[117th Congress Public Law 249]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[[Page 136 STAT. 2350]]
Public Law 117-249
117th Congress
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. <<NOTE: Dec. 20, 2022 - [S. 1617]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Disaster
Assistance for Rural Communities Act. 15 USC 631 note.>>
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) <<NOTE: Time period.>> 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
[[Page 136 STAT. 2351]]
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) <<NOTE: Deadline. 15 USC 636 note.>> 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) <<NOTE: Recommenda- tions.>> legislative
recommendations for improving access to disaster
assistance for communities in rural areas.
Approved December 20, 2022.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 1617:
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SENATE REPORTS: No. 117-
103 (Comm. on Small Business and Entrepreneurship).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 168 (2022):
Sept. 28, considered and passed Senate.
Dec. 5, 8, considered and passed House.
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