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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 723

To provide regulatory amnesty for defendants who are unable to comply

with federally enforceable requirements because of factors related to

a Y2K system failure.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 25, 1999

Mr. INHOFE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To provide regulatory amnesty for defendants who are unable

to comply with federally enforceable requirements because of factors related to a Y2K system failure.

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 ‘‘Y2K Regulatory Am5 nesty Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) Y2K FAILURE.—The term ‘‘Y2K failure’’

9 means any failure by any device or system (including
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1 any computer system and any microchip or inte2 grated circuit embedded in another device or prod3 uct), or any software, firmware, or other set or col4 lection of processing instructions, however con5 structed, in processing, calculating, comparing, se6 quencing, displaying, storing, transmitting, or receiv7 ing date-related data, including—

8 (A) the failure to accurately administer or

9 account for transitions or comparisons from,

10 into, and between the 20th and 21st centuries,

11 and between 1999 and 2000; or

12 (B) the failure to recognize or accurately

13 process any specific date, and the failure accu14 rately to account for the status of the year

15 2000 as a leap year.

16 (2) Y2K UPSET.—The term ‘‘Y2K upset’’—

17 (A) means an exceptional incident involv18 ing temporary noncompliance with applicable

19 federally enforceable requirements because of

20 factors related to a Y2K failure that are beyond

21 the reasonable control of the defendant charged

22 with compliance; and

23 (B) does not include—

24 (i) noncompliance with applicable fed25 erally enforceable requirements that con-
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1 stitutes or would create an imminent

2 threat to public health or safety;

3 (ii) noncompliance to the extent

4 caused by operational error or negligence;

5 (iii) lack of reasonable preventative

6 maintenance; or

7 (iv) lack of preparedness for Y2K.

8 SEC. 3. CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR A DEMONSTRATION

9 OF A Y2K UPSET.

10 A defendant who wishes to establish the affirmative

11 defense of Y2K upset shall demonstrate, through properly

12 signed, contemporaneous operating logs, or other relevant

13 evidence that—

14 (1) the defendant previously made a good faith

15 effort to effectively remediate Y2K problems;

16 (2) a Y2K upset occurred as a result of a Y2K

17 system failure or other Y2K emergency;

18 (3) noncompliance with the applicable federally

19 enforceable requirement was unavoidable in the face

20 of a Y2K emergency or was intended to prevent the

21 disruption of critical functions or services that could

22 result in the harm of life or property;

23 (4) upon identification of noncompliance the de24 fendant invoking the defense began immediate ac-
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1 tions to remediate any violation of federally enforce2 able requirements; and

3 (5) the defendant submitted notice to the ap4 propriate Federal regulatory authority of a Y2K

5 upset within 72 hours from the time that it became

6 aware of the upset.

7 SEC. 4. GRANT OF A Y2K UPSET.

8 Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the Y2K

9 upset defense shall be a complete defense to any action

10 brought as a result of noncompliance with federally en11 forceable requirements for any defendant who establishes

12 by a preponderance of the evidence that the conditions set

13 forth in section 3 are met.

14 SEC. 5. LENGTH OF Y2K UPSET.

15 The maximum allowable length of the Y2K upset

16 shall be not more than 30 days beginning on the date of

17 the upset unless granted specific relief by the appropriate

18 regulatory authority.

19 SEC. 6. VIOLATION OF A Y2K UPSET.

20 Fraudulent use of the Y2K upset defense provided

21 for in this Act shall be subject to penalties provided in

22 section 1001 of title 18, United States Code.

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