‘‘(ii) EMPLOYEES OF FEDERAL GOV-
ERNMENT.—Members of the Council who
are officers or employees of the United
States may not receive additional pay, al-
lowances, or benefits by reason of their
service on the Council.
‘‘(B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members of the
Council shall receive travel expenses, including
per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance
with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United
States Code.
‘‘(C) STAFF.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson
may, without regard to the civil service
laws and regulations, appoint and termi-
nate an Executive Director and such other
additional personnel as may be necessary
to enable the Council to perform its duties.
The employment of an Executive Director
shall be subject to confirmation by the
Council.
‘‘(ii) 
COMPENSATION.—The 
Chair-
person may fix the compensation of the
Executive Director and other personnel
without regard to the provisions of chapter
51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of
title 5, United States Code, relating to
classification of positions and General
Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of
pay for the Executive Director and other
personnel may not exceed the rate payable
for level IV of the Executive Schedule
under section 5316 of such title.
‘‘(D) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOY-
EES.—Any Federal Government employee may
be detailed to the Council without reimburse-
ment, and such detail shall be without interrup-
tion or loss of civil service status or privilege.
‘‘(E) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND
INTERMITTENT
SERVICES.—The Chairperson
may procure temporary and intermittent serv-
ices under section 3109(b) of title 5, United
States Code, at rates for individuals which do
not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual
rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the
Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such
title.
‘‘(F) 
FEDERAL
PROCUREMENT.—The
Council may contract in its own name, includ-
ing contracting for administrative services and
for meeting such national delivery support re-
quirements as it determines necessary and ap-
propriate, under procedures to be determined
by the Council, without regard to the provisions
of title III of the Federal Property and Admin-
istrative Services Act, or any other law, rule or
regulation governing Federal procurement.
‘‘(G) ACCESS TO FEDERAL FACILITIES.—
The Council shall have access to any Federal
facilities as the Chairperson, in consultation
with the General Services Administration or
any other agency as appropriate, determines ap-
propriate, to carry out its functions.
‘‘(c) DUTIES OF PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—
‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Not later than 60
days after the date of enactment of this Act, each
participating agency shall submit to the Council a
five year plan for the establishment and mainte-
nance of the partnership with small business devel-
opment centers for a system of voluntary compli-
ance.
‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—Each plan submit-
ted under paragraph (1) shall include—
‘‘(A) the regulatory compliance objectives
of the participating agency;
‘‘(B) the regulatory compliance priorities
of the participating agency;
‘‘(C) identification of the types of services,
materials, and resources to be developed or
used by the participating agency;
‘‘(D) participating agency facilities, exper-
tise, and other resources that may be accessed
by the Chairperson, a small business develop-
ment center, or a small business concern par-
ticipating in the system of voluntary compliance
established under this section; and
‘‘(E) performance outcome measures and
evaluation criteria to be used by the participat-
ing agency in evaluating the effectiveness of the
system of voluntary compliance to be estab-
lished under this section.
‘‘(3) DUPLICATION
OF
EFFORT.—In carrying
out this subsection, each participating agency shall,
to the maximum extent practicable, ensure that par-
ticipating agencies are not carrying out duplicative
efforts.
‘‘(d) DUTIES OF COUNCIL.—
‘‘(1) 
REVIEW
OF
PARTICIPATING
AGENCY
PLAN.—Not later than 30 days after the date on
which a participating agency submits a plan to the
Council, or the Chairperson authorizes the Council
to prepare or have prepared a plan under subsection
(c)(1), the Council shall—
‘‘(A) approve the plan; or
‘‘(B) make such modifications to the plan
as the Council determines to be necessary to
carry out the purpose of this Act.
‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF GUIDELINES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Based on each plan
approved or modified under paragraph (1), not
later than 180 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Council shall—
‘‘(i) develop a program for the imple-
mentation of each participating agency
plan;
‘‘(ii) publish guidelines for the estab-
lishment by small business development
centers or consortia of small business de-
velopment centers of a system of voluntary
compliance in accordance with this section;
‘‘(iii) send a written copy of those
guidelines to each small business develop-
ment center and to each participating
agency; and
‘‘(iv) identify national service delivery
support requirements including personnel
training, resource material development,
communication 
technology, 
monitoring,
and program evaluation.
