II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 269 

To provide emergency relief to small business concerns affected by a significant increase in the price of heating oil, natural gas, propane, or kerosene, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2005 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. REED, Mr. DODD, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. KOHL, 

Mr. JEFFORDS, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. LEAHY, 

Mr. LEVIN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. BAYH, and Mr. OBAMA) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To provide emergency relief to small business concerns affected by a significant increase in the price of heating 

oil, natural gas, propane, or kerosene, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business and 

5 Farm Energy Emergency Relief Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) a significant number of small businesses in 

4 the United States, non-farm as well as agricultural 

5 producers, use heating oil, natural gas, propane, or 

6 kerosene to heat their facilities and for other pur7 poses; 

8 (2) a significant number of small business con9 cerns in the United States sell, distribute, market, 

10 or otherwise engage in commerce directly related to 

11 heating oil, natural gas, propane, and kerosene; and 

12 (3) significant increases in the price of heating 

13 oil, natural gas, propane, or kerosene— 

14 (A) disproportionately harm small busi15 nesses dependent on those fuels or that use, 

16 sell, or distribute those fuels in the ordinary 

17 course of their business, and can cause them 

18 substantial economic injury; 

19 (B) can negatively affect the national econ20 omy and regional economies; 

21 (C) have occurred in the winters of 1983– 

22 1984, 1988–1989, 1996–1997, 1999–2000, 

23 2000–2001, and 2004–2005; and 

24 (D) can be caused by a host of factors, in25 cluding international conflicts, global or re26 gional supply difficulties, weather conditions, 
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1 insufficient inventories, refinery capacity, trans2 portation, and competitive structures in the 

3 markets, causes that are often unforeseeable to, 

4 and beyond the control of, those who own and 

5 operate small businesses. 

6 SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS ENERGY EMERGENCY DISASTER 

7 LOAN PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(b) of the Small Busi9 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended by inserting after 

10 paragraph (3) the following: 

11 ‘‘(4)(A) In this paragraph— 

12 ‘‘(i) the term ‘base price index’ means the 

13 moving average of the closing unit price on the 

14 New York Mercantile Exchange for heating oil, 

15 natural gas, or propane for the 10 days, in each 

16 of the most recent 2 preceding years, which cor17 respond to the trading days described in clause 

18 (ii); 

19 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘current price index’ means 

20 the moving average of the closing unit price on 

21 the New York Mercantile Exchange, for the 10 

22 most recent trading days, for contracts to pur23 chase heating oil, natural gas, or propane dur24 ing the subsequent calendar month, commonly 

25 known as the ‘front month’; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘heating fuel’ means heating 

2 oil, natural gas, propane, or kerosene; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘significant increase’ 

4 means— 

5 ‘‘(I) with respect to the price of heat6 ing oil, natural gas, or propane, any time 

7 the current price index exceeds the base 

8 price index by not less than 40 percent; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) with respect to the price of ker11 osene, any increase which the Adminis12 trator, in consultation with the Secretary 

13 of Energy, determines to be significant. 

14 ‘‘(B) The Administration may make such loans, 

15 either directly or in cooperation with banks or other 

16 lending institutions through agreements to partici17 pate on an immediate or deferred basis, to assist a 

18 small business concern that has suffered or that is 

19 likely to suffer substantial economic injury as the re20 sult of a significant increase in the price of heating 

21 fuel. 

22 ‘‘(C) Any loan or guarantee extended pursuant 

23 to this paragraph shall be made at the same interest 

24 rate as economic injury loans under paragraph (2). 
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1 ‘‘(D) No loan may be made under this para2 graph, either directly or in cooperation with banks 

3 or other lending institutions through agreements to 

4 participate on an immediate or deferred basis, if the 

5 total amount outstanding and committed to the bor6 rower under this subsection would exceed 

7 $1,500,000, unless such borrower constitutes a 

8 major source of employment in its surrounding area, 

9 as determined by the Administration, in which case 

10 the Administration, in its discretion, may waive the 

11 $1,500,000 limitation. 

12 ‘‘(E) For purposes of assistance under this 

13 paragraph— 

14 ‘‘(i) a declaration of a disaster area based 

15 on conditions specified in this paragraph shall 

16 be required, and shall be made by the President 

17 or the Administrator; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) if no declaration has been made pur19 suant to clause (i), the Governor of a State in 

20 which a significant increase in the price of heat21 ing fuel has occurred may certify to the Admin22 istration that small business concerns have suf23 fered economic injury as a result of such in24 crease and are in need of financial assistance 

25 which is not otherwise available on reasonable 
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1 terms in that State, and upon receipt of such 

2 certification, the Administration may make such 

3 loans as would have been available under this 

4 paragraph if a disaster declaration had been 

5 issued. 

