I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 742 
To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to provide for 
the award of attorneys’ fees and costs to small employers when such 
employers prevail in litigation prompted by the issuance of a citation 
by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 10, 2005 
Mr. NORWOOD (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 
MCKEON, Mr. EHLERS, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. KELLER, Mr. WILSON of 
South Carolina, Mr. KLINE, Mr. PAUL, and Mr. NEUGEBAUER) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 
to provide for the award of attorneys’ fees and costs 
to small employers when such employers prevail in litiga-
tion prompted by the issuance of a citation by the Occu-
pational Safety and Health Administration. 
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 ‘‘Occupational Safety 
and Health Small Employer Access to Justice Act of 
2005’’.
SEC. 2. AWARD OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS. 
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended by redesignating sections 
32, 33, and 34 as sections 33, 34, and 35, respectively, 
and by inserting after section 31 the following new section: 
‘‘AWARD OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS 
‘‘SEC. 32. 
‘‘(a) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS.—An employer 
who— 
‘‘(1) is the prevailing party in any adversary 
adjudication instituted under this Act, and 
‘‘(2) had not more than 100 employees and a 
net worth of not more than $7,000,000 at the time 
the adversary adjudication was initiated, 
shall be awarded fees and other expenses as a prevailing 
party under section 504 of title 5, United States Code, 
in accordance with the provisions of that section, but with-
out regard to whether the position of the Secretary was 
substantially justified or special circumstances make an 
award unjust. For purposes of this section the term ‘ad-
versary adjudication’ has the meaning given that term in 
section 504(b)(1)(C) of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘(b) PROCEEDINGS.—An employer who— 
‘‘(1) is the prevailing party in any proceeding 
for judicial review of any action instituted under this 
Act, and
‘‘(2) had not more than 100 employees and a 
net worth of not more than $7,000,000 at the time 
the action addressed under subsection (1) was filed, 
shall be awarded fees and other expenses as a prevailing 
party under section 2412(d) of title 28, United States 
Code, in accordance with the provisions of that section, 
but without regard to whether the position of the United 
States was substantially justified or special circumstances 
make an award unjust. Any appeal of a determination of 
fees pursuant to subsection (a) of this subsection shall be 
determined without regard to whether the position of the 
United States was substantially justified or special cir-
cumstances make an award unjust. 
‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY.— 
‘‘(1) COMMISSION
PROCEEDINGS.—Subsection 
(a) shall apply to proceedings commenced on or after 
the date of enactment of this section. 
‘‘(2) COURT
PROCEEDINGS.—Subsection (b) 
shall apply to proceedings for judicial review com-
menced on or after the date of enactment of this 
section.’’. 
Æ