159I-7. Solid Waste Management Loan Fund.

(a) A Fund to be known as the Solid Waste Management Loan Fund is established. Moneys appropriated to, paid to, or earned by this Fund shall be deposited with the State Treasurer or a corporate trustee as provided for in G.S. 159I-16, as may be determined by the Board.

(b) Moneys in the Solid Waste Management Loan Fund may be invested in the same manner as permitted for investments of funds belonging to the State or held in the State treasury. Interest earnings derived from such investments shall be credited to the Fund, credited to such other use as may be provided in a trust agreement or resolution securing any bonds or notes issued under the provisions of this Chapter, or credited to such other use, including the payment of administrative expenses of the Board, the costs of research for solid waste management programs and the making of grants for such research, as may be directed by the Board.

(b1) In connection with solid waste research to be contracted for by the Division, the Secretary of Environmental Quality shall negotiate, with the Board of the Board, a memorandum of agreement which shall contain necessary rules and provisions for certifying that proper competitive bid procedures, and when appropriate, proper sole source bid procedures, for contracts have been executed in connection with a Request for Proposals (RFP); and, which shall state that a previously determined one-to-one match requirement from private sector sources has been met in accordance with rules and provisions set out in the memorandum of agreement, and that the Secretary is ready to award a contract for a specified amount. The Treasurer, at the direction of the Board, shall certify that funds are available and that the purpose of the contract is consistent with provisions for the use of solid waste loan program proceeds.

(c) Moneys in the Solid Waste Management Loan Fund may be used, as shall be determined by the Board, for any one or more of the following purposes:

(1) The establishment of one or more debt service reserve funds;

(2) The obtaining of one or more credit facilities as hereinafter defined in this Chapter;

(3) The making of loans to units of local government, which loans may be evidenced by debt instruments; and

(4) The subsidization of interest rates on loans to units of local government.

In addition, any investment income or profit on moneys in the Solid Waste Management Loan Fund or on any moneys transferred from the Fund to a debt service reserve fund may be used, as shall be determined by the Board, to pay administrative expenses of the Board.

(d) As used in this section, "debt instrument" means an instrument in the nature of a promissory note executed by a unit of local government to evidence a debt to the Board in respect of a loan made to the unit from the Solid Waste Management Loan Fund and obligation to repay the principal, plus interest, under stated terms.