IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 208 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 14, 2015 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and 

Entrepreneurship 

AN ACT 

To improve the disaster assistance programs of the Small 

Business Administration. 

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, or renter that 

15 was located within an area and during the time 

16 period with respect to which a major disaster 

17 was declared by the President under section 

18 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

19 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 5170) by reason of Superstorm Sandy may 

21 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 out 

9 this authority.’’. 

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

11 CONSTRUCT SAFE ROOMS. 

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

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

14 measures’’ and all that follows through ‘‘modifying struc15 tures’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘mitigating measures, 

16 including— 

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

18 walls; 

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

20 ‘‘(iii) relocating utilities and modifying 

21 structures, including construction of a safe 

22 room or similar storm shelter designed to pro23 tect property and occupants from tornadoes or 

24 other natural disasters’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SMALL BUSI2 NESS CONCERNS. 

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

4 636(b)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(10) COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SMALL

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

8 to this subsection in an amount not greater than 

9 $250,000, the Administrator may not require a bor10 rower to pledge his or her primary residence as col11 lateral if— 

12 ‘‘(A) other collateral exists, including as13 sets related to the operation of a business; and 

14 ‘‘(B) such an option does not delay the Ad15 ministrator’s processing of disaster applications 

16 for a disaster.’’. 

17 SEC. 6. REDUCING DELAYS ON CLOSING AND DISBURSE18 MENT OF LOANS. 

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

20 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

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

22 ‘‘(11) REDUCING CLOSING AND DISBURSEMENT

23 DELAYS.—The Administrator shall provide a clear 

24 and concise notification on all application materials 

25 for loans made under this subsection and on relevant 

26 websites notifying an applicant that the applicant 


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1 may submit all documentation necessary for the ap2 proval of the loan at the time of application and that 

3 failure to submit all documentation could delay the 

4 approval and disbursement of the loan.’’. 

5 SEC. 7. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY IN LOAN APPROVALS. 

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

7 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

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

9 ‘‘(12) INCREASING TRANSPARENCY IN LOAN AP10 PROVALS.—The Administrator shall establish and 

11 implement clear, written policies and procedures for 

12 analyzing the ability of a loan applicant to repay a 

13 loan made under this subsection.’’. 

14 SEC. 8. SAFEGUARDING TAXPAYERS’ INTERESTS. 

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

16 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

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

18 ‘‘(13) ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY IN LOAN AP19 PROVALS.—The Administrator shall establish re20 quirements for the approval of economic injury dis21 aster loan assistance made available pursuant to 

22 paragraph (2), which shall include the review of ap23 plicant eligibility and shall require that all sup24 porting documentation is submitted prior to loan ap25 proval. The Administrator shall require that perVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H208.RFS H208

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1 sonnel involved in the approval of such loans be 

2 trained on such procedures.’’. 

3 SEC. 9. DISASTER PERFORMANCE MEASURES. 

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

5 636(b)) is further amended by inserting after paragraph 

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

7 ‘‘(14) REPORTING ON DISASTER PERFORMANCE

8 MEASURES.—The Administrator shall report the av9 erage processing time for all other disaster loan ap10 plications, including disaggregated data on disaster 

11 loan applications that were declined by the Adminis12 tration’s automated disaster processing system and 

13 applications in which the Administrator performed 

14 loss verification. For each disaster described in para15 graph (2), the Administrator shall report such aver16 age processing times on its website and to the Com17 mittee on Small Business of the House of Rep18 resentatives and the Committee on Small Business 

19 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate.’’. 

20 SEC. 10. DISASTER PLAN IMPROVEMENTS. 

21 The Administrator of the Small Business Administra22 tion shall revise the comprehensive written disaster re23 sponse plan required in section 40 of the Small Business 

24 Act (15 U.S.C. 657l), or any successor thereto, to incor25 porate the Administration’s response to a situation in 


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1 which an extreme volume of applications are received dur2 ing the period of time immediately after a disaster, which 

3 shall include a plan to ensure that sufficient human and 

4 technological resources are made available and a plan to 

5 prevent delays in loan processing. 

6 SEC. 11. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF 

7 CERTAIN PROGRAMS. 

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

9 Small Business Administration shall report to Congress 

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

11 Act on the implementation and status of the private dis12 aster loan program established in section 7(c) of the Small 

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

14 Assistance program established in section 42 of such Act 

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

16 business loan program established in section 12085 of the 

17 Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improve18 ments Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 636j). 

19 (b) REQUIRED CONSULTATION WITH DEPOSITORY

20 INSTITUTIONS AND CREDIT UNIONS.—The Administrator 

21 shall require the Associate Administrator for the Office 

22 of Disaster Assistance to consult with depository institu23 tions (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insur24 ance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)) and credit unions regarding 


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1 their potential participation in any of the programs de2 scribed in subsection (a). 

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

4 months after date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis5 trator shall report to Congress on the consultation re6 quired under subsection (b). 

Passed the House of Representatives July 13, 2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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