IB 

Union Calendar No. 138 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 208 

[Report No. 114–186] 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2015 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. MENG, and Mr. 

CROWLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

JUNE 25, 2015 

Additional sponsor: Mr. SERRANO

JUNE 25, 2015 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 8, 2015] 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 208 RH

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. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 208 RH

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 ‘‘Superstorm Sandy Re5 lief and Disaster Loan Program Improvement Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In 2012, Superstorm Sandy caused substan9 tial physical and economic damage to the United 

10 States, and New York in particular. 

11 (2) For businesses and homeowners, the primary 

12 means of obtaining long-term Federal financial as13 sistance in the wake of disasters such as Superstorm 

14 Sandy is through the Small Business Administra15 tion’s Disaster Loan Program. 

16 (3) With regard to the Small Business Adminis17 tration’s operation of the Disaster Loan Program 

18 after Superstorm Sandy, the Government Account19 ability Office found that the Administration did not 

20 meet its timeliness goals for processing business loan 

21 applications. 

22 (4) According to the Government Accountability 

23 Office, the Small Business Administration stated that 

24 it was challenged by an unexpectedly high volume of 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 208 RH

1 loan applications that it received early in its response 

2 to Superstorm Sandy. 

3 (5) As a result, many businesses and homeowners 

4 affected by Superstorm Sandy were unable to apply 

5 for financing from the Small Business Administra6 tion. 

7 SEC. 3. REVISED DISASTER DEADLINE. 

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

9 636(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(8) DISASTER LOANS FOR SUPERSTORM

11 SANDY.— 

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

13 other provision of law, and subject to the same 

14 requirements and procedures that are used to 

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

16 business concern, homeowner, or renter that was 

17 located within an area and during the time pe18 riod with respect to which a major disaster was 

19 declared by the President under section 401 of 

20 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer21 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) by reason 

22 of Superstorm Sandy may apply to the Admin23 istrator— 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 208 RH

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

2 or replace property damaged or destroyed 

3 by reason of Superstorm Sandy; or 

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

5 has suffered substantial economic injury by 

6 reason of Superstorm Sandy, for a loan to 

7 assist such a small business concern. 

8 ‘‘(B) TIMING.—The Administrator shall se9 lect loan recipients and make available loans for 

10 a period of not less than 1 year after the date 

11 on which the Administrator carries out this au12 thority.’’. 

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

14 CONSTRUCT SAFE ROOMS. 

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

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

17 measures’’ and all that follows through ‘‘modifying struc18 tures’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘mitigating measures, 

19 including— 

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

21 walls; 

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

23 ‘‘(iii) relocating utilities and modifying 

24 structures, including construction of a safe room 

25 or similar storm shelter designed to protect propVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Jun 26, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H208.RH H208

rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 208 RH

1 erty and occupants from tornadoes or other nat2 ural disasters’’. 

3 SEC. 5. COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SMALL BUSI4 NESS CONCERNS. 

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

6 636(b)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(10) COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SMALL

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

10 to this subsection in an amount not greater than 

11 $250,000, the Administrator may not require a bor12 rower to pledge his or her primary residence as collat13 eral if— 

14 ‘‘(A) other collateral exists, including assets 

15 related to the operation of a business; and 

16 ‘‘(B) such an option does not delay the Ad17 ministrator’s processing of disaster applications 

18 for a disaster.’’. 

19 SEC. 6. REDUCING DELAYS ON CLOSING AND DISBURSE20 MENT OF LOANS. 

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

22 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

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

24 ‘‘(11) REDUCING CLOSING AND DISBURSEMENT

25 DELAYS.—The Administrator shall provide a clear 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 208 RH

1 and concise notification on all application materials 

2 for loans made under this subsection and on relevant 

3 websites notifying an applicant that the applicant 

4 may submit all documentation necessary for the ap5 proval of the loan at the time of application and that 

6 failure to submit all documentation could delay the 

7 approval and disbursement of the loan.’’. 

8 SEC. 7. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY IN LOAN APPROVALS. 

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

10 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

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

12 ‘‘(12) INCREASING TRANSPARENCY IN LOAN AP13 PROVALS.—The Administrator shall establish and im14 plement clear, written policies and procedures for 

15 analyzing the ability of a loan applicant to repay a 

16 loan made under this subsection.’’. 

17 SEC. 8. SAFEGUARDING TAXPAYERS’ INTERESTS. 

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

19 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

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

21 ‘‘(13) ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY IN LOAN AP22 PROVALS.—The Administrator shall establish require23 ments for the approval of economic injury disaster 

24 loan assistance made available pursuant to para25 graph (2), which shall include the review of applicant 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 208 RH

1 eligibility and shall require that all supporting docu2 mentation is submitted prior to loan approval. The 

3 Administrator shall require that personnel involved 

4 in the approval of such loans be trained on such pro5 cedures.’’. 

6 SEC. 9. DISASTER PERFORMANCE MEASURES. 

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

8 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

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

10 ‘‘(14) REPORTING ON DISASTER PERFORMANCE

11 MEASURES.—The Administrator shall report the aver12 age processing time for all other disaster loan appli13 cations, including disaggregated data on disaster loan 

14 applications that were declined by the Administra15 tion’s automated disaster processing system and ap16 plications in which the Administrator performed loss 

17 verification. For each disaster described in paragraph 

18 (2), the Administrator shall report such average proc19 essing times on its website and to the Committee on 

20 Small Business of the House of Representatives and 

21 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneur22 ship of the Senate.’’. 

23 SEC. 10. DISASTER PLAN IMPROVEMENTS. 

24 The Administrator of the Small Business Administra25 tion shall revise the comprehensive written disaster response 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 208 RH

1 plan required in section 40 of the Small Business Act (15 

2 U.S.C. 657l), or any successor thereto, to incorporate the 

3 Administration’s response to a situation in which an ex4 treme volume of applications are received during the period 

5 of time immediately after a disaster, which shall include 

6 a plan to ensure that sufficient human and technological 

7 resources are made available and a plan to prevent delays 

8 in loan processing. 

9 SEC. 11. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF 

10 CERTAIN PROGRAMS. 

11 (a) INITIAL REPORT.—The Administrator of the Small 

12 Business Administration shall report to Congress not later 

13 than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act on 

14 the implementation and status of the private disaster loan 

15 program established in section 7(c) of the Small Business 

16 Act (15 U.S.C. 636(c)), the Immediate Disaster Assistance 

17 program established in section 42 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

18 657n), and the expedited disaster assistance business loan 

19 program established in section 12085 of the Small Business 

20 Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act of 2008 (15 

21 U.S.C. 636j). 

22 (b) REQUIRED CONSULTATION WITH DEPOSITORY IN23 STITUTIONS AND CREDIT UNIONS.—The Administrator 

24 shall require the Associate Administrator for the Office of 

25 Disaster Assistance to consult with depository institutions 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 208 RH

1 (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance 

2 Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)) and credit unions regarding their 

3 potential participation in any of the programs described 

4 in subsection (a). 

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

6 months after date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis7 trator shall report to Congress on the consultation required 

8 under subsection (b). 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to improve the 

disaster assistance programs of the Small Business Administration.’’. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 138 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 208 

[Report No. 114–186] 

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 

JUNE 25, 2015 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Jun 26, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H208.RH H208

rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS