PUBLIC LAW 107–198—JUNE 28, 2002 116 STAT. 729

Public Law 107–198

107th Congress

An Act

To amend chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, for the purpose of facilitating

compliance by small business concerns with certain Federal paperwork requirements, to establish a task force to examine information collection and dissemination, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Paperwork Relief

Act of 2002’’.

SEC. 2. FACILITATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL PAPERWORK

REQUIREMENTS.

(a) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE DIRECTOR OF OMB.—

Section 3504(c) of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred

to as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’), is amended—

(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting

a semicolon;

(2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period and inserting

a semicolon; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(6) publish in the Federal Register and make available

on the Internet (in consultation with the Small Business

Administration) on an annual basis a list of the compliance

assistance resources available to small businesses, with the

first such publication occurring not later than 1 year after

the date of enactment of the Small Business Paperwork Relief

Act of 2002.’’.

(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCY POINT OF CONTACT.—Section

3506 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at

the end the following:

‘‘(i)(1) In addition to the requirements described in subsection

(c), each agency shall, with respect to the collection of information

and the control of paperwork, establish 1 point of contact in the

agency to act as a liaison between the agency and small business

concerns (as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15

U.S.C. 632)).

‘‘(2) Each point of contact described under paragraph (1) shall

be established not later than 1 year after the date of enactment

of the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002.’’.

(c) ADDITIONAL REDUCTION OF PAPERWORK FOR CERTAIN SMALL

BUSINESSES.—Section 3506(c) of title 44, United States Code, is

amended—

Deadline.

Federal Register,

publication.

Internet.

Deadline.

44 USC 101 note.

Small Business

Paperwork Relief

Act of 2002.

June 28, 2002

[H.R. 327]

116 STAT. 730 PUBLIC LAW 107–198—JUNE 28, 2002

(1) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting

a semicolon;

(2) in paragraph (3)(J), by striking the period and inserting

‘‘; and’’; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(4) in addition to the requirements of this chapter

regarding the reduction of information collection burdens for

small business concerns (as defined in section 3 of the Small

Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), make efforts to further reduce

the information collection burden for small business concerns

with fewer than 25 employees.’’.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE ON INFORMATION COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code,

is amended—

(1) by redesignating section 3520 as section 3521; and

(2) by inserting after section 3519 the following:

‘‘§ 3520. Establishment of task force on information collection

and dissemination

‘‘(a) There is established a task force to study the feasibility

of streamlining requirements with respect to small business concerns regarding collection of information and strengthening dissemination of information (in this section referred to as the ‘task force’).

‘‘(b)(1) The Director shall determine—

‘‘(A) subject to the minimum requirements under paragraph

(2), the number of representatives to be designated under each

subparagraph of that paragraph; and

‘‘(B) the agencies to be represented under paragraph (2)(K).

‘‘(2) After all determinations are made under paragraph (1),

the members of the task force shall be designated by the head

of each applicable department or agency, and include—

‘‘(A) 1 representative of the Director, who shall convene

and chair the task force;

‘‘(B) not less than 2 representatives of the Department

of Labor, including 1 representative of the Bureau of Labor

Statistics and 1 representative of the Occupational Safety and

Health Administration;

‘‘(C) not less than 1 representative of the Environmental

Protection Agency;

‘‘(D) not less than 1 representative of the Department of

Transportation;

‘‘(E) not less than 1 representative of the Office of Advocacy

of the Small Business Administration;

‘‘(F) not less than 1 representative of the Internal Revenue

Service;

‘‘(G) not less than 2 representatives of the Department

of Health and Human Services, including 1 representative of

the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;

‘‘(H) not less than 1 representative of the Department

of Agriculture;

‘‘(I) not less than 1 representative of the Department of

the Interior;

‘‘(J) not less than 1 representative of the General Services

Administration; and

PUBLIC LAW 107–198—JUNE 28, 2002 116 STAT. 731

‘‘(K) not less than 1 representative of each of 2 agencies

not represented by representatives described under subparagraphs (A) through (J).

‘‘(c) The task force shall—

‘‘(1) identify ways to integrate the collection of information

across Federal agencies and programs and examine the feasibility and desirability of requiring each agency to consolidate

requirements regarding collections of information with respect

to small business concerns within and across agencies, without

negatively impacting the effectiveness of underlying laws and

regulations regarding such collections of information, in order

that each small business concern may submit all information

required by the agency—

‘‘(A) to 1 point of contact in the agency;

‘‘(B) in a single format, such as a single electronic

reporting system, with respect to the agency; and

‘‘(C) with synchronized reporting for information

submissions having the same frequency, such as synchronized quarterly, semiannual, and annual reporting

dates;

‘‘(2) examine the feasibility and benefits to small businesses

of publishing a list by the Director of the collections of information applicable to small business concerns (as defined in section

3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), organized—

‘‘(A) by North American Industry Classification System

code;

