II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1309
To modify the definition of disaster in the Small Business Act to include
low or no snowfall amounts, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL4, 2025
Ms. B
ALDWIN(for herself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. PETERS, Ms. SMITH, and Ms.
K
LOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re-
ferred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
A BILL
To modify the definition of disaster in the Small Business
Act to include low or no snowfall amounts, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Winter Recreation 4
Small Business Recovery Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds the following: 7
(1) According to the American Meteorology So-8
ciety Glossary of Meteorology, snow drought occurs 9
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•S 1309 IS
when there is a period of abnormally low snowpack 1
for the time of year. 2
(2) Snow drought is described as either dry or 3
warm, depending on whether the drought is a result 4
of below-normal cold-season precipitation or a lack 5
of snow accumulation despite near-normal precipita-6
tion, usually as a result of warm temperatures that 7
cause precipitation to fall as rain rather than snow 8
or an unusually early snowmelt. 9
SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF DISASTER. 10
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 3(k)(2) of the Small Busi-11
ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632(k)(2)) is amended— 12
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 13
the end; 14
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 15
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 16
(3) by adding at the end the following: 17
‘‘(D) snow drought.’’. 18
(b) R
EGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 19
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 20
Small Business Administration, in consultation with the 21
Director of the National Weather Service, shall promul-22
gate rules to implement the amendment made by sub-23
section (a). 24
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(c) REVIEW OFEXISTINGRESOURCES ANDWAYSTO 1
A
DAPT.— 2
(1) D
EFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 3
‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given the 4
term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 5
U.S.C. 632). 6
(2) I
NTERAGENCY REVIEW .—The Comptroller 7
General of the United States shall submit to Con-8
gress a report— 9
(A) providing a review of resources avail-10
able to Federal agencies to assist small business 11
concerns that have suffered economic injury or 12
been economically impacted by lack of snow or 13
low snow precipitation; 14
(B) identifying ways small business con-15
cerns can become more resilient and adapt the 16
business model of the concerns related to snow 17
droughts; and 18
(C) providing recommendations for legisla-19
tive and administrative action to provide assist-20
ance to small business concerns impacted by 21
lack of snow or low snow precipitation, includ-22
ing an evaluation of the capabilities of the 23
Small Business Administration to support ex-24
panded disaster recovery efforts related to a 25
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lack of snow or low snow precipitation and 1
other similar tasks through the Economic In-2
jury Disaster Loan program. 3
Æ
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