7 U.S.C. § 903 — Authorization of appropriations

Page 520 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 903 Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–127, § 771(3), added subsec. (b) and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: ‘‘By January 1, 1994, the Secretary shall issue interim regulations to implement the authority contained in subsection (a) of this section to make loans for the pur- pose of assisting electric borrowers to implement de- mand side management, energy conservation programs, and on-grid and off-grid renewable energy systems. If the regulations are not issued by January 1, 1994, the Secretary shall consider any demand side management, energy conservation, or renewable energy program, sys- tem, or activity that is approved by a State agency to be eligible for the loans.’’ 1994—Pub. L. 103–354 substituted ‘‘Secretary of Agri- culture’’ for ‘‘Administrator’’ in subsec. (a) and ‘‘Sec- retary’’ for ‘‘Administrator’’ in two places in subsec. (b). 1993—Pub. L. 103–129 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), substituted ‘‘electric and telephone service in rural areas, as provided in this chapter, and for the purpose of assisting electric borrowers to implement demand side management, energy conservation pro- grams, and on-grid and off-grid renewable energy sys- tems;’’ for ‘‘telephone service in rural areas, as herein- after provided;’’, and added subsec. (b). 1949—Act Oct. 28, 1949, authorized loans to furnish and improve rural telephone service; and inserted ‘‘title I,’’ in credit of act May 20, 1936. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2008 AMENDMENT Amendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as an Effective Date note under section 8701 of this title. § 903. Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this chapter. (May 20, 1936, ch. 432, title I, § 3, 49 Stat. 1364; June 21, 1938, ch. 554, title IV, § 401, 52 Stat. 818; Sept. 21, 1944, ch. 412, title V, §§ 501, 503, 504, 58 Stat. 739, 740; July 30, 1947, ch. 356, title I, § 1, 61 Stat. 546; Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 776, §§ 2, 4(a)–(d), 63 Stat. 948; June 15, 1955, ch. 139, § 1, 69 Stat. 131; Pub. L. 92–12, § 3(a), May 7, 1971, 85 Stat. 37; Pub. L. 93–32, § 3, May 11, 1973, 87 Stat. 70; Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 235(a)(3), (13), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3220, 3221; Pub. L. 104–127, title VII, § 772(a), Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1149.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1996—Pub. L. 104–127 amended section generally, in- serting section catchline and substituting current pro- visions for provisions relating to funds of Secretary, in- cluding provisions for loans by Secretary of the Treas- ury, authorization of appropriations, allotment of funds for loans in States, loans of unallotted funds, and unexpended funds and limitation on use. 1994—Pub. L. 103–354 substituted ‘‘Secretary’’ for ‘‘Ad- ministrator, upon the request and approval of the Sec- retary of Agriculture,’’ and for ‘‘Administrator ap- pointed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or from the Administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration established by Executive Order Num- bered 7037’’ in first sentence of subsec. (a) and sub- stituted ‘‘Secretary’’ for ‘‘Administrator’’ wherever ap- pearing. 1973—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 93–32 struck out subsec. (f) which made provision for the disposition of payments on loans that had been made by the Administrator. 1971—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 92–12 inserted introductory text ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in sections 931 and 946(a) of this title’’. 1955—Subsec. (c). Act June 15, 1955, reduced the funds which may be allotted for loans from fifty to twenty- five per centum of the available or appropriated sum, and inserted two provisos. Subsec. (d). Act June 15, 1955, substituted ‘‘75 per cen- tum’’ for ‘‘50 per centum’’, and ‘‘25 per centum’’ for ‘‘10 per centum’’. Subsec. (e). Act June 15, 1955, substituted ‘‘25 per cen- tum’’ for ‘‘10 per centum’’. 1949—Act Oct. 28, 1949, § 2, inserted ‘‘title I,’’ in credit of act May 20, 1936. Subsec. (a). Act Oct. 28, 1949, § 4(a), authorized loans for financing facilities to render telephone service. Subsec. (c). Act Oct. 28, 1949, § 4(b), substituted ‘‘for loans for rural electrification pursuant to sections 904 and 905 of this title’’ for ‘‘for the purposes of this chap- ter’’. Subsec. (d). Act Oct. 28, 1949, § 4(c), inserted ‘‘rural electrification’’ after ‘‘available for’’. Subsec. (e). Act Oct. 28, 1949, § 4(d), inserted ‘‘for rural electrification loans’’ after ‘‘sums’’ in proviso. 