant departments shall adopt the post responsibility system for flood control. Article 5 Any entity or individual shall have the obligation to take part in flood control and flood fighting. The Chinese People's Liberation Army and the Armed Police Force shall be an important power for flood control and flood fighting. Chapter II Flood Control Organizations Article 6 The State Council shall set up the National Flood Control Headquarters, which shall be responsible for organizing and guiding the work for flood control and flood fighting throughout the country, and the office of the National Flood Control Headquarters shall be set up at the administrative department of water under the State Council. For Changjiang River and Yellow River, a flood control commanding institution consisting of the persons-in-charge of the people's governments of the relevant provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government and the river basin management institution (hereinafter referred to as the river basin institution) of the rivers may be set up, and shall be responsible for guiding the work of flood control and flood fighting within their respective jurisdictions, with the office thereof established at the river basin institution. The major flood control and flood fighting matters in Changjiang River and Yellow River shall be implemented upon the approval of the National Flood Control Headquarters. The Huaihe, Haihe, Pearl River, Songhua River, Liaohe River, Taihu and other river basin institutions subordinated to the administrative department of water under the State Council shall set up a flood control office to be responsible for coordinating the routine work of flood control of their own river basins. Article 7 The local people's governments at or above the county level that has flood control task shall establish a flood control headquarters, consisting of the persons-in-charge of the relevant departments, local garrisons, and the departments of people's armed forces, and the administrative chief of the people's governments at all levels shall act as the commander. The flood control headquarters of the people's governments at all levels shall, under the leadership of the flood control headquarters of the upper level people's government and the people's governments of the corresponding level, execute the flood control instructions of the upper level government, formulate various flood control and flood fighting measures, and command uniformly the flood control and flood fighting work of their own regions. The office of the flood control headquarters of the people's governments at all levels shall be established at the competent administrative department of water at the corresponding level; the office of flood control headquarters within the urban district of a city may also be set up at the competent department of city construction, and shall be responsible for administering the routine flood control work within its jurisdiction. Article 8 The departments and entities of oil, electric power, posts and telecommunications, railway, highway, shipping, factory, mining and commerce as well as materials, etc. that have flood control tasks shall establish a flood control institution in flood season, and shall, under the unified leadership of the competent flood control headquarters of the people's governments, be responsible for doing well the flood control work of the industrial sector and entity concerned. Article 9 The riverway management institution, the water conservancy & hydropower project management entities and the riparian construction entities for the project under construction shall strengthen management and maintenance of the water engineering facilities under their jurisdictions, ensure their safe and normal operation, and organize and take part in the flood control and flood fighting work. Article 10 The local people's governments that have flood control tasks shall organize mass flood control troops with the people's militia as the backbone, and shall instruct the relevant departments to register the members of the flood control troops, so as to clarify their respective tasks and responsibilities. The riverway management institution and other flood control project management entity may, in combination with the routine management tasks, organize the flood control and emergency rescue troops of their own entity to act as the backbone of emergency rescues. Chapter III Getting Prepared for Flood Control Article 11 The people's governments at or above the county level that have flood control tasks shall, according to the comprehensive plan for the river basins, the actual status of the flood control projects and the flood control standards as prescribed by the state, formulate their own flood control schemes (including the measures for disposal of devastating flood). The flood control schemes of the Changjiang River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, and Haihe River shall be formulated by the National Flood Control Headquarters and shall be implemented after being approved by the State Council; the flood control scheme of other rivers that cross two or more provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, after being formulated by the people's governments at the relevant provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and upon the examination and approval of the competent river basin institution, be implemented, after obtaining the approval of the State Council or its authorized institutions, by the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. The people's government of any city that has flood control and flood fighting tasks shall, according to the comprehensive plan of the river basin and the flood control and flood fighting scheme of rivers, formulate the flood control scheme of its own city and implement it after being approved by the upper level people's government or its authorized institution. After a flood control scheme is approved, the relevant local people's governments shall carry it out. Article 12 A place that has flood control tasks shall formulate its floodwater dispatching scheme according to the approved flood control scheme. The floodwater dispatching schemes in Changjiang River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Haihe River (Yongding River, Daqing River, Zhangwei South Canal, and Beisan River in the Haihe River Basin), Songhua River, Liaohe River, Pearl River and Taihu river basins shall be formulated by the relevant river basin institutions together with the people's governments at the relevant provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government and reported to the National Flood Control Headquarters for approval. The floodwater dispatching scheme of other rivers that cross two or more provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be formulated by the relevant river basin institutions together with the people's governments of the relevant provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and reported to the flood control commanding institutions of the river basins. If there is no flood control commanding institutions in a river basin, it shall be reported to the National Flood Control Headquarters for approval. The floodwater dispatching schemes of other rivers shall be formulated by the competent administrative department of water that has jurisdiction together with the relevant local people's governments and reported to the flood control commanding institution that has jurisdictions for approval. After a floodwater dispatching scheme is approved, the relevant local people's government shall carry it out. The amendment on the floodwater dispatching scheme shall be reported to the former approval organ for approval. Article 13 Any enterprise that has flood control and flood fighting tasks shall, according to the approved flood control scheme and floodwater dispatching scheme at the river basin or region where it is located, prescribe the flood control and flood fighting measures of its own enterprise, and implement it under the supervision of the flood control commanding institution that has jurisdiction after getting the approval of the competent administrative department of water of the people's government at the level of the county at its locality. Article 14 The administrative departments of such projects as reservoir, hydropower station and barrage, etc. shall, according to the project plan and design, the approved flood control scheme and floodwater dispatching scheme as well as the actual conditions of a project, and under the precondition of subjecting flood control to the construction of water conservancy and ensuring security, formulate a dispatching and application plan in the flood season, and shall, after having the plan examined and approved by the competent upper level department, report it to the competent flood control headquarters of the people's government for archival filing and shall accept its supervision. For any hydropower station that concerns greatly to flood control and flood fighting as determined by the National Flood Control Headquarters, its dispatching and application plan for flood control storage capacity in the flood season shall, after being examined and approved by the competent upper level department, be subject to the approval of the ......