USC Subchapter III

USC Subchapter III
in effect

46 U.S.C. § 53731 Commercial demonstration ocean thermal energy conversion facilities and plantships

(a) In General.—Under subchapter I of this chapter, the Administrator may guarantee or make a commitment to guarantee the payment of the principal of and interest on an obligation that aids in financing (including reimbursement of an obligor for expenditures previously made for) the construction, reconstruction, or reconditioning of a commercial demonstration ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship. This section may be used to guarantee obligations for a total of not more than 5 separate facilities and plantships or a demonstrated 400 megawatt capacity, whichever comes first. (b) Applicability of Other Provisions.—Except as otherwise provided in this section, a guarantee or commitment to guarantee under this section is subject to all the provisions applicable to a guarantee or commitment to guarantee under subchapter I of this chapter. (c) Economic Soundness.—The required determination of economic soundness under section 53708 of this title applies to a guarantee or commitment to guarantee for that portion of a facility or plantship not to be supported with appropriated Federal funds. (d) Reasonableness of Risk.—A guarantee or commitment to guarantee may not be made under this section unless the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Administrator, certifies to the Administrator that, for the facility or plantship for which the guarantee or commitment to guarantee is sought, there is sufficient guarantee of performance and payment to lower the risk to the United States Government to a reasonable level. In deciding whether to issue such a certification, the Secretary of Energy shall consider—(1) the successful demonstration of the technology to be used in the facility at a scale sufficient to establish the likelihood of technical and economic viability in the proposed market; and (2) the need of the United States to develop new and renewable sources of energy and the benefits to be realized from the construction and successful operation of the facility or plantship. (e) Amount of Obligation.—The total principal amount of an obligation guaranteed under this section may not exceed 87.5 percent of—(1) the actual cost or depreciated actual cost of the facility or plantship; or (2) if the facility or plantship is supported with appropriated Federal funds, the total principal amount of that portion of the actual cost or depreciated actual cost for which the obligor is obligated to secure financing under the agreement between the obligor and the Department of Energy or other Federal agency. (f) OTEC Demonstration Fund.—(1) In general.—There is a special subaccount, known as the OTEC Demonstration Fund, in the account established under section 53717(b)(1) of this title. (2) Use and operation.—The OTEC Demonstration Fund shall be used for obligation guarantees authorized under this section that do not qualify under subchapter I of this chapter. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the OTEC Demonstration Fund shall be operated in the same manner as the parent account. However—(A) amounts received by the Administrator under subchapter I of this chapter related to guarantees or commitments to guarantee made under this section shall be deposited only in the OTEC Demonstration Fund; and (B) when obligations issued by the Administrator under section 53723 of this title related to the OTEC Demonstration Fund are outstanding, any amount received by the Administrator under subchapter I of this chapter related to ocean thermal energy conversion facilities or plantships shall be deposited in the OTEC Demonstration Fund. (3) Transfers.—Assets in the OTEC Demonstration Fund may be transferred to the parent account when and to the extent the balance in the OTEC Demonstration Fund exceeds the total guarantees or commitments to guarantee made under this section then outstanding, plus obligations issued by the Administrator under section 53723 of this title related to the OTEC Demonstration Fund. (4) Liability.—The parent account is not liable for a guarantee or commitment to guarantee made under this section. (5) Maximum unpaid principal amount.—The total unpaid principal amount of the obligations guaranteed with the backing of the OTEC Demonstration Fund and outstanding at any one time may not exceed $1,650,000,000. (g) Issuance and Payment of Obligations.—Section 53723 of this title applies to the OTEC Demonstration Fund. However, obligations issued by the Administrator under that section related to the OTEC Demonstration Fund shall be payable only from proceeds realized by the OTEC Demonstration Fund. (h) Taxation of Interest.—Interest on an obligation guaranteed under this section shall be included in gross income under chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. ch. 1).

46 U.S.C. § 53733 Shipyard modernization and improvement

(a) Definitions.—In this section:(1) Advanced shipbuilding technology.—The term “advanced shipbuilding technology” includes—(A) numerically controlled machine tools, robots, automated process control equipment, computerized flexible manufacturing systems, associated computer software, and other technology for improving shipbuilding and related industrial production that advance the state-of-the-art; and (B) novel techniques and processes designed to improve shipbuilding quality, productivity, and practice, and to promote sustainable development, including engineering design, quality assurance, concurrent engineering, continuous process production technology, energy efficiency, waste minimization, design for recyclability or parts reuse, inventory management, upgraded worker skills, and communications with customers and suppliers. (2) General shipyard facility.—The term “general shipyard facility” means—(A) for operations on land—(i) a structure or appurtenance thereto designed for the construction, reconstruction, repair, rehabilitation, or refurbishment of a vessel, including a graving dock, building way, ship lift, wharf, or pier crane; (ii) the land necessary for the structure or appurtenance; and (iii) equipment that is for use with the structure or appurtenance and that is necessary for performing a function referred to in clause (i); and (B) for operations not on land, a vessel, floating drydock, or barge built in the United States and used for, equipped to be used for, or of a type normally used for, performing a function referred to in subparagraph (A)(i). (3) Modern shipbuilding technology.—The term “modern shipbuilding technology” means the best available proven technology, techniques, and processes appropriate to enhancing the productivity of shipyards. (b) General Authority.—Under subchapter I of this chapter, the Administrator may guarantee or make a commitment to guarantee the payment of the principal of and interest on an obligation for advanced shipbuilding technology and modern shipbuilding technology of a general shipyard facility in the United States. Only a private shipyard is eligible to receive a guarantee. (c) Applicability of Other Provisions.—Except as otherwise provided in this section, a guarantee or commitment to guarantee under this section is subject to all the provisions applicable to a guarantee or commitment to guarantee under subchapter I of this chapter. (d) Amount of Obligation.—The principal amount of an obligation guaranteed under this chapter may not exceed 87.5 percent of the actual cost of the advanced shipbuilding technology or modern shipbuilding technology. (e) Transfer of Amounts.—The Administrator may accept the transfer of amounts from a department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government and may use those amounts to cover the cost (as defined in section 502 of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a)) of making guarantees or commitments to guarantee under this section. (f) Buy America.—Part I of subtitle A of title IX of division G of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58; 41 U.S.C. 8301 note) shall apply to any funds obligated by the Administrator under this section.

