In the Senate of the United States,
May 22, 2002.
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representa-
tives (H.R. 327) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend chapter 35 of
title 44, United States Code, for the purpose of facilitating
compliance by small businesses with certain Federal paper-
work requirements and to establish a task force to examine
the feasibility of streamlining paperwork requirements appli-
cable to small businesses.’’, do pass with the following
AMENDMENTS:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Paper-
work Relief Act of 2002’’.
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SEC. 2. FACILITATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL PA-
PERWORK REQUIREMENTS.
(a) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE DIRECTOR
OF OMB.—Section 3504(c) of title 44, United States Code
(commonly referred to as the ‘‘Paperwork 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:
‘‘(6) publish in the Federal Register and make
available on the Internet (in consultation with the
Small Business Administration) on an annual basis
a list of the compliance assistance resources available
to small businesses, with the first such publication oc-
curring not later than 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of
2002.’’.
(b) ESTABLISHMENT
OF AGENCY POINT
OF CON-
TACT.—Section 3506 of title 44, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(i)(1) In addition to the requirements described in
subsection (c), each agency shall, with respect to the collec-
tion of information and the control of paperwork, establish
1 point of contact in the agency to act as a liaison between
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the agency and small business concerns (as defined in sec-
tion 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)).
‘‘(2) Each point of contact described under paragraph
(1) shall be established not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act
of 2002.’’.
(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
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(4) in addition to the requirements of this
chapter regarding the reduction of information collec-
tion burdens for small business concerns (as defined
in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
632)), make efforts to further reduce the information
collection burden for small business concerns with
fewer than 25 employees.’’.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE ON INFORMATION
COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 35 of title 44, United
States Code, is amended—
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(1) by redesignating section 3520 as section
3521; and
(2) by inserting after section 3519 the following:
‘‘§ 3520. Establishment of task force on information
collection and dissemination
‘‘(a) There is established a task force to study the feasi-
bility of streamlining requirements with respect to small
business concerns regarding collection of information and
strengthening dissemination of information (in this section
referred to as the ‘task force’).
‘‘(b)(1) The Director shall determine—
‘‘(A) subject to the minimum requirements under
paragraph (2), the number of representatives to be
designated under each subparagraph of that para-
graph; and
‘‘(B) the agencies to be represented under para-
graph (2)(K).
‘‘(2) After all determinations are made under para-
graph (1), the members of the task force shall be designated
by the head of each applicable department or agency, and
include—
‘‘(A) 1 representative of the Director, who shall
convene and chair the task force;
‘‘(B) not less than 2 representatives of the De-
partment of Labor, including 1 representative of the
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Bureau of Labor Statistics and 1 representative of the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration;
‘‘(C) not less than 1 representative of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency;
‘‘(D) not less than 1 representative of the De-
partment of Transportation;
‘‘(E) not less than 1 representative of the Office
of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration;
‘‘(F) not less than 1 representative of the Inter-
nal Revenue Service;
‘‘(G) not less than 2 representatives of the De-
partment of Health and Human Services, including
1 representative of the Centers for Medicare and Med-
icaid Services;
‘‘(H) not less than 1 representative of the De-
partment of Agriculture;
‘‘(I) not less than 1 representative of the Depart-
ment of the Interior;
‘‘(J) not less than 1 representative of the General
Services Administration; and
‘‘(K) not less than 1 representative of each of 2
agencies not represented by representatives described
under subparagraphs (A) through (J).
