I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3192 

To modify the requirements for the Administrator of the Small Business 

Administration relating to declaring a disaster in a rural area, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2021 

Mr. GOLDEN (for himself and Mr. HAGEDORN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To modify the requirements for the Administrator of the 

Small Business Administration relating to declaring a 

disaster in a rural area, 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 ‘‘Disaster Assistance 

5 for Rural Communities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISASTER DECLARATION IN RURAL AREAS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(b) of the Small Busi8 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended by inserting after 

9 paragraph (15) the following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3192 IH

1 ‘‘(16) DISASTER DECLARATION IN RURAL

2 AREAS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 

4 ‘‘(i) the term ‘rural area’ means a ge5 ographic area with a population of less 

6 than 200,000 outside an urbanized area; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘significant damage’ 

9 means, with respect to property, uninsured 

10 losses of not less than 40 percent of the es11 timated fair replacement value or pre-dis12 aster fair market value of the damaged 

13 property, whichever is lower. 

14 ‘‘(B) DISASTER DECLARATION.—For the 

15 purpose of making loans under paragraph (1) 

16 or (2), the Administrator may declare a disaster 

17 in a rural area for which a major disaster was 

18 declared by the President under section 401 of 

19 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

20 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) 

21 if— 

22 ‘‘(i) the Governor of the State in 

23 which the rural area is located requests 

24 such a declaration; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3192 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) any home, small business con2 cern, private nonprofit organization, or 

3 small agricultural cooperative has incurred 

4 significant damage in the rural area. 

5 ‘‘(C) SBA REPORT.—Not later than 120 

6 days after the date of enactment of this para7 graph, and every year thereafter, the Adminis8 trator shall submit to the Committee on Small 

9 Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate 

10 and the Committee on Small Business of the 

11 House of Representatives a report on, with re12 spect to the 1-year period preceding submission 

13 of the report— 

14 ‘‘(i) any economic injury that resulted 

15 from a major disaster declared by the 

16 President under section 401 of the Robert 

17 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

18 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) in a rural 

19 area; 

20 ‘‘(ii) each request for assistance made 

21 by the Governor of a State under subpara22 graph (B)(i) and the response of the Ad23 ministrator, including the timeline for each 

24 response; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3192 IH

1 ‘‘(iii) any regulatory changes that will 

2 impact the ability of communities in rural 

3 areas to obtain disaster assistance under 

4 this subsection.’’. 

5 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 120 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

7 the Small Business Administration shall issue regulations 

8 to carry out the amendment made by subsection (a). 

9 (c) GAO REPORT.— 

10 (1) DEFINITION OF RURAL AREA.—In this sub11 section, the term ‘‘rural area’’ means an area with 

12 a population of less than 200,000 outside an urban13 ized area. 

14 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller Gen16 eral of the United States shall submit to the Com17 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

18 the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of 

19 the House of Representatives a report on— 

20 (A) any unique challenges that commu21 nities in rural areas face compared to commu22 nities in urbanized areas when seeking to obtain 

23 disaster assistance under section 7(b) of the 

24 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)); and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3192 IH

1 (B) legislative recommendations for im2 proving access to disaster assistance for com3 munities in rural areas. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS