IB
Union Calendar No. 125
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 203
[Report No. 107–210]
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
JANUARY 3, 2001
Mr. SWEENEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Small Business
SEPTEMBER 21, 2001
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 3, 2001]
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.
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 ‘‘National Small Business
Regulatory Assistance Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to establish a pilot program
to—
(1) provide confidential assistance to small busi-
ness concerns;
(2) provide small business concerns with the in-
formation necessary to improve their rate of compli-
ance with Federal and State regulations;
(3) create a partnership among Federal agencies
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. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the definitions set forth in section 36(a)
of the Small Business Act (as added by section 4 of this
Act) shall apply.
SEC. 4. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PILOT
PROGRAM.
The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637 et seq.) is
amended—
(1) by redesignating section 36 as section 37;
and
(2) by inserting after section 35 the following
new section:
‘‘SEC. 36. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE
PILOT PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply:
‘‘(1) 
ADMINISTRATOR.—The 
term 
‘Adminis-
trator’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi-
ness Administration, acting through the Associate Ad-
ministrator for Small Business Development Centers.
‘‘(2) 
ASSOCIATION.—The 
term 
‘Association’
means the association, established pursuant to section
21(a)(3)(A), representing a majority of Small Busi-
ness Development Centers.
‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOP-
MENT CENTER.—The term ‘participating Small Busi-
ness Development Center’ means a Small Business
Development Center participating in the pilot pro-
gram.
‘‘(4) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘pilot program’
means the pilot program established under this sec-
tion.
‘‘(5) REGULATORY COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE.—
The term ‘regulatory compliance assistance’ means
assistance provided by a Small Business Development
Center to a small business concern to enable the con-
cern to comply with Federal regulatory requirements.
‘‘(6) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER.—
The term ‘Small Business Development Center’ means
a Small Business Development Center described in
section 21.
‘‘(7) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of the
several States, the District of Columbia, the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam.
‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—In accordance with this section, the
Administrator shall establish a pilot program to provide
regulatory compliance assistance to small business concerns
through participating Small Business Development Centers,
the Association, and Federal compliance partnership pro-
grams.
‘‘(c) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot
program, the Administrator shall enter into arrange-
ments with participating Small Business Develop-
ment Centers under which such centers will provide—
‘‘(A) access to information and resources,
including current Federal and State nonpunitive
compliance and technical assistance programs
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 operators
of small business concerns regarding compliance
with Federal and State 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;
‘‘(D) technical assistance; and
‘‘(E) referrals to experts and other providers
of compliance assistance who meet such stand-
ards for educational, technical, and professional
competency as are established by the Adminis-
trator.
‘‘(2) REPORTS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Each participating
Small Business Development Center shall trans-
mit to the Administrator 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) ELECTRONIC FORM.—Each report re-
ferred to in subparagraph (A) shall be trans-
mitted 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 Admin-
istrator any interim report containing data or
information considered by the center to be nec-
essary or useful.
‘‘(D) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE REQUIRE-
MENTS.—The Administrator may not require a
Small Business Development Center to disclose
the name or address of any small business con-
cern that received or is receiving assistance
under the pilot program, except that the Admin-
istrator shall require such a disclosure if ordered
to do so by a court in any civil or criminal en-
forcement action commenced by a Federal or
State agency.
‘‘(d) DATA REPOSITORY AND CLEARINGHOUSE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot
program, the Administrator shall—
‘‘(A) act as the repository of and clearing-
house for data and information submitted by
Small Business Development Centers; and
‘‘(B) transmit to the President and to the
Committees on Small Business of the Senate and
House of Representatives an annual report that
includes—
‘‘(i) a description of the types of assist-
ance provided by participating Small Busi-
ness Development Centers under the pilot
program;
‘‘(ii) data regarding the number of
small business concerns that contacted par-
ticipating 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 Centers
under the pilot program;
‘‘(iv) data and information regarding
outreach activities conducted by partici-
pating Small Business Development Centers
under the pilot program, including any ac-
tivities conducted in partnership with Fed-
eral agencies;
‘‘(v) data and information regarding
each case known to the Administrator in
which one or more Small Business Develop-
ment Centers offered conflicting advice or
information regarding compliance with a
Federal or State regulation to one or more
small business concerns;
‘‘(vi) any recommendations for im-
provements in the regulation of small busi-
ness concerns; and
‘‘(vii) a list of regulations identified by
the Administrator, after consultation with
the Small Business and Agriculture Regu-
latory Enforcement Ombudsman, as being
most burdensome to small business concerns,
and recommendations to reduce or elimi-
nate the burdens of such regulations.
‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A Small Business Develop-
ment Center shall be eligible to receive assistance
under the pilot program only if the center is certified
under section 21(k)(2).
‘‘(2) WAIVER.—With respect to a Small Business
Development Center seeking assistance under the pilot
program, the Administrator may waive the certifi-
cation requirement set forth in paragraph (1) if the
Administrator determines that the center is making
a good faith effort to obtain such certification.
‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—This subsection shall
take effect on October 1, 2001.
‘‘(f) SELECTION
OF
PARTICIPATING
STATE
PRO-
GRAMS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the As-
sociation and giving substantial weight to the Asso-
ciation’s recommendations, the Administrator shall
select the Small Business Development Center pro-
grams of 2 States from each of the following groups
of States to participate in the pilot program estab-
lished by this section:
‘‘(A) Group 1: Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode
Island.
‘‘(B) Group 2: New York, New Jersey, Puer-
to Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
‘‘(C) Group 3: Pennsylvania, Maryland,
West Virginia, Virginia, the District of Colum-
bia, and Delaware.
‘‘(D) Group 4: Georgia, Alabama, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida,
Kentucky, and Tennessee.
‘‘(E) Group 5: Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, In-
diana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
‘‘(F) Group 6: Texas, New Mexico, Arkan-
sas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
‘‘(G) Group 7: Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska,
and Kansas.
‘‘(H) Group 8: Colorado, Wyoming, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Utah.
‘‘(I) Group 9: California, Guam, Hawaii,
Nevada, and Arizona.
‘‘(J) Group 10: Washington, Alaska, Idaho,
and Oregon.
‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR SELECTION.—The Adminis-
trator shall make selections under this subsection not