1947—Subsec. (a). Act July 30, 1947, amended subsec. (a) generally, and among other things transferred from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to the Sec- retary of the Treasury the power to make loans. Subsec. (f). Act July 30, 1947, substituted Secretary of the Treasury for Reconstruction Finance Corporation. 1944—Subsec. (a). Act Sept. 21, 1944, struck out ‘‘The Reconstruction Finance Corporation is hereby author- ized and directed to make loans to the Administrator, upon his request approved by the President, not exceed- ing in aggregate amounts $50,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1937, and $100,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1939, with interest at 3 per centum per annum’’ and inserted in lieu thereof ‘‘The Reconstruc- tion Finance Corporation is hereby authorized and di- rected to make loans to the Administrator, upon the request and approval of the Secretary of Agriculture, in such amounts in the aggregate for each fiscal year commencing with the fiscal year ending June 30, 1945, as the Congress may from time to time determine to be necessary, with interest at a rate of 13⁄4 per centum per annum’’, changed colon to period following ‘‘numbered 70037’’, inserted ‘‘Interest rates on the unpaid balance of any loans made by the Reconstruction Finance Cor- poration to the Administrator prior to the effective date of this amendment shall be adjusted to a rate of 13⁄4 per centum per annum’’, inserted sentence ‘‘The amount of the notes, bonds, debentures, and other such obligations which the Reconstruction Finance Corpora- tion is authorized and empowered to issue and to have outstanding at any one time under existing law is here- by increased by an amount sufficient to carry out the provisions hereof’’, and substituted ‘‘thirty-five years’’ for ‘‘twenty-five years’’ in second proviso. Subsec. (b). Act Sept. 21, 1944, struck out subsec. (b) limiting amount of appropriation and renewal of appro- priations to eight years after June 30, 1938, and inserted a new subsec. (b). Subsec. (e). Act Sept. 21, 1944, struck out ‘‘and pro- vided further, that no loans shall be made by the Re- construction Finance Corporation to the Administrator after June 30, 1939’’, and changed colon to period after ‘‘territories’’. 1938—Subsecs. (a), (e). Act June 21, 1938, inserted ‘‘and $100,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1939’’ after ‘‘June 30, 1937,’’ in subsec. (a), and substituted ‘‘June 30, 1939’’ for ‘‘June 30, 1937’’ in subsec. (e). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1973 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 93–32 effective May 11, 1973, see section 12 of Pub. L. 93–32, set out as an Effective Date note under section 930 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1971 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 92–12 effective May 7, 1971, see section 7 of Pub. L. 92–12, set out as an Effective Date note under section 931 of this title. Page 521 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 904 RESTRICTIONS ON BORROWER Act June 21, 1938, ch. 554, title IV, § 401, 52 Stat. 818, as amended by Pub. L. 103–182, title III, § 381(d), Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2129; Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 235(b)(3), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3221; Pub. L. 103–465, title III, § 342(g), Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 4954, in addition to amend- ing subsecs. (a) and (e), provided in part as follows: ‘‘In making loans pursuant to this title [title IV of such act] and pursuant to the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 [this chapter], the Secretary of Agriculture shall require that, to the extent practicable and the cost of which is not unreasonable, the borrower agree to use in connection with the expenditure of such funds only such unmanufactured articles, materials, and supplies, as have been mined or produced in the United States or in any eligible country, and only such manufactured articles, materials, and supplies as have been manufac- tured in the United States or in any eligible country substantially all from articles, materials, or supplies mined, produced, or manufactured, as the case may be, in the United States or in any eligible country. For purposes of this section, an ‘eligible country’ is any country that applies with respect to the United States an agreement ensuring reciprocal access for United States products and services and United States sup- pliers to the markets of that country, as determined by the United States Trade Representative.’’ [Amendment by section 342(g) of Pub. L. 103–465 to section 401 of act June 21, 1938, set out above, effective on the date on which the WTO Agreement enters into force with respect to the United States (Jan. 1, 1995), see section 344(b) of Pub. L. 103–465, set out as an Effec- tive Date of 1994 Amendment note under section 2512 of Title 19, Customs Duties.] [Amendment by section 381(d) of Pub. L. 103–182 to section 401 of act June 21, 1938, set out above, effective on the date the North American Free Trade Agreement enters into force with respect to the United States (Jan. 1, 1994), see section 381(e) of Pub. L. 103–182, for- merly set out as an Effective Date of 1993 Amendment note under section 2511 of Title 19, Customs Duties.] § 904. Loans for electrical plants and trans- mission lines (a) In general The Secretary is authorized and empowered, from the sums hereinbefore authorized, to make loans for rural electrification to persons, cor- porations, States, Territories, and subdivisions and agencies thereof, municipalities, peoples’ utility districts and cooperative, nonprofit, or limited-dividend associations, organized under the laws of any State or Territory of the United States, for the purpose of financing the con- struction and operation of generating plants, electric transmission and distribution lines or systems for the furnishing and improving of electric service to persons in rural areas, includ- ing by assisting electric borrowers to implement demand side management, energy efficiency and conservation programs, and on-grid and off-grid renewable energy systems, and loans, from funds available under section 903 of this title, to coop- erative associations and municipalities for the purpose of enabling said cooperative associa- tions, and municipalities to the extent that such indebtedness was incurred with respect to elec- tric transmission and distribution lines or sys- tems or portions thereof serving persons in rural areas, to discharge or refinance long-term debts owed by them to the Tennessee Valley Author- ity on account of loans made or credit extended under the terms of the Tennessee Valley Author- ity Act of 1933, as amended [16 U.S.C. 831 et seq.]: Provided, That the Secretary, in making such loans, shall give preference to States, Terri- tories, and subdivisions and agencies thereof, municipalities, peoples’ utility districts, and co- operative, nonprofit, or limited-dividend asso- ciations, the projects of which comply with the requirements of this chapter. (b) Terms and conditions Such loans shall be on such terms and condi- tions relating to the expenditure of the moneys loaned and the security therefor as the Sec- retary shall determine and may be made payable in whole or in part out of the income, except that no loan for the construction, operation, or enlargement of any generating plant shall be made unless the consent of the State authority having jurisdiction in the premises is first ob- tained. (c) Direct loans (1) Direct hardship loans Direct hardship loans under this section shall be for the same purposes and on the same terms and conditions as hardship loans made under section 935(c)(1) of this title. (2) Other direct loans All other direct loans under this section shall bear interest at a rate equal to the then current cost of money to the Government of the United States for loans of similar matu- rity, plus 1⁄8 of 1 percent. (d) Certification Loans under this section shall not be made un- less the Secretary finds and certifies that in his judgment the security therefor is reasonably adequate and such loan will be repaid within the time agreed. (May 20, 1936, ch. 432, title I, § 4, 49 Stat. 1365; Sept. 21, 1944, ch. 412, title V, §§ 502(a), 503, 58 Stat. 739, 740; Dec. 23, 1944, ch. 725, 58 Stat. 925; June 29, 1948, ch. 703, 62 Stat. 1070; Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 776, §§ 2, 4(e), 63 Stat. 948; June 15, 1955, ch. 139, § 2, 69 Stat. 132; Pub. L. 103–129, § 2(c)(2), Nov. 1, 1993, 107 Stat. 1363; Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 235(a)(13), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3221; Pub. L. 104–127, title VII, § 773, Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1149; Pub. L. 110–234, title VI, §§ 6101, 6102(a), May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1195; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title VI, §§ 6101, 6102(a), June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 1956.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933, referred to in subsec. (a), is act May 18, 1933. ch. 32. 48 Stat. 58, which is classified generally to chapter 12A (§ 831 et seq.) of Title 16, Conservation. For complete classifica- tion of this Act to the Code, see section 831 of Title 16 and Tables. CODIFICATION Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 made identical amendments to this section. The amendments by Pub. L. 110–234 were repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246. AMENDMENTS 2008—Pub. L. 110–246, § 6102(a), designated first, sec- ond, and third sentences as subsecs. (a), (b), and (d), re- spectively, and added subsec. (c).