H. R. 327
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two
An Act
To amend chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, for the purpose of facilitating
compliance by small business concerns with certain Federal paperwork require-
ments, to establish a task force to examine information collection and dissemina-
tion, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Paperwork Relief
Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. FACILITATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL PAPERWORK
REQUIREMENTS.
(a) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE DIRECTOR OF OMB.—
Section 3504(c) of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred
to as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’), is amended—
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting
a semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period and inserting
a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(6) publish in the Federal Register and make available
on the Internet (in consultation with the Small Business
Administration) on an annual basis a list of the compliance
assistance resources available to small businesses, with the
first such publication occurring not later than 1 year after
the date of enactment of the Small Business Paperwork Relief
Act of 2002.’’.
(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCY POINT OF CONTACT.—Section
3506 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘(i)(1) In addition to the requirements described in subsection
(c), each agency shall, with respect to the collection of information
and the control of paperwork, establish 1 point of contact in the
agency to act as a liaison between the agency and small business
concerns (as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 632)).
‘‘(2) Each point of contact described under paragraph (1) shall
be established not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002.’’.
(c) ADDITIONAL REDUCTION OF PAPERWORK FOR CERTAIN SMALL
BUSINESSES.—Section 3506(c) of title 44, United States Code, is
amended—
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(1) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting
a semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (3)(J), by striking the period and inserting
‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(4) in addition to the requirements of this chapter
regarding the reduction of information collection burdens for
small business concerns (as defined in section 3 of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), make efforts to further reduce
the information collection burden for small business concerns
with fewer than 25 employees.’’.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE ON INFORMATION COLLEC-
TION AND DISSEMINATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code,
is amended—
(1) by redesignating section 3520 as section 3521; and
(2) by inserting after section 3519 the following:
‘‘§ 3520. Establishment of task force on information collection
and dissemination
‘‘(a) There is established a task force to study the feasibility
of streamlining requirements with respect to small business con-
cerns regarding collection of information and strengthening dissemi-
nation of information (in this section referred to as the ‘task force’).
‘‘(b)(1) The Director shall determine—
‘‘(A) subject to the minimum requirements under paragraph
(2), the number of representatives to be designated under each
subparagraph of that paragraph; and
‘‘(B) the agencies to be represented under paragraph (2)(K).
‘‘(2) After all determinations are made under paragraph (1),
the members of the task force shall be designated by the head
of each applicable department or agency, and include—
‘‘(A) 1 representative of the Director, who shall convene
and chair the task force;
‘‘(B) not less than 2 representatives of the Department
of Labor, including 1 representative of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics and 1 representative of the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration;
‘‘(C) not less than 1 representative of the Environmental
Protection Agency;
‘‘(D) not less than 1 representative of the Department of
Transportation;
‘‘(E) not less than 1 representative of the Office of Advocacy
of the Small Business Administration;
‘‘(F) not less than 1 representative of the Internal Revenue
Service;
‘‘(G) not less than 2 representatives of the Department
of Health and Human Services, including 1 representative of
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;
‘‘(H) not less than 1 representative of the Department
of Agriculture;
‘‘(I) not less than 1 representative of the Department of
the Interior;
‘‘(J) not less than 1 representative of the General Services
Administration; and
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‘‘(K) not less than 1 representative of each of 2 agencies
not represented by representatives described under subpara-
graphs (A) through (J).
