II

Calendar No. 273

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1156

[Report No. 106–153]

To amend provisions of law enacted by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 to ensure full analysis of potential

impacts on small entities of rules proposed by certain agencies, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 27, 1999

Mr. BOND (for himself and Mr. KERRY) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business

SEPTEMBER 8, 1999

Reported by Mr. BOND, with amendments

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To amend provisions of law enacted by the Small Business

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 to ensure

full analysis of potential impacts on small entities of

rules proposed by certain agencies, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Advo3 cacy Review Panel Technical Amendments Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

6 (1) A vibrant and growing small business sector

7 is critical to creating jobs in a dynamic economy.

8 (2) Small businesses bear a disproportionate

9 share of regulatory costs and burdens.

10 (3) Federal agencies must consider the impact

11 of their regulations on small businesses early in the

12 rulemaking process.

13 (4) The Small Business Advocacy Review Panel

14 process that was established by the Small Business

15 Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 has

16 been effective in allowing small businesses to partici17 pate in rules that are being developed by the Envi18 ronmental Protection Agency and the Occupational

19 Safety and Health Administration.

20 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol21 lowing:

22 (1) To provide a forum for the effective partici23 pation of small businesses in the Federal regulatory

24 process.

25 (2) To clarify and strengthen the Small Busi26 ness Advocacy Review Panel process.
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1 (3) To expand the number of Federal agencies

2 that are required to convene Small Business Advo3 cacy Review Panels.

4 SEC. 3. ENSURING FULL ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL IMPACTS

5 ON SMALL ENTITIES OF RULES PROPOSED BY

6 CERTAIN AGENCIES.

7 Section 609(b) of title 5, United States Code, is

8 amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(b)(1) Before the publication of an initial regulatory

10 flexibility analysis that a covered agency is required to

11 conduct under this chapter, the head of the covered agency

12 shall—

13 ‘‘(A) notify the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of

14 the Small Business Administration (in this sub15 section referred to as the ‘Chief Counsel’) in writing;

16 ‘‘(B) provide the Chief Counsel with informa17 tion on the potential impacts of the proposed rule on

18 small entities and the type of small entities that

19 might be affected; and

20 ‘‘(C) not later than 30 days after complying

21 with subparagraphs (A) and (B)—

22 ‘‘(i) with the concurrence of in consultation

23 with the Chief Counsel, identify affected small

24 entity representatives; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) transmit to the identified small entity

2 representatives a detailed summary of the infor3 mation referred to in subparagraph (B) or the

4 information in full, if so requested by the small

5 entity representative, for the purposes of ob6 taining advice and recommendations about the

7 potential impacts of the draft proposed rule.

8 ‘‘(2)(A) Not earlier than 30 days after the covered

9 agency transmits information pursuant to paragraph

10 (1)(C)(ii), the head of the covered agency shall convene

11 a review panel for the draft proposed rule. The panel shall

12 consist solely of full-time Federal employees of the office

13 within the covered agency that will be responsible for car14 rying out the proposed rule, the Office of Information and

15 Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and

16 Budget, and the Chief Counsel.

17 ‘‘(B) The review panel shall—

18 ‘‘(i) review any material the covered agency has

19 prepared in connection with this chapter, including

20 any draft proposed rule;

21 ‘‘(ii) collect advice and recommendations from

22 the small entity representatives identified under

23 paragraph (1)(C)(i) on issues related to paragraphs

24 (3), (4), and (5) of section 603(b) and section

25 603(c); and
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1 ‘‘(iii) allow any small entity representative iden2 tified under paragraph (1)(C)(i) to make an oral

3 presentation to the panel, if requested.

4 ‘‘(C) Not later than 60 days after the date a covered

5 agency convenes a review panel pursuant to this para6 graph, the review panel shall report to the head of the

7 covered agency on—

8 ‘‘(i) the comments received from the small enti9 ty representatives identified under paragraph

10 (1)(C)(i); and

11 ‘‘(ii) its findings regarding issues related to

12 paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of section 603(b) and

13 section 603(c).

14 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the

15 head of the covered agency shall print in the Federal Reg16 ister the report of the review panel under paragraph

17 (2)(C), including any written comments submitted by the

18 small entity representatives and any appendices cited in

19 the report, as soon as practicable, but not later than—

20 ‘‘(i) 180 days after the date the head of the

21 covered agency receives the report; or

22 ‘‘(ii) the date of the publication of the notice of

23 proposed rulemaking for the proposed rule.

24 ‘‘(B) The report of the review panel printed in the

25 Federal Register shall not include any confidential busi-
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1 ness information submitted by any small entity represent2 ative.

3 ‘‘(4) Where appropriate, the covered agency shall

4 modify the draft proposed rule, the initial regulatory flexi5 bility analysis for the draft proposed rule, or the decision

6 on whether an initial regulatory flexibility analysis is re7 quired for the draft proposed rule.’’.

8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

9 Section 609(d) of title 5, United States Code, is

10 amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(d) For the purposes of this section—

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered agency’ means the Envi13 ronmental Protection Agency, the Occupational

14 Safety and Health Administration of the Depart15 ment of Labor, and the Internal Revenue Service of

16 the Department of the Treasury; and

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘small entity representative’

18 means a small entity, or an individual or organiza19 tion that primarily represents the interests of 1 or

20 more small entities.’’.

21 SEC. 5. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION REQUIREMENT.

22 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 601 of title 5, United

23 States Code, is amended—

24 (1) in paragraph (5) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after

25 the semicolon;
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1 (2) in paragraph (6) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in2 serting a period; and

3 (3) by striking paragraphs (7) and (8).

4 (b) INITIAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS.—

5 The fourth fifth sentence of section 603 of title 5, United

6 States Code, is amended to read as follows: ‘‘In the case

7 of an interpretative rule involving the internal revenue

8 laws of the United States, this chapter applies to interpre9 tative rules (including proposed, temporary, and final reg10 ulations) published in the Federal Register for codification

11 in the Code of Federal Regulations.’’.

12 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

13 This Act shall take effect upon the expiration of the

14 90-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of

15 this Act.
Calendar No. 273

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1156

[Report No. 106–153]

A BILL

To amend provisions of law enacted by the Small

tain agencies, and for other purposes.pacts on small entities of rules proposed by cerof 1996 to ensure full analysis of potential imBusiness Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act

SEPTEMBER 8, 1999

Reported with amendments