I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2966 To reauthorize and limit the pre-disaster mitigation program of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 27, 2023 Mr. MORELLE (for himself and Mr. STAUBER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 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 (1) in paragraph (1)(C)— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2966.IH H2966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2966 IH (A) by striking ‘‘during fiscal years 2000 1 through 2004, to establish a predisaster mitiga- 2 tion program’’ and inserting ‘‘to establish a 3 pre-disaster mitigation program’’; 4 (B) by inserting ‘‘in accordance with para- 5 graph (16) and’’ before ‘‘as the Administrator 6 may’’; 7 (C) by striking ‘‘to enable small busi- 8 nesses’’ and inserting ‘‘to small business con- 9 cerns to enable those concerns’’; and 10 (D) by striking ‘‘in support of a formal’’ 11 and all that follows through the semicolon at 12 the end and inserting ‘‘to protect the commer- 13 cial real estate, equipment, inventory, supplies, 14 and materials of those concerns from damages 15 related to disasters;’’; and 16 (2) by redesignating the second paragraph (16) 17 (relating to ‘‘Statute of limitations’’) as paragraph 18 (17); 19 (3) by inserting after paragraph (17), as so re- 20 designated, the following: 21 ‘‘(18) PRE-DISASTER MITIGATION PROGRAM 22 LOANS.— 23 ‘‘(A) LOAN CAP.—The aggregate amount 24 of loans made under the pre-disaster mitigation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2966.IH H2966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2966 IH program under paragraph (1)(C) to a borrower 1 may not exceed $500,000. 2 ‘‘(B) OUTREACH.—In carrying out the pre- 3 disaster mitigation program under paragraph 4 (1)(C), the Administrator shall— 5 ‘‘(i) establish an advertising and out- 6 reach program to help small business con- 7 cerns understand the value of mitigation 8 and that the pre-disaster mitigation pro- 9 gram is available for that purpose; 10 ‘‘(ii) conduct outreach campaigns to 11 small business concerns regarding the pre- 12 disaster mitigation program, including— 13 ‘‘(I) advertising to educate those 14 concerns on the importance of disaster 15 mitigation; and 16 ‘‘(II) campaigns to promote par- 17 ticipation in the program by small 18 business concerns located in economi- 19 cally depressed areas; 20 ‘‘(iii) provide technical assistance to 21 applicants, including instructions on how 22 to participate in the pre-disaster mitigation 23 program, assistance in preparing applica- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2966.IH H2966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2966 IH tions, and expertise on best practices for 1 projects; and 2 ‘‘(iv) provide detailed information on 3 the purposes for which funds from loans 4 made under the pre-disaster mitigation 5 program may be used. 6 ‘‘(C) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Not more 7 than 4 percent of the funds made available to 8 the Administrator to carry out the pre-disaster 9 mitigation program under paragraph (1)(C) 10 may be reserved by the Administrator for— 11 ‘‘(i) the administrative costs of the 12 program; and 13 ‘‘(ii) the activities described in sub- 14 paragraph (B). 15 ‘‘(D) GUIDANCE.—The Administrator shall 16 issue guidance to ensure that borrowers pur- 17 chase and maintain adequate insurance cov- 18 erage over the duration of a loan obtained 19 under the pre-disaster mitigation program 20 under paragraph (1)(C).’’. 21 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 22 20(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is 23 amended to read as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2966.IH H2966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2966 IH ‘‘(c) PRE-DISASTER MITIGATION PROGRAM.—There 1 is authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of car- 2 rying out the program established under section 3 7(b)(1)(C) the following amounts: 4 ‘‘(1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 5 ‘‘(2) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 6 ‘‘(3) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. 7 ‘‘(4) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2027. 8 ‘‘(5) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2028.’’. 9 (c) PROGRAM EVALUATION.—Not later than 1 year 10 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 11 thereafter, the Administrator of the Small Business Ad- 12 ministration shall submit to the Committee on Small Busi- 13 ness and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Com- 14 mittee on Small Business of the House of Representatives 15 a report on the pre-disaster mitigation program under sec- 16 tion 7(b)(1)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 17 636(b)(1)(C)), as amended by this Act, including— 18 (1) a list of the geographic areas in which re- 19 cipients of loans under the program are located; 20 (2) the types of mitigation projects that were 21 funded; 22 (3) the number and dollar value of the loans 23 made under the program; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2966.IH H2966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2966 IH (4) the estimated aggregate value resulting 1 from the use of mitigation techniques funded by 2 loans made under the program, including— 3 (A) the lost productivity and expenses that 4 were avoided; and 5 (B) the estimated amount saved by the 6 Federal Government; 7 (5) the information required by paragraph (4) 8 disaggregated by region, by State, and by industry; 9 and 10 (6) the estimated dollar value of loans that 11 would have been made under section 7(b)(1)(A) of 12 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(A)) 13 without the loans made under the program. 14 (d) INITIAL REPORTING ON PILOT PROGRAM.—Not 15 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 16 the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 17 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and En- 18 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 19 Business of the House of Representatives— 20 (1) a description of and all related materials for 21 outreach advertising campaign efforts made during 22 the duration of the pre-disaster mitigation pilot pro- 23 gram of the Small Business Administration; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2966.IH H2966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2966 IH (2) information on how the Small Business Ad- 1 ministration appropriately staffed the Office of Dis- 2 aster Assistance to carry out the pilot program de- 3 scribed in paragraph (1); and 4 (3) the amount of the budget of the pilot pro- 5 gram described in paragraph (1) that was used for 6 outreach advertising campaign efforts. 7 (e) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 8 section shall apply only with respect to loans made under 9 section 7(b)(1)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 10 636(b)(1)(C)), as amended by this Act, on or after the 11 date of enactment of this Act. 12 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN ALLOWABLE AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL 13 DISASTER LOAN FOR MITIGATION. 14 Section 7(b)(1)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(A)) is amended, in the second proviso, 16 by striking ‘‘20 per centum’’ and inserting ‘‘30 percent’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2966.IH H2966 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS