I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 456 
To amend title 44 of the United States Code, to provide for the suspension 
of fines under certain circumstances for first-time paperwork violations 
by small business concerns. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 12, 2007 
Mr. NEUGEBAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 
Committee on Small Business, 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 amend title 44 of the United States Code, to provide 
for the suspension of fines under certain circumstances 
for first-time paperwork violations by small business con-
cerns. 
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 ‘‘Small Business Paper-
work Relief Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF FINES FOR FIRST-TIME PAPER-
WORK VIOLATIONS BY SMALL BUSINESS CON-
CERNS. 
Section 3506 of title 44, United States Code (com-
monly referred to as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’), is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(j) SMALL BUSINESSES.— 
‘‘(1) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘small business concern’ means a 
business concern that meets the requirements of sec-
tion 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
632(a)) and the regulations promulgated under that 
section. 
‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a first-time 
violation by a small business concern of a require-
ment regarding the collection of information by an 
agency, the head of such agency shall not impose a 
civil fine on the small business concern unless the 
head of the agency determines that— 
‘‘(A) the violation has the potential to 
cause serious harm to the public interest; 
‘‘(B) failure to impose a civil fine would 
impede or interfere with the detection of crimi-
nal activity; 
‘‘(C) the violation is a violation of an inter-
nal revenue law or a law concerning the assess-
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ment or collection of any tax, debt, revenue, or 
receipt; 
‘‘(D) the violation was not corrected on or 
before the date that is 6 months after the date 
of receipt by the small business concern of noti-
fication of the violation in writing from the 
agency; or 
‘‘(E) except as provided in paragraph (3), 
the violation presents a danger to the public 
health or safety. 
‘‘(3) DANGER TO PUBLIC HEALTH OR SAFE-
TY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which 
the head of an agency determines under para-
graph (2)(E) that a violation presents a danger 
to the public health or safety, the head of the 
agency may, notwithstanding paragraph (2)(E), 
determine not to impose a civil fine on the 
small business concern if the violation is cor-
rected not later than 24 hours after receipt by 
the small business owner of notification of the 
violation in writing. 
‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 
whether to provide a small business concern 
with 24 hours to correct a violation under sub-
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paragraph (A), the head of the agency shall 
take into account all of the facts and cir-
cumstances regarding the violation, including— 
‘‘(i) the nature and seriousness of the 
violation, including whether the violation is 
technical or inadvertent or involves willful 
or criminal conduct; 
‘‘(ii) whether the small business con-
cern has made a good faith effort to com-
ply with applicable laws and to remedy the 
violation within the shortest practicable pe-
riod of time; and 
‘‘(iii) whether the small business con-
cern has obtained a significant economic 
benefit from the violation. 
‘‘(C) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—In any case 
in which the head of the agency imposes a civil 
fine on a small business concern for a violation 
that presents a danger to the public health or 
safety and does not provide the small business 
concern with 24 hours to correct the violation 
under subparagraph (A), the head of the agency 
shall notify Congress regarding such determina-
tion not later than the date that is 60 days 
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