I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4297 

To provide loan guarantees for renewable energy projects using biomass 

material. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2004 

Mr. SIMPSON (for himself and Mr. OTTER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To provide loan guarantees for renewable energy projects 

using biomass material. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEM LOAN GUARAN4 TEES. 

5 Section 9006 of the Farm Security and Rural Invest6 ment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8106) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘The’’ each 

8 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Except as provided 

9 in subsection (e), the’’; 
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1 (2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

2 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and 

3 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(e) LOAN GUARANTEES FOR MAJOR PROJECTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF SUBSIDY COSTS.—In this 

7 subsection, the term ‘subsidy costs’ has the meaning 

8 given the term ‘cost’ in section 502 of the Federal 

9 Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a). 

10 ‘‘(2) PROJECTS.—Subsection (c)(1) shall not 

11 apply to a loan guarantee made under this section 

12 to carry out a project if— 

13 ‘‘(A) the loan will be used— 

14 ‘‘(i) to purchase a renewable energy 

15 system associated with a commercial pro16 duction agricultural enterprise; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) to promote a solution to an envi18 ronmental problem of the State in which 

19 the project will be carried out; 

20 ‘‘(B) the principal amount of the loan is 

21 not less than $50,000,000 and not more than 

22 $100,000,000; 

23 ‘‘(C) the lender of the loan exercises due 

24 diligence with respect to the borrower of the 

25 loan; 
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1 ‘‘(D) the borrower of the loan pays in full, 

2 before the guarantee is issued, a guarantee fee 

3 in the amount of the estimated subsidy cost of 

4 the guarantee, as determined by the Director of 

5 the Office of Management and Budget; 

6 ‘‘(E) the project is certified by the appro7 priate State agency, as designated by the Gov8 ernor of the State in which the project will be 

9 carried out; 

10 ‘‘(F) the project requires no Federal or 

11 State financial assistance, other than the loan 

12 guarantee provided under this subsection; and 

13 ‘‘(G) the project complies with all nec14 essary permits, licenses, and approvals required 

15 under the laws of the State. 

16 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In making loan guarantees 

17 under this section for projects described in para18 graph (2), the Secretary shall give priority to renew19 able energy projects that promote the production of 

20 an agricultural commodity that is imported into the 

21 United States. 

22 ‘‘(4) COST SHARING.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a loan 

24 guarantee under this section for a project de-
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1 scribed in paragraph (2) shall not exceed 80 

2 percent of the total project cost. 

3 ‘‘(B) SUBORDINATION.—Any financing for 

4 the non-Federal share of the total project cost 

5 shall be subordinated to the federally guaran6 teed portion of the total project cost. 

7 ‘‘(5) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) INDIVIDUAL LOANS.—The amount of 

9 principal for a loan under this section for a 

10 project described in paragraph (2) shall not ex11 ceed $100,000,000. 

12 ‘‘(B) ALL LOANS.—The total outstanding 

13 amount of principal for loans under this section 

14 for all projects described in paragraph (2) shall 

15 not exceed $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 

16 2004.’’. 

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