42 U.S.C. § 16372 — Determination of eligibility and project selection

(a) Establishment of program: The Secretary must set up a carbon dioxide transportation infrastructure finance and innovation program (called CIFIA). For each eligible project, the Secretary can offer a federal credit instrument (like a loan or loan guarantee), a grant, or both. (b) Eligibility: A project can get money from CIFIA only if it meets several rules. The group proposing the project must send a "letter of interest" before it sends a full application, and the project must meet the criteria below. Creditworthiness: The project and the borrower ("obligor") must be creditworthy — there must be a reasonable chance the loan will be paid back. The Secretary bases this on: how strong the project's contracts are; forecasts of cash the project will earn even without contracts, plus any cash sweeps or other structural protections; how financially strong the borrower is at closing and will stay throughout the loan's life, including after completion; the financial strength of the borrower's investors and strategic partners; and other financial metrics that private lenders and credit-rating agencies normally rely on. Applications: The borrower must submit an application with whatever information the Secretary requires. Eligible project costs: The project must be reasonably expected to cost at least $100,000,000. Revenue sources: The loan must be repayable from user fees, payments from a public-private partnership, or other revenue that also secures or funds the project. Obligor identified later: A state or local government, agency, or public authority can apply even though the actual private-sector borrower hasn't been chosen yet — that borrower can be identified later through a procurement and selection process. Beneficial effects: The Secretary must determine that the assistance will either attract public or private investment, or let the project start sooner or reduce its lifecycle costs (including debt service). Project readiness: The applicant must show a reasonable expectation that construction contracting can start within 90 days after the loan or grant is obligated. (c) Selection among eligible projects: The Secretary must set up an application process. Eligible projects can get credit assistance on acceptable terms if enough money is available to cover the subsidy cost, and can get grants if enough money is available and the project qualifies under subsection (b). Priority: When choosing which eligible projects get credit assistance, the Secretary gives priority to projects that are large-capacity, common-carrier infrastructure; have proven demand from associated carbon-capture projects; spread out geographically across major carbon-emitting regions of the country; and sit within or next to existing pipeline or similar infrastructure corridors, to limit environmental disturbance and other siting concerns. Master credit agreements: The Secretary may sign a "master credit agreement" for a high-priority project that will likely qualify for credit assistance once it lines up more carbon-capture commitments or gets all its permits. If the Secretary has fully committed a fiscal year's funding and can't fund a new loan, a project sponsor (including a state or local government unit) may instead sign a master credit agreement and wait until funds are available in a later fiscal year — or, if only the subsidy portion is missing, pay that subsidy amount itself to unlock the loan. (d) Federal requirements: Nothing in this part overrides any other federal law requirement, including regulations. NEPA: A project can only get federal credit assistance if it has received an environmental categorical exclusion, a finding of no significant impact, or a record of decision under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. (e) Use of American iron, steel, and manufactured goods: Normally, no CIFIA loan or grant can go to a project unless all the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in it are made in the United States. Exceptions: This requirement doesn't apply where the Secretary determines that applying it would be inconsistent with the public interest; that the iron, steel, or manufactured good isn't produced domestically in enough quantity or good enough quality; or that requiring domestic materials would raise the project's total cost by more than 25%. Waivers: If the Secretary gets a waiver request, the Secretary must make the request public — informally and electronically, including on the Department's website — allow at least 15 days of public comment before deciding, and approve or deny the request within 120 days of receiving it. Applicability: This subsection must be applied consistent with any international agreement obligations the United States has. (f) Application processing procedures: Within 30 days of receiving an application, the Secretary must give the applicant written notice of whether the application is complete or what additional information is needed. Within 60 days after that notice, the Secretary must give the applicant written notice of whether the application is approved or denied. (g) Development-phase activities: A CIFIA federal credit instrument may finance up to 100 percent of the cost of development-phase activities, as described in section 16371(4)(A) of this title.