‘‘(c) The task force shall—
‘‘(1) identify ways to integrate the collection of information
across Federal agencies and programs and examine the feasi-
bility and desirability of requiring each agency to consolidate
requirements regarding collections of information with respect
to small business concerns within and across agencies, without
negatively impacting the effectiveness of underlying laws and
regulations regarding such collections of information, in order
that each small business concern may submit all information
required by the agency—
‘‘(A) to 1 point of contact in the agency;
‘‘(B) in a single format, such as a single electronic
reporting system, with respect to the agency; and
‘‘(C) with synchronized reporting for information
submissions having the same frequency, such as syn-
chronized quarterly, semiannual, and annual reporting
dates;
‘‘(2) examine the feasibility and benefits to small businesses
of publishing a list by the Director of the collections of informa-
tion applicable to small business concerns (as defined in section
3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), organized—
‘‘(A) by North American Industry Classification System
code;
‘‘(B) by industrial sector description; or
‘‘(C) in another manner by which small business con-
cerns can more easily identify requirements with which
those small business concerns are expected to comply;
‘‘(3) examine the savings, including cost savings, and
develop recommendations for implementing—
‘‘(A) systems for electronic submissions of information
to the Federal Government; and
‘‘(B) interactive reporting systems, including compo-
nents that provide immediate feedback to assure that data
being submitted—
‘‘(i) meet requirements of format; and
‘‘(ii) are within the range of acceptable options
for each data field;
‘‘(4) make recommendations to improve the electronic
dissemination of information collected under Federal require-
ments;
‘‘(5) recommend a plan for the development of an interactive
Governmentwide system, available through the Internet, to
allow each small business to—
‘‘(A) better understand which Federal requirements
regarding collection of information (and, when possible,
which other Federal regulatory requirements) apply to that
particular business; and
‘‘(B) more easily comply with those Federal require-
ments; and
‘‘(6) in carrying out this section, consider opportunities
for the coordination—
‘‘(A) of Federal and State reporting requirements; and
‘‘(B) among the points of contact described under sec-
tion 3506(i), such as to enable agencies to provide small
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business concerns with contacts for information collection
requirements for other agencies.
‘‘(d) The task force shall—
‘‘(1) by publication in the Federal Register, provide notice
and an opportunity for public comment on each report in draft
form; and
‘‘(2) make provision in each report for the inclusion of—
‘‘(A) any additional or dissenting views of task force
members; and
‘‘(B) a summary of significant public comments.
‘‘(e) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the
Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the task force shall
submit a report of its findings under subsection (c) (1), (2), and
(3) to—
‘‘(1) the Director;
‘‘(2) the chairpersons and ranking minority members of—
‘‘(A) the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of
the Senate; and
‘‘(B) the Committee on Government Reform and the
Committee on Small Business of the House of Representa-
tives; and
‘‘(3) the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory
Enforcement Ombudsman designated under section 30(b) of
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657(b)).
‘‘(f) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the task force
shall submit a report of its findings under subsection (c) (4) and
(5) to—
‘‘(1) the Director;
‘‘(2) the chairpersons and ranking minority members of—
‘‘(A) the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of
the Senate; and
‘‘(B) the Committee on Government Reform and the
Committee on Small Business of the House of Representa-
tives; and
‘‘(3) the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory
Enforcement Ombudsman designated under section 30(b) of
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657(b)).
‘‘(g) The task force shall terminate after completion of its work.
‘‘(h) In this section, the term ‘small business concern’ has the
meaning given under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 632).’’.
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of
sections for chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, is amended
by striking the item relating to section 3520 and inserting the
following:
‘‘3520. Establishment of task force on information collection and dissemination.
‘‘3521. Authorization of appropriations.’’.
SEC. 4. REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT REPORTS.
(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘agency’’ has the
meaning given that term under section 551 of title 5, United States
Code.
(b) IN GENERAL.—
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(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 2003,
each agency shall submit an initial report to—
(A) the chairpersons and ranking minority members
of—
(i) the Committee on Governmental Affairs and
the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneur-
ship of the Senate; and
(ii) the Committee on Government Reform and
the Committee on Small Business of the House of
Representatives; and
(B) the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory
Enforcement Ombudsman designated under section 30(b)
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657(b)).
(2) FINAL
REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 2004,
each agency shall submit a final report to the members and
officer described under paragraph (1) (A) and (B).
(3) CONTENT.—The initial report under paragraph (1) shall
include information with respect to the 1-year period beginning
on October 1, 2002, and the final report under paragraph
(2) shall include information with respect to the 1-year period
beginning on October 1, 2003, on each of the following:
(A) The number of enforcement actions in which a
civil penalty is assessed.
(B) The number of enforcement actions in which a
civil penalty is assessed against a small entity.
(C) The number of enforcement actions described under
subparagraphs (A) and (B) in which the civil penalty is
reduced or waived.
(D) The total monetary amount of the reductions or
waivers referred to under subparagraph (C).
(4) DEFINITIONS IN REPORTS.—Each report under this sub-
section shall include definitions selected at the discretion of
the reporting agency of the terms ‘‘enforcement actions’’, ‘‘reduc-
tion or waiver’’, and ‘‘small entity’’ as used in the report.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.