Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act
Bill: S.1617 | Sponsor: Sen. Risch, James E. (R-ID)
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act
This bill authorizes the Small Business Administration (SBA) to declare a disaster in rural areas where significant damage has been incurred for the purpose of providing certain assistance.
A rural area is a county or political subdivision designated as such by the Census Bureau. Significant damage means uninsured losses of not less than 40% of the fair replacement value or pre-disaster fair market value of the damaged property (whichever is less).
For a rural area where the President has declared a major disaster, the SBA may declare a disaster for the purpose of providing economic injury disaster loans if (1) the state or tribal government wherein the rural area is located requests the declaration; and (2) any home, small business, private nonprofit organization, or small agricultural cooperative has incurred significant damage.
The Government Accountability Office must report on (1) any unique challenges to communities in rural areas compared to communities in urbanized areas when seeking economic injury disaster assistance, and (2) any legislative recommendations for improving access to disaster assistance for communities in rural areas.

[117th Congress Public Law 249]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 136 STAT. 2350]]

Public Law 117-249
117th Congress

                                 An Act


 
 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. <<NOTE: Dec. 20, 2022 -  [S. 1617]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Disaster 
Assistance for Rural Communities Act. 15 USC 631 note.>> 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Disaster Assistance for Rural 
Communities Act''.
SEC. 2. DISASTER DECLARATION IN RURAL AREAS.

    (a) In General.--Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
636(b)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (15) the following:
            ``(16) Disaster declaration in rural areas.--
                    ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
                          ``(i) the term `rural area' means any county 
                      or other political subdivision of a State, the 
                      District of Columbia, or a territory or possession 
                      of the United States that is designated as a rural 
                      area by the Bureau of the Census; and
                          ``(ii) the term `significant damage' means, 
                      with respect to property, uninsured losses of not 
                      less than 40 percent of the estimated fair 
                      replacement value or pre-disaster fair market 
                      value of the damaged property, whichever is lower.
                    ``(B) Disaster declaration.--For the purpose of 
                making loans under paragraph (1) or (2), the 
                Administrator may declare a disaster in a rural area for 
                which a major disaster was declared by the President 
                under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
                Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) and 
                for which individual assistance was not authorized under 
                section 408 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5174) if--
                          ``(i) the Governor of the State or the Chief 
                      Executive of the Indian tribal government in which 
                      the rural area is located requests such a 
                      declaration; and
                          ``(ii) any home, small business concern, 
                      private nonprofit organization, or small 
                      agricultural cooperative has incurred significant 
                      damage in the rural area.
                    ``(C) <<NOTE: Time period.>>  SBA report.--Not later 
                than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 
                paragraph, and every year thereafter, the Administrator 
                shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and 
                Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on 
                Small Business of the House of

[[Page 136 STAT. 2351]]

                Representatives a report on, with respect to the 1-year 
                period preceding submission of the report--
                          ``(i) any economic injury that resulted from a 
                      major disaster declared by the President under 
                      section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
                      Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
                      5170) in a rural area;
                          ``(ii) each request for assistance made by the 
                      Governor of a State or the Chief Executive of an 
                      Indian tribal government under subparagraph (B)(i) 
                      and the response of the Administrator, including 
                      the timeline for each response; and
                          ``(iii) any regulatory changes that will 
                      impact the ability of communities in rural areas 
                      to obtain disaster assistance under this 
                      subsection.''.

    (b) <<NOTE: Deadline. 15 USC 636 note.>>  Regulations.--Not later 
than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
of the Small Business Administration shall issue regulations to carry 
out the amendment made by subsection (a).

    (c) GAO Report.--
            (1) Definition of rural area.--In this subsection, the term 
        ``rural area'' means any county or other political subdivision 
        of a State, the District of Columbia, or a territory or 
        possession of the United States that is designated as a rural 
        area by the Bureau of the Census.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 
        States shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and 
        Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 
        Business of the House of Representatives a report on--
                    (A) any unique challenges that communities in rural 
                areas face compared to communities in urbanized areas 
                when seeking to obtain disaster assistance under section 
                7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)); and
                    (B) <<NOTE: Recommenda- tions.>>  legislative 
                recommendations for improving access to disaster 
                assistance for communities in rural areas.

    Approved December 20, 2022.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 1617:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

SENATE REPORTS: No. 117-
103 (Comm. on Small Business and Entrepreneurship).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 168 (2022):
            Sept. 28, considered and passed Senate.
            Dec. 5, 8, considered and passed House.

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