PREPARE Act

Providing Resources for Emergency Preparedness and Resilient Enterprises Act or the PREPARE Act

This bill permanently reauthorizes the pre-disaster mitigation loan program of the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Under this program, the SBA may loan up to $500,000 in a 12-month period to small businesses so that such businesses may use mitigation techniques to protect their commercial real estate, equipment, inventory, supplies, and materials from damages related to disasters.

The SBA must submit a report on the program that includes information such as (1) the geographic areas in which loan recipients are located, (2) the number and dollar value of loans made, and (3) the estimated aggregate value resulting from the use of funded mitigation techniques.

The bill also authorizes the SBA to increase the amount of a disaster loan by up to 30% of the aggregate costs of any damage or destruction to enable a business to take mitigating measures that protect from possible future disasters.