I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4946
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
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.
SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Small Busi-
ness Regulatory Assistance Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to establish a pilot pro-
gram to—
(1) provide confidential assistance to small
business 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 agen-
cies 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
definitions apply:
‘‘(1) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘Association’
means the association, established pursuant to sec-
tion 21(a)(3)(A), representing a majority of Small
Business Development Centers, regardless whether
any or all of the participating Small Business Devel-
opment Centers are members of the association.
‘‘(2) PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS DEVEL-
OPMENT
CENTER.—The term ‘participating Small
Business Development Center’ means a Small Busi-
ness 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 Develop-
ment Center to a small business concern to enable
the concern to comply with Federal regulatory re-
quirements.
‘‘(4) SMALL
BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
CEN-
TER.—The term ‘Small Business Development Cen-
ter’ means a Small Business Development Center
described in section 21.
‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—In accordance with this section,
the Administrator of the Small Business Administration
shall establish a pilot program to provide regulatory com-
pliance assistance to small business concerns through par-
ticipating Small Business Development Centers, the Asso-
ciation, 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
centers will provide—
‘‘(A) access to information and resources,
including current Federal and State nonpuni-
tive compliance and technical assistance pro-
grams 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 op-
erators 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 Development Center is located or in
which such counseling is conducted; and
‘‘(D) technical assistance.
‘‘(2) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator
shall require that each participating Small
Business Development Center transmit to the
Association 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
Association 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
RE-
QUIREMENTS.—The Administrator may not re-
quire a Small Business Development Center to
disclose the name or address of any small busi-
ness concern that received or is receiving assist-
ance under the pilot program, except that the
Administrator shall require such a disclosure if
ordered to do so by a court in any civil or
criminal enforcement 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, act-
ing through the Office of Small Business Develop-
ment 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
Representatives, which report shall include—
‘‘(i) a description of the types of as-
sistance provided by participating Small
Business Development Centers under the
pilot program;
‘‘(ii) data regarding the number of
small business concerns that contacted
participating 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 Cen-
ters under the pilot program;
‘‘(iv) data and information regarding
outreach activities conducted by partici-
pating Small Business Development Cen-
ters under the pilot program, including any
activities conducted in partnership with
Federal agencies;
‘‘(v) data and information regarding
each case known to the Association in
which 1 or more Small Business Develop-
ment Centers offered conflicting advice or
information regarding compliance with a
Federal regulation to 1 or more small busi-
ness 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
recipients referred to in subparagraph (B) a re-
port containing an evaluation of the pilot pro-
gram and any recommendations as to whether
the pilot program, without or without modifica-
tion, should be extended to include the partici-
pation of all Small Business Development Cen-
ters.
‘‘(e) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING CENTERS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),
the Administrator shall select 1 Small Business De-
velopment Center from each of the following States
to participate in the pilot program carried out under
this section:
‘‘(1) Massachusetts.
‘‘(2) New Hampshire.
‘‘(3) New York.
‘‘(4) New Jersey.
‘‘(5) Maryland.
‘‘(6) Pennsylvania.
‘‘(7) Florida.
‘‘(8) South Carolina.
‘‘(9) Illinois.
‘‘(10) Ohio.
‘‘(11) New Mexico.
‘‘(12) Texas.
‘‘(13) Missouri.
‘‘(14) Iowa.
‘‘(15) Colorado.
‘‘(16) South Dakota.
‘‘(17) California.
‘‘(18) Nevada.
‘‘(19) Washington.
‘‘(20) Alaska.
‘‘(2) STATES
WITH
MULTIPLE
CENTERS.—In
the case of each State listed in paragraph (1) in
which there is located more than 1 Small Business
Development Center, the Administrator shall select
for participation in the pilot program the center that
the State director (or, in the case of the State of
Texas, the regional director) of Small Business De-
velopment Centers for the State (or the region of the
State) determines to be the most qualified, based on
the director’s assessment of the center’s capability to
provide regulatory compliance assistance.’’.
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