I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 96

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

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 7, 1997

Mr. SOLOMON (for himself, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. HEFLEY, and Mr. FLAKE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small

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

Oversight, 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 provide regulatory assistance for 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 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

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

3 confidential voluntary compliance with Federal regulations

4 that will—

5 (1) provide a low-cost process to significantly

6 improve voluntary compliance by small business con7 cerns with Federal regulations;

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

9 business community and reduce duplication of effort

10 among Federal agencies;

11 (3) be funded without additional appropriations;

12 (4) provide a mechanism for unbiased feedback

13 to Federal agencies on the small business regulatory

14 environment; and

15 (5) partner nonpunitive compliance assistance

16 programs with the small business development cen17 ter service delivery network in order to improve ac18 cess to and utilization of these programs by the

19 small business community.

20 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

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

22 amended—

23 (1) by redesignating section 31 as section 32;

24 and

25 (2) by inserting after section 30 the following

26 new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 31. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY RELIEF.

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

3 ‘‘(1) the term ‘participating agency’ means—

4 ‘‘(A) the Environmental Protection Agen5 cy;

6 ‘‘(B) the Internal Revenue Service of the

7 Department of the Treasury; and

8 ‘‘(C) the Department of Labor;

9 ‘‘(2) the term ‘small business development cen10 ter’ means a small business development center es11 tablished pursuant to section 21;

12 ‘‘(3) the term ‘system of voluntary compliance’

13 means the system under which small business devel14 opment centers or consortia of small business devel15 opment centers provide confidential assistance to one

16 or more small business concerns in achieving vol17 untary compliance with regulatory requirements im18 posed on small business concerns by a participating

19 agency; and

20 ‘‘(4) the term ‘compliance assistance plan’

21 means a five year plan jointly developed and annu22 ally revised by each participating agency, the Office

23 of Small Business Development Centers for the

24 Small Business Administration, and representatives

25 of an association representing a majority of small

26 business development centers for the establishment
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1 and maintenance of the system of voluntary compli2 ance.

3 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—

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

5 later than 90 days after the date of enactment of

6 this Act and annually thereafter, each participating

7 agency, the Office of Small Business Development

8 Centers of the Small Business Administration, and

9 representatives of an association representing a ma10 jority of small business development centers shall

11 agree to a compliance assistance plan.

12 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE

13 PLAN.—Each compliance assistance plan agreed to

14 under paragraph (1) shall include—

15 ‘‘(A) the regulatory compliance objectives

16 of the participating agency;

17 ‘‘(B) the regulatory compliance priorities

18 of the participating agency;

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

20 materials, and resources to be developed or

21 used by the participating agency;

22 ‘‘(D) identification of participating agency

23 facilities, expertise, and other resources that
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1 may be accessed by the Office of Small Busi2 ness Development Centers of the Small Busi3 ness Administration, a small business develop4 ment center, or a small business concern par5 ticipating in the system of voluntary compliance

6 established under this section; and

7 ‘‘(E) performance outcome measures and

8 evaluation criteria to be used by the participat9 ing agency in evaluating the effectiveness of the

10 system of voluntary compliance to be estab11 lished under this section.

12 ‘‘(3) DUPLICATION OF EFFORT.—In carrying

13 out this subsection, each participating agency shall,

14 to the maximum extent practicable, ensure that the

15 participating agencies do not duplicate the compli16 ance assistance efforts of this section.

17 ‘‘(4) ENFORCEMENT.—The participating agen18 cy, the Department of Justice, or any other Federal

19 agency shall consider a small business concern par20 ticipating in the system of voluntary compliance to

21 be in full compliance, if the small business concern

22 fulfills the regulatory compliance objectives and pri23 orities established in the compliance assistance plans

24 submitted under subsection (b)(1).
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1 ‘‘(c) DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF SMALL BUSINESS

2 DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.—

3 ‘‘(1) IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION

4 OF COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE PLANS.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Based on each compli6 ance assistance plan agreed to under subsection

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

8 of enactment of this Act, the Office of Small

9 Business Development Centers, with the agree10 ment of an association representing the major11 ity of small business development centers, shall

12 develop and publish guidelines for the establish13 ment by small business development centers or

14 consortia of small business development centers

15 of the system of voluntary compliance in ac16 cordance with this section.

17 ‘‘(B) GUIDELINE REQUIREMENTS.—The

18 guidelines published under subparagraph (A)

19 shall—

20 ‘‘(i) establish priorities for the types

21 of assistance to be provided to small busi22 ness concerns under the system of vol23 untary compliance established by small

24 business development centers or consortia
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1 of small business development centers

2 under this section; and

3 ‘‘(ii) establish standards relating to

4 educational, technical, and support services

5 required by small business development

6 centers or consortia of small business de7 velopment centers to provide a system of

8 voluntary compliance.

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

10 established under subparagraph (A) shall—

11 ‘‘(i) require that the assistance to

12 small business concerns participating in

13 the system of voluntary compliance under

14 this section be carried out by small busi15 ness development centers or by consortia of

16 small business development centers who

17 shall, to the maximum extent practicable,

18 access other existing Federal and State

19 non-punitive, compliance and technical as20 sistance programs, including, but not lim21 ited to, the technical and environmental

22 compliance assistance programs established

23 under section 507 of the Clean Air Act

24 Amendments of 1990; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) provide that certain national

2 service delivery support requirements be

3 carried out under contract with an associa4 tion representing the majority of small

5 business development centers.

6 ‘‘(D) ISSUANCE OF GRANT.—Not later

7 than 150 days after the submission of work

8 plans under subsection (d)(1), the Office of

9 Small Business Development Centers shall issue

10 a grant to each small business development cen11 ter or each consortium of small business devel12 opment centers to carry out the system of vol13 untary compliance.

14 ‘‘(d) DUTIES OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

15 CENTERS.—

16 ‘‘(1) WORK PLAN.—Beginning not later than

17 60 days after the date on which the guidelines are

18 published by the Office of Small Business Develop19 ment Centers under subsection (c)(1)(A), each small

20 business development center or consortium of small

21 business development centers shall, on an annual

22 basis, submit to the Office of Small Business Devel23 opment Centers a work plan under which the small
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1 business development center will carry out the sys2 tem of voluntary compliance in accordance with such

3 guidelines.

4 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE PROVIDED.—The assistance

5 to small business concerns participating in the sys6 tem of voluntary compliance shall include—

7 ‘‘(A) access to information and resources;

8 ‘‘(B) training and educational activities;

9 ‘‘(C) confidential, free-of-charge, one-on10 one in-depth counseling; and

11 ‘‘(D) technical assistance.

12 ‘‘(3) REPORTS; RECOMMENDATIONS.—

13 ‘‘(A) Each small business development cen14 ter or consortium of small business development

15 centers shall, on an annual basis, submit to the

16 Office of Small Business Development Centers

17 of the Small Business Administration a report

18 on the assistance provided by the small business

19 development center or consortia established

20 under the system of voluntary compliance estab21 lished under this section.

22 ‘‘(B) No small business development cen23 ter, consortium of small business development

24 centers, or any person relied on by any such
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1 small business development center shall be re2 quired to disclose the name or address of any

3 small business concern participating in the sys4 tem of voluntary compliance under this section.

5 ‘‘(C) Subparagraph (B) shall not be con6 strued to prevent the Office of Inspector Gen7 eral of the Administration from auditing a

8 small business development center, consortium

9 of small business development centers, or any

10 person relied on by any such small business de11 velopment center.

12 ‘‘(e) EVALUATIONS.—

13 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Office of Small

14 Business Development Centers of the Small Busi15 ness Administration shall, on an annual basis, sub16 mit to the President and to the Committees on

17 Small Business of the Senate and the House of Rep18 resentatives a report, which shall include—

19 ‘‘(A) a description of the types of assist20 ance provided by small business development

21 centers and consortia of small business develop22 ment centers to small business concerns partici23 pating in the system of voluntary compliance;
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1 ‘‘(B) the level of outreach to small business

2 concerns achieved by small business develop3 ment centers and consortia of small business

4 development centers under this section; and

5 ‘‘(C) recommendations for improvements in

6 the regulation of small business concerns par7 ticipating in the system of voluntary compli8 ance.

9 ‘‘(2) INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ASSESSMENT.—

10 Upon the expiration of the three-year period begin11 ning on the date on which the majority of small

12 business development centers and consortia of small

13 business development centers have received grants to

14 begin implementation of the work plans described

15 under subsection (d)(1), the Office of Small Busi16 ness Development Centers shall provide for an eval17 uation of the system of voluntary compliance estab18 lished under this section by an independent third

19 party which shall be submitted to the President and

20 to the Committees on Small Business of the Senate

21 and House of Representatives.

22 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To assist the Office of

24 Small Business Development Centers of the Small
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1 Business Administration in fostering, promoting, de2 veloping, and carrying out the system of voluntary

3 compliance under this section—

4 ‘‘(A) of the total amount provided to the

5 Department of Labor—

6 ‘‘(i) not less than 0.10 percent shall

7 be made available for obligation and ex8 penditure by the Office of Small Business

9 Development Centers of the Small Busi10 ness Administration for the implementa11 tion and administration of the worker safe12 ty and health compliance assistance plans

13 in fiscal year 1999;

14 ‘‘(ii) not less than 0.14 percent shall

15 be made available for obligation and ex16 penditure by the Office of Small Business

17 Development Centers of the Small Busi18 ness Administration for the implementa19 tion and administration of the worker safe20 ty and health compliance assistance plans

21 in fiscal year 2000;

