II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1957

To provide regulatory assistance to small business concerns, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 3, 1998

Mr. BURNS (for himself, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. LEAHY, Mr.

KERREY, Mr. D’AMATO, Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mr. ROBERTS, and Mr.

HELMS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Small Business

A BILL

To provide regulatory 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 ‘‘Small Business Regu5 latory Assistance Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to establish a system of

8 confidential voluntary compliance with Federal regulations

9 that will—
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1 (1) provide a low-cost process to significantly

2 improve voluntary compliance by small business con3 cerns with Federal regulations;

4 (2) improve the level of outreach to the small

5 business community; and

6 (3) provide for unbiased feedback to Federal

7 agencies on the small business regulatory environ8 ment.

9 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

10 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637 et seq.) is

11 amended by inserting after section 21A the following:

12 ‘‘SEC. 21B. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY RELIEF.

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

14 ‘‘(1) ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR.—The term

15 ‘Assistant Administrator’ means the Assistant Ad16 ministrator for Small Business Development Centers

17 of the Administration.

18 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE PLAN.—The

19 term ‘compliance assistance plan’ means a 5-year

20 plan jointly developed and revised annually by each

21 participating agency, the Assistant Administrator,

22 and representatives of an association representing a

23 majority of small business development centers, for

24 the establishment and maintenance of the system of

25 voluntary compliance.
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1 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING AGENCY.—The term ‘par2 ticipating agency’ means—

3 ‘‘(A) the Internal Revenue Service of the

4 Department of the Treasury;

5 ‘‘(B) the Environmental Protection Agen6 cy; and

7 ‘‘(C) the Department of Labor.

8 ‘‘(4) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN9 TER.—The term ‘small business development cen10 ter’—

11 ‘‘(A) means a small business development

12 center established pursuant to section 21; and

13 ‘‘(B) includes a consortium of 2 or more

14 small business development centers.

15 ‘‘(5) SYSTEM OF VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE.—

16 The term ‘system of voluntary compliance’ means a

17 system under which small business development cen18 ters provide confidential assistance to 1 or more

19 small business concerns in achieving voluntary com20 pliance with regulatory requirements imposed on

21 small business concerns by a participating agency.

22 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF THE PARTICIPATING AGENCY—

23 ‘‘(1) COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE PLAN.—Not

24 later than 90 days after the enactment of the Small

25 Business Regulatory Assistance Act of 1998 and an-
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1 nually thereafter, each participating agency, the As2 sistant Administrator, and representatives of an as3 sociation representing a majority of small business

4 development centers, shall agree to a compliance as5 sistance plan.

6 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF THE COMPLIANCE ASSIST7 ANCE PLAN.—The compliance assistance plan agreed

8 to under paragraph (1) shall include—

9 ‘‘(A) the regulatory compliance objectives

10 of each participating agency;

11 ‘‘(B) the regulatory compliance priorities

12 of each participating agency;

13 ‘‘(C) identification of the types of services,

14 materials, and resources to be developed or

15 used by each participating agency;

16 ‘‘(D) identification of facilities, expertise,

17 and other resources of each participating agen18 cy that may be accessed by the Assistant Ad19 ministrator, a small business development cen20 ter, or a small business concern participating in

21 the system of voluntary compliance established

22 under this section; and

23 ‘‘(E) performance outcome measures and

24 evaluation criteria to be used by each partici25 pating agency in evaluating the effectiveness of
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1 the system of voluntary compliance established

2 under this section.

3 ‘‘(c) DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF SMALL BUSINESS

4 DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION

6 OF THE COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE PLAN.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Based on the compli8 ance assistance plan agreed to under subsection

9 (b)(1), not later than 180 days after the date

10 of enactment of the Small Business Regulatory

11 Assistance Act of 1998, the Assistant Adminis12 trator, with the agreement of an association

13 representing a majority of small business devel14 opment centers, shall develop and publish

15 guidelines for the establishment by small busi16 ness development centers of the system of vol17 untary compliance in accordance with this sec18 tion.

19 ‘‘(B) GUIDELINE REQUIREMENTS.—The

20 guidelines published under subparagraph (A)

21 shall—

22 ‘‘(i) establish priorities for the types

23 of assistance to be provided to small busi24 ness concerns under the system of vol25 untary compliance established by small
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1 business development centers under this

2 section; and

3 ‘‘(ii) establish standards relating to

4 educational, technical, and support services

5 required by small business development

6 centers to provide a system of voluntary

7 compliance.

8 ‘‘(C) PROGRAM DELIVERY.—The guidelines

9 established under subparagraph (A) shall—

10 ‘‘(i) require that the assistance to

11 small business concerns participating in

12 the system of voluntary compliance under

13 this section to be carried out by small busi14 ness development centers, which shall, to

15 the maximum extent practicable, access

16 other existing Federal and State nonpuni17 tive, compliance and technical assistance

18 programs, including, but not limited to, the

19 technical and environmental compliance as20 sistance programs established under sec21 tion 507 of the Clean Air Act Amendments

22 of 1990; and

23 ‘‘(ii) provide that certain national

24 service delivery and support requirements

25 be carried out under contract with an asso-
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1 ciation representing the majority of small

2 business development centers.

