107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 203

AN ACT

To amend the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration

to establish a pilot program to provide regulatorycompliance assistance to small business concerns,and for other purposes.
107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 203

AN ACT

To amend the Small Business Act 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Small Busi3 ness Regulatory Assistance Act of 2001’’.

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

5 The purpose of this Act is to establish a pilot pro6 gram to—

7 (1) provide confidential assistance to small

8 business concerns;

9 (2) provide small business concerns with the in10 formation necessary to improve their rate of compli11 ance with Federal and State regulations;

12 (3) create a partnership among Federal agen13 cies to increase outreach efforts to small business

14 concerns with respect to regulatory compliance;

15 (4) provide a mechanism for unbiased feedback

16 to Federal agencies on the regulatory environment

17 for small business concerns; and

18 (5) utilize the service delivery network of Small

19 Business Development Centers to improve access of

20 small business concerns to programs to assist them

21 with regulatory compliance.

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

23 In this Act, the definitions set forth in section 36(a)

24 of the Small Business Act (as added by section 4 of this

25 Act) shall apply.
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1 SEC. 4. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PILOT

2 PROGRAM.

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

4 amended—

5 (1) by redesignating section 36 as section 37;

6 and

7 (2) by inserting after section 35 the following

8 new section:

9 ‘‘SEC. 36. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE

10 PILOT PROGRAM.

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following

12 definitions apply:

13 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis14 trator’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi15 ness Administration, acting through the Associate

16 Administrator for Small Business Development Cen17 ters.

18 ‘‘(2) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘Association’

19 means the association, established pursuant to sec20 tion 21(a)(3)(A), representing a majority of Small

21 Business Development Centers.

22 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS DEVEL23 OPMENT CENTER.—The term ‘participating Small

24 Business Development Center’ means a Small Busi25 ness Development Center participating in the pilot

26 program.
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1 ‘‘(4) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘pilot pro2 gram’ means the pilot program established under

3 this section.

4 ‘‘(5) REGULATORY COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE.—

5 The term ‘regulatory compliance assistance’ means

6 assistance provided by a Small Business Develop7 ment Center to a small business concern to enable

8 the concern to comply with Federal regulatory re9 quirements.

10 ‘‘(6) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN11 TER.—The term ‘Small Business Development Cen12 ter’ means a Small Business Development Center

13 described in section 21.

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

15 the several States, the District of Columbia, the

16 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,

17 and Guam.

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

19 the Administrator shall establish a pilot program to pro20 vide regulatory compliance assistance to small business

21 concerns through participating Small Business Develop22 ment Centers, the Association, and Federal compliance

23 partnership programs.

24 ‘‘(c) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot

2 program, the Administrator shall enter into arrange3 ments with participating Small Business Develop4 ment Centers under which such centers will

5 provide—

6 ‘‘(A) access to information and resources,

7 including current Federal and State nonpuni8 tive compliance and technical assistance pro9 grams similar to those established under section

10 507 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990;

11 ‘‘(B) training and educational activities;

12 ‘‘(C) confidential, free-of-charge, one-on13 one, in-depth counseling to the owners and op14 erators of small business concerns regarding

15 compliance with Federal and State regulations,

16 provided that such counseling is not considered

17 to be the practice of law in a State in which a

18 Small Business Development Center is located

19 or in which such counseling is conducted;

20 ‘‘(D) technical assistance; and

21 ‘‘(E) referrals to experts and other pro22 viders of compliance assistance who meet such

23 standards for educational, technical, and profes24 sional competency as are established by the Ad25 ministrator.
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1 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each participating

3 Small Business Development Center shall trans4 mit to the Administrator a quarterly report that

5 includes—

6 ‘‘(i) a summary of the regulatory com7 pliance assistance provided by the center

8 under the pilot program; and

9 ‘‘(ii) any data and information ob10 tained by the center from a Federal agency

11 regarding regulatory compliance that the

12 agency intends to be disseminated to small

13 business concerns.

14 ‘‘(B) ELECTRONIC FORM.—Each report re15 ferred to in subparagraph (A) shall be trans16 mitted in electronic form.

17 ‘‘(C) INTERIM REPORTS.—During any time

18 period falling between the transmittal of quar19 terly reports, a participating Small Business

20 Development Center may transmit to the Ad21 ministrator any interim report containing data

22 or information considered by the center to be

23 necessary or useful.

24 ‘‘(D) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE RE25 QUIREMENTS.—The Administrator may not re-
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1 quire a Small Business Development Center to

2 disclose the name or address of any small busi3 ness concern that received or is receiving assist4 ance under the pilot program, except that the

5 Administrator shall require such a disclosure if

6 ordered to do so by a court in any civil or

7 criminal enforcement action commenced by a

8 Federal or State agency.

9 ‘‘(d) DATA REPOSITORY AND CLEARINGHOUSE.—

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

11 program, the Administrator shall—

12 ‘‘(A) act as the repository of and clearing13 house for data and information submitted by

14 Small Business Development Centers; and

15 ‘‘(B) transmit to the President and to the

16 Committees on Small Business of the Senate

17 and House of Representatives an annual report

18 that includes—

19 ‘‘(i) a description of the types of as20 sistance provided by participating Small

21 Business Development Centers under the

22 pilot program;

23 ‘‘(ii) data regarding the number of

24 small business concerns that contacted

25 participating Small Business Development
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1 Centers regarding assistance under the

2 pilot program;

3 ‘‘(iii) data regarding the number of

4 small business concerns assisted by partici5 pating Small Business Development Cen6 ters under the pilot program;

7 ‘‘(iv) data and information regarding

8 outreach activities conducted by partici9 pating Small Business Development Cen10 ters under the pilot program, including any

11 activities conducted in partnership with

12 Federal agencies;

13 ‘‘(v) data and information regarding

14 each case known to the Administrator in

15 which one or more Small Business Devel16 opment Centers offered conflicting advice

17 or information regarding compliance with a

18 Federal or State regulation to one or more

19 small business concerns;

20 ‘‘(vi) any recommendations for im21 provements in the regulation of small busi22 ness concerns; and

23 ‘‘(vii) a list of regulations identified

24 by the Administrator, after consultation

25 with the Small Business and Agriculture
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1 Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman, as

2 being most burdensome to small business

3 concerns, and recommendations to reduce

4 or eliminate the burdens of such regula5 tions.

6 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A Small Business Develop8 ment Center shall be eligible to receive assistance

9 under the pilot program only if the center is certified

10 under section 21(k)(2).

11 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—With respect to a Small Busi12 ness Development Center seeking assistance under

13 the pilot program, the Administrator may waive the

14 certification requirement set forth in paragraph (1)

15 if the Administrator determines that the center is

16 making a good faith effort to obtain such certifi17 cation.

18 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall

19 take effect on October 1, 2001.

20 ‘‘(f) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING STATE PRO21 GRAMS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the

23 Association and giving substantial weight to the As24 sociation’s recommendations, the Administrator shall

25 select the Small Business Development Center pro-
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1 grams of 2 States from each of the following groups

2 of States to participate in the pilot program estab3 lished by this section:

4 ‘‘(A) Group 1: Maine, Massachusetts, New

5 Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode

6 Island.

7 ‘‘(B) Group 2: New York, New Jersey,

8 Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

9 ‘‘(C) Group 3: Pennsylvania, Maryland,

10 West Virginia, Virginia, the District of Colum11 bia, and Delaware.

12 ‘‘(D) Group 4: Georgia, Alabama, North

13 Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida,

14 Kentucky, and Tennessee.

15 ‘‘(E) Group 5: Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, In16 diana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

17 ‘‘(F) Group 6: Texas, New Mexico, Arkan18 sas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

19 ‘‘(G) Group 7: Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska,

20 and Kansas.

