Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 88 Part 1.djvu/1130

 1086

PUBLIC LAW 93-410-SEPT. 3, 1974

[88 STAT.

(d) The National Science Foundation is authorized to encourage, to the maximum extent practicable international participation and cooperation in the development and maintenance of programs of education to carrying out the policy of subsection (a). TITLE II—LOAN G U A R A N T I E S ESTABLISHMENT OF LOAN GUARANTY PROGRAM 30 USC 1141,

Terms and conditions.

Limitation.

"Qualified borrower."

SEC. 201. (a) I t is the policy of the Congress to encourage and assist in the commercial development of practicable means to produce useful energy from geothermal resources with environmentally acceptable processes. Accordingly, it is the policy of the Congress to facilitate such commercial development by authorizing the Chairman of the Project to designate an appropriate Federal agency to guarantee loans for such purposes. (b) In order to encourage the commercial production of energy from geothermal resources, the head of the designated agency is authorized to, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, guarantee, and to enter into commitments to guarantee, lenders against loss of principal or interest on loans made by such lenders to qualified borrowers for the purposes of— (1) the determination and evaluation of the resource base; (2) research and development with respect to extraction and utilization technologies; (3) acquiring rights in geothermal resources; or (4) development, construction, and operation of facilities for the demonstration or commercial production of energy from geothermal resources. (c) Any guaranty under this title shall apply only to so much of the principal amount of any loan as does not exceed 75 percent of the aggregate cost of the project with respect to which the loan is made. (d) Loan guaranties under this title shall be on such terms and conditions as the head of the designated agency determines, except that a guaranty shall be made under this title only if— (1) the loan bears interest at a rate not to exceed such annual per centum on the principal obligation outstanding as the head of the designated agency determines to be reasonable, taking into account the range of interest rates prevailing in the private sector for similar loans and risks by the United States; (2) the terms of such loan require full repayment over a period not to exceed thirty years, or the useful life of any physical asset to be financed by such loan, whichever is less (as determined by the head of the designated agency); (3) in the judgment of the head of the designated agency, the amount of the loan (when combined with amounts available to the qualified borrower from other sources) will be sufficient to carry out the project; and (4) in the judgment of the head of the designated agency, there is reasonable assurance of repayment of the loan by the qualified borrower of the guaranteed indebtedness. (e) The amount of the guaranty for any loan for a project shall not exceed $25,000,000, and the amount of the guaranty for any combination of loans for any single qualified borrower shall not exceed $50,000,000. (f) As used in this title, the term "qualified borrower" means any public or private agency, institution, association, partnership,

