42 U.S.C. § 8832 — Construction loans

(a) Authority of Secretary^* of Energy Subject to sections 8835 and 8836 of this title, the Secretary of Energy can commit to make, and make, loans for the construction^* of municipal waste^* energy projects.

(b) Estimated project^* construction costs as determinative of initial and revised amount of loan; interest rate
(1) Any loan under this section—
(A) must not exceed 80 percent of the total estimated cost of the construction of the municipal waste energy project^* involved, and
(B) must bear interest at a rate determined by the Secretary of Energy (taking into consideration the current average market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States with remaining periods to maturity comparable to the average maturities of such loans) plus not to exceed one percent, as determined by the Secretary of Energy, and adjusted to the nearest one-eighth of one percent.
(2) if the total estimated costs of construction of the project after that exceed the total estimated costs initially determined by the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary can in addition, upon application for that, make a loan for so much of the additional estimated costs as does not exceed 10 percent of the initial total estimated costs of construction.

(c) Preconditions A loan must not be made under this section unless the person^* applying for such loan has established to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Energy that the applicant is unable without such a loan to obtain sufficient credit elsewhere at reasonable rates and terms, taking into consideration prevailing market rates and terms for loans for similar periods of time, to finance the construction of the project for which such loan is sought.