[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2091 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2091

    To provide for small business and agriculture regulatory relief.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 18, 1996

  Mr. Pressler (for himself and Mr. Harkin) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for small business and agriculture regulatory relief.

    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 and Farm 
Transportation Regulatory Relief Act''.

                        TITLE I--SMALL BUSINESS

SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``Small Business Regulatory Relief 
Act of 1996''.

SEC. 102. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the Secretary of Transportation is considering, as part 
        of a proposed rulemaking, expanding the exceptions provided for 
        transportation of small quantities of hazardous materials from 
        unnecessary and burdensome regulations;
            (2) certain businesses, and especially small businesses, 
        transport small quantities of some hazardous materials which 
        pose minimal risks to public safety and property;
            (3) small businesses are critical in creating jobs in the 
        United States economy and can be significantly affected by 
        Federal regulations; and
            (4) regulatory relief for small businesses transporting 
        relatively small quantities of hazardous materials should be 
        promptly acted on and the Secretary has stated an intention to 
        issue a final rule to provide this regulatory relief by 
        December 31, 1996.

SEC. 103. MATERIALS OF TRADE EXCEPTIONS FROM HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 
              TRANSPORTATION REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Deadline for Issuance of Final Rule.--Not later than December 
31, 1996, the Secretary of Transportation shall issue, under the 
rulemaking proceeding under docket number HM-200, entitled ``Hazardous 
Materials in Intrastate Transportation'', a final rule relating to 
materials of trade exceptions from chapter 51 of title 49, United 
States Code, and regulations issued pursuant thereto. The final rule 
shall substantially address the materials of trade exceptions contained 
in the proposed rule relating to hazardous materials in intrastate 
transportation published in the Federal Register on March 20, 1996 (61 
Fed. Reg. 11489-11490) and shall take into account any modifications of 
the proposed rule that are necessary and appropriate to reflect 
comments received by the Secretary on the proposed rule.
    (b) Effective Date.--The final rule issued under subsection (a) 
shall become effective not later than 90 days after the date of 
publication of the final rule.
    (c) Training of Inspectors.--Before the effective date of the final 
rule issued under subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide 
sufficient training to inspectors necessary to implement the final 
rule.

                         TITLE II--AGRICULTURE

SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``Farm Transportation Regulatory 
Relief Act''.

SEC. 202. LIMITATION ON REGULATION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION MATERIAL 
              TRANSPORTATION; EXISTING STATE EXEMPTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Any regulation issued by the Department of 
Transportation relating to the transportation of agricultural 
production material as a hazardous material under chapter 51 of title 
49, United States Code, shall not prohibit a State from--
            (1) providing an exception from the hazardous materials 
        transportation regulations for farmers and retailers who are 
        providing not-for-hire intrastate transportation of an 
        agricultural production material from a source of retail supply 
        to a farm, from a farm to another farm, from a field to another 
        field on a farm, or from the farm back to the source of retail 
        supply, as long as any such exception is not inconsistent with 
        the tolerance guidelines and procedures specified in Appendix C 
        to Part 350 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49 
        C.F.R. 350.1 et seq.); or
            (2) maintaining an exception, under State law or 
        regulation, in effect on the date on which the rules contained 
        in the Department of Transportation regulation take effect.
    (b) Agricultural Production Material Defined.--In this section, the 
term ``agricultural production material'' means hazardous material, 
including pesticides, fertilizers, fuels, and other products used to 
support the production of an agricultural commodity.

                                 <all>