By Representative Hall of Westford and Senator Resor, joint petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 766) of Geoffrey D. Hall, Pamela P. Resor and another relative to providing loans to certain elderly persons to assist in compliance with Title 5.  Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PETITION OF:

Geoffrey D. Hall

Pamela P. Resor

Frank Gordon

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In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.

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An Act providing loans to certain elderly persons to assist in compliance with Title 5.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1.  Item 2200-9959 of section 2 of chapter 85 of the Acts of 1994 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “homeowners”, in line 6, the following words:— ; provided, further that the program shall provide for zero interest loans to persons 65 years of age or older with income of less than $40,000.

SECTION 2     Section 2 of chapter 194 of the Acts of 1998 is hereby amended by striking out item 1231-1020 and inserting in place thereof the following item:—

1231-1020

For a program of loans, loan purchases, or loan guarantees or interest subsidies to assist homeowners, homeowner associations or condominium associations in complying with revised state environmental code for subsurface disposal of sanitary waste, Title V, so-called; provided, that said program shall be in addition to the loan program established pursuant to item 2200-9959 in section 2 of chapter 85 of the Acts of 1994; provided further, that the department may contract with third parties including, but not limited to, commonwealth-based financial institutions to manage said program; provided further, that the department and said third parties shall take all steps necessary to minimize said programs administrative costs; provided further, that said loans, loan purchases or loan guarantees shall be available on the basis of a sliding scale that relates a homeowner’s income and assets to the cost of Title V compliance; provided further, that interest subsidies shall be means-tested and may be for zero interest loans pursuant to income standards developed by the department; provided further that such zero interest loans shall be available to persons 65 years of age or older with income of less than $40,000; and provided further, that the department of revenue shall consult with the department of environmental protection in developing rules, regulations and guidelines for said programs, prior appropriation continued.