Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loans

The TPEP will provide financial assistance through loan guarantees to lenders providing loans to entities seeking to establish, reopen, expand, or improve a sawmill or other wood processing facilities, and to forest workers, including loggers and oth

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS or Agency), a Rural Development (RD) agency of the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the acceptance of applications and availability of funding under the Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program (TPEP) for fiscal year (FY) 2024. These guaranteed funds will be made available to lenders to make loans to qualified borrowers seeking to establish, reopen, expand, or improve a sawmill or other wood processing facility, or to forest workers engaged in logging and other jobs responsible for processing ecosystem restoration byproducts, from an identified unit of United States Forest Service (USFS) National Forest System lands.

To be eligible for a loan guarantee under TPEP, a lender must meet the eligibility requirements in 7 CFR 5001.130. The borrower must meet the requirements specified in 7 CFR 5001.126(a) and (d) at the time of each guaranteed loan's approval and through issuance of the loan note guarantee. In addition, the borrower must be: (a) An entity engaged in or proposing to engage in establishing, reopening, retrofitting, expanding, or improving a sawmill or other wood-processing facility. For purposes of this opportunity, an eligible borrower entity may include a forest worker, logger, heavy equipment operator, material handler, or other professional entity responsible for purchasing and processing ecosystem restoration byproducts. (b) Eligible borrowers must use ecosystem restoration byproducts from federal or Tribal lands that USFS identified as high or very high priority for ecological restoration involving vegetation removal and must procure a significant amount of raw materials from federal or Tribal lands. High priority designated lands can be found using the TPEP Priority Areas dashboard at the following link: www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/5d6d9d9922a8486f83d51d40835f1870.

The purpose of this program is to revitalize rural economies and the timber industry by providing access to capital to establish, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve a sawmill or other wood processing facility.

The total amount of guaranteed loans under this opportunity to one borrower, including the aggregate amount of guaranteed loans to affiliate entities dependent upon another's operations and generation of revenue for loan repayment, must not exceed $25 million. The percentage of guarantee will be up to 90 percent. Guarantee fees, as determined under 7 CFR 5001.454, are not applicable to the TPEP program. The guaranteed loan will not have guarantee origination fees or annual guarantee service fees.

Assistance is available each fiscal year until September 30 or until expended, whichever occurs first.

Complete the requirements of RD Instruction 4279-B, section 4279.161(b).

Applications are funded on a first-come first served basis according to priority points procedures outlined in RD Instruction 4279-B, section 4279.155.

Applications typically take 60 days to approve.

Denial for program assistance is appealable.