I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 535 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 14, 2009 

Mr. NEUGEBAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 

Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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 ‘‘Working Small Busi5 ness Regulatory Relief Act’’. 


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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’ means a 

10 business concern that meets the requirements of sec11 tion 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

12 632(a)) and the regulations promulgated under that 

13 section. 

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

15 violation by a small business concern of a require16 ment regarding the collection of information by an 

17 agency, the head of such agency shall not impose a 

18 civil fine on the small business concern unless the 

19 head of the agency determines that— 

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

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

23 ‘‘(B) 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 ‘‘(C) the violation was not corrected on or 

2 before the date that is 6 months after the date 

3 of receipt by the small business concern of noti4 fication of the violation in writing from the 

5 agency; or 

6 ‘‘(D) 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)(D) that a violation presents a danger 

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

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

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 small business owner of notification of the 

20 violation in writing. 

21 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 

22 whether to provide a small business concern 

23 with 24 hours to correct a violation under sub24 paragraph (A), the head of the agency shall 


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1 take into account all of the facts and cir2 cumstances regarding 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 the 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 provide the small business 

20 concern with 24 hours to correct the violation 

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

22 shall notify Congress regarding such determina23 tion not later than the date that is 60 days 

24 after the date that the civil fine is imposed by 

25 the agency. 


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

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

3 not apply to any violation by a small business 

4 concern of a requirement regarding collection of 

5 information by an agency if such small business 

6 concern previously violated any requirement re7 garding collection of information by that agen8 cy. 

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

10 making a determination under subparagraph 

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

12 account any violation of a requirement regard13 ing collection of information by another agen14 cy.’’. 

Æ 


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