[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1817 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1817

    To protect private individuals against reprisals for disclosing 
          information regarding certain governmental actions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 22, 1993

   Mr. DeLay (for himself, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Ewing, Mr. 
  Greenwood, Mr. Hancock, Mr. Istook, and Mr. Stearns) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on 
Government Operations, Post Office and Civil Service, and the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To protect private individuals against reprisals for disclosing 
          information regarding certain governmental actions.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Private Sector Whistleblowers' 
Protection Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The Federal regulatory system should be implemented consistent with 
the principle that any person subject to Government regulation should 
be protected against reprisal for disclosing information that the 
person believes is indicative of--
            (1) violation or inconsistent application of any law, rule, 
        regulation, policy, or internal standard;
            (2) arbitrary action or other abuse of authority;
            (3) mismanagement;
            (4) waste or misallocation of resources;
            (5) inconsistent, discriminatory or disproportionate 
        enforcement proceedings;
            (6) endangerment of public health or safety;
            (7) personal favoritism; and
            (8) coercion for partisan political purposes;
by any agency or its employees.

SEC. 3. COVERAGE.

    This Act shall apply to:
            (1) Any agency of the Federal Government as defined in 
        section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
            (2) Any agency of a State government that exercises 
        authority under Federal law, or that exercises authority under 
        State law establishing a program approved by a Federal agency 
        as a substitute for or supplement to a program established by 
        Federal law.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITED REGULATORY PRACTICES.

    (a) For purposes of this Act, ``prohibited regulatory practice'' 
means any action described in subsection (b)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this 
section.
    (b)(1) No employee of an Agency who has authority--
            (A) to take or direct other employees to take,
            (B) to recommend, or
            (C) to approve,
any regulatory action shall--
            (i) take or fail to take, or threaten to take or fail to 
        take,
            (ii) recommend or direct that others take or fail to take, 
        or threaten to so recommend or direct, or
            (iii) approve the taking or failing to take, or threaten to 
        so approve,
such regulatory action because of any disclosure by a person subject to 
the action, or by any other person, of information that the person 
believed indicative of--
            (I) violation or inconsistent application of any law, rule, 
        regulation, policy, or internal standard;
            (II) arbitrary action or other abuse of authority;
            (III) mismanagement;
            (IV) Waste or misallocation of resources;
            (V) Inconsistent, discriminatory or disproportionate 
        enforcement;
            (VI) endangerment of public health or safety;
            (VII personal favoritism; or
            (VIII) coercion for partisan political purposes;
by any agency or its employees.
    (2) An action shall be deemed to have been taken, not taken, 
approved, or recommended because of the disclosure of information 
within the meaning of paragraph (1) if the disclosure of information 
was a contributing factor to the decision to take, not to take, to 
approve, or to recommend.

SEC. 5. PROHIBITED REGULATORY PRACTICE AS A DEFENSE TO AGENCY ACTION.

    (a) In any administrative or judicial action or proceeding, formal 
or informal, by an agency to create, apply or enforce any obligation, 
duty or liability under any law, rule or regulation against any person, 
the person may assert as a defense that the agency or one or more 
employees of the agency have engaged in a prohibited regulatory 
practice with respect to the person or to a related entity in 
connection with the action or proceeding.
    (b) If the existence of a prohibited regulatory practice is 
established, the person may be required to comply with the obligation, 
duty or liability to the extent compliance is required of and enforced 
against other persons similarly situated, but no penalty, fine, 
damages, costs or other obligation except compliance shall be imposed 
on the person.

SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Any agency, and any employee of an agency, engaging in a 
prohibited regulatory practice may be assessed a civil penalty of not 
more than $25,000 for each such practice. In the case of a continuing 
prohibited regulatory practice, each day that the practice continues 
shall be deemed a separate practice.
    (b) The President shall, by regulation, establish procedures 
providing for the administrative enforcement of the requirements of 
subsection (a) of this section.

SEC. 7. CITIZEN SUITS.

    (a) Any person injured or threatened by a prohibited regulatory 
practice may commence a civil action on his own behalf against any 
person or agency alleged to have engaged in or threatened to engage in 
such practice.
    (b) Any action under subsection (a) of this section shall be 
brought in the district court for any district in which the alleged 
prohibited regulatory practice occurred or in which the alleged injury 
occurred. The district court shall have jurisdiction, without regard to 
the amount in controversy or the citizenship of the parties, to--
            (1) restrain any agency or person who has engaged or is 
        engaging in any prohibited regulatory practice;
            (2) order the cancellation or remission of any penalty, 
        fine, damages, or other monetary assessment that resulted from 
        a prohibited regulatory practice;
            (3) order the rescission of any settlement that resulted 
        from a prohibited regulatory practice;
            (4) order the issuance of any permit or license that has 
        been denied or delayed as a result of a prohibited regulatory 
        practice;
            (5) order the agency and/or the employee engaging in a 
        prohibited regulatory practice to pay to the injured person 
        such damages as may be necessary to compensate the person for 
        any harm resulting from the practice, including damages for--
                    (A) injury to, deterioration of, or destruction of 
                real or personal property;
                    (B) loss of profits from idle or underutilized 
                resources, and from business forgone;
                    (C) costs incurred, including costs of compliance 
                where appropriate;
                    (D) loss in value of a business;
                    (E) reasonable legal, consulting and expert witness 
                fees; or
                    (F) payments to third parties;
            (6) order the payment of punitive damages, in an amount not 
        to exceed $25,000 for each such prohibited regulatory practice, 
        provided that, in the case of a continuing prohibited 
        regulatory practice, each day that the practice continues shall 
        be deemed a separate practice.

SEC. 8. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL COUNSEL.

    (a) Any person who has reason to believe that any employee of any 
agency has engaged in a prohibited regulatory practice may request the 
Special Counsel established by section 1211 of title 5, United States 
Code, to investigate.
    (b) The Special Counsel shall have the same power to investigate 
prohibited regulatory practices that it has to investigate prohibited 
personnel practices pursuant to section 1212 of title 5, United States 
Code.

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