Section 482:55-a Dam Maintenance Revolving Loan Fund Established.
I. A dam maintenance revolving loan fund shall be established to provide low interest loans to fund the maintenance, repair, or reconstruction of privately owned dams when such maintenance, repair, or reconstruction is required under this chapter. This fund shall be nonlapsing and shall be continually appropriated to the department for the purposes of this section. No loans shall be made from this fund until the fund has accrued a balance of at least $25,000. Private dam owners receiving loans from this fund shall repay the department on a time frame specified in rules established by the department. The commissioner shall collect all loan repayment moneys and deposit them in this fund.
II. The department shall establish rules for the fund including the application process, criteria for award, the procedure for making loans, the interest rate to be applied, the maximum loan amount, the time frame for repayment, and oversight of the administration of the fund. In providing loans, the department shall evaluate the risk posed by the dam, the public benefit of the dam, the private benefit of the dam to lakefront owners and the potential for their contribution to needed maintenance, repair, or reconstruction, the financial resources of the applicant, and the relative cost of maintaining, repairing, or reconstructing the dam as compared to removing or breaching the dam.
III. Sources of revenue that may be accepted by the dam maintenance revolving loan fund include:
(a) Any funds that may be appropriated from the general fund.
(b) Principal and interest received from the repayment of loans made from the fund.
(c) Grants and awards made to the state by the federal government for the purpose for which the fund was established.
(d) Interest earned from the investment of fund balances.
(e) Private gifts, bequests, and donations made to the state for the purpose for which the fund was established.
(f) Any other funds from any public or private source intended to be used for the purpose for which the fund was established.
Source. 2008, 272:5, eff. Jan. 1, 2009. 2009, 110:1, eff. Aug. 14, 2009.