‘‘SEC. 205. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PROJECT WORK.
‘‘The Secretary shall examine the proposal submitted
under this title to determine if the project can reasonably
be expected to accomplish its purpose, and approve or dis-
approve such proposal by September 1 of each year. Once
approved by the Secretary and subject to the availability
of appropriations, funding shall be provided within 60
days for the schedule of work within that fiscal year.
‘‘SEC. 206. ELIGIBILITY.
‘‘Such proposals shall only be made by organizations
that have legal authority and responsibility for such work
to be carried out on those projects under state law. Only
one proposal per project area shall be allowed per every
five year period.
‘‘TITLE III—LOAN GUARANTEES
‘‘SEC. 301. ESTABLISHMENT OF LOAN GUARANTEE PRO-
GRAM.
‘‘There is hereby established within the Bureau of
Reclamation a demonstration program to guarantee loans
for projects receiving, or eligible to receive, loans, or
grants under title I or II of this Act.
‘‘SEC. 302. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide sup-
port under the demonstration program to organizations
through the provision of loan guarantees to such pro-
grammatic needs as authorized under titles I and II,
under such terms and conditions specified in this section
and under applicable laws. Any proposal for a project sub-
mitted under this title shall set forth a plan and estimated
costs in detail comparable to those included in
preauthorization reports required for a Federal reclama-
tion project.
‘‘(b) FUNDING LIMIT.—Up to 10 percent of the
amounts authorized to be appropriated under this Act
shall be set aside for purposes of funding the cost of loan
guarantees under this title. The amounts allocated to each
loan guarantee shall be the cost of such guarantee cal-
culated in accordance with applicable provisions of Federal
law.
‘‘(c) SELECTION
OF RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary
shall adopt and use competitive procedures in the selection
of organizations to receive loan guarantees under this sec-
tion. In selecting the organizations to receive a loan guar-
antee under this section, the Secretary shall consider, at
a minimum, the following:
‘‘(1) The extent to which the loan guarantees
would support new water supplies or more efficient
use of existing supplies.
‘‘(2) The repayment period of the guaranteed
loan.
‘‘(3) The extent to which the loan guarantee
would provide for a project of wide public purpose.
‘‘(4) Whether the loan guarantee would help the
organization receiving the guarantee meet a Federal
or State environmental statute or mandate.
‘‘(5) The ability of the loan guarantee to meet
the needs of other local water purveyors.
‘‘(6) The extent to which the guaranteed loan
would support a program that would supplement,
rather than duplicate, other available water resource
programs.
‘‘(7) The fiscal impact of the loan guarantee
program as a whole on other reclamation programs.
‘‘(d) APPORTIONMENT.—The total amount made
available to the Secretary for a fiscal year to cover the
costs of loan guarantees under this section shall be divided
between projects receiving or eligible to receive loans
under titles I and II, with title I projects receiving 75 per-
cent and title II projects receiving 25 percent.
‘‘(e) MAXIMUM.—The maximum allowable guarantee
percentage for loans guaranteed under this section may
be up to 75 percent of the total project cost. No loan guar-
antee under this title shall be used to cover the organiza-
tion’s local cost share for any project assisted under this
Act.
‘‘(f) REPORTING.—Reporting and documentation re-
quirements authorized under amendments contained in ti-
tles I and II shall similarly apply to loan guarantee
projects.
‘‘(g) STATE LAW.—For purposes of this Act, when
any bonds are issued by an organization to help finance
a project for which the organization is also receiving a loan
guarantee under this section such bonds shall not be treat-
ed as affecting the tax-exempt status of such bonds under
applicable State law.
‘‘(h) FULL FAITH AND CREDIT.—Any loan guarantee
issued pursuant to this section shall constitute an obliga-
tion, in accordance with the terms of such guarantee, of
the United States Government, and the full faith and cred-
it of the United States is hereby pledged to the full per-
formance of the obligations.
‘‘(i) REPORT.—At the end of the third fiscal year
after the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit
a report to the Congress on the beneficial use and sug-
gested improvements associated with the use of loan guar-
antees as a mechanism for project construction.
‘‘SEC. 303. SUNSET.
‘‘No loan guarantee may be issued under this title
in any fiscal year after the expiration of 6 full fiscal years
after initial funding of projects under the amendments
made by the Small Reclamation Water Resources Project
Act of 2001.
‘‘TITLE IV—GENERAL
PROVISIONS
‘‘SEC. 401. PROPOSAL FEE.
‘‘Each proposal for a loan, grant, or loan guarantee
under this Act shall be accompanied by a minimum pay-
ment of $5,000 or 1⁄10 of 1 percent of the Federal share,
whichever is greater, or portion thereof to defray in part
the costs of examining the proposal. Fifty percent of the
payment shall accompany the application and the remain-
ing 50 percent shall be due upon approval of the project
by the Secretary, if approved.
‘‘SEC. 402. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
‘‘(a) TITLE.—Title to all project works and facilities
constructed with assistance under this Act shall remain
in the name of the organization.
‘‘(b) COMBINED LOANS, GRANTS, AND LOAN GUAR-
ANTEES.—A project sponsor shall be eligible for a loan,
grant, loan guarantee, or combination thereof for a project
proposal under this Act. No organization shall be eligible
for an additional loan, grant, loan guarantee, or any com-
bination thereof for the same project that has previously
received approval for a loan, grant, or loan guarantee
under this Act within the prior five fiscal years.
‘‘(c) PLANNING, CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND
MAINTENANCE.—The United States shall not be required
to provide planning, construction, operation, and mainte-
nance of any project receiving a loan, grant or loan guar-
antee under this Act.
‘‘(d) STATE WATER LAW.—Any project assisted
under this Act shall be carried out in accordance with ap-
plicable State water law.’’.
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Sections 9 through 13 of the Small Rec-
lamation Projects Act of 1956 (43 U.S.C. 422i–
422k–1) are redesignated as sections 403 through
407, respectively.
(2) Section 404 of such Act, as redesignated by
paragraph (1) of this subsection, is amended as fol-
lows:
(A) By striking ‘‘section 3’’ and inserting
‘‘title I’’.
(B) By striking ‘‘effective October 1,
1986.’’ and inserting ‘‘for any fiscal year’’.
(C) By striking ‘‘for loans and grants pur-
suant to this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘for loans and
grants pursuant to title I’’.
(D) By striking ‘‘five years after the date
of enactment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘ten