II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1411 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 15, 2005 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. BOND, Mr. BURNS, 

Mr. LEAHY, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. CARPER, Mr. BINGAMAN, and Mr. 

ROCKEFELLER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Small Busi5 ness Regulatory Assistance Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to establish a 4-year pilot 

3 program to— 

4 (1) provide confidential assistance to small 

5 business concerns; 

6 (2) provide small business concerns with the in7 formation necessary to improve their rate of compli8 ance with Federal and State regulations derived 

9 from Federal law; 

10 (3) create a partnership among Federal agen11 cies to increase outreach efforts to small business 

12 concerns with respect to regulatory compliance; 

13 (4) provide a mechanism for unbiased feedback 

14 to Federal agencies on the regulatory environment 

15 for small business concerns; and 

16 (5) expand the services delivered by the Small 

17 Business Development Centers under section 

18 21(c)(3)(H) of the Small Business Act to improve 

19 access to programs to assist small business concerns 

20 with regulatory compliance. 

21 SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PILOT 

22 PROGRAM. 

23 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi24 nitions shall apply: 

25 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra26 tion’’ means the Small Business Administration. 
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1 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi3 ness Administration, acting through the Associate 

4 Administrator for Small Business Development Cen5 ters. 

6 (3) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘‘association’’ 

7 means the association established pursuant to sec8 tion 21(a)(3)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)(A)) representing a majority of 

10 Small Business Development Centers. 

11 (4) PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOP12 MENT CENTER.—The term ‘‘participating Small 

13 Business Development Center’’ means a Small Busi14 ness Development Center participating in the pilot 

15 program established under this Act. 

16 (5) REGULATORY COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE.—

17 The term ‘‘regulatory compliance assistance’’ means 

18 assistance provided by a Small Business Develop19 ment Center to a small business concern to assist 

20 and facilitate the concern in complying with Federal 

21 and State regulatory requirements derived from 

22 Federal law. 

23 (6) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN24 TER.—The term ‘‘Small Business Development Cen25 ter’’ means a Small Business Development Center 
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1 described in section 21 of the Small Business Act 

2 (15 U.S.C. 648). 

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

4 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

5 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 

6 American Samoa, and Guam. 

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

8 the Administrator shall establish a pilot program to pro9 vide regulatory compliance assistance to small business 

10 concerns through participating Small Business Develop11 ment Centers. 

12 (c) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.— 

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

14 program established under this section, the Adminis15 trator shall enter into arrangements with partici16 pating Small Business Development Centers under 

17 which such Centers shall— 

18 (A) provide access to information and re19 sources, including current Federal and State 

20 nonpunitive compliance and technical assistance 

21 programs similar to those established under 

22 section 507 of the Clean Air Act Amendments 

23 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 7661f); 

24 (B) conduct training and educational ac25 tivities; 
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1 (C) offer confidential, free-of-charge, one2 on-one, in-depth counseling to the owners and 

3 operators of small business concerns regarding 

4 compliance with Federal and State regulations 

5 derived from Federal law, provided that such 

6 counseling is not considered to be the practice 

7 of law in a State in which a Small Business De8 velopment Center is located or in which such 

9 counseling is conducted; 

10 (D) provide technical assistance; 

11 (E) give referrals to experts and other pro12 viders of compliance assistance who meet such 

13 standards for educational, technical, and profes14 sional competency as are established by the Ad15 ministrator; and 

16 (F) form partnerships with Federal compli17 ance programs. 

18 (2) REPORTS.—Each participating Small Busi19 ness Development Center shall transmit to the Ad20 ministrator and the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 

21 the Small Business Administration, as the Adminis22 trator may direct, a quarterly report that includes— 

23 (A) a summary of the regulatory compli24 ance assistance provided by the Center under 

25 the pilot program; 
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1 (B) the number of small business concerns 

2 assisted under the pilot program; and 

3 (C) for every fourth report, any regulatory 

4 compliance information based on Federal law 

5 that a Federal or State agency has provided to 

6 the Center during the preceding year and re7 quested that it be disseminated to small busi8 ness concerns. 

9 (d) ELIGIBILITY.—A Small Business Development 

10 Center shall be eligible to receive assistance under the 

11 pilot program established under this section only if such 

12 Center is certified under section 21(k)(2) of the Small 

13 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(k)(2)). 

