(1) Alcohol production facility. An alcohol production facility is a facility in which alcohol, suitable for use by itself or in combination with other substances as a substitute for petroleum or petrochemical feedstocks and not suitable for beverage purposes, is manufactured from biomass.

(2) The alcohol production facility includes all facilities necessary for the production and storage of alcohol and the processing of the by-products of alcohol production. The intent is to limit the alcohol and by-products processing facilities to those facilities which are necessary to yield marketable products and necessary for the financial success of the project. Further refinements, such as gasoline blending or the construction of facilities which use the alcohol or by-products in another manufacturing process, are not considered part of the alcohol production facility.

(3) Application will be reviewed by both B&I personnel and the State Office engineer and forwarded to the National Office if approval is recommended.

(4) The applicant should have a startup tangible book equity of 20-25 percent. (Appraisal surplus and subordinated debt are not eligible equity items.)

(5) Loan maturity maximums will be as follows:

Real Estate = 15-20 years

Machinery & Equipment = 10 years or less depending on the estimated life of the equipment involved

Working Capital = 3 years (It is assumed that the additional equity required for these projects will provide much of the working capital needs.)

(6) Farmers Home Administration or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 will ordinarily only finance new facilities and will not get involved in the refinancing of existing ones.

(7) Priority consideration will be given to the use of primary fuel other than petroleum or natural gas.

(8) A positive energy balance must be indicated and supported by appropriate data; i.e., the energy content of the alcohol produced at the alcohol production facility must be greater than the energy used to produce the alcohol and by-products.

(9) Plant location, in relation to feedstocks, primary fuel and markets for product and by-products, will be an important consideration.

(10) Debt refinancing will only be considered in modest amounts and only when necessary to provide a satisfactory lien position.

(11) Feasibility studies are very important and required and will be prepared by competent and knowledgeable independent parties.

(12) Participating lenders must either have expertise or the availability of expertise in this field.

(13) The proposed operating managers must have experience in this or a related field.

(14) Alcohol Fuel Production Facilities are eligible for assistance under the Drought and Disaster (D&D) Guaranteed Loan and Disaster Assistance for Rural Business Enterprises (DARBE) programs described in this subpart, and especially in appendix I and appendix K. Any such loan must meet the requirements for D&D and DARBE loans.

[52 FR 6522, Mar. 4, 1987, as amended at 53 FR 40403, Oct. 17, 1988; 54 FR 5, Jan. 3, 1989, and 54 FR 26946, June 27, 1989; 54 FR 42483, Oct. 17, 1989]