[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3223 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3223

 To establish a small business energy emergency disaster loan program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 27, 2008

   Mr. Kerry (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Schumer, Ms. 
  Stabenow, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Landrieu, Ms. Collins, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. 
Harkin, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the following bill; which 
  was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and 
                            Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish a small business energy emergency disaster loan program.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Energy Emergency 
Relief Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the terms ``Administration'' and ``Administrator'' mean 
        the Small Business Administration and the Administrator 
        thereof, respectively; and
            (2) the term ``small business concern'' has the same 
        meaning as in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
        632).

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) a significant number of small business concerns in the 
        United States, nonfarm as well as agricultural producers, use 
        heating oil, natural gas, propane, or kerosene to heat their 
        facilities and for other purposes;
            (2) a significant number of small business concerns in the 
        United States sell, distribute, market, or otherwise engage in 
        commerce directly related to heating oil, natural gas, propane, 
        and kerosene; and
            (3) significant increases in the price of heating oil, 
        natural gas, propane, or kerosene--
                    (A) disproportionately harm small business concerns 
                dependent on those fuels or that use, sell, or 
                distribute those fuels in the ordinary course of their 
                business, and can cause them substantial economic 
                injury;
                    (B) can negatively affect the national economy and 
                regional economies;
                    (C) have occurred in the winters of 1983 to 1984, 
                1988 to 1989, 1996 to 1997, 1999 to 2000, 2000 to 2001, 
                2004 to 2005, 2006 to 2007, and 2007 to 2008; and
                    (D) can be caused by a host of factors, including 
                international conflicts, global or regional supply 
                difficulties, weather conditions, insufficient 
                inventories, refinery capacity, transportation, and 
                competitive structures in the markets, causes that are 
                often unforeseeable to, and beyond the control of, 
                those who own and operate small business concerns.

SEC. 4. SMALL BUSINESS ENERGY EMERGENCY DISASTER LOAN PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
636(b)) is amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (9) the 
following:
            ``(10) Energy emergencies.--
                    ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
                            ``(i) the term `base price index' means the 
                        moving average of the closing unit price on the 
                        New York Mercantile Exchange for heating oil, 
                        natural gas, or propane for the 10 days, in 
                        each of the most recent 2 preceding years, 
                        which correspond to the trading days described 
                        in clause (ii);
                            ``(ii) the term `current price index' means 
                        the moving average of the closing unit price on 
                        the New York Mercantile Exchange, for the 10 
                        most recent trading days, for contracts to 
                        purchase heating oil, natural gas, or propane 
                        during the subsequent calendar month, commonly 
                        known as the `front month';
                            ``(iii) the term `heating fuel' means 
                        heating oil, natural gas, propane, or kerosene; 
                        and
                            ``(iv) the term `significant increase' 
                        means--
                                    ``(I) with respect to the price of 
                                heating oil, natural gas, or propane, 
                                any time the current price index 
                                exceeds the base price index by not 
                                less than 50 percent; and
                                    ``(II) with respect to the price of 
                                kerosene, any increase which the 
                                Administrator, in consultation with the 
                                Secretary of Energy, determines to be 
                                significant.
                    ``(B) Authorization.--The Administration may make 
                such loans, either directly or in cooperation with 
                banks or other lending institutions through agreements 
                to participate on an immediate or deferred basis, to 
                assist a small business concern that has suffered or 
                that is likely to suffer substantial economic injury as 
                the result of a significant increase in the price of 
                heating fuel occurring on or after October 1, 2007.
                    ``(C) Interest rate.--Any loan or guarantee 
                extended under this paragraph shall be made at the same 
                interest rate as economic injury loans under paragraph 
                (2).
                    ``(D) Maximum amount.--No loan may be made under 
                this paragraph, either directly or in cooperation with 
                banks or other lending institutions through agreements 
                to participate on an immediate or deferred basis, if 
                the total amount outstanding and committed to the 
                borrower under this subsection would exceed $1,500,000, 
                unless such borrower constitutes a major source of 
                employment in its surrounding area, as determined by 
                the Administrator, in which case the Administrator, in 
                the discretion of the Administrator, may waive the 
                $1,500,000 limitation.
                    ``(E) Declarations.--For purposes of assistance 
                under this paragraph--
                            ``(i) a declaration of a disaster area 
                        based on conditions specified in this paragraph 
                        shall be required, and shall be made by the 
                        President or the Administrator; and
                            ``(ii) if no declaration has been made 
                        under clause (i), the Governor of a State in 
                        which a significant increase in the price of 
                        heating fuel has occurred may certify to the 
                        Administration that small business concerns 
                        have suffered economic injury as a result of 
                        such increase and are in need of financial 
                        assistance which is not otherwise available on 
                        reasonable terms in that State, and upon 
                        receipt of such certification, the 
                        Administration may make such loans as would 
                        have been available under this paragraph if a 
                        disaster declaration had been issued.
                    ``(F) Use of funds.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, loans made under this paragraph may 
                be used by a small business concern described in 
                subparagraph (B) to convert from the use of heating 
                fuel to a renewable or alternative energy source, 
                including agriculture and urban waste, geothermal 
                energy, cogeneration, solar energy, wind energy, or 
                fuel cells.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments Relating to Heating Fuel.--Section 3(k) 
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(k)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``, significant increase in the price of 
        heating fuel'' after ``civil disorders''; and
            (2) by inserting ``other'' before ``economic''.
    (c) Effective Period.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply during the 4-year period beginning on the date on which 
guidelines are published by the Administrator under section 6.

