Section 236. Definitions

When  used  in this article, unless the context
  clearly  indicates  otherwise,  the  following  terms  shall  have   the
  following meanings:
    1.  "Corporation"  means  the  New York state environmental facilities
  corporation, as continued by section twelve hundred  eighty-two  of  the
  public authorities law.
    2.  "Eligible  borrower"  means  any  recipient,  including any entity
  receiving or eligible to receive an agricultural assessment pursuant  to
  article  twenty-five-AA  of  the  agriculture  and  markets  law and any
  individual or small business eligible to undertake an  eligible  project
  related  to  residential and small business on-site wastewater treatment
  systems.
    3. "Eligible project" shall mean a project for the implementation of a
  management program established under section 319 of  the  Federal  Water
  Pollution Control Act related to agricultural operations, the upgrade or
  replacement   of  residential  and  small  business  on-site  wastewater
  treatment  systems  with  a  system  approved  by  the  state  or  local
  department  of  health,  or  the  abandonment  of  residential and small
  business on-site wastewater treatment systems and connection to a sewer,
  when a sewer becomes available.
    4. "Lender" means  any  state  or  federally-chartered  savings  bank,
  savings  and loan association, federal savings bank, federal savings and
  loan association, farm credit system institution, or commercial bank  or
  trust  company  designated  by  the  corporation  to  participate in the
  program.
    5. "Linked deposit"  means  financial  assistance  undertaken  by  the
  corporation  for  the  construction  of  an  eligible  project through a
  deposit, or for a farm credit system institution an investment  eligible
  to  be held by such institution, placed with a lender by the corporation
  bearing interest at the  linked  deposit  interest  rate,  provided  the
  lender has agreed to:
    (a)  lend the equivalent value of such deposit to an eligible borrower
  at the linked loan interest rate; and
    (b) permit the deposit to be comprised of a series of certificates  of
  deposit  each  bearing  an  interest  rate  equal  to the linked deposit
  interest rate fixed at the time the original linked deposit is placed.
    Each linked deposit shall be continuously and fully secured by  direct
  obligations  of  the  state  or  the  United  States  of  America  or by
  obligations the principal and interest on which are  guaranteed  by  the
  state or the United States of America.
    This  article  and  related statutes that refer to this article do not
  grant savings banks, savings and loan associations, farm  credit  system
  institutions,  federal  savings  banks,  or  federal  savings  and  loan
  associations eligibility to accept public funds or  public  moneys  from
  public entities for investment purposes. A linked deposit is intended to
  enable  a  lender to make a linked loan to an eligible borrower and such
  deposit earns a yield lower than posted rates in order to accomplish the
  goals of this article.
    6. "Linked deposit interest rate" means a fixed rate of interest which
  is below the market rate.
    7. "Linked loan" means a loan for purposes of an eligible project,  in
  an  amount  equal to a linked deposit and bearing interest at the linked
  loan interest rate.
    8. "Linked loan interest rate" means a  fixed  rate  below  the  fixed
  interest  rate the lender would have charged for the loan in the absence
  of a linked deposit based on its usual credit considerations.
    9. "Program" means the water pollution control linked deposit program.

    10. "Recipient" means any person which is: (a) an individual or  small
  business  which  is eligible to undertake an eligible project related to
  residential and small business on-site wastewater treatment systems;  or
  (b)   an  entity  receiving  or  eligible  to  receive  an  agricultural
  assessment  pursuant  to  article  twenty-five-AA of the agriculture and
  markets law which is eligible to undertake an eligible project;  or  (c)
  any  two or more of the foregoing which are acting jointly in connection
  with an eligible project.
    11. "Residential  and  small  business  on-site  wastewater  treatment
  system"  means  a  system  serving  a  residence  or small business that
  provides for the treatment and/or  disposition  of  the  combination  of
  human  and  sanitary waste with water not exceeding one thousand gallons
  per day.
    12. "Small business" means any business  which  is  resident  in  this
  state,  independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and
  employing not more than one hundred individuals.