SBA Guarantees for Pollution Control Facilities

The Small Business Administration (SBA) requested an interpretation of section 404 of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. This section of the act authorizes a program under which the SBA guarantees payments by small business concerns due under qualified contracts for pollution control facilities. Solid waste disposal facilities for a trash hauling firm can be included within the program's benefits, but it would be possible to exclude from guarantee benefits those businesses with no pollution problems of their own but instead sell waste disposal services to others. It is within the agency's discretion to choose the interpretation which would most effectively carry out the purposes of the program.