SEC. 5. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCER EMERGENCY LOANS.

    (a) In General.--Section 321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1961(a)) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``operations have'' and inserting 
                ``operations (i) have''; and
                    (B) by inserting before ``: Provided,'' the 
                following: ``, or (ii)(I) are owned or operated by such 
                an applicant that is also a small business concern (as 
                defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 
                U.S.C. 632)), and (II) have suffered or are likely to 
                suffer substantial economic injury on or after October 
                1, 2007, as the result of a significant increase in 
                energy costs or input costs from energy sources 
                occurring on or after October 1, 2007, in connection 
                with an energy emergency declared by the President or 
                the Secretary'';
            (2) in the third sentence, by inserting before the period 
        at the end the following: ``or by an energy emergency declared 
        by the President or the Secretary''; and
            (3) in the fourth sentence--
                    (A) by inserting ``or energy emergency'' after 
                ``natural disaster'' each place that term appears; and
                    (B) by inserting ``or declaration'' after 
                ``emergency designation''.
    (b) Funding.--Funds available on the date of enactment of this Act 
for emergency loans under subtitle C of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1961 et seq.) shall be available to carry out 
the amendments made by subsection (a) to meet the needs resulting from 
energy emergencies.
    (c) Effective Period.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply during the 4-year period beginning on the date on which 
guidelines are published by the Secretary of Agriculture under section 
6.

SEC. 6. GUIDELINES AND RULEMAKING.

    (a) Guidelines.--Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
each issue such guidelines as the Administrator or the Secretary, as 
applicable, determines to be necessary to carry out this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act.
    (b) Rulemaking.--Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator, after consultation with the Secretary 
of Energy, shall promulgate regulations specifying the method for 
determining a significant increase in the price of kerosene under 
section 7(b)(10)(A)(iv)(II) of the Small Business Act, as added by this 
Act.

SEC. 7. REPORTS.

    (a) Small Business Administration.--Not later than 12 months after 
the date on which the Administrator issues guidelines under section 6, 
and annually thereafter until the date that is 12 months after the end 
of the effective period of section 7(b)(10) of the Small Business Act, 
as added by this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee 
on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee 
on Small Business of the House of Representatives, a report on the 
effectiveness of the assistance made available under section 7(b)(10) 
of the Small Business Act, as added by this Act, including--
            (1) the number of small business concerns that applied for 
        a loan under such section and the number of those that received 
        such loans;
            (2) the dollar value of those loans;
            (3) the States in which the small business concerns that 
        received such loans are located;
            (4) the type of heating fuel or energy that caused the 
        significant increase in the cost for the participating small 
        business concerns; and
            (5) recommendations for ways to improve the assistance 
        provided under such section 7(b)(10), if any.
    (b) Department of Agriculture.--Not later than 12 months after the 
date on which the Secretary of Agriculture issues guidelines under 
section 6, and annually thereafter until the date that is 12 months 
after the end of the effective period of the amendments made to section 
321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 
1961(a)) by this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Small 
Business and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
Representatives, a report that--
            (1) describes the effectiveness of the assistance made 
        available under section 321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and 
        Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1961(a)); and
            (2) contains recommendations for ways to improve the 
        assistance provided under such section 321(a), if any.
                                 <all>