22 ‘‘(iii) not less than 0.18 percent shall

23 be made available for obligation and ex24 penditure by the Office of Small Business
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1 Development Centers of the Small Busi2 ness Administration for the implementa3 tion and administration of the worker safe4 ty and health compliance assistance plans

5 in fiscal year 2001; and

6 ‘‘(iv) not less than 0.22 percent shall

7 be made available for obligation and ex8 penditure by the Office of Small Business

9 Development Centers of the Small Busi10 ness Administration for the implementa11 tion and administration of the worker safe12 ty and health compliance assistance plans

13 in each of the fiscal years 2002 and 2003;

14 and

15 ‘‘(B) of the total amount provided to the

16 Environmental Protection Agency—

17 ‘‘(i) not less than 0.20 percent shall

18 be made available for obligation and ex19 penditure by the Office of Small Business

20 Development Centers of the Small Busi21 ness Administration for the implementa22 tion and administration of the compliance

23 assistance plans in fiscal year 1999;
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1 ‘‘(ii) not less than 0.24 percent shall

2 be made available for obligation and ex3 penditure by the Office of Small Business

4 Development Centers of the Small Busi5 ness Administration for the implementa6 tion and administration of the compliance

7 assistance plans in fiscal year 2000;

8 ‘‘(iii) not less than 0.29 percent shall

9 be made available for obligation and ex10 penditure by the Office of Small Business

11 Development Centers of the Small Busi12 ness Administration for the implementa13 tion and administration of the compliance

14 assistance plans in fiscal year 2001; and

15 ‘‘(iv) not less than 0.35 percent shall

16 be made available for obligation and ex17 penditure by the Office of Small Business

18 Development Centers of the Small Busi19 ness Administration for the implementa20 tion and administration of the compliance

21 assistance plans in each of the fiscal years

22 2002 and 2003; and

23 ‘‘(C) of the total amount provided to the

24 Internal Revenue Service of the Department of

25 the Treasury—
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1 ‘‘(i) not less than 0.25 percent shall

2 be made available for obligation and ex3 penditure by the Office of Small Business

4 Development Centers of the Small Busi5 ness Administration for the implementa6 tion and administration of the compliance

7 assistance plans in fiscal year 1999;

8 ‘‘(ii) not less than 0.31 percent shall

9 be made available for obligation and ex10 penditure by the Office of Small Business

11 Development Centers of the Small Busi12 ness Administration for the implementa13 tion and administration of the compliance

14 assistance plans in fiscal year 2000;

15 ‘‘(iii) not less than 0.39 percent shall

16 be made available for obligation and ex17 penditure by the Office of Small Business

18 Development Centers of the Small Busi19 ness Administration for the implementa20 tion and administration of the compliance

21 assistance plans in fiscal year 2001; and

22 ‘‘(iv) not less than 0.49 percent shall

23 be made available for obligation and ex24 penditure by the Office of Small Business
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1 Development Centers of the Small Busi2 ness Administration for the implementa3 tion and administration of the compliance

4 assistance plans in each of the fiscal years

5 2002 and 2003.

6 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION OF ASSISTANCE.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts made avail8 able for the system of voluntary compliance

9 under paragraph (1) shall be distributed by the

10 Office of Small Business Development Centers

11 to the small business development center in

12 each State or in each consortium in accordance

13 with subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D).

14 ‘‘(B) POPULATION BASED FUNDING FOR15 MULA.—Each small business development cen16 ter shall receive a distribution under subpara17 graph (A) that is equal to the sum of—

18 ‘‘(i) the pro rata share of the State of

19 the total amount distributed by the Office

20 of Small Business Development Centers

21 under subparagraph (A), based upon the

22 population of the State as compared to the

23 total population in the United States, as

24 determined by the Office of Small Business

25 Development Centers; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) $300,000 for each State.

2 ‘‘(C) EXEMPTION FROM MATCHING RE3 QUIREMENT.—Funds provided under this sec4 tion shall not be subject to the matching funds

5 or eligibility requirements of section 21(a)(4).

6 ‘‘(D) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—

7 After September 30, 2000, the Office of Small

8 Business Development Centers may not provide

9 any funds under this section to a small business

10 development center or a consortium of small

11 business development centers unless the center

12 has, or centers within the consortium have,

13 been approved under the certification program

14 conducted pursuant to section (21)(k)(2), ex15 cept that the Associate Administrator for Small

16 Business Development Centers may waive such

17 certification requirement, in the discretion of

18 the Associate Administrator, upon showing that

19 the center is making a good faith effort to ob20 tain certification.

21 ‘‘(E) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— Not more

22 than 2 percent of the amounts made available

23 for the system of voluntary compliance under

24 subsection (f) shall be used by the Office of
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1 Small Business Development Centers for ad2 ministration, evaluation, and reporting costs.’’.

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