II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4480 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program to provide 

to rural communities technical assistance in recovering from disasters, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 5, 2024 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program 

to provide to rural communities technical assistance in 

recovering from disasters, 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 ‘‘Rural Recovery Act 

5 of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RURAL DEVELOPMENT DISASTER RECOVERY TECH7 NICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) DISASTER.—The term ‘‘disaster’’ means a 

2 major disaster declared by the President under the 

3 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

4 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 

5 (2) ELIGIBLE RURAL COMMUNITY.—The term 

6 ‘‘eligible rural community’’ means each rural com7 munity all or part of which is within an area covered 

8 by a disaster. 

9 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

10 the program established under subsection (b). 

11 (4) RURAL COMMUNITY.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara13 graph (B), the term ‘‘rural community’’ means 

14 any census designated place with a population 

15 of less than 20,000. 

16 (B) MODIFICATION; WAIVER.—The Sec17 retary may, as the Secretary determines to be 

18 necessary— 

19 (i) modify the definition of ‘‘rural 

20 community’’ under subparagraph (A); or 

21 (ii) waive the applicability of the defi22 nition of ‘‘rural community’’ under this 

23 paragraph to a particular area. 

24 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Agriculture. 


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1 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

2 within the rural development mission area a program to 

3 provide technical assistance for eligible rural communities. 

4 (c) PROVIDERS OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Technical assistance under 

6 the program shall be provided by— 

7 (A) a State office of the rural development 

8 mission area; 

9 (B) an entity described in paragraph (2) 

10 that enters into a contract with a State office 

11 of the rural development mission area; or 

12 (C) both entities described in subpara13 graphs (A) and (B). 

14 (2) ELIGIBILITY OF CONTRACTORS.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—An entity eligible to 

16 enter into a contract under paragraph (1)(B) is 

17 a public body or private nonprofit corporation 

18 described in section 306(a)(26)(A) of the Con19 solidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 

20 U.S.C. 1926(a)(26)(A)). 

21 (B) PRIORITY.—In entering into contracts 

22 under paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary shall 

23 give priority to entities described in section 

24 306(a)(26)(B) of the Consolidated Farm and 


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1 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

2 1926(a)(26)(B)). 

3 (3) COORDINATION.—A provider of technical 

4 assistance under the program shall, to the extent 

5 practicable, coordinate with State governments and 

6 local stakeholders to ensure the equitable distribu7 tion of outreach to eligible rural communities. 

8 (d) REQUIREMENTS OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

9 A provider of technical assistance under the program shall 

10 provide technical assistance to eligible rural communities 

11 relating to disaster recovery— 

12 (1) including assistance in— 

13 (A) planning, and identifying issues, poten14 tial solutions, and sources of funding, with re15 spect to disaster recovery; 

16 (B) preparing and submitting applications 

17 with respect to assistance for disaster recovery 

18 to Federal agencies, such as the Economic De19 velopment Administration, the Federal Emer20 gency Management Agency, and the rural devel21 opment mission area, and State agencies; 

22 (C) addressing denials of applications de23 scribed in subparagraph (B); and 


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1 (D) implementing funding received for dis2 aster recovery from Federal agencies and State 

3 agencies described in subparagraph (B); and 

4 (2) which may involve— 

5 (A) telecommunications; 

6 (B) water infrastructure; 

7 (C) housing; 

8 (D) energy infrastructure; 

9 (E) community facilities; 

10 (F) business infrastructure; and 

11 (G) local government infrastructure. 

12 (e) DURATION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible rural community 

14 may receive technical assistance under the program 

15 during the 3-year period beginning on the date on 

16 which a disaster is declared for the area within 

17 which all or part of the eligible rural community lies. 

18 (2) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may extend 

19 the period of eligibility described in paragraph (1) 

20 for an additional 3-year period with respect to an el21 igible rural community on a case-by-case basis. 

22 (f) MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS.—More than 1 eligible 

23 rural community all or part of which are within an area 

24 covered by a disaster may receive technical assistance 

25 under the program. 


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1 (g) FUNDING.— 

2 (1) PROVISION.—As soon as practicable after 

3 the date on which a disaster is declared for the area 

4 within which all or part of an eligible rural commu5 nity lies, the Secretary shall make available to the 

6 applicable State office of the rural development mis7 sion area amounts available to carry out this section, 

8 without any requirement for the submission of an 

9 application by such State office. 

10 (2) ALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall allocate 

11 amounts made available to carry out this section for 

12 each fiscal year to eligible rural communities in ac13 cordance with a formula established by the Secretary 

14 that is based on the population of individuals af15 fected by a disaster, as determined using data from 

16 the most recent decennial census. 

17 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

19 out this section $50,000,000 for each fiscal year. 

Æ 


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