I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 205

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2003

Mr. SWEENEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Small Business 

A BILL

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Small Busi5 ness Regulatory Assistance Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to establish a program 

8 to—
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1 (1) provide confidential assistance to small 

2 business concerns; 

3 (2) provide small business concerns with the in4 formation necessary to improve their rate of compli5 ance with Federal and State regulations; 

6 (3) create a partnership among Federal agen7 cies to increase outreach efforts to small business 

8 concerns with respect to regulatory compliance; 

9 (4) provide a mechanism for unbiased feedback 

10 to Federal agencies on the regulatory environment 

11 for small business concerns; and 

12 (5) utilize the service delivery network of Small 

13 Business Development Centers to improve access of 

14 small business concerns to programs to assist them 

15 with regulatory compliance. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

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

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

19 Act) shall apply. 

20 SEC. 4. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PRO21 GRAM. 

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

23 amended—

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

25 and 
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1 (2) by inserting after section 35 the following 

2 new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 36. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PRO4 GRAM. 

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

6 definitions apply: 

7 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis8 trator’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi9 ness Administration, acting through the Associate 

10 Administrator for Small Business Development Cen11 ters. 

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

13 means the association recognized by the Adminis14 trator of the Small Business Administration under 

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

16 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS DEVEL17 OPMENT CENTER.—The term ‘participating Small 

18 Business Development Center’ means a Small Busi19 ness Development Center participating in the pro20 gram. 

21 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

22 the regulatory assistance program established under 

23 this section. 

24 ‘‘(5) REGULATORY COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE.—

25 The term ‘regulatory compliance assistance’ means 
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1 assistance provided by a Small Business Develop2 ment Center to a small business concern to enable 

3 the concern to comply with Federal regulatory re4 quirements. 

5 ‘‘(6) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN6 TER.—The term ‘Small Business Development Cen7 ter’ means a Small Business Development Center 

8 described in section 21. 

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

10 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

11 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 

12 and Guam. 

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

14 the Administrator shall establish a program to provide 

15 regulatory compliance assistance to small business con16 cerns through participating Small Business Development 

17 Centers, the Association, and Federal compliance partner18 ship programs. 

19 ‘‘(c) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pro21 gram, the Administrator shall enter into arrange22 ments with participating Small Business Develop23 ment Centers under which such centers will pro24 vide—
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1 ‘‘(A) access to information and resources, 

2 including current Federal and State nonpuni3 tive compliance and technical assistance pro4 grams similar to those established under section 

5 507 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990; 

6 ‘‘(B) training and educational activities; 

7 ‘‘(C) confidential, free-of-charge, one-on8 one, in-depth counseling to the owners and op9 erators of small business concerns regarding 

10 compliance with Federal and State regulations, 

11 provided that such counseling is not considered 

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

13 Small Business Development Center is located 

14 or in which such counseling is conducted; 

15 ‘‘(D) technical assistance; and 

16 ‘‘(E) referrals to experts and other pro17 viders of compliance assistance who meet such 

18 standards for educational, technical, and profes19 sional competency as are established by the Ad20 ministrator. 

21 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—

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

23 Small Business Development Center shall trans24 mit to the Administrator a quarterly report that 

25 includes—
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1 ‘‘(i) a summary of the regulatory com2 pliance assistance provided by the center 

3 under the program; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) any data and information ob5 tained by the center from a Federal agency 

6 regarding regulatory compliance that the 

7 agency intends to be disseminated to small 

8 business concerns. 

9 ‘‘(B) ELECTRONIC FORM.—Each report re10 ferred to in subparagraph (A) shall be trans11 mitted in electronic form. 

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

13 Small Business Development Center may trans14 mit to the Administrator such interim reports 

15 as the center considers appropriate. 

16 ‘‘(D) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE RE17 QUIREMENTS.—The Administrator may not re18 quire a Small Business Development Center to 

19 disclose the name or address of any small busi20 ness concern that received or is receiving assist21 ance under the program, except that the Ad22 ministrator shall require such a disclosure if or23 dered to do so by a court in any civil or crimi24 nal action. 

25 ‘‘(d) DATA REPOSITORY AND CLEARINGHOUSE.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pro2 gram, the Administrator shall—

3 ‘‘(A) act as the repository of and clearing4 house for data and information submitted by 

5 Small Business Development Centers; and 

6 ‘‘(B) transmit to the President, the Com7 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

8 of the Senate, and the Committee on Small 

9 Business of the House of Representatives an 

10 annual report that includes—

11 ‘‘(i) a description of the types of as12 sistance provided by participating Small 

13 Business Development Centers under the 

14 program; 

15 ‘‘(ii) data regarding the number of 

16 small business concerns that contacted 

17 participating Small Business Development 

18 Centers regarding assistance under the 

19 program; 

20 ‘‘(iii) data regarding the number of 

21 small business concerns assisted by partici22 pating Small Business Development Cen23 ters under the program; 

24 ‘‘(iv) data and information regarding 

25 outreach activities conducted by partici-
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1 pating Small Business Development Cen2 ters under the program, including any ac3 tivities conducted in partnership with Fed4 eral agencies; 

5 ‘‘(v) data and information regarding 

6 each case known to the Administrator in 

7 which one or more Small Business Devel8 opment Centers offered conflicting advice 

9 or information regarding compliance with a 

10 Federal or State regulation to one or more 

11 small business concerns; 

12 ‘‘(vi) any recommendations for im13 provements in the regulation of small busi14 ness concerns; and 

15 ‘‘(vii) a list of regulations identified 

16 by the Administrator, after consultation 

17 with the Small Business and Agriculture 

18 Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman, as 

19 being most burdensome to small business 

20 concerns, and recommendations to reduce 

21 or eliminate the burdens of such regula22 tions. 

23 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A Small Business Develop25 ment Center shall be eligible to receive assistance 
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1 under the program only if the center is certified 

2 under section 21(k)(2). 

3 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.— With respect to a Small Busi4 ness Development Center seeking assistance under 

5 the program, the administrator may waive the cer6 tification requirement set forth in paragraph (1) if 

7 the Administrator determines that the center is 

8 making a good faith effort to obtain such certifi9 cation. 

10 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The restriction de11 scribed in paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 

12 Small Business Development Center before October 

13 1, 2003. 

14 ‘‘(f) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING STATE PRO15 GRAMS.—

16 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—In con17 sultation with the Association and giving substantial 

18 weight to the Association’s recommendations, the 

19 Administrator shall select the Small Business Devel20 opment Center programs of 2 States from each of 

21 the following groups of States to participate in the 

22 program: 

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

24 Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode 

25 Island. 
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1 ‘‘(B) Group 2: New York, New Jersey, 

2 Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. 

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

4 West Virginia, Virginia, the District of Colum5 bia, and Delaware. 

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

7 Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, 

8 Kentucky, and Tennessee. 

9 ‘‘(E) Group 5: Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, In10 diana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. 

11 ‘‘(F) Group 6: Texas, New Mexico, Arkan12 sas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. 

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

14 and Kansas. 

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

16 Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Utah. 

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

18 Nevada, and Arizona. 

19 ‘‘(J) Group 10: Washington, Alaska, 

20 Idaho, and Oregon. 

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

22 The Administrator shall make selections under para23 graph (1) not later than 60 days after promulgation 

24 of regulations under section 5 of the National Small 

25 Business Regulatory Assistance Act of 2003. 
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1 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL SELECTIONS.—Not earlier 

2 than the date 3 years after the date of the enact3 ment of this paragraph, the Administrator may se4 lect Small Business Development Center programs 

5 of States in addition to those selected under para6 graph (1). The Administrator shall consider the ef7 fect on the programs selected under paragraph (1) 

8 before selecting additional programs under this 

9 paragraph. 

10 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION TO AVOID DUPLICATION

11 WITH OTHER PROGRAMS.—In selecting programs 

12 under this subsection, the Administrator shall give a 

13 preference to Small Business Development Center 

14 programs that have a plan for consulting with Fed15 eral and State agencies to ensure that any assist16 ance provided under this section is not duplicated by 

17 an existing Federal or State program. 

18 ‘‘(g) MATCHING NOT REQUIRED.—Subparagraphs 

19 (A) and (B) of section 21(a)(4) shall not apply to assist20 ance made available under the program. 

21 ‘‘(h) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), each State program selected to receive a 

24 grant under subsection (f) in a fiscal year shall be 
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1 eligible to receive a grant in an amount not to ex2 ceed the product obtained by multiplying—

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

4 under this section for the fiscal year; and 

5 ‘‘(B) the ratio that—

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

7 to 

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

9 with programs selected to receive grants 

10 under subsection (f) for the fiscal year. 

11 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—The minimum 

12 amount that a State program selected to receive a 

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

14 under this section for any fiscal year shall be 

15 $200,000. The Administrator shall reduce the 

16 amount described in paragraph (1) as appropriate to 

17 carry out the purposes of this paragraph and sub18 section (j)(2). 

19 ‘‘(i) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Not later than 3 

20 years after the establishment of the program, the Comp21 troller General of the United States shall conduct an eval22 uation of the program and shall transmit to the Adminis23 trator, the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre24 neurship of the Senate, and the Committee on Small Busi25 ness of the House of Representatives a report containing 
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1 the results of the evaluation along with any recommenda2 tions as to whether the program, with or without modifica3 tion, should be extended to include the participation of all 

4 Small Business Development Centers. 

5 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

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

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

8 fiscal year 2003 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

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

10 The Administrator may carry out the program only 

11 with amounts appropriated in advance specifically to 

12 carry out this section.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS. 

14 After providing notice and an opportunity for com15 ment and after consulting with the Association (but not 

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

17 this Act), the Administrator shall promulgate final regula18 tions to carry out this Act, including regulations that es19 tablish—

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

21 provided under the program; 

22 (2) standards relating to educational, technical, 

23 and support services to be provided by participating 

24 Small Business Development Centers; 
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1 (3) standards relating to any national service 

2 delivery and support function to be provided by the 

3 Association under the program; 

4 (4) standards relating to any work plan that 

5 the Administrator may require a participating Small 

6 Business Development Center to develop; and 

7 (5) standards relating to the educational, tech8 nical, and professional competency of any expert or 

9 other assistance provider to whom a small business 

10 concern may be referred for compliance assistance 

11 under the program. 

12 SEC. 6. PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO SMALL 

13 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

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

15 648(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(9) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.—

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

18 Development Center, consortium of Small Busi19 ness Development Centers, or contractor or 

20 agent of a Small Business Development Center 

21 shall disclose the name or address of any indi22 vidual or small business concern receiving as23 sistance under this section without the consent 

24 of such individual or small business concern, ex25 cept that—
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1 ‘‘(i) the Administrator shall require 

2 such disclosure if ordered to do so by a 

3 court in any civil or criminal action; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) if the Administrator considers it 

5 necessary while undertaking a financial 

6 audit of a Small Business Development 

7 Center, the Administrator shall require 

8 such disclosure for the sole purpose of un9 dertaking such audit. 

10 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.— The Administrator 

11 shall issue regulations to establish standards for 

12 requiring disclosures during a financial audit 

13 under subparagraph (a)(ii).’’.

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