II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1631 

To establish an emergency fuel assistance grant program for small businesses 

during energy emergencies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 14, 2007 

Mr. KERRY (for himself and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To establish an emergency fuel assistance grant program 

for small businesses during energy emergencies. 

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 ‘‘Small Business Emer5 gency Fuel Assistance Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY FUEL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

7 There is established within the Economic Develop8 ment Administration of the Department of Commerce, an 

9 emergency assistance program for small businesses and 

10 small farms dependent on fuel. 


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1 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL DECLARATION OF ENERGY EMER2 GENCY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the President determines that 

4 the health, safety, welfare, or economic well-being of the 

5 citizens of the United States is at risk because of a short6 age or imminent shortage of adequate supplies of crude 

7 oil, gasoline or petroleum distillates due to a disruption 

8 in the national distribution system for crude oil, gasoline 

9 or petroleum distillates (including such a shortage related 

10 to a major disaster (as defined in section 102(2) of the 

11 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist12 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(2)))), or significant pricing 

13 anomalies in national energy markets for crude oil, gaso14 line, or petroleum distillates, the President may declare 

15 that a Federal energy emergency exists. 

16 (b) SCOPE AND DURATION.—The emergency declara17 tion declared pursuant to subsection (a) shall specify— 

18 (1) the period, not to exceed 30 days, for which 

19 the declaration applies; 

20 (2) the circumstance or condition necessitating 

21 the declaration; 

22 (3) the area or region to which it applies which 

23 may not be limited to a single State; and 

24 (4) the product or products to which it applies. 

25 (c) EXTENSIONS.—The President may— 


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1 (1) extend a declaration under subsection (a) 

2 for a period of not more than 30 days; 

3 (2) extend such a declaration more than once; 

4 and 

5 (3) discontinue such a declaration before its ex6 piration. 

7 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—During any energy emergency de9 clared by the President under section 3, the Secretary of 

10 Commerce is authorized to award grants to States under 

11 a declaration of fuel supply interruption in accordance 

12 with this Act. 

13 (b) ALLOCATION FORMULA.—Subject to subsection 

14 (c), the Secretary shall award grants to States, in accord15 ance with an allocation formula established by the Sec16 retary, that is based on the pro rata share of each State 

17 of the total need among all States, as applicable, for emer18 gency assistance for fuel interruption, as determined on 

19 the basis of— 

20 (1) the number and percentage of qualifying 

21 small businesses and small farms operating within a 

22 State; 

23 (2) the increase in price of fuel in a State; and 

24 (3) such other factors as the Secretary deter25 mines to be appropriate. 


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1 (c) STATE ALLOCATION PLAN.—Each State shall es2 tablish, after giving notice to the public, an opportunity 

3 for public comment, and consideration of public comments 

4 received, an allocation plan for the distribution of financial 

5 assistance under this section, which shall be submitted to 

6 the Secretary and shall be made available to the public 

7 by the State, and shall include— 

8 (1) application requirements for qualifying 

9 small businesses and small farms seeking to receive 

10 financial assistance under this section, including a 

11 requirement that each application include— 

12 (A) demonstration of need for assistance 

13 under this section; 

14 (B) a plan to decrease the total commercial 

15 energy usage of the small business through en16 ergy efficiency measures, such as those pro17 moted through the Energy Star Program; and 

18 (C) if a small business or small farm has 

19 previously received assistance under this sec20 tion, evidence that the small business or small 

21 farm has implemented the plan previously docu22 mented under subparagraph (B); and 

23 (2) factors for selecting among small businesses 

24 and small farms that meet the application require25 ments, with preference given to small businesses and 


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1 small farms based on the percentage of operating 

2 costs expended on fuel. 

3 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY. 

4 A small business or small farm is eligible for a grant 

5 under this Act if— 

6 (a) the average gross receipts of the small business 

7 or small farm for the 3 preceding taxable years does not 

8 exceed $5,000,000; or 

9 (b) the small business or small farm employed an av10 erage of more than 1 and fewer than 50 qualified employ11 ees on business days during the preceding taxable year. 

12 SEC. 6. DEFINED TERM. 

13 In this Act, the term ‘‘aggregate gross assets’’ has 

14 the meaning given such term in section 1202(d)(2) of the 

15 Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

16 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated to the De18 partment of Commerce $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal 

19 years 2008 through 2012 to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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