'This has been a long and hard bipartisan effort by the Michigan delegation to obtain funding for government loans that will assist U.S. auto manufacturers and component suppliers to retool their facilities to produce advanced technology vehicles,' Levin said. 'The funding will provide up to $25 billion in loans, which would be repaid to the federal government. This should help to keep auto jobs in Michigan and in the U.S. and begin moving us toward the advanced vehicle technologies that are critical to our companies' competitiveness in the global market place.' That means the Energy Department will have broad latitutde to determine how and which projects will qualify for loans under the program. The loans were authorized in the 2007 energy bill that increased fuel efficiency standards by 40 percent by 2020, but not funded. The loans are to help automakers and auto suppliers retool older plants to build more fuel efficient vehicles. Detroit's Big Three automakers, who have poor credit ratings, could save more than $100 million per $1 billion borrowed and will get as much as 25 years to repay them. They could also ask the Energy Department to defer repayment for up to five years. A spokesman for the Energy Department, Healy Baumgardner, said the department had begun writing the regulations, but wouldn't say when they would be complete. 'This is a $25 billion loan program (and) we're going to carry out our due diligence in implementing a program this large,' he said. Automakers aren't likely to see any loans until spring of next year at the earliest, officials said. Separately, a tax bill cleared the Senate Tuesday that includes a provision for new tax credits for plug-in electric vehicles, ranging from $2,500 to $7,500, for vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt. You can reach David Shepardson at (202) 662 - 8735 or dshepardsondteom.