[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1979 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1979

  To protect the rights of small entities subject to investigative or 
        enforcement action by agencies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 30, 1995

Mr. Duncan (for himself and Mr. Talent) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 protect the rights of small entities subject to investigative or 
        enforcement action by agencies, and for other purposes.
    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 ``Small Business Regulatory Bill of 
Rights Act''.

SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY BILL OF RIGHTS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subchapter:

       ``SUBCHAPTER VI--SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY BILL OF RIGHTS

``Sec. 597. Definition
    ``For purposes of this subchapter, the term `small entity' has the 
same meaning given such term in section 601(6).
``Sec. 597a. Rights of small entities prior to enforcement action
    ``Except as provided in section 597d, each agency shall ensure that 
its regulatory enforcement program includes--
            ``(1) a no-fault compliance audit program in which no 
        penalties may be assessed against a small entity upon voluntary 
        application by the entity to the agency or a licensed private 
        sector entity for a compliance audit;
            ``(2) a publicized, coherent compliance assistance program 
        available to regulated small entities under the agency's 
        jurisdiction that provides technical and other compliance 
        related assistance to small entities upon request of a small 
        entity;
            ``(3) a method to enforce regulations in a uniform, 
        consistent, and nonarbitrary manner nationwide; and
            ``(4) an abatement period of not less than 60 days to allow 
        the small entity to correct any violations before a penalty is 
        assessed.
``Sec. 597b. Rights during investigative or enforcement action
    ``Except as provided in section 597d, each small entity that is the 
subject of a Federal investigative or enforcement action shall, upon 
the initiation of an inspection, investigation, or other official 
proceeding directed against the person, have the right--
            ``(1) to be provided access to all information gathered on 
        the entity by Government officials on a timely basis;
            ``(2) to remain silent;
            ``(3) to be advised as to whether the person or entity has 
        a right to a warrant;
            ``(4) to be warned that statements can be used against the 
        small entity and representatives of the small entity;
            ``(5) to have an attorney or accountant present;
            ``(6) to be informed as to the scope and purpose of the 
        agency action;
            ``(7) to be present at the inspection, investigation, or 
        proceeding; and
            ``(8) to be free of unreasonable seizures of property or 
        assets.
``Sec. 597c. Rights after investigative or enforcement action
    ``Except as provided in section 597d, each small entity that has 
been found in violation of a regulation and was subject to an 
enforcement action or penalty shall have the right--
            ``(1) to be free from inspections for 180 days after the 
        date on which the small entity obtains certification from the 
        agency that the small entity is in compliance with the 
        regulation;
            ``(2) to have ability to pay factored into the assessment 
        of penalties through flexible payment plans with reduced 
        installments that reflect the entity's long-term ability to pay 
        (taking into account cash-flow and long-term profitability); 
        and
            ``(3) to not have fines paid be used to finance the 
        inspecting agency, but instead credited to the General Treasury 
        of the United States, to be used for reduction of the Federal 
        deficit.
``Sec. 597d. Exceptions and limitation
    ``(a) A provision of this subchapter shall not apply if compliance 
with such provision would--
            ``(1) substantially delay responding to an imminent danger 
        to person or property; or
            ``(2) substantially or unreasonably impede a criminal 
        investigation.
    ``(b) A small entity shall not be entitled to the benefit of a no-
fault compliance audit program under section 597a(1) regarding a 
particular enforcement issue for 60 days after the entity has had an 
agency-initiated contact regarding such issue.''.
    (b) Technical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 5 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``SUBCHAPTER VI--SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY BILL OF RIGHTS

``597. Definition.
``597a. Rights of small entities prior to enforcement action.
``597b. Rights during investigative or enforcement action.
``597c. Rights after investigative or enforcement action.
``597d. Exceptions and limitation.''.
SEC. 3. INSTRUCTIONS AND AGENCY RULES.

    (a) Effective Date.--The amendment made by section 2 shall take 
effect not later than January 1, 1999.
    (b) Reports.--The Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
shall submit an annual report to Congress on the progress of the 
agencies in complying with this Act and the amendments made by this 
Act.
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