I 
107TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5523
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act to modify the terms of the community disaster loan program, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 2, 2002
Mrs. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. NAD-
LER, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. HINCHEY, Mrs. 
LOWEY, Mr. WEINER, Mr. OWENS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. 
KING, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, and Mrs. MCCARTHY of 
New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act to modify the terms of the commu-
nity disaster loan program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Disaster 
Loan Equity Act of 2002’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following:
(1) Major disasters, including disasters caused 
by terrorist acts, often result in a decline in eco-
nomic activity in areas affected by the disaster and 
a reduction in tax collections by State and local gov-
ernments serving those areas. 
(2) A report of the General Accounting Office 
entitled ‘‘Review of the Estimates for the Impact of 
the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks on New 
York Tax Revenues’’, dated July 26, 2002, esti-
mates that—
(A) for fiscal year 2002, tax revenue losses 
for New York City will be $1,600,000,000 and 
tax revenue losses for the State of New York 
will be $1,600,000,000; and 
(B) for fiscal year 2003, tax revenue losses 
for New York City will be $1,400,000,000 and 
tax revenue losses for the State of New York 
will be $4,200,000,000. 
(3) As a result of the major disaster caused by 
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the City of 
New York also experienced substantial additional 
unreimbursed 
disaster-related 
expenses 
of 
$650,000,000. 
(4) Under the community disaster loan program 
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘CDL program’’),
as authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, the President 
may make loans to a local government suffering a 
substantial loss of tax and other revenues as a result 
of a major disaster, if the local government dem-
onstrates a need for financial assistance in order to 
preform its governmental function. 
(5) The President may cancel the repayment of 
all or any part of a loan made to a local government 
under the CDL program if revenues following the 
disaster are insufficient to meet the operating budg-
et of that local government as a result of disaster-
related revenue losses and additional unreimbursed 
disaster-related municipal operating expenses. In the 
case of a major disaster resulting from a terrorist 
attack, repayment of interest or principal on a loan 
made under the CDL program should not be re-
quired. 
(6) Assistance made available under the CDL 
program is often instrumental in aiding the full re-
covery of a local government following a major dis-
aster. 
(7) The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 estab-
lished a $5,000,000 limitation on loans made to a 
local government under the CDL program in connec-
tion with a major disaster. Before the date of enact-
ment of such Act, there was not any limitation on 
the amount of such loans. 
(8) The $5,000,0000 limitation is inequitable 
when applied to a local government serving a largely 
populated area, such as New York City, and is in-
consistent with the objective of the CDL program to 
provide meaningful assistance to a local government 
recovering from a major disaster. 
SEC. 3. COMMUNITY DISASTER LOANS. 
(a) ELIGIBILITY OF STATES.—Section 417 of the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is amended by striking ‘‘local 
government’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘State 
or local government’’. 
(b) AMOUNT.—Section 417(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
5184(b)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘based on need, shall’’ and in-
serting ‘‘based on need and shall’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘, and shall not exceed 
$5,000,000’’. 
(c) MAJOR DISASTERS CAUSED BY TERRORIST AT-
TACKS.—Section 417 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(e) MAJOR DISASTERS CAUSED BY TERRORIST AT-
TACKS.—The President shall not require the payment of 
any interest or principal on a loan made under this section 
to a State or local government which may suffer a sub-
stantial loss of tax and other revenues as a result of a 
major disaster caused by a terrorist attack.’’. 
(d) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 
section shall apply with respect to any major disaster oc-
curring on or after October 30, 2000.
Æ