I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7071 

To amend section 7(b) of the Small Business Act to make disaster loans 

available for damages caused by prolonged power outages, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 22, 2024 

Ms. STEVENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To amend section 7(b) of the Small Business Act to make 

disaster loans available for damages caused by prolonged 

power outages, 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. SMALL BUSINESS DISASTER LOANS FOR PRO4 LONGED POWER OUTAGES. 

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

6 636(b)) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating the second paragraph (16) 

8 as paragraph (17); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (17), as so re2 designated, the following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(18) PROLONGED POWER OUTAGE.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 

5 paragraphs (1)(A) and (2), the term ‘disaster’ 

6 includes prolonged power outages. 

7 ‘‘(B) USE OF LOAN AMOUNTS.—In addi8 tion to any other allowable uses of a loan made 

9 under paragraph (1)(A) or (2), if a borrower 

10 receives such a loan pursuant to a disaster that 

11 is prolonged power outage, the borrower may 

12 use the proceeds of such loan to— 

13 ‘‘(i) purchase energy resilience sys14 tems that enable the borrower to cope with 

15 and recover from disruptions to the com16 mercial availability of electrical power, in17 cluding generators, solar panels, wind tur18 bines, microgrids, fuel cells, batteries, and 

19 other technologies that provide electrical 

20 generation and storage capabilities as de21 termined appropriate by the Administrator; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) pay for the cost of replacing any 

24 food and drink of the borrower that was 

25 lost, destroyed, or rendered unfit for 


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1 human consumption as a result of such 

2 disaster. 

3 ‘‘(C) PROLONGED POWER OUTAGE DE4 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘prolonged 

5 power outage’ means— 

6 ‘‘(i) for the purposes of paragraph 

7 (1)(A), a loss of electrical power that 

8 causes not fewer than 25 homes or 25 

9 business concerns, or any combination of 

10 not fewer than 25 homes, business con11 cerns, or other eligible recipients of a loan 

12 under such paragraph, located in any 

13 county or smaller political subdivision of a 

14 State or territory or possession of the 

15 United States to each sustain uninsured 

16 losses of not less than 40 percent of the es17 timated fair replacement value or pre-dis18 aster fair market value of the damaged 

19 property, whichever is lower; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) for the purposes of paragraph 

21 (2), not fewer than 25 homes or 25 busi22 ness concerns, or any combination of not 

23 fewer than 25 homes, business concerns, or 

24 other eligible recipients of a loan under 

25 such paragraph, located in any county or 


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1 smaller political subdivision of a State or 

2 territory or possession of the United States 

3 concurrently losing electrical power for not 

4 fewer than 48 hours.’’. 

Æ 


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