108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 205

AN ACT

To amend the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration

to establish a program to provide regulatory compliance assistance to small business concerns,and for other purposes.

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 205

AN ACT

To amend the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish

a program to provide regulatory compliance assistance

to small business concerns, 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 ‘‘National Small Busi3 ness Regulatory Assistance Act of 2003’’.

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

5 The purpose of this Act is to establish a program

6 to—

7 (1) provide confidential assistance to small

8 business concerns;

9 (2) provide small business concerns with the in10 formation necessary to improve their rate of compli11 ance with Federal and State regulations;

12 (3) create a partnership among Federal agen13 cies to increase outreach efforts to small business

14 concerns with respect to regulatory compliance;

15 (4) provide a mechanism for unbiased feedback

16 to Federal agencies on the regulatory environment

17 for small business concerns; and

18 (5) utilize the service delivery network of Small

19 Business Development Centers to improve access of

20 small business concerns to programs to assist them

21 with regulatory compliance.

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

23 In this Act, the definitions set forth in section 36(a)

24 of the Small Business Act (as added by section 4 of this

25 Act) shall apply.
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1 SEC. 4. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PRO2 GRAM.

3 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637 et seq.) is

4 amended—

5 (1) by redesignating section 36 as section 37;

6 and

7 (2) by inserting after section 35 the following

8 new section:

9 ‘‘SEC. 36. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PRO10 GRAM.

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following

12 definitions apply:

13 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis14 trator’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi15 ness Administration, acting through the Associate

16 Administrator for Small Business Development Cen17 ters.

18 ‘‘(2) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘Association’

19 means the association recognized by the Adminis20 trator of the Small Business Administration under

21 section 21(a)(3)(A).

22 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS DEVEL23 OPMENT CENTER.—The term ‘participating Small

24 Business Development Center’ means a Small Busi25 ness Development Center participating in the pro26 gram.
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1 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means

2 the regulatory assistance program established under

3 this section.

4 ‘‘(5) REGULATORY COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE.—

5 The term ‘regulatory compliance assistance’ means

6 assistance provided by a Small Business Develop7 ment Center to a small business concern to enable

8 the concern to comply with Federal regulatory re9 quirements.

10 ‘‘(6) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN11 TER.—The term ‘Small Business Development Cen12 ter’ means a Small Business Development Center

13 described in section 21.

14 ‘‘(7) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of

15 the several States, the District of Columbia, the

16 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,

17 and Guam.

18 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—In accordance with this section,

19 the Administrator shall establish a program to provide

20 regulatory compliance assistance to small business con21 cerns through participating Small Business Development

22 Centers, the Association, and Federal compliance partner23 ship programs.

24 ‘‘(c) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pro2 gram, the Administrator shall enter into arrange3 ments with participating Small Business Develop4 ment Centers under which such centers will

5 provide—

6 ‘‘(A) access to information and resources,

7 including current Federal and State nonpuni8 tive compliance and technical assistance pro9 grams similar to those established under section

10 507 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990;

11 ‘‘(B) training and educational activities;

12 ‘‘(C) confidential, free-of-charge, one-on13 one, in-depth counseling to the owners and op14 erators of small business concerns regarding

15 compliance with Federal and State regulations,

16 provided that such counseling is not considered

17 to be the practice of law in a State in which a

18 Small Business Development Center is located

19 or in which such counseling is conducted;

20 ‘‘(D) technical assistance; and

21 ‘‘(E) referrals to experts and other pro22 viders of compliance assistance who meet such

23 standards for educational, technical, and profes24 sional competency as are established by the Ad25 ministrator.
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1 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each participating

3 Small Business Development Center shall trans4 mit to the Administrator a quarterly report that

5 includes—

6 ‘‘(i) a summary of the regulatory com7 pliance assistance provided by the center

8 under the program; and

9 ‘‘(ii) any data and information ob10 tained by the center from a Federal agency

11 regarding regulatory compliance that the

12 agency intends to be disseminated to small

13 business concerns.

14 ‘‘(B) ELECTRONIC FORM.—Each report re15 ferred to in subparagraph (A) shall be trans16 mitted in electronic form.

17 ‘‘(C) INTERIM REPORTS.—A participating

18 Small Business Development Center may trans19 mit to the Administrator such interim reports

20 as the center considers appropriate.

21 ‘‘(D) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE RE22 QUIREMENTS.—The Administrator may not re23 quire a Small Business Development Center to

24 disclose the name or address of any small busi25 ness concern that received or is receiving assist-
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1 ance under the program, except that the Ad2 ministrator shall require such a disclosure if or3 dered to do so by a court in any civil or crimi4 nal action.

5 ‘‘(d) DATA REPOSITORY AND CLEARINGHOUSE.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pro7 gram, the Administrator shall—

8 ‘‘(A) act as the repository of and clearing9 house for data and information submitted by

10 Small Business Development Centers; and

11 ‘‘(B) transmit to the President, the Com12 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

13 of the Senate, and the Committee on Small

14 Business of the House of Representatives an

15 annual report that includes—

16 ‘‘(i) a description of the types of as17 sistance provided by participating Small

18 Business Development Centers under the

19 program;

20 ‘‘(ii) data regarding the number of

21 small business concerns that contacted

22 participating Small Business Development

23 Centers regarding assistance under the

24 program;
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1 ‘‘(iii) data regarding the number of

2 small business concerns assisted by partici3 pating Small Business Development Cen4 ters under the program;

5 ‘‘(iv) data and information regarding

6 outreach activities conducted by partici7 pating Small Business Development Cen8 ters under the program, including any ac9 tivities conducted in partnership with Fed10 eral agencies;

11 ‘‘(v) data and information regarding

12 each case known to the Administrator in

13 which one or more Small Business Devel14 opment Centers offered conflicting advice

15 or information regarding compliance with a

16 Federal or State regulation to one or more

17 small business concerns;

18 ‘‘(vi) any recommendations for im19 provements in the regulation of small busi20 ness concerns; and

21 ‘‘(vii) a list of regulations identified

22 by the Administrator, after consultation

23 with the Small Business and Agriculture

24 Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman, as

25 being most burdensome to small business
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1 concerns, and recommendations to reduce

2 or eliminate the burdens of such regula3 tions.

4 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A Small Business Develop6 ment Center shall be eligible to receive assistance

7 under the program only if the center is certified

8 under section 21(k)(2).

9 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.— With respect to a Small Busi10 ness Development Center seeking assistance under

11 the program, the administrator may waive the cer12 tification requirement set forth in paragraph (1) if

13 the Administrator determines that the center is

14 making a good faith effort to obtain such certifi15 cation.

16 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The restriction de17 scribed in paragraph (1) shall not apply to any

18 Small Business Development Center before October

19 1, 2003.

20 ‘‘(f) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING STATE PRO21 GRAMS.—

22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—In con23 sultation with the Association and giving substantial

24 weight to the Association’s recommendations, the

25 Administrator shall select the Small Business Devel-
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1 opment Center programs of 2 States from each of

2 the following groups of States to participate in the

3 program:

4 ‘‘(A) Group 1: Maine, Massachusetts, New

5 Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode

6 Island.

7 ‘‘(B) Group 2: New York, New Jersey,

8 Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

9 ‘‘(C) Group 3: Pennsylvania, Maryland,

10 West Virginia, Virginia, the District of Colum11 bia, and Delaware.

12 ‘‘(D) Group 4: Georgia, Alabama, North

13 Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida,

14 Kentucky, and Tennessee.

15 ‘‘(E) Group 5: Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, In16 diana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

17 ‘‘(F) Group 6: Texas, New Mexico, Arkan18 sas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

19 ‘‘(G) Group 7: Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska,

20 and Kansas.

21 ‘‘(H) Group 8: Colorado, Wyoming, North

22 Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Utah.

23 ‘‘(I) Group 9: California, Guam, Hawaii,

24 Nevada, and Arizona.
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1 ‘‘(J) Group 10: Washington, Alaska,

2 Idaho, and Oregon.

3 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR INITIAL SELECTIONS.—

4 The Administrator shall make selections under para5 graph (1) not later than 60 days after promulgation

6 of regulations under section 5 of the National Small

7 Business Regulatory Assistance Act of 2003.

8 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL SELECTIONS.—Not earlier

9 than the date 3 years after the date of the enact10 ment of this paragraph, the Administrator may se11 lect Small Business Development Center programs

12 of States in addition to those selected under para13 graph (1). The Administrator shall consider the ef14 fect on the programs selected under paragraph (1)

15 before selecting additional programs under this

16 paragraph.

17 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION TO AVOID DUPLICATION

18 WITH OTHER PROGRAMS.—In selecting programs

19 under this subsection, the Administrator shall give a

20 preference to Small Business Development Center

21 programs that have a plan for consulting with Fed22 eral and State agencies to ensure that any assist23 ance provided under this section is not duplicated by

24 an existing Federal or State program.
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1 ‘‘(g) MATCHING NOT REQUIRED.—Subparagraphs

2 (A) and (B) of section 21(a)(4) shall not apply to assist3 ance made available under the program.

4 ‘‘(h) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), each State program selected to receive a

7 grant under subsection (f) in a fiscal year shall be

8 eligible to receive a grant in an amount not to ex9 ceed the product obtained by multiplying—

10 ‘‘(A) the amount made available for grants

11 under this section for the fiscal year; and

12 ‘‘(B) the ratio that—

13 ‘‘(i) the population of the State; bears

14 to

15 ‘‘(ii) the population of all the States

16 with programs selected to receive grants

17 under subsection (f) for the fiscal year.

18 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—The minimum

19 amount that a State program selected to receive a

20 grant under subsection (f) shall be eligible to receive

21 under this section for any fiscal year shall be

22 $200,000. The Administrator shall reduce the

23 amount described in paragraph (1) as appropriate to

24 carry out the purposes of this paragraph and sub25 section (j)(2).
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1 ‘‘(i) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Not later than 3

2 years after the establishment of the program, the Comp3 troller General of the United States shall conduct an eval4 uation of the program and shall transmit to the Adminis5 trator, the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre6 neurship of the Senate, and the Committee on Small Busi7 ness of the House of Representatives a report containing

8 the results of the evaluation along with any recommenda9 tions as to whether the program, with or without modifica10 tion, should be extended to include the participation of all

11 Small Business Development Centers.

12 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

14 appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for

15 fiscal year 2003 and each fiscal year thereafter.

16 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON USE OF OTHER FUNDS.—

17 The Administrator may carry out the program only

18 with amounts appropriated in advance specifically to

19 carry out this section.’’.

20 SEC. 5. PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.

21 After providing notice and an opportunity for com22 ment and after consulting with the Association (but not

23 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of

24 this Act), the Administrator shall promulgate final regula-
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1 tions to carry out this Act, including regulations that

2 establish—

3 (1) priorities for the types of assistance to be

4 provided under the program;

5 (2) standards relating to educational, technical,

6 and support services to be provided by participating

7 Small Business Development Centers;

8 (3) standards relating to any national service

9 delivery and support function to be provided by the

10 Association under the program;

11 (4) standards relating to any work plan that

12 the Administrator may require a participating Small

13 Business Development Center to develop; and

14 (5) standards relating to the educational, tech15 nical, and professional competency of any expert or

16 other assistance provider to whom a small business

17 concern may be referred for compliance assistance

18 under the program.

19 SEC. 6. PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO SMALL

20 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.

21 Section 21(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

22 648(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(9) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No Small Business

25 Development Center, consortium of Small Busi-
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1 ness Development Centers, or contractor or

2 agent of a Small Business Development Center

3 shall disclose the name or address of any indi4 vidual or small business concern receiving as5 sistance under this section without the consent

6 of such individual or small business concern, ex7 cept that—

8 ‘‘(i) the Administrator shall require

9 such disclosure if ordered to do so by a

10 court in any civil or criminal action; and

11 ‘‘(ii) if the Administrator considers it

12 necessary while undertaking a financial

13 audit of a Small Business Development

14 Center, the Administrator shall require

15 such disclosure for the sole purpose of un16 dertaking such audit.

17 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.— The Administrator

18 shall issue regulations to establish standards for

19 requiring disclosures during a financial audit

20 under subparagraph (a)(ii).’’.

Passed the House of Representatives April 8, 2003.

Attest:

Clerk.