16 U.S.C. § 2703 — Loans for project costs

(a) Authority. The Secretary may make a loan to a municipality, electric cooperative, industrial development agency, nonprofit organization, or other person for up to 75 percent of the costs of a small hydroelectric power project. The Secretary may not make the loan unless the Secretary finds that (1) the project will be built in connection with an existing dam or dams; (2) all Federal, State, and local licenses and other approvals required to build the project have been issued; (3) the project will have no significant adverse environmental effects, including significant adverse effects on fish and wildlife, recreational use of water, or stream flow; and (4) the project will not have a significant adverse effect on any other use of the water used by the project. The Secretary may commit to make a loan to an applicant that has not yet met paragraph (2)'s requirements while the applicant completes them. The commitment may last no more than 3 years, unless the Secretary, after consulting the Commission, extends it for good cause shown. Even with such a commitment, the Secretary may not make the loan before the applicant meets those requirements. (b) Preference. The Secretary must give preference to applicants that do not have alternative financing available that the Secretary considers appropriate for carrying out the project, and to projects that will provide useful information about the technical and economic feasibility of (1) generating electric energy through the projects and (2) using the energy those projects produce. (c) Information. Every applicant for a license for a small hydroelectric power project that receives a loan under this section must give the Secretary information the Secretary requires about equipment and services proposed for the project's design, construction, and operation. The Secretary may forbid use of equipment or services in the project if the Secretary finds them inappropriate because of cost, performance, or failure to carry out this section's purposes. The Secretary must make information obtained under this subsection available to the public, except information described as entitled to confidentiality under section 796(d) of title 15. (d) Joint participation. When making loans for small hydroelectric power projects under this section, the Secretary must encourage, to the extent permitted by law, joint participation in the same project by applicants eligible to receive loans under this section.