119-hr2897

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2897 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2897

 To amend the Small Business Act to make disaster loans available for 
 damages caused by prolonged power outages, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 10, 2025

 Ms. Stevens introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Small Business Act to make disaster loans available for 
 damages caused by prolonged power outages, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SMALL BUSINESS DISASTER LOANS FOR PROLONGED POWER OUTAGES.

 

Section 7

    (b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636

    (b) ) is 
amended--

    (1) by redesignating the second paragraph

    (16) (relating to 
 statute of limitations) as paragraph

    (17) ; and

    (2) by inserting after paragraph

    (17) , as so redesignated, 
 the following new paragraph:
 ``

    (18) Prolonged power outage.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--For the purposes of paragraphs

    (1)
        (A) and

    (2) , the term `disaster' includes prolonged 
 power outages.
 ``
        (B) Use of loan amounts.--In addition to any 
 other allowable uses of a loan made under paragraph

    (1)
        (A) or

    (2) , if a borrower receives such a loan 
 pursuant to a disaster that is prolonged power outage, 
 the borrower may use the proceeds of such loan to--
 ``
            (i) purchase energy resilience systems 
 that enable the borrower to cope with and 
 recover from disruptions to the commercial 
 availability of electrical power, including 
 generators, solar panels, wind turbines, 
 microgrids, fuel cells, batteries, and other 
 technologies that provide electrical generation 
 and storage capabilities, as determined 
 appropriate by the Administrator; and
 ``
            (ii) pay for the cost of replacing any 
 food and drink of the borrower that was lost, 
 destroyed, or rendered unfit for human 
 consumption as a result of such disaster.
 ``
            (C) Prolonged power outage defined.--In this 
 subsection, the term `prolonged power outage' means--
 ``
            (i) for the purposes of paragraph

    (1)
        (A) , 
 a loss of electrical power that causes not 
 fewer than 25 homes or 25 business concerns, or 
 any combination of not fewer than 25 homes, 
 business concerns, or other eligible recipients 
 of a loan under such paragraph, located in any 
 county or smaller political subdivision of a 
 State or territory or possession of the United 
 States to each sustain 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; and
 ``
            (ii) for the purposes of paragraph

    (2) , 
 not fewer than 25 homes or 25 business 
 concerns, or any combination of not fewer than 
 25 homes, business concerns, or other eligible 
 recipients of a loan under such paragraph, 
 located in any county or smaller political 
 subdivision of a State or territory or 
 possession of the United States concurrently 
 losing electrical power for not fewer than 48 
 hours.''.
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