[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1617 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1617
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To modify the requirements for the Administrator of the Small Business
Administration relating to declaring a disaster in a rural area, and
for other purposes.
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 ``Disaster Assistance for Rural
Communities Act''.
SEC. 2. DISASTER DECLARATION IN RURAL AREAS.
(a) In General.--Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
636(b)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (15) the following:
``(16) Disaster declaration in rural areas.--
``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
``(i) the term `rural area' means any
county or other political subdivision of a
State, the District of Columbia, or a territory
or possession of the United States that is
designated as a rural area by the Bureau of the
Census; and
``(ii) the term `significant damage' means,
with respect to property, uninsured losses of
not less than 40 percent of the estimated fair
replacement value or pre-disaster fair market
value of the damaged property, whichever is
lower.
``(B) Disaster declaration.--For the purpose of
making loans under paragraph (1) or (2), the
Administrator may declare a disaster in a rural area
for which a major disaster was declared by the
President under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5170) and for which individual assistance was not
authorized under section 408 of such Act (42 U.S.C.
5174) if--
``(i) the Governor of the State or the
Chief Executive of the Indian tribal government
in which the rural area is located requests
such a declaration; and
``(ii) any home, small business concern,
private nonprofit organization, or small
agricultural cooperative has incurred
significant damage in the rural area.
``(C) SBA report.--Not later than 120 days after
the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every year
thereafter, 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, with respect to the 1-
year period preceding submission of the report--
``(i) any economic injury that resulted
from a major disaster declared by the President
under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
(42 U.S.C. 5170) in a rural area;
``(ii) each request for assistance made by
the Governor of a State or the Chief Executive
of an Indian tribal government under
subparagraph (B)(i) and the response of the
Administrator, including the timeline for each
response; and
``(iii) any regulatory changes that will
impact the ability of communities in rural
areas to obtain disaster assistance under this
subsection.''.
(b) Regulations.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business
Administration shall issue regulations to carry out the amendment made
by subsection (a).
(c) GAO Report.--
(1) Definition of rural area.--In this subsection, the term
``rural area'' means any county or other political subdivision
of a State, the District of Columbia, or a territory or
possession of the United States that is designated as a rural
area by the Bureau of the Census.
(2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States 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--
(A) any unique challenges that communities in rural
areas face compared to communities in urbanized areas
when seeking to obtain disaster assistance under
section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
636(b)); and
(B) legislative recommendations for improving
access to disaster assistance for communities in rural
areas.
Passed the Senate September 28, 2022.
Attest:
Secretary.
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1617
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To modify the requirements for the Administrator of the Small Business
Administration relating to declaring a disaster in a rural area, and
for other purposes.