‘‘(B) by industrial sector description; or

‘‘(C) in another manner by which small business concerns can more easily identify requirements with which

those small business concerns are expected to comply;

‘‘(3) examine the savings, including cost savings, and

develop recommendations for implementing—

‘‘(A) systems for electronic submissions of information

to the Federal Government; and

‘‘(B) interactive reporting systems, including components that provide immediate feedback to assure that data

being submitted—

‘‘(i) meet requirements of format; and

‘‘(ii) are within the range of acceptable options

for each data field;

‘‘(4) make recommendations to improve the electronic

dissemination of information collected under Federal requirements;

‘‘(5) recommend a plan for the development of an interactive

Governmentwide system, available through the Internet, to

allow each small business to—

‘‘(A) better understand which Federal requirements

regarding collection of information (and, when possible,

which other Federal regulatory requirements) apply to that

particular business; and

‘‘(B) more easily comply with those Federal requirements; and

‘‘(6) in carrying out this section, consider opportunities

for the coordination—

‘‘(A) of Federal and State reporting requirements; and

‘‘(B) among the points of contact described under section 3506(i), such as to enable agencies to provide small

116 STAT. 732 PUBLIC LAW 107–198—JUNE 28, 2002

business concerns with contacts for information collection

requirements for other agencies. ‘‘(d) The task force shall— ‘‘(1) by publication in the Federal Register, provide notice

and an opportunity for public comment on each report in draft

form; and

‘‘(2) make provision in each report for the inclusion of—

‘‘(A) any additional or dissenting views of task force

members; and

‘‘(B) a summary of significant public comments.

‘‘(e) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the

Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the task force shall

submit a report of its findings under subsection (c) (1), (2), and

(3) to—

‘‘(1) the Director;

‘‘(2) the chairpersons and ranking minority members of—

‘‘(A) the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the

Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of

the Senate; and

‘‘(B) the Committee on Government Reform and the

Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives; and

‘‘(3) the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory

Enforcement Ombudsman designated under section 30(b) of

the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657(b)).

‘‘(f) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of

the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the task force

shall submit a report of its findings under subsection (c) (4) and

(5) to—

‘‘(1) the Director;

‘‘(2) the chairpersons and ranking minority members of—

‘‘(A) the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the

Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of

the Senate; and

‘‘(B) the Committee on Government Reform and the

Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives; and

‘‘(3) the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory

Enforcement Ombudsman designated under section 30(b) of

the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657(b)).

‘‘(g) The task force shall terminate after completion of its work.

‘‘(h) In this section, the term ‘small business concern’ has the

meaning given under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15

U.S.C. 632).’’.

(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of

sections for chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, is amended

by striking the item relating to section 3520 and inserting the

following:

‘‘3520. Establishment of task force on information collection and dissemination.

‘‘3521. Authorization of appropriations.’’.

SEC. 4. REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT REPORTS.

(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘agency’’ has the

meaning given that term under section 551 of title 5, United States

Code.

(b) IN GENERAL.—

Deadlines.

5 USC 601 note.

Termination

date.

Deadline.

Reports.

Deadline.

Reports.

Federal Register,

publication.

Notice.

PUBLIC LAW 107–198—JUNE 28, 2002 116 STAT. 733

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 327 (S. 1271):

SENATE REPORTS: No. 107–153 accompanying S. 1271 (Comm. on Governmental

Affairs).

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:

Vol. 147 (2001): Mar. 14, considered and passed House.

Vol. 148 (2002): May 22, considered and passed Senate, amended.

June 18, House concurred in Senate amendments.

WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 38 (2002):

June 28, Presidential statement.

Æ

(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 2003,

each agency shall submit an initial report to— (A) the chairpersons and ranking minority members

of—

(i) the Committee on Governmental Affairs and

the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and

(ii) the Committee on Government Reform and

the Committee on Small Business of the House of

Representatives; and

(B) the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory

Enforcement Ombudsman designated under section 30(b)

of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657(b)).

(2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 2004,

each agency shall submit a final report to the members and

officer described under paragraph (1) (A) and (B).

(3) CONTENT.—The initial report under paragraph (1) shall

include information with respect to the 1-year period beginning

on October 1, 2002, and the final report under paragraph

(2) shall include information with respect to the 1-year period

beginning on October 1, 2003, on each of the following:

(A) The number of enforcement actions in which a

civil penalty is assessed.

(B) The number of enforcement actions in which a

civil penalty is assessed against a small entity.

(C) The number of enforcement actions described under

subparagraphs (A) and (B) in which the civil penalty is

reduced or waived.

(D) The total monetary amount of the reductions or

waivers referred to under subparagraph (C).

(4) DEFINITIONS IN REPORTS.—Each report under this subsection shall include definitions selected at the discretion of

the reporting agency of the terms ‘‘enforcement actions’’, ‘‘reduction or waiver’’, and ‘‘small entity’’ as used in the report.

Approved June 28, 2002.