14 (e) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING STATE PRO15 GRAMS.— 

16 (1) GROUPINGS.— 

17 (A) CONSULTATION.—In consultation with 

18 the association, and giving substantial weight to 

19 the recommendations of the association, the Ad20 ministrator shall select the Small Business De21 velopment Center Programs of 2 States from 

22 each of the groups of States described in sub23 paragraphs (B) through (K) to participate in 

24 the pilot program established under this sec25 tion. 
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1 (B) GROUP 1.—Group 1 shall consist of 

2 Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Con3 necticut, Vermont, and Rhode Island. 

4 (C) GROUP 2.—Group 2 shall consist of 

5 New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the 

6 Virgin Islands. 

7 (D) GROUP 3.—Group 3 shall consist of 

8 Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Vir9 ginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware. 

10 (E) GROUP 4.—Group 4 shall consist of 

11 Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Caro12 lina, Mississippi, Florida, Kentucky, and Ten13 nessee. 

14 (F) GROUP 5.—Group 5 shall consist of Il15 linois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and 

16 Minnesota. 

17 (G) GROUP 6.—Group 6 shall consist of 

18 Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and 

19 Louisiana. 

20 (H) GROUP 7.—Group 7 shall consist of 

21 Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. 

22 (I) GROUP 8.—Group 8 shall consist of 

23 Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Da24 kota, Montana, and Utah. 
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1 (J) GROUP 9.—Group 9 shall consist of 

2 California, Guam, American Samoa, Hawaii, 

3 Nevada, and Arizona. 

4 (K) GROUP 10.—Group 10 shall consist of 

5 Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Oregon. 

6 (2) DEADLINE FOR SELECTION.—The Adminis7 trator shall make selections under this subsection 

8 not later than 60 days after the date of publication 

9 of final regulations under section 4. 

10 (f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Subparagraphs (A) 

11 and (B) of section 21(a)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)) shall apply to assistance made available 

13 under the pilot program established under this section. 

14 (g) GRANT AMOUNTS.—Each State program selected 

15 to receive a grant under subsection (e) shall be eligible 

16 to receive a grant in an amount equal to— 

17 (1) not less than $150,000 per fiscal year; and 

18 (2) not more than $300,000 per fiscal year. 

19 (h) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—The Comptroller 

20 General of the United States shall— 

21 (1) not later than 30 months after the date of 

22 disbursement of the first grant under the pilot pro23 gram established under this section, initiate an eval24 uation of the pilot program; and 
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1 (2) not later than 6 months after the date of 

2 the initiation of the evaluation under paragraph (1), 

3 transmit to the Administrator, the Committee on 

4 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate, 

5 and the Committee on Small Business of the House 

6 of Representatives, a report containing— 

7 (A) the results of the evaluation; and 

8 (B) any recommendations as to whether 

9 the pilot program, with or without modification, 

10 should be extended to include the participation 

11 of all Small Business Development Centers. 

12 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

14 appropriated to carry out this section— 

15 (A) $5,000,000 for the first fiscal year be16 ginning after the date of enactment of this Act; 

17 and 

18 (B) $5,000,000 for each of the 3 fiscal 

19 years following the fiscal year described in sub20 paragraph (A). 

21 (2) LIMITATION ON USE OF OTHER FUNDS.—

22 The Administrator may carry out the pilot program 

23 established under this section only with amounts ap24 propriated in advance specifically to carry out this 

25 section. 
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1 (j) TERMINATION.—The Small Business Regulatory 

2 Assistance Pilot Program established under this section 

3 shall terminate 4 years after the date of disbursement of 

4 the first grant under the pilot program. 

5 SEC. 4. RULEMAKING. 

6 After providing notice and an opportunity for com7 ment, and after consulting with the association (but not 

8 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

9 Act), the Administrator shall promulgate final regulations 

10 to carry out this Act, including regulations that estab11 lish— 

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

13 provided under the pilot program established under 

14 this Act; 

15 (2) standards relating to educational, technical, 

16 and support services to be provided by participating 

17 Small Business Development Centers; 

18 (3) standards relating to any national service 

19 delivery and support function to be provided by the 

20 association under the pilot program; 

21 (4) standards relating to any work plan that 

22 the Administrator may require a participating Small 

23 Business Development Center to develop; and 

24 (5) standards relating to the educational, tech25 nical, and professional competency of any expert or 
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1 other assistance provider to whom a small business 

2 concern may be referred for compliance assistance 

3 under the pilot program.

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