A bill to amend chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, for the purpose of facilitating compliance by small business concerns with certain Federal paperwork requirements, to establish a task force to examine information collection and dissemination, and for other purposes.

Summary: Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2001 - Amends the Paperwork Reduction Act to require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, annually, to publish in the Federal Register and make available on the Internet a list of the paperwork compliance resources available to small businesses. Requires the following Federal agencies, also within one year, to establish one agency point of contact to act as a liaison with small businesses with respect to the collection of information and the control of paperwork: (1) each agency with a head listed at level I on the Executive Schedule; and (2) the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency.Requires each agency to make efforts to: (1) further reduce the paperwork burden for small businesses with fewer than 25 employees; and (2) eliminate any unnecessary paperwork burdens.Establishes a task force to study and report to the Director, specified congressional committees, and the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman on the feasibility of streamlining requirements with respect to small businesses regarding the collection of information and strengthening the dissemination of information.Amends the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 to require each agency to submit, biennially, to the Director and such committees information concerning regulatory enforcement actions taken and civil penalties assessed, including actions and assessments against small businesses.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Paperwork Relief Act 
of 2001''.

SEC. 2. FACILITATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Requirements Applicable to the Director of OMB.--Section 
3504(c) of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 
``Paperwork Reduction Act''), is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period and inserting 
        a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) publish in the Federal Register and make available on 
        the Internet (in consultation with the Small Business 
        Administration) on an annual basis a list of the compliance 
        assistance resources available to small businesses, with the 
        first such publication occurring not later than 1 year after 
        the date of enactment of the Small Business Paperwork Relief 
        Act of 2001.''.
    (b) Establishment of Agency Point of Contact.--Section 3506 of 
title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(i)(1) In addition to the requirements described in subsection 
(c), each agency described under paragraph (2) shall, with respect to 
the collection of information and the control of paperwork, establish 1 
point of contact in the agency to act as a liaison between the agency 
and small business concerns (as defined in section 3 of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)). Each such point of contact shall be 
established not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 
Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2001.
    ``(2) An agency described under this paragraph is--
            ``(A) any agency with a head that is listed at a level I 
        position on the Executive Schedule under section 5312 of title 
        5; and
            ``(B) the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities 
        and Exchange Commission, and the Environmental Protection 
        Agency.''.
    (c) Additional Reduction of Paperwork for Certain Small 
Businesses.--Section 3506(c) of title 44, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ``; and'' and 
        inserting a semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (3)(J), by striking the period and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) in addition to the requirements of this chapter 
        regarding the reduction of information collection burdens for 
        small business concerns (as defined in section 3 of the Small 
        Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), make efforts to--
                    ``(A) further reduce the information collection 
                burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 
                employees; and
                    ``(B) eliminate any unnecessary paperwork 
                burdens.''.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE ON INFORMATION COLLECTION AND 
              DISSEMINATION.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 3520 as section 3521; and
            (2) by inserting after section 3519 the following:
``Sec. 3520. Establishment of task force on information collection and 
              dissemination
    ``(a) There is established a task force to study the feasibility of 
streamlining requirements with respect to small business concerns 
regarding collection of information and strengthening dissemination of 
information (in this section referred to as the `task force').
    ``(b) The members of the task force shall be appointed by the head 
of each applicable department or agency (and in the case of paragraph 
(12) by the Director), and include--
            ``(1) not less than 2 representatives of the Department of 
        Labor, including 1 representative of the Bureau of Labor 
        Statistics and 1 representative of the Occupational Safety and 
        Health Administration;
            ``(2) not less than 1 representative of the Environmental 
        Protection Agency;
            ``(3) not less than 1 representative of the Department of 
        Transportation;
            ``(4) not less than 1 representative of the Office of 
        Advocacy of the Small Business Administration;
            ``(5) not less than 1 representative of the Internal 
        Revenue Service;
            ``(6) not less than 2 representatives of the Department of 
        Health and Human Services, including 1 representative of the 
        Health Care Financing Administration;
            ``(7) not less than 1 representative of the Department of 
        Agriculture;
            ``(8) not less than 1 representative of the Department of 
        Interior;
            ``(9) not less than 1 representative of the General 
        Services Administration;
            ``(10) not less than 1 representative of each of 2 agencies 
        not represented by representatives described under paragraphs 
        (1) through (9) and (11);
            ``(11) 1 representative of the Director, who shall convene 
        and chair the task force; and
            ``(12) not less than 3 representatives of the small 
        business community.
    ``(c) The task force shall--
            ``(1) recommend a plan for the development of an 
        interactive Government application, available through the 
        Internet, to allow each small business to better understand 
        which Federal requirements regarding collection of information 
        (and, when possible, which other Federal regulatory 
        requirements) apply to that particular business;
            ``(2) identify ways to integrate the collection of 
        information across Federal agencies and programs and examine 
        the feasibility of requiring each agency to consolidate 
        requirements regarding collections of information with respect 
        to small business concerns, within and across agencies without 
        negatively impacting the effectiveness of underlying laws and 
        regulations regarding such collections of information, in order 
        that each small business concern may submit all information 
        required by the agency--
                    ``(A) to 1 point of contact in the agency; and
                    ``(B) in a single format, such as a single 
                electronic reporting system, with respect to the 
                agency;
            ``(3) examine the feasibility and helpfulness to small 
        businesses of the Director publishing a list of the collections 
        of information applicable to small business concerns (as 
        defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
        632)), organized--
                    ``(A) by North American Industrial Classification 
                System code;
                    ``(B) industrial/sector description; or
                    ``(C) in another manner by which small business 
                concerns can more easily identify requirements with 
                which those small business concerns are expected to 
                comply;
            ``(4) examine the savings, including cost savings, for 
        implementing a system of electronic paperwork submissions; and
            ``(5) examine the feasibility of measures to strengthen the 
        dissemination of information.
    ``(d) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 
Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2001, the task force shall 
submit a report of its findings under subsection (c), including any 
minority views of the task force, to--
            ``(1) the Director;
            ``(2) the chairpersons and ranking minority members of--
                    ``(A) the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the 
                Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 
                Senate; and
                    ``(B) the Committee on Government Reform and the 
                Committee on Small Business of the House of 
                Representatives; and
            ``(3) the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory 
        Enforcement Ombudsman designated under section 30(b) of the 
        Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657(b)).
    ``(e) In this section, the term `small business concern' has the 
meaning given under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
632).''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by striking the 
item relating to section 3520 and inserting the following:

