Providing Resources for Emergency Preparedness And Resilient Enterprises Act of 2023 or the PREPARE Act of 2023
This bill reauthorizes through FY2028 a pre-disaster mitigation program, administered by the Small Business Administration, for disbursing economic injury disaster loans to small businesses for protection of real estate, equipment, inventory, supplies, and materials. The bill also increases the amount for loans to take mitigating actions to protect damaged or destroyed property from possible future disasters.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1370 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1370
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
April 27, 2023
Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. King, Ms. Collins, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Cardin,
and Mr. Warnock) introduced the following bill; which was read twice
and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reauthorize and limit the pre-disaster mitigation program of the
Small Business Administration, 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 ``Providing Resources for Emergency
Preparedness And Resilient Enterprises Act of 2023'' or the ``PREPARE
Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. PRE-DISASTER MITIGATION PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
636(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(C)--
(A) by striking ``during fiscal years 2000 through
2004, to establish a predisaster mitigation program''
and inserting ``to establish a pre-disaster mitigation
program'';
(B) by inserting ``in accordance with paragraph
(16) and'' before ``as the Administrator may'';
(C) by striking ``to enable small businesses'' and
inserting ``to small business concerns to enable those
concerns''; and
(D) by striking ``in support of a formal'' and all
that follows and inserting ``to protect the commercial
real estate, equipment, inventory, supplies, and
materials of those concerns from damages related to
disasters;'';
(2) by redesignating the second paragraph (16) (relating to
the statute of limitations) as paragraph (17); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (17), as so redesignated,
the following:
``(18) Pre-disaster mitigation program loans.--
``(A) Loan cap.--The aggregate amount of loans made
under the pre-disaster mitigation program under
paragraph (1)(C) to a borrower may not exceed $500,000.
``(B) Outreach.--In carrying out the pre-disaster
mitigation program under paragraph (1)(C), the
Administrator shall--
``(i) establish an advertising and outreach
program to help small business concerns
understand the value of mitigation and that the
pre-disaster mitigation program is available
for that purpose;
``(ii) conduct outreach campaigns to small
business concerns regarding the pre-disaster
mitigation program, including--
``(I) advertising to educate those
concerns on the importance of disaster
mitigation; and
``(II) campaigns to promote
participation in the program by small
business concerns located in
economically depressed areas;
``(iii) provide technical assistance to
applicants, including instructions on how to
participate in the pre-disaster mitigation
program, assistance in preparing applications,
and expertise on best practices for projects;
and
``(iv) provide detailed information on the
purposes for which funds from loans made under
the pre-disaster mitigation program may be
used.
``(C) Reservation of funds.--Not more than 4
percent of the funds made available to the
Administrator to carry out the pre-disaster mitigation
program under paragraph (1)(C) may be reserved by the
Administrator for--
``(i) the administrative costs of the
program; and
``(ii) the activities described in
subparagraph (B).
``(D) Guidance.--The Administrator shall issue
guidance to ensure that borrowers purchase and maintain
adequate insurance coverage over the duration of a loan
obtained under the pre-disaster mitigation program
under paragraph (1)(C).''.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 20(c) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is amended to read as follows:
``(c) Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program.--There is authorized to be
appropriated for the purpose of carrying out the program established
under section 7(b)(1)(C) the following amounts:
``(1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2024.
``(2) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.
``(3) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.
``(4) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2027.
``(5) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2028.''.
(c) Program Evaluation.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator of
the Small Business Administration 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 the pre-
disaster mitigation program under section 7(b)(1)(C) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(C)), as amended by this Act,
including--
(1) a list of the geographic areas in which recipients of
loans under the program are located;
(2) the types of mitigation projects that were funded;
(3) the number and dollar value of the loans made under the
program;
(4) the estimated aggregate value resulting from the use of
mitigation techniques funded by loans made under the program,
including--
(A) the lost productivity and expenses that were
avoided; and
(B) the estimated amount saved by the Federal
Government;
(5) the information required by paragraph (4) disaggregated
by region, by State, and by industry; and
(6) the estimated dollar value of loans that would have
been made under section 7(b)(1)(A) of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(A)) without the loans made under the
program.
(d) Initial Reporting on Pilot Program.--Not later than 60 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small
Business Administration shall submit to the Committee on Small Business
and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business
of the House of Representatives--
(1) a description of and all related materials for outreach
advertising campaign efforts made during the duration of the
pre-disaster mitigation pilot program of the Small Business
Administration;
(2) information on how the Small Business Administration
appropriately staffed the Office of Disaster Assistance to
carry out the pilot program described in paragraph (1); and
(3) the amount of the budget of the pilot program described
in paragraph (1) that was used for outreach advertising
campaign efforts.
(e) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section shall apply
only with respect to loans made under section 7(b)(1)(C) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(C)), as amended by this Act, on or
after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. INCREASE IN ALLOWABLE AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL DISASTER LOAN FOR
MITIGATION.
Section 7(b)(1)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
636(b)(1)(A)) is amended, in the second proviso, by striking ``20 per
centum'' and inserting ``30 percent''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
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