II 

Calendar No. 254 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION 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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2015 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. 

BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

OCTOBER 8, 2015 

Reported by Mr. VITTER, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

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. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Superstorm Sandy Re3 lief and Disaster Loan Program Improvement Act of 

4 2015’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) In 2012, Superstorm Sandy caused sub8 stantial physical and economic damage to the United 

9 States, and New York in particular. 

10 (2) For businesses and homeowners, the pri11 mary means of obtaining long-term Federal financial 

12 assistance in the wake of disasters such as 

13 Superstorm Sandy is through the Small Business 

14 Administration’s Disaster Loan Program. 

15 (3) With regard to the Small Business Adminis16 tration’s operation of the Disaster Loan Program 

17 after Superstorm Sandy, the Government Account18 ability Office found that the Administration did not 

19 meet its timeliness goals for processing business loan 

20 applications. 

21 (4) According to the Government Accountability 

22 Office, the Small Business Administration stated 

23 that it was challenged by an unexpectedly high vol24 ume of loan applications that it received early in its 

25 response to Superstorm Sandy. 


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1 (5) As a result, many businesses and home2 owners affected by Superstorm Sandy were unable 

3 to apply for financing from the Small Business Ad4 ministration. 

5 SEC. 3. REVISED DISASTER DEADLINE. 

6 Section 7(d) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 636(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(8) DISASTER LOANS FOR SUPERSTORM

9 SANDY.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

11 other provision of law, and subject to the same 

12 requirements and procedures that are used to 

13 make loans pursuant to subsection (b), a small 

14 business concern, homeowner, nonprofit entity, 

15 or renter that was located within an area and 

16 during the time period with respect to which a 

17 major disaster was declared by the President 

18 under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford 

19 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

20 (42 U.S.C. 5170) by reason of Superstorm 

21 Sandy may apply to the Administrator— 

22 ‘‘(i) for a loan to repair, rehabilitate, 

23 or replace property damaged or destroyed 

24 by reason of Superstorm Sandy; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) if such a small business concern 

2 has suffered substantial economic injury by 

3 reason of Superstorm Sandy, for a loan to 

4 assist such a small business concern. 

5 ‘‘(B) TIMING.—The Administrator shall 

6 select loan recipients and make available loans 

7 for a period of not less than 1 year after the 

8 date on which the Administrator carries begins 

9 carrying out this authority. 

10 ‘‘(C) INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEW.—Not 

11 later than 6 months after the date on which the 

12 Administrator begins carrying out this author13 ity, the Inspector General of the Administration 

14 shall initiate a review of the controls for ensur15 ing applicant eligibility for loans made under 

16 this paragraph.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. USE OF PHYSICAL DAMAGE DISASTER LOANS TO 

18 CONSTRUCT SAFE ROOMS. 

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

20 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘mitigating 

21 measures’’ and all that follows through ‘‘modifying struc22 tures’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘mitigating measures, 

23 including— 

24 ‘‘(i) construction of retaining walls and sea 

25 walls; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) grading and contouring land; and 

2 ‘‘(iii) relocating utilities and modifying 

3 structures, including construction of a safe 

4 room or similar storm shelter designed to pro5 tect property and occupants from tornadoes or 

6 other natural disasters, if such safe room or 

7 similar storm shelter is constructed in accord8 ance with applicable standards issued by the 

9 Federal Emergency Management Agency’’. 

10 SEC. 5. COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SMALL BUSI11 NESS CONCERNS. 

12 Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

13 636(b)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(10) COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SMALL

16 BUSINESSES.—In the case of a loan made pursuant 

17 to this subsection in an amount not greater than 

18 $250,000, the Administrator may not require a bor19 rower to pledge his or her primary residence as col20 lateral if— 

21 ‘‘(A) other collateral exists, including as22 sets related to the operation of a business; and 

23 ‘‘(B) such an option does not delay the Ad24 ministrator’s processing of disaster applications 

25 for a disaster.’’. 


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1 SEC. 65. REDUCING DELAYS ON CLOSING AND DISBURSE2 MENT OF LOANS. 

