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Editor’s Note: Since this story was published, the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration have updated the loan’s terms for borrowers and lenders.

Just days after the $2 trillion CARES Act created a $349 billion small business loan product and before lenders start accepting applications this week, details of the Paycheck Protection Program the law created have come into focus.

The U.S. Small Business Administration and Treasury Department announced guidelines Tuesday for the loan program designed to help businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Small businesses with 500 or fewer employees can apply for a loan, and businesses that typically qualify for SBA loans based on size standards for certain industries could also participate.

The program is also open to non-profits, veterans organizations, tribal concerns, sole proprietorships, self-employed individuals and independent contractors.

Small businesses can apply through SBA lenders, federally insured depository institutions and federally insured credit unions beginning this Friday, April 3.

The program is meant to encourage small businesses to keep employees on payroll at a time when non-essential businesses in Massachusetts and other states have closed their offices and other locations. If businesses keep employees on payroll for eight weeks, portions of the loan could be forgiven.

The maximum loan amount is up to $10 million, based on an average of eight weeks of payroll plus 25 percent of other expenses. Loan proceeds used for payroll costs and some other operating expenses, including rent, mortgage interest and utilities, during the 8 weeks following the date of loan origination may be forgiven. Because the SBA is expecting high enrollment in the program, at least 75 percent of the amount forgiven must represent payroll costs, and no more than 25 percent can cover other expenses.

The loan program will be retroactive from Feb. 15, meaning that employers can rehire their recently laid-off employees through June 30, according to the SBA.

Other features include:

• Interest rate of 0.5 percent
• Maturity of 2 years
• First payment deferred for six months
• 100 percent guarantee by SBA
• No collateral
• No personal guarantees
• No borrower or lender fees payable to SBA

SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said in a statement that the public-private partnership would assist small businesses with accessing capital quickly.

“Our goal is to position lenders as the single point-of-contact for small businesses – the application, loan processing, and disbursement of funds will all be administered at the community level,” Carranza said. “Speed is the operative word; applications for the emergency capital can begin as early as this week, with lenders using their own systems and processes to make these loans. We remain committed to supporting our nation’s more than 30 million small businesses and their employees, so that they can continue to be the fuel for our nation’s economic engine.”

This program joins the disaster assistance loans and bridge loans as SBA options for small businesses.