46 U.S.C. § 53734 Replacement of vessels because of changes in operating standards

(a) General Authority.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Secretary or Administrator, on terms the Secretary or Administrator may prescribe, may guarantee or make a commitment to guarantee the payment of the principal of and interest on an obligation that aids in financing or refinancing (including reimbursement of an obligor for expenditures previously made for) a contract for the construction or reconstruction of a vessel if—(1) the vessel is designed and to be used for commercial use in coastwise, intercoastal, or foreign trade; (2) the construction or reconstruction is necessary to replace a vessel that cannot continue to be operated because of a change required by law in the standards for the operation of vessels, and the applicant for the guarantee or commitment would not otherwise legally be able to continue operating vessels in the trades in which the applicant operated vessels before the change; (3) the applicant is presently engaged in transporting cargoes in vessels of the type and class that will be constructed or reconstructed under this section and agrees to employ vessels constructed or reconstructed under this section as replacements only for vessels made obsolete by the change in operating standards; (4) the capacity of the vessels to be constructed or reconstructed under this section will not increase the cargo carrying capacity of the vessels being replaced; (5) the Secretary or Administrator has not determined that the market demand for the vessel over its useful life will diminish so as to make granting the guarantee fiduciarily imprudent; (6) the vessel, if to be reconstructed, will have a useful life of at least 15 years after the reconstruction; and (7) the Secretary or Administrator has considered the criteria specified in section 53708(a)(3)–(5) of this title. (b) Term and Amount of Obligation.—(1) Term.—The term of an obligation guaranteed under this section may not exceed 25 years. (2) Amount.—The amount of an obligation guaranteed under this section may not exceed 87.5 percent of the actual cost or depreciated actual cost to the applicant for the construction or reconstruction of the vessel. The Secretary or Administrator may not establish a percentage under this paragraph that is to be applied uniformly to all guarantees or commitments to guarantee made under this section. (c) Applicability of Other Provisions.—A guarantee or commitment to guarantee under this section is also subject to sections 53701, 53702(a), 53704, 53705, 53707(a), 53708(d) and (e), 53709(a), 53710(a)(1), (2), and (4) and (c), 53711(a), 53713, 53714, 53717, and 53721–53725 of this title. (d) Security Against Default.—The Secretary or Administrator shall require by regulation that an applicant under this section provide adequate security against default. (e) Guarantee Fees.—The Secretary or Administrator may establish a fee for the guarantee of an obligation under this section that is in addition to the fee established under section 53714 of this title. The fee may be—(1) an annual fee of not more than an additional 1 percent added to the fee established under section 53714 of this title; or (2) a fee based on the amount of the obligation versus the percentage of the obligor’s fleet being replaced by vessels constructed or reconstructed under this section.

46 U.S.C. § 53735 Fisheries financing and capacity reduction

(a) Definition.—In this section, the term “program” means a fishing capacity reduction program established under section 312 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1861a). (b) Guarantee Authority.—The Secretary may guarantee the repayment of debt obligations issued by entities under this section. Debt obligations to be guaranteed may be issued by any entity that has been approved by the Secretary and has agreed with the Secretary to conditions the Secretary considers necessary for this section to achieve the objective of the program and to protect the interest of the United States. (c) Requirements of Obligations.—A debt obligation guaranteed under this section shall—(1) be treated in the same manner and to the same extent as other obligations guaranteed under this chapter, except with respect to provisions of this chapter that by their nature cannot be applied to obligations guaranteed under this section; (2) have the fishing fees established under the program paid into a separate subaccount of the fishing capacity reduction fund established under this section; (3) not exceed $100,000,000 in an unpaid principal amount outstanding at any one time for a program; (4) have such maturity (not to exceed 20 years), take such form, and contain such conditions as the Secretary determines necessary for the program to which they relate; (5) have as the exclusive source of repayment (subject to the second sentence of subsection (d)(2)) and as the exclusive payment security, the fishing fees established under the program; and (6) at the discretion of the Secretary be issued in the public market or sold to the Federal Financing Bank. (d) Fishing Capacity Reduction Fund.—(1) In general.—There is a separate account in the Treasury, known as the Fishing Capacity Reduction Fund. Within the Fund, at least one subaccount shall be established for each program into which shall be paid all fishing fees established under the program and other amounts authorized for the program. (2) Availability of amounts.—Amounts in the Fund shall be available, without appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to the Secretary to pay the cost of the program, including payments to financial institutions to pay debt obligations incurred by entities under this section. Funds available for this purpose from other amounts available for the program may also be used to pay those debt obligations. (3) Investment.—Amounts in the Fund that are not currently needed for the purpose of this section shall be kept on deposit or invested in obligations of the United States Government. (e) Regulations.—The Secretary shall prescribe regulations the Secretary considers necessary to carry out this section.

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