106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4946

AN ACT

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

to establish a pilot program to provide regulatorycompliance assistance to small business concerns,and for other purposes.

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4946

AN ACT

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

a pilot 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 2000’’.

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

5 The purpose of this Act is to establish a pilot pro6 gram 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 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 34(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 PILOT

2 PROGRAM.

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

4 amended—

5 (1) by redesignating section 34 as section 35;

6 and

7 (2) by inserting after section 33 the following

8 new section:

9 ‘‘SEC. 34. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE

10 PILOT PROGRAM.

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.

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

17 means the association, established pursuant to sec18 tion 21(a)(3)(A), representing a majority of Small

19 Business Development Centers.

20 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS DEVEL21 OPMENT CENTER.—The term ‘participating Small

22 Business Development Center’ means a Small Busi23 ness Development Center participating in the pilot

24 program.
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1 ‘‘(4) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘pilot pro2 gram’ means the pilot 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 pilot program to pro20 vide regulatory compliance assistance to small business

21 concerns through participating Small Business Develop22 ment Centers, the Association, and Federal compliance

23 partnership programs.

24 ‘‘(c) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot

2 program, 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 regulations, provided

16 that such counseling is not considered to be the

17 practice of law in a State in which a Small

18 Business Development Center is located or in

19 which such counseling is conducted;

20 ‘‘(D) technical assistance; and

21 ‘‘(E) referrals to experts and other pro22 viders of compliance assistance.

23 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—

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

25 Small Business Development Center shall trans-
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1 mit to the Administrator a quarterly report that

2 includes—

3 ‘‘(i) a summary of the regulatory com4 pliance assistance provided by the center

5 under the pilot program; and

6 ‘‘(ii) any data and information ob7 tained by the center from a Federal agency

8 regarding regulatory compliance that the

9 agency intends to be disseminated to small

10 business concerns.

11 ‘‘(B) ELECTRONIC FORM.—Each report re12 ferred to in subparagraph (A) shall be trans13 mitted in electronic form.

14 ‘‘(C) INTERIM REPORTS.—During any time

15 period falling between the transmittal of quar16 terly reports, a participating Small Business

17 Development Center may transmit to the Ad18 ministrator any interim report containing data

19 or information considered by the center to be

20 necessary or useful.

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 pilot program, except that the

2 Administrator shall require such a disclosure if

3 ordered to do so by a court in any civil or

4 criminal enforcement action commenced by a

5 Federal or State agency.

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

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot

8 program, the Administrator, acting through the of9 fice of the Associate Administrator for Small Busi10 ness Development Centers, shall—

11 ‘‘(A) act as the repository of and clearing12 house for data and information submitted by

13 Small Business Development Centers; and

14 ‘‘(B) transmit to the President and to the

15 Committees on Small Business of the Senate

16 and House of Representatives an annual report

17 that includes—

18 ‘‘(i) a description of the types of as19 sistance provided by participating Small

20 Business Development Centers under the

21 pilot program;

22 ‘‘(ii) data regarding the number of

23 small business concerns that contacted

24 participating Small Business Development
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1 Centers regarding assistance under the

2 pilot program;

3 ‘‘(iii) data regarding the number of

4 small business concerns assisted by partici5 pating Small Business Development Cen6 ters under the pilot program;

7 ‘‘(iv) data and information regarding

8 outreach activities conducted by partici9 pating Small Business Development Cen10 ters under the pilot program, including any

11 activities conducted in partnership with

12 Federal agencies;

13 ‘‘(v) data and information regarding

14 each case known to the Administrator in

15 which one or more Small Business Devel16 opment Centers offered conflicting advice

17 or information regarding compliance with a

18 Federal regulation to one or more small

19 business concerns; and

20 ‘‘(vi) any recommendations for im21 provements in the regulation of small busi22 ness concerns.

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 pilot 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 pilot program, the Administrator may waive the

6 certification requirement set forth in paragraph (1)

7 if the Administrator determines that the center is

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

10 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall

11 take effect on October 1, 2000.

12 ‘‘(f) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING CENTERS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the

14 Association and giving substantial weight to the As15 sociation’s recommendations, the Administrator shall

16 select two Small Business Development Centers

17 from each of the following groups of States to par18 ticipate in the pilot program, except that the Admin19 istrator may not select two Small Business Develop20 ment Centers from the same State:

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

22 Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode

23 Island.

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

25 Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
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1 ‘‘(C) Group 3: Pennsylvania, Maryland,

2 West Virginia, Virginia, the District of Colum3 bia, and Delaware.

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

5 Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida,

6 Kentucky, and Tennessee.

7 ‘‘(E) Group 5: Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, In8 diana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

9 ‘‘(F) Group 6: Texas, New Mexico, Arkan10 sas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

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

12 and Kansas.

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

14 Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Utah.

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

16 Nevada, and Arizona.

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

18 Idaho, and Oregon.

19 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR SELECTION.—The Admin20 istrator shall make selections under this subsection

21 not later than 60 days after promulgation of regula22 tions under section 4.

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

24 (A) and (B) of section 21(a)(4) shall not apply to assist25 ance made available under the pilot program.
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1 ‘‘(h) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Not later than 3

2 years after the establishment of the pilot program, the

3 Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct

4 an evaluation of the pilot program and shall transmit to

5 the Administrator and to the Committees on Small Busi6 ness of the Senate and House of Representatives a report

7 containing the results of the evaluation along with any rec8 ommendations as to whether the pilot program, without

9 or without modification, should be extended to include the

10 participation of all Small Business Development Centers.

11 ‘‘(i) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—The Adminis12 trator may carry out the pilot program only with amounts

13 appropriated in advance specifically to carry out this sec14 tion.’’.

15 SEC. 5. PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.

16 After providing notice and an opportunity for com17 ment and after consulting with the Association (but not

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

19 this Act), the Administrator shall promulgate final regula20 tions to carry out this Act, including regulations that

21 establish—

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

23 provided under the pilot program;
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1 (2) standards relating to educational, technical,

2 and support services to be provided by participating

3 Small Business Development Centers;

4 (3) standards relating to any national service

5 delivery and support function to be provided by the

6 Association under the pilot program; and

7 (4) standards relating to any work plan that

8 the Administrator may require a participating Small

9 Business Development Center to develop.

Passed the House of Representatives September 26,

2000.

Attest:

Clerk.