21 ‘‘(H) Group 8: Colorado, Wyoming, North

22 Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Utah.

23 ‘‘(I) Group 9: California, Guam, Hawaii,

24 Nevada, and Arizona.
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1 ‘‘(J) Group 10: Washington, Alaska,

2 Idaho, and Oregon.

3 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR SELECTION.—The Admin4 istrator shall make selections under this subsection

5 not later than 60 days after promulgation of regula6 tions under section 5 of the National Small Business

7 Regulatory Assistance Act of 2001.

8 ‘‘(g) MATCHING NOT REQUIRED.—Subparagraphs

9 (A) and (B) of section 21(a)(4) shall not apply to assist10 ance made available under the pilot program.

11 ‘‘(h) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State program se13 lected to receive a grant under subsection (f) in a

14 fiscal year shall be eligible to receive a grant in an

15 amount not to exceed the product obtained by

16 multiplying—

17 ‘‘(A) the amount made available for grants

18 under this section for the fiscal year; and

19 ‘‘(B) the ratio that—

20 ‘‘(i) the population of the State; bears

21 to

22 ‘‘(ii) the population of all the States

23 with programs selected to receive grants

24 under subsection (f) for the fiscal year.
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1 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—Notwithstanding

2 paragraph (1), the minimum amount that a State

3 program selected to receive a grant under subsection

4 (f) shall be eligible to receive under this section in

5 the fiscal year shall be $200,000.

6 ‘‘(i) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Not later than 3

7 years after the establishment of the pilot program, the

8 Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct

9 an evaluation of the pilot program and shall transmit to

10 the Administrator and to the Committees on Small Busi11 ness of the Senate and House of Representatives a report

12 containing the results of the evaluation along with any rec13 ommendations as to whether the pilot program, with or

14 without modification, should be extended to include the

15 participation of all Small Business Development Centers.

16 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

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

18 appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for

19 fiscal year 2002 and each fiscal year thereafter.

20 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON USE OF OTHER FUNDS.—

21 The Administrator may carry out the pilot program

22 only with amounts appropriated in advance specifi23 cally to carry out this section.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.

2 After providing notice and an opportunity for com3 ment and after consulting with the Association (but not

4 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of

5 this Act), the Administrator shall promulgate final regula6 tions to carry out this Act, including regulations that

7 establish—

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

9 provided under the pilot program;

10 (2) standards relating to educational, technical,

11 and support services to be provided by participating

12 Small Business Development Centers;

13 (3) standards relating to any national service

14 delivery and support function to be provided by the

15 Association under the pilot program;

16 (4) standards relating to any work plan that

17 the Administrator may require a participating Small

18 Business Development Center to develop; and

19 (5) standards relating to the educational, tech20 nical, and professional competency of any expert or

21 other assistance provider to whom a small business

22 concern may be referred for compliance assistance

23 under the pilot program.
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1 SEC. 6. PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO SMALL

2 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.

3 Section 21(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

4 648(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(9) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No Small Business

7 Development Center, consortium of Small Busi8 ness Development Centers, or contractor or

9 agent of a Small Business Development Center

10 shall disclose the name or address of any indi11 vidual or small business concern receiving as12 sistance under this section without the consent

13 of such individual or small business concern, ex14 cept that—

15 ‘‘(i) the Administrator shall require

16 such disclosure if ordered to do so by a

17 court in any civil or criminal enforcement

18 action commenced by a Federal or State

19 agency; and

20 ‘‘(ii) if the Administrator considers it

21 necessary while undertaking a financial

22 audit of a Small Business Development

23 Center, the Administrator shall require

24 such disclosure for the sole purpose of un25 dertaking such audit.
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1 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator

2 shall issue regulations to establish standards for

3 requiring disclosures during a financial audit

4 under subparagraph (A)(ii).’’.

Passed the House of Representatives October 2,

2001.

Attest:

Clerk.