``3520. Establishment of task force on information collection and 
                            dissemination.
``3521. Authorization of appropriations.''.

SEC. 4. REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT REFORMS.

    Section 223 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness 
Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note) is amended by striking subsection (c) 
and inserting:
    ``(c) Reports.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2001, 
        and not later than every 2 years thereafter, each agency shall 
        submit a report to the Director of the Office of Management and 
        Budget and the chairpersons and ranking minority members of the 
        Committee on Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Small 
        Business of the Senate, and the Committee on the Judiciary and 
        the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
        Representatives, that includes information with respect to the 
        applicable 1-year period or 2-year period covered by the report 
        on each of the following:
                    ``(A) The number of enforcement actions in which a 
                civil penalty is assessed.
                    ``(B) The number of enforcement actions in which a 
                civil penalty is assessed against a small entity.
                    ``(C) The number of enforcement actions described 
                under subparagraphs (A) and (B) in which the civil 
                penalty is reduced or waived.
                    ``(D) The total monetary amount of the reductions 
                or waivers referred to under subparagraph (C).
            ``(2) Definitions in reports.--Each report under paragraph 
        (1) shall include definitions of the terms `enforcement 
        actions', `reduction or waiver', and `small entity' as used in 
        the report.''.

            Passed the Senate December 17, 2001.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
107th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                S. 1271

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

To amend chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, for the purpose of 
facilitating compliance by small business concerns with certain Federal 
     paperwork requirements, to establish a task force to examine 
   information collection and dissemination, and for other purposes.