[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S3356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1820. Mr. RISCH (for himself and Mrs. Shaheen) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4049, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2021 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which 
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place in subtitle E of title VIII, 
     insert the following:

     SEC. __. 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 an area with a population 
     of less than 200,000 outside an urbanized area; 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.--Notwithstanding section 
     123.3(a) of title 13, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 
     successor regulation, 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) if--
       ``(i) the Governor of the State 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 Act, 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 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 an area with a population of less than 
     200,000 outside an urbanized area.
       (2) Report.--Not later than 120 days 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 metropolitan 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.
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