II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2656 

To amend title 44 of the United States Code, to provide for the suspension 

of fines under certain circumstances for first-time paperwork violations 

by small business concerns. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2006 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 44 of the United States Code, to provide 

for the suspension of fines under certain circumstances 

for first-time paperwork violations by small business concerns. 

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 ‘‘Small Business Paper5 work Amnesty Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF FINES FOR FIRST-TIME PAPER2 WORK VIOLATIONS BY SMALL BUSINESS CON3 CERNS. 

4 Section 3506 of title 44, United States Code (com5 monly referred to as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’), is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(j) SMALL BUSINESSES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—In this sub9 section, the term ‘small business concern’ means a 

10 business concern that meets the requirements of sec11 tion 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

12 632(a)) and the regulations promulgated under that 

13 section. 

14 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a first-time 

15 violation by a small business concern of a require16 ment regarding the collection of information by an 

17 agency, the head of such agency shall not impose a 

18 civil fine on the small business concern unless the 

19 head of the agency determines that— 

20 ‘‘(A) the violation has the potential to 

21 cause serious harm to the public interest; 

22 ‘‘(B) failure to impose a civil fine would 

23 impede or interfere with the detection of crimi24 nal activity; 

25 ‘‘(C) the violation is a violation of an inter26 nal revenue law or a law concerning the assessVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:59 Apr 28, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2656.IS S2656

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1 ment or collection of any tax, debt, revenue, or 

2 receipt; 

3 ‘‘(D) the violation was not corrected on or 

4 before the date that is 6 months after the date 

5 of receipt by the small business concern of noti6 fication of the violation in writing from the 

7 agency; or 

8 ‘‘(E) except as provided in paragraph (3), 

9 the violation presents a danger to the public 

10 health or safety. 

11 ‘‘(3) DANGER TO PUBLIC HEALTH OR SAFE12 TY.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which 

14 the head of an agency determines under para15 graph (2)(E) that a violation presents a danger 

16 to the public health or safety, the head of the 

17 agency may, notwithstanding paragraph (2)(E), 

18 determine not to impose a civil fine on the 

19 small business concern if the violation is cor20 rected not later than 24 hours after receipt by 

21 the small business owner of notification of the 

22 violation in writing. 

23 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 

24 whether to provide a small business concern 

25 with 24 hours to correct a violation under subVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:59 Apr 28, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2656.IS S2656

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1 paragraph (A), the head of the agency shall 

2 take into account all of the facts and cir3 cumstances regarding the violation, including— 

4 ‘‘(i) the nature and seriousness of the 

5 violation, including whether the violation is 

6 technical or inadvertent or involves willful 

7 or criminal conduct; 

8 ‘‘(ii) whether the small business con9 cern has made a good faith effort to com10 ply with applicable laws and to remedy the 

11 violation within the shortest practicable pe12 riod of time; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) whether the small business con14 cern has obtained a significant economic 

15 benefit from the violation. 

16 ‘‘(C) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—In any case 

17 in which the head of the agency imposes a civil 

18 fine on a small business concern for a violation 

19 that presents a danger to the public health or 

20 safety and does not provide the small business 

21 concern with 24 hours to correct the violation 

22 under subparagraph (A), the head of the agency 

23 shall notify Congress regarding such determina24 tion not later than the date that is 60 days 


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1 after the date that the civil fine is imposed by 

2 the agency. 

3 ‘‘(4) LIMITED TO FIRST-TIME VIOLATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall 

5 not apply to any violation by a small business 

6 concern of a requirement regarding collection of 

7 information by an agency if such small business 

8 concern previously violated any requirement re9 garding collection of information by that agen10 cy. 

11 ‘‘(B) OTHER AGENCIES.—For purposes of 

12 making a determination under subparagraph 

13 (A), the head of an agency shall not take into 

14 account any violation of a requirement regard15 ing collection of information by another agen16 cy.’’. 

Æ 


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