Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 116 Part 1.djvu/440

 116 STAT. 414 PUBLIC LAW 107-171—MAY 13, 2002 "(A) the lender does not have appropriate expertise or experience or is otherwise not qualified to make loans for electrification or telephone purposes; "(B) the bond or note issued by the lender would not be investment grade quality without a guarantee; or "(C) the lender has not provided to the Secretary a list of loan amounts approved by the lender that the lender certifies are for eligible purposes described in subsection ' (a). "(4) INTEREST RATE REDUCTION. — "(A) IN GENERAL.— Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a lender may not use any amount obtained from the reduction in funding costs as a result of the guarantee of a bond or note under this section to reduce the interest rate on a new or outstanding loan. " (B) CONCURRENT LOANS.—^A lender may use any amount described in subparagraph (A) to reduce the interest rate on a loan if the loan is— "(i) made by the lender for electrification or telephone projects that are eligible for assistance under this Act; and "(ii) made concurrently with a loan approved by the Secretary under this Act for such a project, as provided in section 307. "(c) FEES.— "(1) IN GENERAL.—^A lender that receives a guarantee issued under this section on a bond or note shall pay a fee to the Secretary. "(2) AMOUNT. —The amount of an annual fee paid for the guarantee of a bond or note under this section shall be equal to 30 basis points of the amount of the unpaid principal of the bond or note guaranteed under this section. " (3) PAYMENT.—^A lender shall pay the fees required under this subsection on a semiannual basis. " (4) RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SUBACCOUNT.— Subject to subsection (e)(2), fees collected under this subsection shall be— "(A) deposited into the rural economic development subaccount maintained under section 313(b)(2)(A), to remain available until expended; and "(B) used for the purposes described in section 313(b)(2)(B). " (d) GUARANTEES.— "(1) IN GENERAL.—^A guarantee issued under this section shall— "(A) be for the full amount of a bond or note, including the amount of principal, interest, and call premiums; "(B) be fully assignable and transferable; and "(C) represent the full faith and credit of the United States. "(2) LIMITATION. —To ensure that the Secretary has the resources necessary to properly examine the proposed guarantees, the Secretary may limit the number of guarantees issued under this section to 5 per year. "(3) DEPARTMENT OPINION. —On the timely request of a lender, the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture shall provide the Secretary with an opinion regarding the

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