Insured loans; interest rates and lending levels

The Secretary is authorized to make insured loans under this subchapter and at the interest rates hereinafter provided to the full extent of the assets available in the fund, subject only to limitations as to amounts authorized for loans and advances as may be from time to time imposed by the Congress of the United States for loans to be made in any one year, which amounts shall remain available until expended: Provided, That the Congress in the annual appropriation Act may also authorize the transfer of any excess cash in the fund for deposit into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts: And provided further, That any such loans and advances shall not be included in the totals of the budget of the United States Government and shall be exempt from any general limitation imposed by statute on expenditures and net lending (budget outlays) of the United States. Loans made under this section shall be insured by the Secretary when purchased by a lender. As used in this chapter, an insured loan is one which is made, held, and serviced by the Secretary, and sold and insured by the Secretary hereunder; such loans shall be sold and insured by the Secretary without undue delay. The Secretary shall make insured electric loans, to the extent of qualifying applications for the loans, at an interest rate of 5 percent per year to any applicant for a loan who meets each of the following requirements: In addition to hardship loans that are made under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may make an insured electric loan at an interest rate of 5 percent per year to an applicant for a loan if, in the sole discretion of the Secretary, the applicant has experienced a severe hardship. Except as provided in subparagraph (D), the Secretary may not make a loan under this paragraph to an applicant for the purpose of furnishing or improving electric service to a consumer located in an urban area (as defined by the Bureau of the Census) if the average number of consumers per mile of line of the total electric system of the applicant exceeds 17. In addition to hardship loans that are made under subparagraphs (A) and (B), the Secretary shall make insured electric loans, to the extent of qualifying applications for the loans, at an interest rate of 5 percent per year to any applicant for a loan whose residential revenue exceeds 15.0 cents per kilowatt-hour sold. A qualifying application from such an applicant for the purpose of furnishing or improving electric service to a consumer located outside of an urbanized area shall not be subject to the conditions or limitation of subparagraph (A) or (C). The Secretary shall make insured electric loans, to the extent of qualifying applications for the loans, at the interest rate described in subparagraph (B) for the term or terms selected by the applicant pursuant to subparagraph (C). Subject to clause (ii), the interest rate described in this subparagraph on a loan to a qualifying applicant shall be— if the applicant for the loan makes an election pursuant to subparagraph (D) to include in the loan agreement the right of the applicant to prepay the loan, a rate equal to the amount by which— The interest rate described in this subparagraph on a loan to an applicant for the loan shall not exceed 7 percent if— Clause (ii) shall not apply to a loan to be made to an applicant for the purpose of furnishing or improving electric service to consumers located in an urban area (as defined by the Bureau of the Census) if the average number of consumers per mile of line of the total electric system of the applicant exceeds 17. Subject to clause (ii), the applicant for a loan under this paragraph may select the term for which an interest rate shall be determined pursuant to subparagraph (B), and, at the end of the term (and any succeeding term selected by the applicant under this subparagraph), may renew the loan for another term selected by the applicant. The applicant may not select a term that ends more than 35 years after the beginning of the first term the applicant selects under clause (i). The Secretary may prohibit an applicant from selecting a term that would result in the total term of the loan being greater than the expected useful life of the assets being financed. The Secretary shall offer any applicant for a loan under this paragraph the option to include in the loan agreement the right of the applicant to prepay the loan on terms consistent with similar provisions of commercial loans. The Secretary may not require any applicant for a loan made under this subsection who is eligible for a loan under paragraph (1) to obtain a loan from another source as a condition of approving the application for the loan or advancing any amount under the loan. The Secretary shall make insured telephone loans, to the extent of qualifying applications for the loans, at an interest rate of 5 percent per year, to any applicant who meets each of the following requirements: The Secretary may waive the requirement of subparagraph (A)(ii) in any case in which the Secretary determines (and sets forth the reasons for the waiver in writing) that the requirement would prevent emergency restoration of the telephone system of the applicant or result in severe hardship to the applicant. On request of any applicant who is eligible for a loan under this paragraph for which funds are not available, the applicant shall be considered to have applied for a loan under subchapter IV. The Secretary may make insured telephone loans for the acquisition, purchase, and installation of telephone lines, systems, and facilities (other than buildings used primarily for administrative purposes, vehicles not used primarily in construction, and customer premise equipment) related to the furnishing, improvement, or extension of rural telecommunications service, at an interest rate equal to the then current cost of money to the Government of the United States for loans of similar maturity, but not more than 7 percent per year, to any applicant for a loan who meets the following requirements: On request of any applicant for a loan under this paragraph during any fiscal year, the Secretary shall— On request of any applicant who is eligible for a loan under this paragraph for which funds are not available, the applicant shall be considered to have applied for a loan guarantee under section 936 of this title. If, not later than 1 year after final regulations are promulgated to carry out this paragraph, any State, either by statute or through the public utility commission of the State, develops a telecommunications modernization plan that meets the requirements of subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall approve the plan for the State. If a State does not develop a plan in accordance with the requirements of the preceding sentence, the Secretary shall approve any telecommunications modernization plan for the State that meets the requirements that is developed by a majority of the borrowers of telephone loans made under this subchapter who are located in the State. For purposes of subparagraph (A), a telecommunications modernization plan must, at a minimum, meet the following objectives: The plan must provide for— subscribers in rural areas to be able to receive through telephone lines— A telecommunications modernization plan approved under subparagraph (A) may not subsequently be disapproved. Notwithstanding paragraphs (1)(A)(iii) and (2)(A)(iii),11 So in original. Probably should be paragraph “(2)(A)(ii)”. and the Secretary may make a loan to a borrower serving a State that does not have a telecommunication modernization plan approved by the Secretary if the loan is made less than 1 year after the Secretary has adopted final regulations implementing this paragraph.