IB
Union Calendar No. 532
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4946
[Report No. 106–881]
To amend the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small
Business Administration to establish a pilot program to provide regu-
latory compliance assistance to small business concerns, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 25, 2000
Mr. SWEENEY (for himself, Mr. TALENT, Mr. ENGLISH, and Mr. MCINTOSH)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Small Business
SEPTEMBER 21, 2000
Additional sponsors: Mrs. KELLY and Mr. TERRY
SEPTEMBER 21, 2000
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 25, 2000]
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act to direct the Adminis-
trator of the Small Business Administration to establish
a pilot program to provide regulatory compliance assist-
ance to small business concerns, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Small Business
Regulatory Assistance Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to establish a pilot program
to—
(1) provide confidential assistance to small busi-
ness concerns;
(2) provide small business concerns with the in-
formation necessary to improve their rate of compli-
ance with Federal regulations;
(3) create a partnership among Federal agencies
to increase outreach efforts to small business concerns
with respect to regulatory compliance;
(4) provide a mechanism for unbiased feedback
to Federal agencies on the regulatory environment for
small business concerns; and
(5) utilize the service delivery network of Small
Business Development Centers to improve access of
small business concerns to programs to assist them
with regulatory compliance.
SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PILOT
PROGRAM.
The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637 et seq.) is
amended—
(1) by redesignating section 34 as section 35;
and
(2) by inserting after section 33 the following
new section:
‘‘SEC. 34. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE
PILOT PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply:
‘‘(1) 
ASSOCIATION.—The 
term 
‘Association’
means the association, established pursuant to section
21(a)(3)(A), representing a majority of Small Busi-
ness Development Centers.
‘‘(2) PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOP-
MENT CENTER.—The term ‘participating Small Busi-
ness Development Center’ means a Small Business
Development Center selected to participate in the
pilot program established under this section.
‘‘(3) REGULATORY COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE.—
The term ‘regulatory compliance assistance’ means
assistance provided by a Small Business Development
Center to a small business concern to enable the con-
cern to comply with Federal regulatory requirements.
‘‘(4) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER.—
The term ‘Small Business Development Center’ means
a Small Business Development Center described in
section 21.
‘‘(5) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of the
several States, the District of Columbia, the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam.
‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—In accordance with this section, the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall
establish a pilot program to provide regulatory compliance
assistance to small business concerns through participating
Small Business Development Centers, the Association, and
Federal compliance partnership programs.
‘‘(c) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot
program under this section, the Administrator shall
enter into arrangements with participating Small
Business Development Centers under which such cen-
ters will provide—
‘‘(A) access to information and resources,
including current Federal and State nonpunitive
compliance and technical assistance programs
similar to those established under section 507 of
the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990;
‘‘(B) training and educational activities;
‘‘(C) confidential, free-of-charge, one-on-one,
in-depth counseling to the owners and operators
of small business concerns regarding compliance
with Federal regulations, provided that such
counseling is not considered to be the practice of
law in a State in which a Small Business Devel-
opment Center is located or in which such coun-
seling is conducted; and
‘‘(D) technical assistance.
‘‘(2) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator
shall require that each participating Small Busi-
ness Development Center transmit to the Associa-
tion a quarterly report that includes—
‘‘(i) a summary of the regulatory com-
pliance assistance provided by the center
under the pilot program; and
‘‘(ii) any data and information ob-
tained by the center from a Federal agency
regarding regulatory compliance that the
agency intends to be disseminated to small
business concerns.
‘‘(B) FORM.—Each report referred to in
subparagraph (A) shall be transmitted to the As-
sociation in electronic form.
‘‘(C) INTERIM REPORTS.—During any time
period falling between the transmittal of quar-
terly reports, a participating Small Business
Development Center may transmit to the Asso-
ciation any interim report containing data or
information considered by the center to be nec-
essary or useful.
‘‘(D) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE REQUIRE-
MENTS.—The Administrator may not require a
Small Business Development Center to disclose
the name or address of any small business con-
cern that received or is receiving assistance
under the pilot program, except that the Admin-
istrator shall require such a disclosure if ordered
to do so by a court in any civil or criminal en-
forcement action commenced by a Federal or
State agency.
‘‘(d) ASSOCIATION OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOP-
MENT CENTERS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot
program under this section, the Administrator, acting
through the Office of Small Business Development
Centers (or any successor to such office), shall enter
into a contract with the Association under which the
Association will—
‘‘(A) act as the repository of and clearing-
house for data and information submitted by
Small Business Development Centers; and
‘‘(B) transmit an annual report to the
President, the Small Business and Agriculture
Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman described
in section 30(b), and to the Committees on Small
Business of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives, which report shall include—
‘‘(i) a description of the types of assist-
ance provided by participating Small Busi-
ness Development Centers under the pilot
program;
‘‘(ii) data regarding the number of
small business concerns that contacted par-
ticipating Small Business Development
Centers regarding assistance under the pilot
program;
‘‘(iii) data regarding the number of
small business concerns assisted by partici-
pating Small Business Development Centers
under the pilot program;
‘‘(iv) data and information regarding
outreach activities conducted by partici-
pating Small Business Development Centers
under the pilot program, including any ac-
tivities conducted in partnership with Fed-
eral agencies;
‘‘(v) data and information regarding
each case known to the Association in which
1 or more Small Business Development
Centers offered conflicting advice or infor-
mation regarding compliance with a Fed-
eral regulation to 1 or more small business
concerns; and
‘‘(vi) any recommendations for im-
provements in the regulation of small busi-
ness concerns; and
‘‘(C) not later than 3 years after the estab-
lishment of the pilot program, transmit to the re-
cipients referred to in subparagraph (B) a report
containing an evaluation of the pilot program
and any recommendations as to whether the
pilot program, with or without modification,
should be extended to include the participation of
all Small Business Development Centers.
‘‘(e) SELECTION
OF PARTICIPATING CENTERS.—In
consultation with the Association and giving substantial
weight to the Association’s recommendations, the Adminis-
trator shall select 2 Small Business Development Centers
from each of the following groups of States to participate
in the pilot program under this section, except that the Ad-
ministrator may not select 2 Small Business Development
Centers from the same state:
‘‘(1) Group 1: Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode Island.
‘‘(2) Group 2: New York, New Jersey, Puerto
Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
‘‘(3) Group 3: Pennsylvania, Maryland, West
Virginia, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and
Delaware.
‘‘(4) Group 4: Georgia, Alabama, North Caro-
lina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Kentucky,
and Tennessee.
‘‘(5) Group 5: Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana,
Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
‘‘(6) Group 6: Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas,
Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
‘‘(7) Group 7: Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and
Kansas.
‘‘(8) Group 8: Colorado, Wyoming, North Da-
kota, South Dakota, Montana, and Utah.
‘‘(9) Group 9: California, Guam, Hawaii, Ne-
vada, and Arizona.
‘‘(10) Group 10: Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and
Oregon.’’.
SEC. 4. PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Administrator shall promulgate regulations,
after providing an opportunity for notice and comment, to
carry out this Act.
Union Calendar No. 532
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4946
[Report No. 106–881]
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act to direct the Ad-
ministrator of the Small Business Administration
to establish a pilot program to provide regulatory
compliance assistance to small business concerns,
and for other purposes.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2000
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,
and ordered to be printed