120 STAT. 1604
PUBLIC LAW 109–304—OCT. 6, 2006 capacity reduction program issued under this chapter after October 11, 1996, shall be a direct loan obligation for which the Secretary shall be the obligee, rather than an obligation issued to an obligee other than the Secretary and guaranteed by the Secretary. A direct loan obligation under this subsection shall be treated in the same manner and to the same extent as an obligation guaranteed under this chapter except with respect to provisions of this chapter that by their nature can only be applied to obligations guaranteed under this chapter. ‘‘(2) INTEREST RATE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the annual rate of interest an obligor shall pay on a direct loan obligation under this subsection is 2 percent plus the additional percent the Secretary must pay as interest to borrow from the Treasury the funds to make the loan.
‘‘§ 53703. Application procedures ‘‘(a) TIME FOR DECISION.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall approve or deny an application for a loan guarantee under this chapter within 270 days after the date on which the signed application is received by the Secretary. ‘‘(2) EXTENSION.—On request by an applicant, the Secretary may extend the 270-day period in paragraph (1) to a date not later than 2 years after the date on which the signed application was received by the Secretary. ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF REVIEW.—The Secretary may not guarantee or make a commitment to guarantee an obligation under this chapter unless the Secretary certifies that a full and fair consideration of all the regulatory requirements, including economic soundness and financial requirements applicable to the obligor and related parties, and a thorough assessment of the technical, economic, and financial aspects of the loan application, has been made. ‘‘§ 53704. Funding limits ‘‘(a) GENERAL LIMITATIONS.—The total unpaid principal amount of obligations guaranteed under this chapter and outstanding at one time may not exceed $12,000,000,000. Of that amount— ‘‘(1) $850,000,000 shall be limited to obligations related to fishing vessels and fishery facilities; and ‘‘(2) $3,000,000,000 shall be limited to obligations related to eligible export vessels. ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.—Additional limitations may not be imposed on new commitments to guarantee loans for any fiscal year, except in amounts established in advance by annual authorization laws. A vessel eligible for a guarantee under this chapter may not be denied eligibility because of its type. ‘‘(c) LIMITS BASED ON RISK FACTORS.— ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term ‘cost’ has the meaning given that term in section 502 of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a). ‘‘(2) SYSTEM OF RISK CATEGORIES.—The Secretary shall— ‘‘(A) establish, and update annually, a system of risk categories for obligations guaranteed under this chapter that categorizes the relative risk of guarantees based on the risk factors set forth in paragraph (4);
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