I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 535 
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 14, 2009 
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 ‘‘Working Small Busi-
ness Regulatory 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) failure to impose a civil fine would 
impede or interfere with the detection of crimi-
nal activity; 
‘‘(B) the violation is a violation of an inter-
nal revenue law or a law concerning the assess-
ment or collection of any tax, debt, revenue, or 
receipt; 
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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 
after the date that the civil fine is imposed by 
the agency. 
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‘‘(4) LIMITED TO FIRST-TIME VIOLATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall 
not apply to any violation by a small business 
concern of a requirement regarding collection of 
information by an agency if such small business 
concern previously violated any requirement re-
garding collection of information by that agen-
cy. 
‘‘(B) OTHER AGENCIES.—For purposes of 
making a determination under subparagraph 
(A), the head of an agency shall not take into 
account any violation of a requirement regard-
ing collection of information by another agen-
cy.’’. 
Æ 
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