6 ‘‘(F) Notwithstanding any other provision of 

7 law, loans made under this paragraph may be used 

8 by a small business concern described in subpara9 graph (B) to convert from the use of heating fuel to 

10 a renewable or alternative energy source, including 

11 agriculture and urban waste, geothermal energy, co12 generation, solar energy, wind energy, or fuel cells.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO

14 HEATING FUEL.—Section 3(k) of the Small Business Act 

15 (15 U.S.C. 632(k)) is amended— 

16 (1) by inserting ‘‘, significant increase in the 

17 price of heating fuel’’ after ‘‘civil disorders’’; and 

18 (2) by inserting ‘‘other’’ before ‘‘economic’’. 

19 SEC. 4. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCER EMERGENCY LOANS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 321(a) of the Consoli21 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

22 1961(a)) is amended— 

23 (1) in the first sentence— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘operations have’’ and in25 serting ‘‘operations (i) have’’; and 
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1 (B) by inserting before ‘‘: Provided,’’ the 

2 following: ‘‘, or (ii)(I) are owned or operated by 

3 such an applicant that is also a small business 

4 concern (as defined in section 3 of the Small 

5 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), and (II) have 

6 suffered or are likely to suffer substantial eco7 nomic injury on or after October 1, 2004, as 

8 the result of a significant increase in energy 

9 costs or input costs from energy sources occur10 ring on or after October 1, 2004, in connection 

11 with an energy emergency declared by the 

12 President or the Secretary’’; 

13 (2) in the third sentence, by inserting before 

14 the period at the end the following: ‘‘or by an energy 

15 emergency declared by the President or the Sec16 retary’’; and 

17 (3) in the fourth sentence— 

18 (A) by inserting ‘‘or energy emergency’’ 

19 after ‘‘natural disaster’’ each place that term 

20 appears; and 

21 (B) by inserting ‘‘or declaration’’ after 

22 ‘‘emergency designation’’. 

23 (b) FUNDING.—Funds available on the date of enact24 ment of this Act for emergency loans under subtitle C of 

25 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 
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1 U.S.C. 1961 et seq.) shall be available to carry out the 

2 amendments made by subsection (a) to meet the needs re3 sulting from natural disasters. 

4 SEC. 5. GUIDELINES AND RULEMAKING. 

5 (a) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 30 days after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

7 Small Business Administration and the Secretary of Agri8 culture shall each issue such guidelines as the Adminis9 trator or the Secretary, as applicable, determines to be 

10 necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments made 

11 by this Act. 

12 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 30 days after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

14 Small Business Administration, after consultation with 

15 the Secretary of Energy, shall promulgate regulations 

16 specifying the method for determining a significant in17 crease in the price of kerosene under section 

18 7(b)(4)(A)(iv)(II) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

19 636(b)(4)(A)(iv)(II)). 

20 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 

21 (a) SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.—Not later 

22 than 12 months after the date on which the Administrator 

23 of the Small Business Administration issues guidelines 

24 under section 5, and annually thereafter, the Adminis25 trator shall submit to the Committee on Small Business 
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1 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee 

2 on Small Business of the House of Representatives, a re3 port on the effectiveness of the assistance made available 

4 under section 7(b)(4) of the Small Business Act, as added 

5 by this Act, including— 

6 (1) the number of small business concerns that 

7 applied for a loan under such section and the num8 ber of those that received such loans; 

9 (2) the dollar value of those loans; 

10 (3) the States in which the small business con11 cerns that received such loans are located; 

12 (4) the type of heating fuel or energy that 

13 caused the significant increase in the cost for the 

14 participating small business concerns; and 

15 (5) recommendations for ways to improve the 

16 assistance provided under such section 7(b)(4), if 

17 any. 

18 (b) DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.—Not later than 

19 12 months after the date on which the Secretary of Agri20 culture issues guidelines under section 5, and annually 

21 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

22 on Small Business and Agriculture, Nutrition, and For23 estry of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business 

24 and Agriculture of the House of Representatives, a report 

25 that— 
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1 (1) describes the effectiveness of the assistance 

2 made available under section 7(b)(4) of the Small 

3 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(4)); and 

4 (2) contains recommendations for ways to im5 prove the assistance provided under such section 

6 7(b)(4), if any. 

7 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

8 (a) SMALL BUSINESS.—The amendments made by 

9 this Act shall apply during the 4-year period beginning 

10 on the date on which guidelines are published by the Ad11 ministrator of the Small Business Administration under 

12 section 5, with respect to assistance under section 7(b)(4) 

13 of the Small Business Act, as added by this Act, to eco14 nomic injury suffered or likely to be suffered as the result 

15 of a significant increase in the price of heating fuel occur16 ring on or after October 1, 2004; or 

17 (b) AGRICULTURE.—The amendments made by sec18 tion 4 shall apply during the 4-year period beginning on 

19 the date on which guidelines are published by the Sec20 retary of Agriculture under section 5.

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