I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5163 
To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to conduct 
a pilot program to raise awareness about telework among small business 
employers, and to encourage such employers to offer telework options 
to employees, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 6, 2006 
Mr. UDALL of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, 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 direct the Administrator of the Small Business Adminis-
tration to conduct a pilot program to raise awareness 
about telework among small business employers, and to 
encourage such employers to offer telework options to 
employees, 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 ‘‘Federal and Small 
Business Telework Promotion Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
(1) Federal, State, and local governments spend 
billions of dollars annually on the Nation’s transpor-
tation needs; 
(2) congestion on the Nation’s roads costs over 
$63,000,000,000 annually in lost work time, fuel 
consumption, and costs of infrastructure and equip-
ment repair; 
(3) on average, on-road vehicles contribute 34 
percent of nitrogen oxides emissions; 
(4) it is estimated that staying at home to work 
requires 3 times less energy consumption than com-
muting to work; 
(5) in 2000, it was reported that if an identified 
10 to 20 percent of commuters switched to tele-
working, 1,800,000 tons of regulated pollutants 
would be eliminated, 3,500,000,000 gallons of gas 
would be saved, 3,100,000,000 hours of personal 
time would be freed up, and maintenance and infra-
structure costs would decrease by $500,000,000 an-
nually because of reduced congestion and reduced 
vehicle miles traveled; 
(6) the average American daily commute is 49 
minutes for a 24-mile round trip (a total of 100 
hours per year); 
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(7) the increase in work from 1969 to 1996, 
the increase in hours mothers spend in paid work, 
combined with a shift toward single-parent families 
resulted in families on average experiencing a de-
crease of 22 hours a week (14 percent) in parental 
time available outside of paid work they could spend 
with their children; 
(8) today 60 percent of the workforce is in-
volved in information work (an increase of 43 per-
cent since 1990) allowing and encouraging decen-
tralization of paid work to occur; 
(9) telework reduces the volume of peak com-
muter traffic, thereby reducing traffic congestion 
and air pollution; 
(10) the Nation’s communities can benefit from 
telework, which gives workers more time to spend at 
home with their families; 
(11) it is in the national interest to raise aware-
ness within the small business community of 
telework options for employees; 
(12) the small business community can benefit 
from offering telework options to employees because 
such options make it easier for small employers to 
retain valued employees and employees with irre-
placeable institutional memory; 
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(13) companies with telework programs have 
found that telework can boost employee productivity 
5 percent to 20 percent, thereby saving businesses 
valuable resources and time; 
(14) individuals with disabilities, including dis-
abled American veterans, who own or are employed 
by small businesses could benefit from telework to 
their workplaces; 
(15) telework has the potential to provide more 
employment opportunities in rural communities; 
(16) estimates indicate that about 40,000,000 
Americans are currently teleworking; 
(17) teleworking is seen as a valuable tool in 
worker productivity and is of interest to the Federal 
workforce; and 
(18) the Government Accountability Office 
notes that 140,694 employees teleworked, rep-
resenting a 37 percent increase from 2003, a growth 
that demonstrates a steady escalation over time as 
the overall number of teleworkers in the Federal 
Government has grown since 2001 with 72,844 tele-
workers, in 2002 with 90,010 teleworkers, and in 
2003 with 102,921 teleworkers. 
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SEC. 3. REDUCTION OF EMPLOYEE VEHICLE FUEL CON-
SUMPTION BY FEDERAL AGENCIES. 
Section 543 of the National Energy Conservation 
Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 8253) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(f) REDUCTION
OF EMPLOYEE VEHICLE FUEL 
CONSUMPTION BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each agency shall take 
such actions as are necessary to reduce the level of 
fuel consumed by vehicles of employees of the agency 
(other than fuel used for military purposes), in con-
nection with the employment of the employees, by 
(to the maximum extent practicable) 10 percent or 
more during the 1-year period beginning on the date 
of enactment of this subsection. 
‘‘(2) METHODS.—An agency may use such 
methods as the agency determines are appropriate to 
achieve the target established by paragraph (1), in-
cluding— 
‘‘(A) telework; 
‘‘(B) carpooling; 
‘‘(C) bicycling and walking to work; 
‘‘(D) fuel-efficient trip planning; 
‘‘(E) public transportation use; and 
‘‘(F) limiting travel days for vehicle travel 
outside the office.’’. 
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SEC. 4. SMALL BUSINESS TELEWORK PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Small 
Business Administration shall carry out, in not more than 
5 of the Small Business Administration’s regions, a pilot 
program under this section to raise awareness about 
telework among small business employers and to encour-
age such employers to offer telework options to employees. 
(b) SPECIAL OUTREACH TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS-
ABILITIES.—In carrying out the pilot program, the Ad-
ministrator shall make special efforts to conduct outreach 
to— 
(1) businesses owned by or employing individ-
uals with disabilities, and disabled American vet-
erans in particular; 
(2) Federal, State, and local agencies having 
knowledge and expertise in assisting individuals with 
disabilities or disabled American veterans; and 
(3) any group or organization, the primary pur-
pose of which is to aid individuals with disabilities 
or disabled American veterans. 
(c) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the 
pilot program, the Administrator may only— 
(1) produce educational materials and conduct 
presentations designed to raise awareness in the 
small business community of the benefits and the 
ease of telework; 
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(2) conduct outreach— 
(A) to small business concerns that are 
considering offering telework options; and 
(B) as provided in subsection (b); and 
(3) acquire telework technologies and equip-
ment to be used for demonstration purposes. 
(d) SELECTION OF REGIONS.—In determining which 
regions will participate in the pilot program, the Adminis-
trator shall give priority consideration to regions in which 
Federal agencies and private-sector employers have dem-
onstrated a strong regional commitment to telework. 
(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 
after the first date on which funds are appropriated to 
carry out this section, the Administrator shall transmit to 
the Committee on Small Business of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report containing the 
results of an evaluation of the pilot program and any rec-
ommendations as to whether the pilot program, with or 
without modification, should be extended to include the 
participation of all Small Business Administration regions. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘disability’’ has the same meaning 
as in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities 
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102); and 
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(2) the term ‘‘telework’’ means the performance 
of any portion of work functions by an employee out-
side the normal place of business under cir-
cumstances which reduce or eliminate the need to 
commute. 
(g) TERMINATION.—The authority to carry out the 
pilot program under this section shall terminate 2 years 
after the first date on which funds are appropriated to 
carry out this section. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Small Business Ad-
ministration $5,000,000 to carry out this section. 
Æ 
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