[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2309 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2309

  To amend the Small Business Act to provide loans to eligible small 
                  business concerns for energy costs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2001

  Mr. Calvert (for himself, Mr. Lewis of California, Mr Baldacci, Mr. 
 Rohrabacher, and Mrs. Bono) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Small Business Act to provide loans to eligible small 
                  business concerns for energy costs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. LOANS TO ELIGIBLE SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS FOR ENERGY COSTS.

    Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(31) Loans to eligible small business concerns for energy 
        costs.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Administration may make 
                loans under this subsection to assist an eligible small 
                business concern in financing the energy costs 
                incurred, or to be incurred (based on estimates), by 
                the concern during the period beginning on January 1, 
                2001, and ending on August 30, 2002.
                    ``(B) Maximum amount.--The Administration shall not 
                make a loan under this paragraph to an eligible small 
                business concern in an amount that exceeds 5 times the 
                total energy costs incurred by the concern during the 
                period beginning on May 1, 1999, and ending on December 
                31, 2000.
                    ``(C) Maximum term.--The Administration shall not 
                make a loan under this paragraph with a term, including 
                renewals and extensions thereon, in excess of 10 years.
                    ``(D) Eligible small business concern.--For the 
                purposes of this paragraph, the term `eligible small 
                business concern' means a small business concern 
                located in a State designated, for the purposes of this 
                paragraph, by the Secretary of Energy as a State in 
                which the wholesale cost of energy has increased 150 
                percent or more during the period beginning on January 
                1, 2000, and ending on August 30, 2002, or during any 
                part of such period.
                    ``(E) Energy costs.--For the purposes of this 
                paragraph, the term ``energy costs'' includes the cost 
                of electricity and natural gas, but excludes costs 
                associated with transportation.''.
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