| The Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund, referred to in this |
section as the "fund," is created. The fund must be deposited |
with and maintained by the Finance Authority of Maine. The fund |
must be administered by the Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and |
Rural Resources in accordance with Title 7, chapter 101, |
subchapter I-D. All money received by the Finance Authority of |
Maine from any source for the development and implementation of |
an improved agricultural marketing loan program must be credited |
to the fund. Any money credited to the fund from the issuance of |
bonds on behalf of the State for financing loans for agricultural |
enterprises may be used only for the following purposes: to |
provide assistance to agricultural enterprises in this State for |
the design, construction or improvement of commodity and storage |
buildings and packing and marketing facilities; or for the |
purchase, construction, or renovation or acquisition of land, of |
buildings, equipment, docks, wharves, piers or vessels used in |
connection with a commercial agricultural enterprise; for the |
purchase of land in connection with development of new cranberry |
acreage or irrigation reservoirs or to provide direct access to |
water for irrigation; for the purchase of land necessary for the |
start-up of a new agricultural enterprise; or for the expansion |
of an existing agricultural enterprise when the acquisition is |
necessary to comply with land use regulations. Repayment of |
these loans and interest on these loans must be credited to the |
fund and must be available for making additional loans for the |
same purposes, except that interest may be used for the purposes |
stated in Title 7, section 436. Interest earned on money in the |
fund and interest earned on loans made from the fund may be used |
to pay the administrative costs of processing loan applications, |
to the extent that these costs exceed the fee for administrative |
costs established by Title 7, section 435, subsection 4. |