‘‘(B) GUIDELINE
REQUIREMENTS.—The
guidelines published under subparagraph (A)
shall—
‘‘(i) establish priorities for the types
of assistance to be provided to small busi-
ness concerns under the system of vol-
untary compliance established by small
business development centers or consortia
of small business development centers
under this section; and
‘‘(ii) with respect to that assistance,
establish standards relating to educational,
technical, and communications tools, re-
sources, and support services to be pro-
vided to small business concerns participat-
ing in the system of voluntary compliance.
‘‘(C) PROGRAM DELIVERY.—The guidelines
established under subparagraph (A) shall—
‘‘(i) require that the assistance to
small business concerns participating in
the system of voluntary compliance under
this section be carried out by small busi-
ness development centers or by consortia of
small business development centers; and
‘‘(ii) provide that certain national
service delivery support requirements be
carried out under contract with an associa-
tion representing the majority of small
business development centers.
‘‘(D) ENFORCEMENT
OF
GUIDELINES.—
For purposes of this paragraph, the provision of
small business development center assistance
shall not be considered to be an enforcement ac-
tion for an Federal agency.
‘‘(3) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Council shall, on
an annual basis, submit to the President and to the
Committees on Small Business of the Senate and
the House of Representatives a report, which shall
include—
‘‘(A) a description of the types of assist-
ance provided by small business development
centers and consortia of small business develop-
ment centers to small business concerns partici-
pating in the system of voluntary compliance;
‘‘(B) the level of outreach to small business
concerns achieved by small business develop-
ment centers and consortia of small business
development centers under this section;
‘‘(C) the quality and effectiveness of the
assistance provided by small business develop-
ment centers and consortia of small business
development centers to small business concerns
participating in the system of voluntary compli-
ance;
‘‘(D) problems encountered by small busi-
ness development centers and consortia of small
business development centers in carrying out
this section; and
‘‘(E) recommendations for improvements
in the regulation of small business concerns
participating in the system of voluntary compli-
ance.
‘‘(e) DUTIES OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
CENTERS.—
‘‘(1) WORK PLAN.—Beginning not later than
60 days after the date on which the guidelines are
published by the Council under subsection (d)(2)(A),
each small business development center shall, on an
annual basis, submit to the Council a work plan
under which the small business development center,
either individually or as part of a consortium of
small business development centers, will carry out
the system of voluntary compliance in accordance
with such guidelines.
‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE
PROVIDED.—The assistance
to small business concerns participating in the sys-
tem of voluntary compliance shall include—
‘‘(A) access to information and resources;
‘‘(B) training and educational activities;
‘‘(C) confidential, free-of-charge, one-on-
one in-depth counseling;
‘‘(D) technical assistance; and
‘‘(E) referrals to experts.
‘‘(3) 
REPORTS; 
RECOMMENDATIONS.—Each
small business development center and consortium of
small business development centers shall—
‘‘(A) on a semiannual basis, submit to the
Council a report on the assistance provided by
the small business development center or con-
sortium under the system of voluntary compli-
ance established under this section; and
‘‘(B) on an annual basis, submit to the
Council recommendations for improving the
regulation of small business concerns.
‘‘(C) Nothing in this or any other section
shall require a small business development cen-
ter, any consortium of small business develop-
ment centers, or any person relied on by any
such small business development center to pro-
vide services, to disclose the name or address of
any small business concern participating in a
system of voluntary compliance under this sec-
tion.
‘‘(f) EVALUATIONS.—
‘‘(1) BY THE COUNCIL.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Council shall
evaluate the system of voluntary compliance on
an annual basis.
‘‘(B) COMPLIANCE WITH WORK PLANS.—
In carrying out subparagraph (A), the Coun-
cil—
‘‘(i) shall determine whether—
‘‘(I) the participating small busi-
ness development center or consor-
tium of small business development
centers is performing in accordance
with the most recent annual work
plan submitted by the small business
development center or consortium of