§ 386.15 Fees.

(a) Application fee. The Corps will require a non-refundable application fee for each project applying for credit assistance under the WIFIA program. The application fee will be due upon submission of the application. For public applicants with projects serving small communities or economically disadvantaged communities, the total application fee will be $0. For all other applications, the total application fee will be $25,000. The total application fee will be credited to the transaction processing fee required under paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) Transaction processing fee. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (f) of this section, the Corps will require an additional transaction processing fee for projects selected to receive WIFIA assistance upon closing, or if the project does not proceed to closing, e.g., if the application is withdrawn or denied. The proceeds of any such fees will be used to pay the remaining portion of the Corps' cost of providing credit assistance and the costs of conducting engineering reviews and retaining expert firms, including financial and legal services, to assist in the underwriting of the Federal Credit instrument.

(c) Servicing fee. The Corps will require borrowers to pay a servicing fee for each credit instrument approved for funding. Separate fees may apply for each type of credit instrument (e.g., a secured loan with a single disbursement, or a secured loan with multiple disbursements), depending upon the costs of servicing the credit instrument as determined by the Secretary. Such fees will be set at a level sufficient to enable the Corps to recover all or a portion of the costs to the Federal Government of servicing WIFIA credit instruments.

(d) Optional credit subsidy fee. If, in any given year, there is insufficient budget authority to fund the credit instrument for a qualified project that has been selected to receive assistance under WIFIA, the Corps and the approved applicant may agree upon a supplemental fee to be paid by or on behalf of the approved applicant at the time of execution of the term sheet to reduce the subsidy cost of that project. No such fee may be included among eligible project costs.

(e) Reduced fees. To the extent that Congress appropriates funds in any given year beyond those needed to cover internal administrative costs, the Corps may utilize such appropriated funds to reduce fees for a State or local governmental entity, agency, or instrumentality, a Tribal government or consortium of Tribal governments that would otherwise be charged under paragraph (c) of this section.

(f) Enhanced monitoring fee. The Corps may require payment in full by the borrower of additional fees, in an amount determined by the Corps, and of related fees and expenses of its independent consultants and outside counsel, to the extent that such fees and expenses are incurred by or on behalf of the Corps and to the extent such third parties are not paid directly by the borrower, in the event the borrower experiences difficultly relating to technical, financial, or legal matters or other events (e.g., engineering failure or financial workouts) which require the Corps to incur time or expenses beyond standard monitoring. No such fee may be included among eligible project costs.