(a) If your business is located in a declared disaster area, and suffered substantial economic injury as a direct result of a declared disaster, you are eligible to apply for an economic injury disaster loan.

(1) Substantial economic injury is such that a business concern is unable to meet its obligations as they mature or to pay its ordinary and necessary operating expenses.

(2) Loss of anticipated profits or a drop in sales is not considered substantial economic injury for this purpose.

(b) Economic injury disaster loans are available only if you were a small business (as defined in part 121 of this chapter) or a private non-profit organization when the declared disaster commenced, you and your affiliates and principal owners (20% or more ownership interest) have used all reasonably available funds, and you are unable to obtain credit elsewhere (see § 123.104).

(c) Eligible businesses do not include agricultural enterprises, but do include—

(1) Small nurseries affected by a drought disaster designated by the Secretary of Agriculture (nurseries are commercial establishments deriving 50 percent or more of their annual receipts from the production and sale of ornamental plants and other nursery products, including, but not limited to, bulbs, florist greens, foliage, flowers, flower and vegetable seeds, shrubbery, and sod);

(2) Small agricultural cooperatives;

(3) Producer cooperatives; and

(4) Small aquaculture enterprises.

(d) An eligible private non-profit organization is a non-governmental agency or entity that currently has:

(1) An effective ruling letter from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, granting tax exemption under sections 510(c), (d), or (e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, or

(2) Satisfactory evidence from the State that the non-revenue producing organization or entity is a non-profit one organized or doing business under State law.

(e) COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster (COVID EIDL) loans are available if, as of the date of application, you:

(1) Are a business, including an agricultural cooperative, aquaculture enterprise, nursery, or producer cooperative (but excluding all other agricultural enterprises), that is small under SBA Size Standards (as defined in part 121 of this chapter);

(2) Are an individual who operates under a sole proprietorship, with or without employees, or as an independent contractor;

(3) Are a private non-profit organization that is a non-governmental agency or entity that currently has an effective ruling letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) granting tax exemption under sections 501(c), (d), or (e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, or satisfactory evidence from the State that the non-revenue-producing organization or entity is a non-profit one organized or doing business under State law, or a faith-based organization;

(4) Are a business, cooperative, agricultural enterprise, Employee Stock Ownership Plan (as defined in 15 U.S.C. 632), or tribal small business concern (as described in 15 U.S.C. 657a(b)(2)(C)), with not more than 500 employees; or

(5) Are a business that is assigned a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code beginning with 61, 71, 72, 213, 3121, 315, 448, 451, 481, 485, 487, 511, 512, 515, 532, or 812, employs not more than 500 employees per physical location, and together with affiliates has no more than 20 locations.

Your business is not eligible for an economic disaster loan if you (or any principal of the business) fit into any of the categories in §§ 123.101 and 123.201, or if your business is:

(a) Engaged in lending, multi-level sales distribution, speculation, or investment (except for real estate investment with property held for rental when the disaster occurred);

(b) A non-profit or charitable concern, other than a private non-profit organization;

(c) [Reserved]

(d) Not a small business concern; or

(e) Deriving more than one-third of gross annual revenue from legal gambling activities;

(f) A loan packager which earns more than one-third of its gross annual revenue from packaging SBA loans;

(g) Principally engaged in teaching, instructing, counseling, or indoctrinating religion or religious beliefs, whether in a religious or secular setting; or

(h) Primarily engaged in political or lobbying activities.

Your economic injury loan will have an interest rate of 4 percent per annum or less.

(a) You can only use the loan proceeds for working capital necessary to carry your concern until resumption of normal operations and for expenditures necessary to alleviate the specific economic injury, but not to exceed that which the business could have provided had the injury not occurred. COVID EIDL loan proceeds also may be used to make debt payments including monthly payments, payment of deferred interest, and pre-payments on any business debts, except pre-payments are not permitted on any loans owned by a Federal agency (including SBA) or a Small Business Investment Company licensed under the Small Business Investment Act.

(b) Loan proceeds may not be used to:

(1) Refinance indebtedness which you incurred prior to the disaster event;

(2) Except for COVID EIDL loan proceeds, make payments on loans owned by a Federal agency (including SBA) or a Small Business Investment Company licensed under the Small Business Investment Act;

(3) Pay, directly or indirectly, any obligations resulting from a federal, state or local tax penalty as a result of negligence or fraud, or any non-tax criminal fine, civil fine, or penalty for non-compliance with a law, regulation, or order of a federal, state, regional, or local agency or similar matter;

(4) Repair physical damage; or

(5) Pay dividends or other disbursements to owners, partners, officers or stockholders, except for reasonable remuneration directly related to their performance of services for the business.

Entities that are part of a single corporate group shall in no event receive more than $10,000,000 of COVID EIDL loans in the aggregate. For purposes of this limit, entities are part of a single corporate group if they are majority owned, directly or indirectly, by a common parent.