WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor                   Ch. 632

(x) Machinery, equipment, or a facility for
utilizing groundwater as a heat source for a heating system or as
a heat sink for an air conditioning system; or

(xi) Any other energy conservation improvement
that the Administration determines by rule and regulation to be
appropriate and consistent with the legislative purpose of this
subheading;

(4) With respect to a commercial building, any
planning or technical service, and any commercial energy audit,
if the service or audit is related to or undertaken with the
installation, or the modification of an installation, which
includes any of the items specified in subsection (e)(3) of this
section.

[(f)] (H) "Families of limited incomes" means families or
persons whose incomes do not exceed upper income limits
established by the Secretary of Economic and Community
Development taking into consideration factors including (1) the
amount of the total income of such families available for housing
needs, (2) the size of the family, (3) the cost and condition of
housing facilities available, (4) the ability of such families to
compete successfully in the normal private housing market, and
(5) standards and definitions established for pertinent federal
housing programs. The limits may differ for different types of
housing, programs of the Administration, and areas of the State.
A limit of general applicability may be supplemented by a lower
limit applicable to a particular project.

[(g)] (I) (1) "Financial assistance" means[, for the
purpose of providing financial assistance for a home improvement
project, an energy conservation project or a solar energy
project,] any form of assurance, guarantee, grant, payment,
CREDIT ENHANCEMENT, or other assistance, including by way of
illustration and not by way of limitation, a grant, loan, loan
guarantee (including insurance and co-insurance), reduction in
the principal obligation of or rate of interest payable on a loan
or portion of a loan, prepayment of interest on a loan or portion
of a loan, a lease, and a lease guarantee (including insurance
and co-insurance).

(2) "Financial assistance" includes any commitment to
provide assistance in any form delineated in paragraph (1) of
this subsection.

[(h)] (J) "Home improvement project" means a project or
undertaking for any improvement, alteration, addition, or repair
that substantially protects or improves the basic liveability of
a residential building that will be occupied in substantial part
by families of limited incomes. Any home improvement project for
a residential building containing more than 4 units is subject to

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