I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1882
To amend provisions of law enacted by the Small Business Regulatory En-
forcement Fairness Act of 1996 to ensure full analysis of potential
impacts on small entities of rules proposed by certain agencies, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 20, 1999
Mr. TALENT (for himself, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. BARTLETT of
Maryland, and Mr. EWING) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend provisions of law enacted by the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 to ensure
full analysis of potential impacts on small entities of
rules proposed by certain agencies, and for other pur-
poses.
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 ‘‘Small Business Review
Panel Technical Amendments Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) A vibrant and growing small business sector
is critical to creating jobs in a dynamic economy.
(2) Small businesses bear a disproportionate
share of regulatory costs and burdens.
(3) Federal agencies must consider the impact
of their regulations on small businesses early in the
rulemaking process.
(4) The Small Business Advocacy Review Panel
process that was established by the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 has
been effective in allowing small businesses to partici-
pate in rules that are being developed by the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency and the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol-
lowing:
(1) To provide a forum for the effective partici-
pation of small businesses in the Federal regulatory
process.
(2) To clarify and strengthen the Small Busi-
ness Advocacy Review Panel process.
(3) To expand the number of Federal agencies
that are required to convene Small Business Advo-
cacy Review Panels.
SEC. 3. ENSURING FULL ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL IMPACTS
ON SMALL ENTITIES OF RULES PROPOSED BY
CERTAIN AGENCIES.
Section 609(b) of title 5, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘(b)(1) Before the publication of an initial regulatory
flexibility analysis that a covered agency is required to
conduct under this chapter, the head of the covered agency
shall—
‘‘(A) notify the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of
the Small Business Administration (in this sub-
section referred to as the ‘Chief Counsel’) in writing;
‘‘(B) provide the Chief Counsel with informa-
tion on the potential impacts of the proposed rule on
small entities and the type of small entities that
might be affected; and
‘‘(C) not later than 30 days after complying
with subparagraphs (A) and (B)—
‘‘(i) with the concurrence of the Chief
Counsel, identify affected small entity rep-
resentatives; and
‘‘(ii) transmit the information referred to
in subparagraph (B) to the identified small en-
tity representatives for the purposes of obtain-
ing advice and recommendations about the po-
tential impacts of the draft proposed rule.
‘‘(2)(A) Not earlier than 30 days after the covered
agency transmits information pursuant to paragraph
(1)(C)(ii), the head of the covered agency shall convene
a review panel for the draft proposed rule. The panel shall
consist solely of full-time Federal employees of the office
within the covered agency that will be responsible for car-
rying out the proposed rule, the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and
Budget, and the Chief Counsel.
‘‘(B) The review panel shall—
‘‘(i) review any material the covered agency has
prepared in connection with this chapter, including
any draft proposed rule;
‘‘(ii) collect advice and recommendations from
the small entity representatives identified under
paragraph (1)(C)(i) on issues related to paragraphs
(3), (4), and (5) of section 603(b) and section
603(c); and
‘‘(iii) allow any small entity representative iden-
tified under paragraph (1)(C)(i) to make an oral
presentation to the panel, if requested.
‘‘(C) Not later than 60 days after the date a covered
agency convenes a review panel pursuant to this para-
graph, the review panel shall report to the head of the
covered agency on—
‘‘(i) the comments received from the small enti-
ty 
representatives 
identified 
under 
paragraph
(1)(C)(i); and
‘‘(ii) its findings regarding issues related to
paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of section 603(b) and
section 603(c).
‘‘(3) The head of the covered agency shall print in
the Federal Register the report of the review panel under
paragraph (2)(C), by the earlier of—
‘‘(A) 120 days after the date the head of the
covered agency receives the report; or
‘‘(B) as part of the publication of the notice of
proposed rulemaking for the proposed rule.
‘‘(4) Where appropriate, the covered agency shall
modify the draft proposed rule, the initial regulatory flexi-
bility analysis for the draft proposed rule, or the decision
on whether an initial regulatory flexibility analysis is re-
quired for the draft proposed rule.’’.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
Section 609(d) of title 5, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘(d) For the purposes of this section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘covered agency’ means the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration of the Depart-
ment of Labor, and the Internal Revenue Service of
the Department of the Treasury; and
‘‘(2) the term ‘small entity representative’
means a small entity, or an individual or organiza-
tion that represents a small entity.’’.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect upon the expiration of the
90-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of
this Act.
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