‘‘(c) The task force shall—
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‘‘(1) identify ways to integrate the collection of
information across Federal agencies and programs
and examine the feasibility and desirability of requir-
ing each agency to consolidate requirements regarding
collections of information with respect to small busi-
ness concerns within and across agencies, without
negatively impacting the effectiveness of underlying
laws and regulations regarding such collections of in-
formation, in order that each small business concern
may submit all information required by the agency—
‘‘(A) to 1 point of contact in the agency;
‘‘(B) in a single format, such as a single
electronic reporting system, with respect to the
agency; and
‘‘(C) with synchronized reporting for infor-
mation submissions having the same frequency,
such as synchronized quarterly, semiannual, and
annual reporting dates;
‘‘(2) examine the feasibility and benefits to small
businesses of publishing a list by the Director of the
collections of information applicable to small business
concerns (as defined in section 3 of the Small Busi-
ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), organized—
‘‘(A) by North American Industry Classi-
fication System code;
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‘‘(B) by industrial sector description; or
‘‘(C) in another manner by which small
business concerns can more easily identify re-
quirements with which those small business con-
cerns are expected to comply;
‘‘(3) examine the savings, including cost savings,
and develop recommendations for implementing—
‘‘(A) systems for electronic submissions of
information to the Federal Government; and
‘‘(B) interactive reporting systems, includ-
ing components that provide immediate feedback
to assure that data being submitted—
‘‘(i) meet requirements of format; and
‘‘(ii) are within the range of acceptable
options for each data field;
‘‘(4) make recommendations to improve the elec-
tronic dissemination of information collected under
Federal requirements;
‘‘(5) recommend a plan for the development of
an interactive Governmentwide system, available
through the Internet, to allow each small business
to—
‘‘(A) better understand which Federal re-
quirements regarding collection of information
(and, when possible, which other Federal regu-
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latory requirements) apply to that particular
business; and
‘‘(B) more easily comply with those Federal
requirements; and
‘‘(6) in carrying out this section, consider oppor-
tunities for the coordination—
‘‘(A) of Federal and State reporting require-
ments; and
‘‘(B) among the points of contact described
under section 3506(i), such as to enable agencies
to provide small business concerns with contacts
for information collection requirements for other
agencies.
‘‘(d) The task force shall—
‘‘(1) by publication in the Federal Register, pro-
vide notice and an opportunity for public comment
on each report in draft form; and
‘‘(2) make provision in each report for the inclu-
sion of—
‘‘(A) any additional or dissenting views of
task force members; and
‘‘(B) a summary of significant public com-
ments.
‘‘(e) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the
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task force shall submit a report of its findings under sub-
section (c) (1), (2), and (3) to—
‘‘(1) the Director;
‘‘(2) the chairpersons and ranking minority
members of—
‘‘(A) the Committee on Governmental Af-
fairs and the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and
‘‘(B) the Committee on Government Reform
and the Committee on Small Business of the
House of Representatives; and
‘‘(3) the Small Business and Agriculture Regu-
latory Enforcement Ombudsman designated under
section 30(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
657(b)).
‘‘(f) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment
of the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the
task force shall submit a report of its findings under sub-
section (c) (4) and (5) to—
‘‘(1) the Director;
‘‘(2) the chairpersons and ranking minority
members of—
‘‘(A) the Committee on Governmental Af-
fairs and the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and
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‘‘(B) the Committee on Government Reform
and the Committee on Small Business of the
House of Representatives; and
‘‘(3) the Small Business and Agriculture Regu-
latory Enforcement Ombudsman designated under
section 30(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
657(b)).
‘‘(g) The task force shall terminate after completion of
its work.
‘‘(h) In this section, the term ‘small business concern’
has the meaning given under section 3 of the Small Busi-
ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632).’’.
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The
table of sections for chapter 35 of title 44, United States
Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section
3520 and inserting the following:
‘‘3520. Establishment of task force on information collection and dissemination.
‘‘3521. Authorization of appropriations.’’.
SEC. 4. REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT REPORTS.
(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘agency’’
has the meaning given that term under section 551 of title
5, United States Code.
(b) IN GENERAL.—
(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than December
31, 2003, each agency shall submit an initial report
to—
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(B) The number of enforcement actions in
which a civil penalty is assessed against a small
entity.
(C) The number of enforcement actions de-
scribed under subparagraphs (A) and (B) in
which the civil penalty is reduced or waived.
(D) The total monetary amount of the re-
ductions or waivers referred to under subpara-
graph (C).
(4) DEFINITIONS
IN
REPORTS.—Each report
under this subsection shall include definitions selected
at the discretion of the reporting agency of the terms
‘‘enforcement actions’’, ‘‘reduction or waiver’’, and
‘‘small entity’’ as used in the report.
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act to amend
chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, for the pur-
pose of facilitating compliance by small business concerns
with certain Federal paperwork requirements, to establish
a task force to examine information collection and dis-
semination, and for other purposes.’’.
Attest:
Secretary.