3 ‘‘(D) ISSUANCE OF GRANT.—Not later

4 than 150 days after the submission of work

5 plans under subsection (d)(1), the Assistant

6 Administrator shall make a grant to each small

7 business development center to carry out the

8 system of voluntary compliance.

9 ‘‘(d) DUTIES OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

10 CENTERS.—

11 ‘‘(1) WORK PLAN.—Beginning not later that 60

12 days after the date on which the guidelines are pub13 lished by the Assistant Administrator under sub14 section (c)(1)(A), each small business development

15 center shall, on an annual basis, submit to the As16 sistant Administrator a work plan under which the

17 small business development center will carry out the

18 system of voluntary compliance in accordance with

19 such guidelines.

20 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE PROVIDED.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara22 graph (B), the assistance to small business con23 cerns participating in the system of voluntary

24 compliance shall include—

25 ‘‘(i) access to information and re26 sources;
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1 ‘‘(ii) training and educational activi2 ties;

3 ‘‘(iii) confidential, free-of-charge, one4 on-one in-depth counseling;

5 ‘‘(iv) technical assistance; and

6 ‘‘(v) referrals to experts.

7 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR LEGAL SERVICES.—

8 No small business development center (or any

9 person relied on by a small business develop10 ment center in providing assistance under this

11 section) shall provide legal services, other than

12 the provision of basic business law information,

13 without the endorsement of the State Bar Asso14 ciation of each State in which the small busi15 ness development center (or any person relied

16 on by a small business development center in

17 providing assistance under this section) are pro18 viding services under this section.

19 ‘‘(3) REPORTS; RECOMMENDATIONS—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each small business

21 development center receiving assistance under

22 this section shall, on an annual basis, submit to

23 the Assistant Administrator a report on the as24 sistance provided by the small business develop25 ment center under this section.
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1 ‘‘(B) PRIVACY PROTECTION.—No small

2 business development center (or any person re3 lied on by a small business development center

4 in providing assistance under this section) shall

5 be required to disclose the name or address of

6 any small business concern participating in the

7 system of voluntary compliance under this sec8 tion.

9 ‘‘(C) AUDITS.—Subparagraph (B) shall

10 not be construed to prevent the Assistant Ad11 ministrator or the Inspector General of the Ad12 ministration from auditing a small business de13 velopment center (or any person relied on by a

14 small business development center in providing

15 assistance under this section).

16 ‘‘(e) EVALUATIONS.—

17 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Assistant Admin18 istrator shall, on an annual basis, submit to the

19 Committees on Small Business of the Senate and

20 the House of Representatives and to the Regulatory

21 Fairness Board established under section 29 a re22 port, which shall include—

23 ‘‘(A) a description of the types of assist24 ance provided by small business development
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1 centers to small business concerns participating

2 in the system of voluntary compliance;

3 ‘‘(B) the level of outreach to small business

4 concerns achieved by small business develop5 ment centers under this section; and

6 ‘‘(C) recommendations for improvements in

7 the regulation of small business concerns par8 ticipating in the system of voluntary compli9 ance.

10 ‘‘(2) INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ASSESSMENT.—

11 Upon the expiration of the 3-year period beginning

12 on the date on which a majority of small business

13 development centers have received grants to begin

14 implementation of the work plans described under

15 subsection (d)(1), the Comptroller General of the

16 United States shall provide for an evaluation of the

17 system of voluntary compliance established under

18 this section which shall be submitted to the Commit19 tees on Small Business of the Senate and the House

20 of Representatives.

21 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

23 the total amount received under this section in any

24 fiscal year by small business development centers lo25 cated in a State shall not exceed the sum of—
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1 ‘‘(A) the State’s pro rata share of the

2 amount made available under subsection (g),

3 based on the population of the State as com4 pared to the total population in the United

5 States; and

6 ‘‘(B) $300,000.

7 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Amounts made available to

8 a small business development center by the Adminis9 tration or another agency to carry out section

10 21(c)(3)(G) shall not be included in the calculation

11 of maximum funding of a small business develop12 ment center under paragraph (1).

13 ‘‘(3) EXEMPTION FROM MATCHING REQUIRE14 MENT.—Amounts made available to a small business

15 development center under this section shall not be

16 subject to the matching funds requirements or the

17 eligibility requirements of section 21(a)(4).

18 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), after September 30, 2000, the As21 sistant Administrator may not make any

22 amount available under this section to a small

23 business development center, unless the small

24 business development center (or with respect to

25 a consortium of small business development
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1 centers receiving assistance under this section

2 as a single grantee, each center within consor3 tium) has been approved under the certification

4 program under section 21(k)(2).

5 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—The Associate Adminis6 trator may waive the requirements of subpara7 graph (A) with respect to a small business de8 velopment center if the Associate Administrator

9 determines that the small business development

10 center is making a good faith effort to obtain

11 the certification described in subparagraph (A).

12 ‘‘(5) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than

13 2 percent of the amount made available under sub14 section (g) in each fiscal year may be used by the

15 Assistant Administrator for the costs of administra16 tion, evaluation, and reporting under this section.

17 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

18 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec19 tion—

20 ‘‘(1) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 1999;

21 ‘‘(2) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2000;

22 ‘‘(3) $62,000,000 for fiscal year 2001; and

23 ‘‘(4) $77,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.’’.

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