Winter Recreation Small Business Recovery Act of 2025
Winter Recreation Small Business Recovery Act of 2025 would add “snow drought” (low or no snowfall) to the kinds of disasters covered under the Small Business Act. This change is intended to make snow-dependent small businesses—such as those in winter recreation, tourism, lodging, and related services—eligible for federal disaster assistance programs when inadequate snow disrupts operations. The bill also requires the Small Business Administration (SBA) to issue implementing regulations within 90 days of enactment, in consultation with the National Weather Service (NWS). Additionally, it directs an interagency review by the Comptroller General to report to Congress on resources available to assist snow-drought-impacted small businesses, ways to improve resilience and adaptation, and recommendations on expanding disaster recovery tools (including the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program) to address snow drought scenarios. In short, the bill formalizes snow drought as a recoverable disaster, creates a regulatory path for implementing this change, and mandates a federal-review process to assess and improve support for affected small businesses and resilience in winter recreation economies.
Key Points
- 1Adds snow drought (low or no snowfall) to the disaster definitions used for Small Business Act disaster relief, expanding eligibility for assistance for snow-dependent small businesses.
- 2Requires SBA to issue implementing regulations within 90 days after enactment, in consultation with the National Weather Service.
- 3Directs the Comptroller General to submit a Congress-bound report reviewing: federal resources available to assist snow-drought-impacted small businesses; ways for these businesses to become more resilient and adapt; and legislative/administrative actions to provide enhanced support, including evaluating SBA’s capacity to expand Disaster Recovery efforts via the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
- 4Establishes the concept of snow drought with findings that define what snow drought is (abnormal snowpack and related conditions) and how warm temperatures and precipitation patterns affect snow versus rain and melt.
- 5Focuses on the winter recreation economy and related small businesses as a primary beneficiary, aiming to stabilize livelihoods during periods of reduced snowfall.