II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2091

To provide for small business and agriculture regulatory relief.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 18, 1996

Mr. PRESSLER (for himself and Mr. HARKIN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,

Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To provide for small business and agriculture regulatory

relief.

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 and

5 Farm Transportation Regulatory Relief Act’’.

6 TITLE I—SMALL BUSINESS

7 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

8 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Regu9 latory Relief Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 102. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) the Secretary of Transportation is consider4 ing, as part of a proposed rulemaking, expanding the

5 exceptions provided for transportation of small quan6 tities of hazardous materials from unnecessary and

7 burdensome regulations;

8 (2) certain businesses, and especially small

9 businesses, transport small quantities of some haz10 ardous materials which pose minimal risks to public

11 safety and property;

12 (3) small businesses are critical in creating jobs

13 in the United States economy and can be signifi14 cantly affected by Federal regulations; and

15 (4) regulatory relief for small businesses trans16 porting relatively small quantities of hazardous ma17 terials should be promptly acted on and the Sec18 retary has stated an intention to issue a final rule

19 to provide this regulatory relief by December 31,

20 1996.

21 SEC. 103. MATERIALS OF TRADE EXCEPTIONS FROM HAZ22 ARDOUS MATERIALS TRANSPORTATION RE23 QUIREMENTS.

24 (a) DEADLINE FOR ISSUANCE OF FINAL RULE.—Not

25 later than December 31, 1996, the Secretary of Transpor26 tation shall issue, under the rulemaking proceeding under
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1 docket number HM–200, entitled ‘‘Hazardous Materials

2 in Intrastate Transportation’’, a final rule relating to ma3 terials of trade exceptions from chapter 51 of title 49,

4 United States Code, and regulations issued pursuant

5 thereto. The final rule shall substantially address the ma6 terials of trade exceptions contained in the proposed rule

7 relating to hazardous materials in intrastate transpor8 tation published in the Federal Register on March 20,

9 1996 (61 Fed. Reg. 11489-11490) and shall take into ac10 count any modifications of the proposed rule that are nec11 essary and appropriate to reflect comments received by the

12 Secretary on the proposed rule.

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The final rule issued under

14 subsection (a) shall become effective not later than 90

15 days after the date of publication of the final rule.

16 (c) TRAINING OF INSPECTORS.—Before the effective

17 date of the final rule issued under subsection (a), the Sec18 retary shall provide sufficient training to inspectors nec19 essary to implement the final rule.

20 TITLE II—AGRICULTURE

21 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

22 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Farm Transportation

23 Regulatory Relief Act’’.
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1 SEC. 202. LIMITATION ON REGULATION OF AGRICULTURAL

2 PRODUCTION MATERIAL TRANSPORTATION;

3 EXISTING STATE EXEMPTIONS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any regulation issued by the De5 partment of Transportation relating to the transportation

6 of agricultural production material as a hazardous mate7 rial under chapter 51 of title 49, United States Code, shall

8 not prohibit a State from—

9 (1) providing an exception from the hazardous

10 materials transportation regulations for farmers and

11 retailers who are providing not-for-hire intrastate

12 transportation of an agricultural production material

13 from a source of retail supply to a farm, from a

14 farm to another farm, from a field to another field

15 on a farm, or from the farm back to the source of

16 retail supply, as long as any such exception is not

17 inconsistent with the tolerance guidelines and proce18 dures specified in Appendix C to Part 350 of the

19 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49

20 C.F.R. 350.1 et seq.); or

21 (2) maintaining an exception, under State law

22 or regulation, in effect on the date on which the

23 rules contained in the Department of Transportation

24 regulation take effect.

25 (b) AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION MATERIAL DE26 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘agricultural production
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1 material’’ means hazardous material, including pesticides,

2 fertilizers, fuels, and other products used to support the

3 production of an agricultural commodity.

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