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[Senate Report 114-409]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                      Calendar No. 254
114th Congress      }                                    (      Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session         }                                    (     114-409

======================================================================

 
 SUPERSTORM SANDY RELIEF AND DISASTER LOAN PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 
                                  2015

                                _______
                                

               December 20, 2016.--Ordered to be printed

   Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of December 10 
                  (legislative day, December 9), 2016

                                _______
                                

Mr. Vitter, from the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1811]

    The Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, to 
which was referred the bill (S. 1811) to require the 
Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish 
a program to make loans to certain businesses, homeowners, and 
renters affected by Superstorm Sandy, having considered the 
same, reports favorably thereon with amendments and recommends 
that the bill, as amended, do pass.

                            I. INTRODUCTION

    The Superstorm Sandy Relief and Disaster Loan Program 
Improvement Act of 2015 (S. 1811) was introduced by Senator 
Robert Menendez on July 21, 2015. The Act requires the 
Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to 
establish a program to make loans to certain businesses, 
homeowners, and renters affected by Superstorm Sandy. During 
the markup of the bill, the bill was approved unanimously by 
voice vote.

              II. HISTORY (PURPOSE & NEED FOR LEGISLATION)

    The SBA's Disaster Assistance program is intended to 
provide timely financial assistance in the form of low interest 
loans and working capital for businesses and homeowners 
devastated by disasters.
    On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy struck New Jersey, 
New York, and Rhode Island. Superstorm Sandy left hundreds of 
thousands of homes damaged, forced tens of thousands of 
survivors into shelters, and did billions of dollars in damage 
to vital infrastructure systems. The storm also forced 
thousands of small businesses to close, either temporarily or 
permanently. In response, the President declared the impacted 
areas a major disaster.
    As the recovery from Superstorm Sandy went on, several 
deficiencies in the SBA's Disaster Loan program became 
apparent. However, because of the methodology the SBA used to 
compute processing time for disaster loan applications, the 
reported performance did not accurately communicate to eligible 
applicants and oversight officials how long it was likely to 
take for most applicants to receive a disaster loan. The SBA 
Office of Inspector General also found that processing time 
performance standards were generally not attainable beyond 
certain application volume levels.
    The provisions of this bill relating to reopening of 
Hurricane Sandy disaster loan eligibility, and use of disaster 
loan funds to construct safe rooms, became law as part of 
Public Law 114-88, the RISE After Disaster Act.

                      III. HEARINGS & ROUNDTABLES

    On March 14, 2013, the Committee held a hearing titled 
``Helping Small Business Weather Economic Challenges and 
Natural Disasters.'' Then-Chairman Mary L. Landrieu addressed 
some of the inefficiencies in the SBA's response to disasters. 
In her opening statement, Chairman Landrieu referred to the 
SBA's response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 as 
``slow, painful, inefficient and insufficient to that task.'' 
Landrieu commented that, following those 2005 storms, it took 
74 days to process a home loan, 66 days to process a business 
loan, and even longer for a disbursement of disaster funding. 
Landrieu also criticized the SBA for requiring disaster victims 
to provide substantial amounts of paper records alongside their 
disaster loan applications while their homes were, in many 
cases, literally underwater.

                        IV. DESCRIPTION OF BILL

    This bill would permit businesses, homeowners, and renters 
that were located within the areas affected by Hurricane Sandy 
to apply for SBA disaster loans for a period of not less one 
year after date on enactment of this Act. The SBA would be 
required to provide a clear and concise notification on all 
loan application materials and relevant websites advising 
applicants that they have the option to submit all 
documentation necessary for loan closing at the time of 
application and that failure to submit all documentation could 
delay loan closing and disbursement. The SBA is directed to 
revise its disaster plan to anticipate the potential impact of 
early application submissions on staffing and resources for 
future disasters, as well as the risk this impact may pose for 
the SBA's timely disaster response. The Small Business 
Administration is also required to develop plans to mitigate 
sharp increases in disaster loan applications.

                           V. COMMITTEE VOTE

    In compliance with rule XXVI (7)(b) of the Standing Rules 
of the Senate, the following vote was recorded on October 15, 
2015.
    A motion to adopt S. 1811, the Superstorm Sandy Relief and 
Disaster Loan Program Improvement Act of 2015, was approved 
unanimously by voice vote with the following Senators present: 
Vitter, Scott, Fischer, Gardner, Ernst, Enzi, Shaheen, 
Cantwell, Cardin, Booker, Hirono and Peters.

                  VII. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    In compliance with rule XXVI (11)(b) of the Standing Rules 
of the Senate, it is the opinion of the Committee that no 
significant additional regulatory impact will be incurred in 
carrying out the provisions of this legislation. There will be 
no additional impact on the personal privacy of companies or 
individuals who utilize the services provided.

                   VIII. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

Section 2: Findings

Section 3: Revised disaster deadline

    This section amends the Small Business Act to authorize a 
small business, homeowner, nonprofit entity, or renter that was 
located within a declared major disaster area during Superstorm 
Sandy in 2012 to apply for a Small Business Administration loan 
to: (1) repair, rehabilitate, or replace property damaged or 
destroyed because of the storm; or (2) assist a small business 
that suffered substantial economic injury because of it.
    The Small Business Administration must select loan 
recipients and make such loans available for at least one year 
after the date on which it begins carrying out this authority.
    The Small Business Administration Inspector General must 
review the controls for ensuring applicant eligibility for 
these loans.

Section 4: Use of physical damage disaster loans to construct safe 
        rooms

    This section permits Small Business Administration physical 
disaster loans to be used to construct a safe room or similar 
storm shelter designed to protect property and occupants from 
tornadoes or other natural disasters, if they are constructed 
in accordance with applicable standards issued by the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency.

Section 5: Reducing delays on closing and disbursement of loans

    The Small Business Administration shall make a clear and 
concise notification on all application materials for Small 
Business Administration disaster loans and on relevant websites 
notifying an applicant that:
           he or she may submit all documentation 
        necessary for the approval of the loan at the time of 
        application, and
           failure to do so could delay the loan's 
        approval and disbursement.

Section 6: Disaster plan improvements

    The Small Business Administration shall revise the 
comprehensive written disaster response plan, and any 
successor, to incorporate its response to a situation in which 
an extreme volume of applications are received during the 
period of time immediately after a disaster. The revised plan 
must: (1) ensure that sufficient human and technological 
resources are made available, and (2) prevent delays in loan 
processing.

                                  [all]
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