II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1370 

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 

APRIL 27, 2023 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. KING, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. CARDIN, 

and Mr. WARNOCK) 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 of 2023’’ or the ‘‘PREPARE Act of 2023’’. 

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;’’; 

17 (2) by redesignating the second paragraph (16) 

18 (relating to the statute of limitations) as paragraph 

19 (17); and 

20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (17), as so re21 designated, the following: 

22 ‘‘(18) PRE-DISASTER MITIGATION PROGRAM

23 LOANS.— 

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

25 of loans made under the pre-disaster mitigation 


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

2 may not exceed $500,000. 

3 ‘‘(B) OUTREACH.—In carrying out the pre4 disaster mitigation program under paragraph 

5 (1)(C), the Administrator shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) establish an advertising and out7 reach program to help small business con8 cerns understand the value of mitigation 

9 and that the pre-disaster mitigation pro10 gram is available for that purpose; 

11 ‘‘(ii) conduct outreach campaigns to 

12 small business concerns regarding the pre13 disaster mitigation program, including— 

14 ‘‘(I) advertising to educate those 

15 concerns on the importance of disaster 

16 mitigation; and 

17 ‘‘(II) campaigns to promote par18 ticipation in the program by small 

19 business concerns located in economi20 cally depressed areas; 

21 ‘‘(iii) provide technical assistance to 

22 applicants, including instructions on how 

23 to participate in the pre-disaster mitigation 

24 program, assistance in preparing applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1370.IS S1370

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1 tions, and expertise on best practices for 

2 projects; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) provide detailed information on 

4 the purposes for which funds from loans 

5 made under the pre-disaster mitigation 

6 program may be used. 

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

8 than 4 percent of the funds made available to 

9 the Administrator to carry out the pre-disaster 

10 mitigation program under paragraph (1)(C) 

11 may be reserved by the Administrator for— 

12 ‘‘(i) the administrative costs of the 

13 program; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) the activities described in sub15 paragraph (B). 

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

17 issue guidance to ensure that borrowers pur18 chase and maintain adequate insurance cov19 erage over the duration of a loan obtained 

20 under the pre-disaster mitigation program 

21 under paragraph (1)(C).’’. 

22 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

23 20(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is 

24 amended to read as follows: 


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

2 is authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of car3 rying out the program established under section 

4 7(b)(1)(C) the following amounts: 

5 ‘‘(1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 

6 ‘‘(2) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 

7 ‘‘(3) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. 

8 ‘‘(4) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2027. 

9 ‘‘(5) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2028.’’. 

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

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

12 thereafter, the Administrator of the Small Business Ad13 ministration shall submit to the Committee on Small Busi14 ness and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Com15 mittee on Small Business of the House of Representatives 

16 a report on the pre-disaster mitigation program under sec17 tion 7(b)(1)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

18 636(b)(1)(C)), as amended by this Act, including— 

19 (1) a list of the geographic areas in which re20 cipients of loans under the program are located; 

21 (2) the types of mitigation projects that were 

22 funded; 

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

24 made under the program; 


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1 (4) the estimated aggregate value resulting 

2 from the use of mitigation techniques funded by 

3 loans made under the program, including— 

4 (A) the lost productivity and expenses that 

5 were avoided; and 

6 (B) the estimated amount saved by the 

7 Federal Government; 

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

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

10 and 

11 (6) the estimated dollar value of loans that 

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

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

14 without the loans made under the program. 

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

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

17 the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 

18 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and En19 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

20 Business of the House of Representatives— 

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

22 outreach advertising campaign efforts made during 

23 the duration of the pre-disaster mitigation pilot pro24 gram of the Small Business Administration; 


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1 (2) information on how the Small Business Ad2 ministration appropriately staffed the Office of Dis3 aster Assistance to carry out the pilot program de4 scribed in paragraph (1); and 

5 (3) the amount of the budget of the pilot pro6 gram described in paragraph (1) that was used for 

7 outreach advertising campaign efforts. 

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

9 section shall apply only with respect to loans made under 

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

11 636(b)(1)(C)), as amended by this Act, on or after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN ALLOWABLE AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL 

14 DISASTER LOAN FOR MITIGATION. 

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

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

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

Æ 


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