IIB
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4946
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SEPTEMBER 27 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business
AN ACT
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,
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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. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the definitions set forth in section 34(a)
of the Small Business Act (as added by section 4 of this
Act) shall apply.
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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 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) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis-
trator’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi-
ness Administration.
‘‘(2) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘Association’
means the association, established pursuant to sec-
tion 21(a)(3)(A), representing a majority of Small
Business Development Centers.
‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS DEVEL-
OPMENT
CENTER.—The term ‘participating Small
Business Development Center’ means a Small Busi-
ness Development Center participating in the pilot
program.
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‘‘(4) PILOT
PROGRAM.—The term ‘pilot pro-
gram’ means the pilot program established under
this section.
‘‘(5) 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.
‘‘(6) SMALL
BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
CEN-
TER.—The term ‘Small Business Development Cen-
ter’ 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
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,
and Guam.
‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—In accordance with this section,
the Administrator shall establish a pilot program to pro-
vide regulatory compliance assistance to small business
concerns through participating Small Business Develop-
ment Centers, the Association, and Federal compliance
partnership programs.
‘‘(c) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.—
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‘‘(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 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;
‘‘(D) technical assistance; and
‘‘(E) referrals to experts and other pro-
viders of compliance assistance.
‘‘(2) REPORTS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Each participating
Small Business Development Center shall trans-
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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 Ad-
ministrator any interim report containing data
or information considered by the center to be
necessary 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-
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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) DATA REPOSITORY AND CLEARINGHOUSE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot
program, the Administrator, acting through the of-
fice of the Associate Administrator for Small Busi-
ness Development Centers, 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 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
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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 Administrator in
which one or more Small Business Devel-
opment Centers offered conflicting advice
or information regarding compliance with a
Federal regulation to one or more small
business concerns; and
‘‘(vi) any recommendations for im-
provements in the regulation of small busi-
ness concerns.
‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A Small Business Develop-
ment Center shall be eligible to receive assistance
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under the pilot program only if the center is certified
under section 21(k)(2).
‘‘(2) WAIVER.—With respect to a Small Busi-
ness Development Center seeking assistance under
the pilot program, the Administrator may waive the
certification requirement set forth in paragraph (1)
if the Administrator determines that the center is
making a good faith effort to obtain such certifi-
cation.
‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall
take effect on October 1, 2000.
‘‘(f) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING CENTERS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In consultation with the
Association and giving substantial weight to the As-
sociation’s recommendations, the Administrator shall
select two Small Business Development Centers
from each of the following groups of States to par-
ticipate in the pilot program, except that the Admin-
istrator may not select two Small Business Develop-
ment Centers from the same State:
‘‘(A) Group 1: Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode
Island.
‘‘(B) Group 2: New York, New Jersey,
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
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‘‘(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 Admin-
istrator shall make selections under this subsection
not later than 60 days after promulgation of regula-
tions under section 4.
‘‘(g) MATCHING NOT REQUIRED.—Subparagraphs
(A) and (B) of section 21(a)(4) shall not apply to assist-
ance made available under the pilot program.
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‘‘(h) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Not later than 3
years after the establishment of the pilot program, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct
an evaluation of the pilot program and shall transmit to
the Administrator and to the Committees on Small Busi-
ness of the Senate and House of Representatives a report
containing the results of the evaluation along with any rec-
ommendations as to whether the pilot program, without
or without modification, should be extended to include the
participation of all Small Business Development Centers.
‘‘(i) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—The Adminis-
trator may carry out the pilot program only with amounts
appropriated in advance specifically to carry out this sec-
tion.’’.
SEC. 5. PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.
After providing notice and an opportunity for com-
ment and after consulting with the Association (but not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act), the Administrator shall promulgate final regula-
tions to carry out this Act, including regulations that
establish—
(1) priorities for the types of assistance to be
provided under the pilot program;
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(2) standards relating to educational, technical,
and support services to be provided by participating
Small Business Development Centers;
(3) standards relating to any national service
delivery and support function to be provided by the
Association under the pilot program; and
(4) standards relating to any work plan that
the Administrator may require a participating Small
Business Development Center to develop.
Passed the House of Representatives September 26,
2000.
Attest:
JEFF TRANDAHL,
Clerk.