Sec. O-2. 26 MRSA §63, first ¶, as amended by PL 2001, c. 398, Pt. B, §3, is further amended to read:

The department may administer a statewide program to make low interest low-interest loans, interest rate subsidies for loans and to make grants to improve safety and promote healthful working conditions in factories, workshops and workplaces in this State. This program is known as the Occupational Safety Loan Program.

Sec. O-3. 26 MRSA §63, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1991, c. 93, §3, is further amended to read:

1. Criteria for loans and loans receiving interest rate subsidies. The department shall promulgate adopt rules to implement the Occupational Safety Loan Program, which shall must include, but may not be limited to, the following loan criteria:

A. The purpose of the loan must be to improve, install or erect equipment which that reduces hazards to and promotes the health and safety of workers;

C. No loan may be made in an amount in excess of $50,000 to any single applicant, or at an interest rate in excess of 3%. A loan made by the department may not have an interest rate in excess of 3%.__A loan receiving an interest rate subsidy may not have an effective rate in excess of 3%. The maximum term of an individual loan shall be is 10 years. The Commissioner of Labor may waive the limitation on the amount, the duration, or both, of a loan to address severe circumstances, as funds are available;

D. A majority vote of the Commission on Safety and Health in the Maine Workplace is necessary to recommend approval of a loan or an interest rate subsidy that is then transmitted to the department for final disposition in accordance with the policies adopted by the department;

E. Loan and interest rate subsidy applications must be reviewed by both the Commission on Safety and Health in the Maine Workplace and the department for feasibility, such as, for the general reasonableness and safety need for the proposal, whether the applicant has sufficient capital, whether an adequate safety analysis or other counseling requirement has been completed, whether the applicant is