IIB
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 391
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 12, 1999
Received
FEBRUARY 22, 1999
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs
AN ACT
To amend chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, for
the purpose of facilitating compliance by small businesses
with certain Federal paperwork requirements, to estab-
lish a task force to examine the feasibility of streamlining
paperwork requirements applicable to small businesses,
and for other purposes.
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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 Reduction Act Amendments of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FACILITATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL PA-
PERWORK REQUIREMENTS.
(a) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE DIRECTOR
OF OMB.—Section 3504(c) of chapter 35 of title 44,
United States Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Paper-
work 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 new
paragraphs:
‘‘(6) publish in the Federal Register on an an-
nual basis a list of the requirements applicable to
small-business concerns (within the meaning of sec-
tion 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et
seq.)) with respect to collection of information by
agencies, organized by North American Industrial
Classification System code and industrial/sector de-
scription (as published by the Office of Management
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and Budget), with the first such publication occur-
ring not later than one year after the date of the en-
actment of the Small Business Paperwork Reduction
Act Amendments of 1999; and
‘‘(7) make available on the Internet, not later
than one year after the date of the enactment of
such Act, the list of requirements described in para-
graph (6).’’.
(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCY POINT OF CON-
TACT; SUSPENSION OF FINES FOR FIRST-TIME PAPER-
WORK VIOLATIONS.—Section 3506 of such chapter is
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(i)(1) In addition to the requirements described in
subsection (c), each agency shall, with respect to the col-
lection of information and the control of paperwork—
‘‘(A) establish one point of contact in the agen-
cy to act as a liaison between the agency and small-
business concerns (within the meaning of section 3
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.));
and
‘‘(B) in any case of a first-time violation by a
small-business concern of a requirement regarding
collection of information by the agency, provide that
no civil fine shall be imposed on the small-business
HR 391 RFS
concern unless, based on the particular facts and cir-
cumstances regarding the violation—
‘‘(i) the head of the agency determines that
the violation has the potential to cause serious
harm to the public interest;
‘‘(ii) the head of the agency determines
that failure to impose a civil fine would impede
or interfere with the detection of criminal activ-
ity;
‘‘(iii) the violation is a violation of an in-
ternal revenue law or a law concerning the as-
sessment or collection of any tax, debt, revenue,
or receipt;
‘‘(iv) the violation is not corrected on or
before the date that is six months after the date
of receipt by the small-business concern of noti-
fication of the violation in writing from the
agency; or
‘‘(v) except as provided in paragraph (2),
the head of the agency determines that the vio-
lation presents a danger to the public health or
safety.
‘‘(2)(A) In any case in which the head of an agency
determines that a first-time violation by a small-business
concern of a requirement regarding the collection of infor-
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mation presents a danger to the public health or safety,
the head of the agency may, notwithstanding paragraph
(1)(B)(v), determine that a civil fine should not be im-
posed on the small-business concern if the violation is cor-
rected within 24 hours of receipt of notice in writing by
the small-business concern of the violation.
‘‘(B) In determining whether to provide a small-busi-
ness concern with 24 hours to correct a violation under
subparagraph (A), the head of the agency shall take into
account all of the facts and circumstances regarding the
violation, including—
‘‘(i) the nature and seriousness of the violation,
including whether the violation is technical or inad-
vertent or involves willful or criminal conduct;
‘‘(ii) whether the small-business concern has
made a good faith effort to comply with applicable
laws, and to remedy the violation within the shortest
practicable period of time;
‘‘(iii) the previous compliance history of the
small-business concern, including whether the small-
business concern, its owner or owners, or its prin-
cipal officers have been subject to past enforcement
actions; and
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‘‘(iv) whether the small-business concern has
obtained a significant economic benefit from the vio-
lation.
‘‘(3) In any case in which the head of the agency im-
poses a civil fine on a small-business concern for a first-
time violation of a requirement regarding collection of in-
formation which the agency head has determined presents
a danger to the public health or safety, and does not pro-
vide the small-business concern with 24 hours to correct
the violation, the head of the agency shall notify Congress
regarding such determination not later than 60 days after
the date that the civil fine is imposed by the agency.
‘‘(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no
State may impose a civil penalty on a small-business con-
cern, in the case of a first-time violation by the small-busi-
ness concern of a requirement regarding collection of in-
formation under Federal law, in a manner inconsistent
with the provisions of this subsection.’’.
(c) ADDITIONAL REDUCTION OF PAPERWORK FOR
CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESSES.—Section 3506(c) of title
44, United States Code, is amended—
(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
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(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(4) in addition to the requirements of this Act
regarding the reduction of paperwork for small-busi-
ness concerns (within the meaning of section 3 of
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.)),
make efforts to further reduce the paperwork burden
for small-business concerns with fewer than 25 em-
ployees.’’.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE TO STUDY
STREAMLINING OF PAPERWORK REQUIRE-
MENTS FOR SMALL-BUSINESS CONCERNS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 35 of title 44, United
States Code, is further amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
‘‘§ 3521. Establishment of task force on feasibility of
streamlining information collection re-
quirements
‘‘(a) There is hereby established a task force to study
the feasibility of streamlining requirements with respect
to small-business concerns regarding collection of informa-
tion (in this section referred to as the ‘task force’).
‘‘(b) The members of the task force shall be ap-
pointed by the Director, and shall include the following:
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‘‘(1) At least two representatives of the Depart-
ment of Labor, including one representative of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and one representative of
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
‘‘(2) At least one representative of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
‘‘(3) At least one representative of the Depart-
ment of Transportation.
‘‘(4) At least one representative of the Office of
Advocacy of the Small Business Administration.
‘‘(5) At least one representative of each of two
agencies other than the Department of Labor, the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Department
of Transportation, and the Small Business Adminis-
tration.
‘‘(6) At least two representatives of the Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services, including one
representative of the Health Care Financing Admin-
istration.
‘‘(c) The task force shall examine the feasibility of
requiring each agency to consolidate requirements regard-
ing collections of information with respect to small-busi-
ness concerns, in order that each small-business concern
may submit all information required by the agency—
‘‘(1) to one point of contact in the agency;