3 Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

5 (9) (10) (as added by section 5) the following: 

6 ‘‘(11)(10) REDUCING CLOSING AND DISBURSE7 MENT DELAYS.—The Administrator shall provide a 

8 clear and concise notification on all application ma9 terials for loans made under this subsection and on 

10 relevant websites notifying an applicant that the ap11 plicant may submit all documentation necessary for 

12 the approval of the loan at the time of application 

13 and that failure to submit all documentation could 

14 delay the approval and disbursement of the loan.’’. 

15 SEC. 7. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY IN LOAN APPROVALS. 

16 Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

17 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

18 (11) (as added by section 6) the following: 

19 ‘‘(12) INCREASING TRANSPARENCY IN LOAN AP20 PROVALS.—The Administrator shall establish and 

21 implement clear, written policies and procedures for 

22 analyzing the ability of a loan applicant to repay a 

23 loan made under this subsection.’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. SAFEGUARDING TAXPAYERS’ INTERESTS. 

2 Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

4 (12) (as added by section 7) the following: 

5 ‘‘(13) ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY IN LOAN AP6 PROVALS.—The Administrator shall establish re7 quirements for the approval of economic injury dis8 aster loan assistance made available pursuant to 

9 paragraph (2), which shall include the review of ap10 plicant eligibility and shall require that all sup11 porting documentation is submitted prior to loan ap12 proval. The Administrator shall require that per13 sonnel involved in the approval of such loans be 

14 trained on such procedures.’’. 

15 SEC. 9. DISASTER PERFORMANCE MEASURES. 

16 Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

17 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

18 (13) (as added by section 8) the following: 

19 ‘‘(14) REPORTING ON DISASTER PERFORMANCE

20 MEASURES.—The Administrator shall report the av21 erage processing time for all other disaster loan ap22 plications, including disaggregated data on disaster 

23 loan applications that were declined by the Adminis24 tration’s automated disaster processing system and 

25 applications in which the Administrator performed 

26 loss verification. For each disaster described in paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Oct 08, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1811.RS S1811

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1 graph (2), the Administrator shall report such aver2 age processing times on its website and to the Com3 mittee on Small Business of the House of Rep4 resentatives and the Committee on Small Business 

5 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate.’’. 

6 SEC. 106. DISASTER PLAN IMPROVEMENTS. 

7 The Administrator of the Small Business Administra8 tion shall revise the comprehensive written disaster re9 sponse plan required in section 40 of the Small Business 

10 Act (15 U.S.C. 657l), or any successor thereto, to incor11 porate the Administration’s response to a situation in 

12 which an extreme volume of applications are received dur13 ing the period of time immediately after a disaster, which 

14 shall include a plan to ensure that sufficient human and 

15 technological resources are made available and a plan to 

16 prevent delays in loan processing. 

17 SEC. 11. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF 

18 CERTAIN PROGRAMS. 

19 (a) INITIAL REPORT.—The Administrator of the 

20 Small Business Administration shall report to Congress 

21 not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this 

22 Act on the implementation and status of the private dis23 aster loan program established in section 7(c) of the Small 

24 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(c)), the Immediate Disaster 

25 Assistance program established in section 42 of such Act 


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1 (15 U.S.C. 657n), and the expedited disaster assistance 

2 business loan program established in section 12085 of the 

3 Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improve4 ments Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 636j). 

5 (b) REQUIRED CONSULTATION WITH DEPOSITORY

6 INSTITUTIONS AND CREDIT UNIONS.—The Administrator 

7 shall require the Associate Administrator for the Office 

8 of Disaster Assistance to consult with depository institu9 tions (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insur10 ance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)) and credit unions regarding 

11 their potential participation in any of the programs de12 scribed in subsection (a). 

13 (c) REPORT ON CONSULTATION.—Not later than 6 

14 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad15 ministrator shall report to Congress on the consultation 

16 required under subsection (b). 


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Calendar No. 254 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1811 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Small Business 

renters affected by Superstorm Sandy. loans to certain businesses, homeowners, and Administration to establish a program to make 

OCTOBER 8, 2015 

Reported with amendments 


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