II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 128 

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 

JANUARY 25 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 2011 

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 Relief Act of 2011’’. 


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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’ has the 

10 meaning given that term under section 3 of the 

11 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

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

13 violation by a small business concern of a require14 ment regarding the collection of information by an 

15 agency, the head of the agency shall not impose a 

16 civil fine on the small business concern unless the 

17 head of the agency determines that— 

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

19 cause serious harm to the public interest; 

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

21 impede or interfere with the detection of crimi22 nal activity; 

23 ‘‘(C) the violation is a violation of an inter24 nal revenue law or a law concerning the assess25 ment or collection of any tax, debt, revenue, or 

26 receipt; 


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

2 before the date that is 6 months after the date 

3 on which the small business concern receives 

4 notification of the violation in writing from the 

5 agency; or 

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

7 the violation presents a danger to the public 

8 health or safety. 

9 ‘‘(3) DANGER TO PUBLIC HEALTH OR SAFE10 TY.— 

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

12 the head of an agency determines under para13 graph (2)(E) that a violation presents a danger 

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

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

16 determine not to impose a civil fine on the 

17 small business concern if the violation is cor18 rected not later than 24 hours after receipt by 

19 the owner of the small business concern of noti20 fication of the violation in writing. 

21 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 

22 whether to allow a small business concern 24 

23 hours to correct a violation under subparagraph 

24 (A), the head of an agency shall take into acVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:47 Jan 29, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S128.IS S128

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1 count all of the facts and circumstances regard2 ing the violation, including— 

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

4 violation, including whether the violation is 

5 technical or inadvertent or involves willful 

6 or criminal conduct; 

7 ‘‘(ii) whether the small business con8 cern has made a good faith effort to com9 ply with applicable laws and to remedy the 

10 violation within the shortest practicable pe11 riod of time; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) whether the small business con13 cern has obtained a significant economic 

14 benefit from the violation. 

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

16 in which the head of an agency imposes a civil 

17 fine on a small business concern for a violation 

18 that presents a danger to the public health or 

19 safety and does not allow the small business 

20 concern 24 hours to correct the violation under 

21 subparagraph (A), the head of the agency shall 

22 notify Congress regarding the determination 

23 not later than 60 days after the date on which 

24 the civil fine is imposed by the agency. 

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


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

2 not apply to any violation by a small business 

3 concern of a requirement regarding collection of 

4 information by an agency if the small business 

5 concern previously violated any requirement re6 garding collection of information by the agency. 

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

8 making a determination under subparagraph 

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

10 account any violation of a requirement regard11 ing collection of information by another agen12 cy.’’. 

Æ 


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