PREPARE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4699 To reauthorize and limit the pre-disaster mitigation program of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. KING, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. ERNST, Mr. WYDEN, and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entre- preneurship A BILL To reauthorize and limit the pre-disaster mitigation program of the Small Business Administration, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Resources 4 for Emergency Preparedness And Resilient Enterprises 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘PREPARE Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. PRE-DISASTER MITIGATION PROGRAM. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(b) of the Small Busi- 8 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:19 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4699.IS S4699 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4699 IS (1) in paragraph (1)(C)— 1 (A) by striking ‘‘during fiscal years 2000 2 through 2004, to establish a predisaster mitiga- 3 tion program’’ and inserting ‘‘to establish a 4 pre-disaster mitigation program’’; 5 (B) by inserting ‘‘in accordance with para- 6 graph (16) and’’ before ‘‘as the Administrator 7 may’’; 8 (C) by striking ‘‘to enable small busi- 9 nesses’’ and inserting ‘‘to small business con- 10 cerns to enable those concerns’’; and 11 (D) by striking ‘‘in support of a formal’’ 12 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘to protect 13 the commercial real estate, equipment, inven- 14 tory, supplies, and materials of those concerns 15 from damages related to disasters;’’; and 16 (2) by inserting after paragraph (15) the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(16) PRE-DISASTER MITIGATION PROGRAM 19 LOANS.— 20 ‘‘(A) LOAN CAP.—The aggregate amount 21 of loans made under the pre-disaster mitigation 22 program under paragraph (1)(C) to a borrower 23 may not exceed $500,000. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4699.IS S4699 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4699 IS ‘‘(B) OUTREACH.—In carrying out the pre- 1 disaster mitigation program under paragraph 2 (1)(C), the Administrator shall— 3 ‘‘(i) establish an advertising and out- 4 reach program to help small business con- 5 cerns understand the value of mitigation 6 and that the pre-disaster mitigation pro- 7 gram is available for that purpose; 8 ‘‘(ii) conduct outreach campaigns to 9 small business concerns regarding the pre- 10 disaster mitigation program, including— 11 ‘‘(I) advertising to educate those 12 concerns on the importance of disaster 13 mitigation; and 14 ‘‘(II) campaigns to promote par- 15 ticipation in the program by small 16 business concerns located in economi- 17 cally depressed areas; 18 ‘‘(iii) provide technical assistance to 19 applicants, including instructions on how 20 to participate in the pre-disaster mitigation 21 program, assistance in preparing applica- 22 tions, and expertise on best practices for 23 projects; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4699.IS S4699 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4699 IS ‘‘(iv) provide detailed information on 1 the purposes for which funds from loans 2 made under the pre-disaster mitigation 3 program may be used. 4 ‘‘(C) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Not more 5 than 4 percent of the funds made available to 6 the Administrator to carry out the pre-disaster 7 mitigation program under paragraph (1)(C) 8 may be reserved by the Administrator for— 9 ‘‘(i) the administrative costs of the 10 program; and 11 ‘‘(ii) the activities described in sub- 12 paragraph (B). 13 ‘‘(D) GUIDANCE.—The Administrator shall 14 issue guidance to ensure that borrowers pur- 15 chase and maintain adequate insurance cov- 16 erage over the duration of a loan obtained 17 under the pre-disaster mitigation program 18 under paragraph (1)(C).’’. 19 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 20 20(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is 21 amended to read as follows: 22 ‘‘(c) PRE-DISASTER MITIGATION PROGRAM.—There 23 is authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of car- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4699.IS S4699 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4699 IS rying out the program established under section 1 7(b)(1)(C) the following amounts: 2 ‘‘(1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. 3 ‘‘(2) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 4 ‘‘(3) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2023. 5 ‘‘(4) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 6 ‘‘(5) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.’’. 7 (c) PROGRAM EVALUATION.—Not later than 1 year 8 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 9 thereafter, the Administrator of the Small Business Ad- 10 ministration shall submit to the Committee on Small Busi- 11 ness and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Com- 12 mittee on Small Business of the House of Representatives 13 a report on the pre-disaster mitigation program under sec- 14 tion 7(b)(1)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 15 636(b)(1)(C)), as amended by this Act, including— 16 (1) a list of the geographic areas in which re- 17 cipients of loans under the program are located; 18 (2) the types of mitigation projects that were 19 funded; 20 (3) the number and dollar value of the loans 21 made under the program; 22 (4) the estimated aggregate value resulting 23 from the use of mitigation techniques funded by 24 loans made under the program, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4699.IS S4699 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4699 IS (A) the lost productivity and expenses that 1 were avoided; and 2 (B) the estimated amount saved by the 3 Federal Government; 4 (5) the information required by paragraph (4) 5 disaggregated by region, by State, and by industry; 6 and 7 (6) the estimated dollar value of loans that 8 would have been made under section 7(b)(1)(A) of 9 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(A)) 10 without the loans made under the program. 11 (d) INITIAL REPORTING ON PILOT PROGRAM.—Not 12 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 13 the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 14 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and En- 15 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 16 Business of the House of Representatives— 17 (1) a description of and all related materials for 18 outreach advertising campaign efforts made during 19 the duration of the pre-disaster mitigation pilot pro- 20 gram of the Small Business Administration; 21 (2) information on how the Small Business Ad- 22 ministration appropriately staffed the Office of Dis- 23 aster Assistance to carry out the pilot program de- 24 scribed in paragraph (1); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4699.IS S4699 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4699 IS (3) the amount of the budget of the pilot pro- 1 gram described in paragraph (1) that was used for 2 outreach advertising campaign efforts. 3 (e) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 4 section shall apply only with respect to loans made under 5 section 7(b)(1)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 6 636(b)(1)(C)), as amended by this Act, on or after the 7 date of enactment of this Act. 8 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN ALLOWABLE AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL 9 DISASTER LOAN FOR MITIGATION. 10 Section 7(b)(1)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 11 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(A)) is amended, in the second proviso, 12 by striking ‘‘20 per centum’’ and inserting ‘‘30 percent’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4699.IS S4699 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS