§ 1279e. Loan guarantees for shipyard modernization and improvement
(a)
General authority
The Administrator, under section
1273
(a) of this Appendix and subject to the terms the Administrator shall prescribe, may guarantee or make a commitment to guarantee the payment of the principal of, and the interest on, an obligation for advanced shipbuilding technology and modern shipbuilding technology of a general shipyard facility located in the United States.
(b)
Applicable laws, requirements, regulations, and procedures
Guarantees or commitments to guarantee under this section are subject to the extent applicable to all the laws, requirements, regulations, and procedures that apply to guarantees or commitments to guarantee made under this subchapter, except that guarantees or commitments to guarantee made under this section may be in the aggregate principal amount that does not exceed 871/2 percent of the actual cost of the advanced shipbuilding technology or modern shipbuilding technology.
(c)
Transfer of funds
The Administrator may accept the transfer of funds from any other department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government and may use those funds to cover the cost (as defined in section
661a of title
2) of making guarantees or commitments to guarantee loans entered into under this section.
(d)
Definitions
For purposes of this section:
(1)
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 which 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)
The term “modern shipbuilding technology” means the best available proven technology, techniques, and processes appropriate to enhancing the productivity of shipyards.
(3)
The term “general shipyard facility” means—