Relates to financial assistance to small businesses for the purpose of pollution prevention, control and compliance

This bill creates a new Small Business Environmental Fund to help small businesses afford pollution prevention and compliance measures. The fund operates by providing a loan loss reserve that allows financial institutions to guarantee up to ninety percent of loans, with a maximum loan amount of five hundred thousand dollars, for businesses that struggle to get traditional bank financing. The program prioritizes applications from companies in highly distressed areas, minority-owned enterprises, and women-owned businesses, while requiring applicants to demonstrate that they cannot secure conventional funding for environmental upgrades. Additionally, the bill mandates that state agencies actively market this fund to small business owners and simplify the application process to make it more accessible.