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 Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To reauthorize and limit the pre-disaster mitigation program 

of the Small Business Administration, 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 ‘‘Providing Resources 

5 for Emergency Preparedness And Resilient Enterprises 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘PREPARE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PRE-DISASTER MITIGATION PROGRAM. 

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


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1 (1) in paragraph (1)(C)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘during fiscal years 2000 

3 through 2004, to establish a predisaster mitiga4 tion program’’ and inserting ‘‘to establish a 

5 pre-disaster mitigation program’’; 

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘in accordance with para7 graph (16) and’’ before ‘‘as the Administrator 

8 may’’; 

9 (C) by striking ‘‘to enable small busi10 nesses’’ and inserting ‘‘to small business con11 cerns to enable those concerns’’; and 

12 (D) by striking ‘‘in support of a formal’’ 

13 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘to protect 

14 the commercial real estate, equipment, inven15 tory, supplies, and materials of those concerns 

16 from damages related to disasters;’’; and 

17 (2) by inserting after paragraph (15) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(16) PRE-DISASTER MITIGATION PROGRAM

20 LOANS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) LOAN CAP.—The aggregate amount 

22 of loans made under the pre-disaster mitigation 

23 program under paragraph (1)(C) to a borrower 

24 may not exceed $500,000. 


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1 ‘‘(B) OUTREACH.—In carrying out the pre2 disaster mitigation program under paragraph 

3 (1)(C), the Administrator shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) establish an advertising and out5 reach program to help small business con6 cerns understand the value of mitigation 

7 and that the pre-disaster mitigation pro8 gram is available for that purpose; 

9 ‘‘(ii) conduct outreach campaigns to 

10 small business concerns regarding the pre11 disaster mitigation program, including— 

12 ‘‘(I) advertising to educate those 

13 concerns on the importance of disaster 

14 mitigation; and 

15 ‘‘(II) campaigns to promote par16 ticipation in the program by small 

17 business concerns located in economi18 cally depressed areas; 

19 ‘‘(iii) provide technical assistance to 

20 applicants, including instructions on how 

21 to participate in the pre-disaster mitigation 

22 program, assistance in preparing applica23 tions, and expertise on best practices for 

24 projects; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) provide detailed information on 

2 the purposes for which funds from loans 

3 made under the pre-disaster mitigation 

4 program may be used. 

5 ‘‘(C) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Not more 

6 than 4 percent of the funds made available to 

7 the Administrator to carry out the pre-disaster 

8 mitigation program under paragraph (1)(C) 

9 may be reserved by the Administrator for— 

10 ‘‘(i) the administrative costs of the 

11 program; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the activities described in sub13 paragraph (B). 

14 ‘‘(D) GUIDANCE.—The Administrator shall 

15 issue guidance to ensure that borrowers pur16 chase and maintain adequate insurance cov17 erage over the duration of a loan obtained 

18 under the pre-disaster mitigation program 

19 under paragraph (1)(C).’’. 

20 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

21 20(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is 

22 amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(c) PRE-DISASTER MITIGATION PROGRAM.—There 

24 is authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4699.IS S4699

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1 rying out the program established under section 

2 7(b)(1)(C) the following amounts: 

3 ‘‘(1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. 

4 ‘‘(2) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 

5 ‘‘(3) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2023. 

6 ‘‘(4) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 

7 ‘‘(5) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.’’. 

8 (c) PROGRAM EVALUATION.—Not later than 1 year 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

10 thereafter, the Administrator of the Small Business Ad11 ministration shall submit to the Committee on Small Busi12 ness and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Com13 mittee on Small Business of the House of Representatives 

14 a report on the pre-disaster mitigation program under sec15 tion 7(b)(1)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

16 636(b)(1)(C)), as amended by this Act, including— 

17 (1) a list of the geographic areas in which re18 cipients of loans under the program are located; 

19 (2) the types of mitigation projects that were 

20 funded; 

21 (3) the number and dollar value of the loans 

22 made under the program; 

23 (4) the estimated aggregate value resulting 

24 from the use of mitigation techniques funded by 

25 loans made under the program, including— 


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1 (A) the lost productivity and expenses that 

2 were avoided; and 

3 (B) the estimated amount saved by the 

4 Federal Government; 

5 (5) the information required by paragraph (4) 

6 disaggregated by region, by State, and by industry; 

7 and 

8 (6) the estimated dollar value of loans that 

9 would have been made under section 7(b)(1)(A) of 

10 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(A)) 

11 without the loans made under the program. 

12 (d) INITIAL REPORTING ON PILOT PROGRAM.—Not 

13 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

14 the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 

15 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and En16 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

17 Business of the House of Representatives— 

18 (1) a description of and all related materials for 

19 outreach advertising campaign efforts made during 

20 the duration of the pre-disaster mitigation pilot pro21 gram of the Small Business Administration; 

22 (2) information on how the Small Business Ad23 ministration appropriately staffed the Office of Dis24 aster Assistance to carry out the pilot program de25 scribed in paragraph (1); and 


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1 (3) the amount of the budget of the pilot pro2 gram described in paragraph (1) that was used for 

3 outreach advertising campaign efforts. 

4 (e) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

5 section shall apply only with respect to loans made under 

6 section 7(b)(1)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 636(b)(1)(C)), as amended by this Act, on or after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN ALLOWABLE AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL 

10 DISASTER LOAN FOR MITIGATION. 

11 Section 7(b)(1)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(A)) is amended, in the second proviso, 

13 by striking ‘‘20 per centum’’ and inserting ‘‘30 percent’’. 

Æ 


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