[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4946 Introduced in House (IH)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 4946

  To amend the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the 
 Small Business Administration to establish a pilot program to provide 
 regulatory compliance assistance to small business concerns, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 25, 2000

 Mr. Sweeney (for himself, Mr. Talent, Mr. English, and Mr. McIntosh) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the 
 Small Business Administration to establish a pilot program to provide 
 regulatory compliance assistance to small business concerns, and for 
                            other purposes.

SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Small Business Regulatory 
Assistance Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to establish a pilot program to--
            (1) provide confidential assistance to small business 
        concerns;
            (2) provide small business concerns with the information 
        necessary to improve their rate of compliance with Federal 
        regulations;
            (3) create a partnership among Federal agencies to increase 
        outreach efforts to small business concerns with respect to 
        regulatory compliance;
            (4) provide a mechanism for unbiased feedback to Federal 
        agencies on the regulatory environment for small business 
        concerns; and
            (5) utilize the service delivery network of Small Business 
        Development Centers to improve access of small business 
        concerns to programs to assist them with regulatory compliance.

SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PILOT PROGRAM.

    The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 34 as section 35; and
            (2) by inserting after section 33 the following new 
        section:

``SEC. 34. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PILOT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions 
apply:
            ``(1) Association.--The term `Association' means the 
        association, established pursuant to section 21(a)(3)(A), 
        representing a majority of Small Business Development Centers, 
        regardless whether any or all of the participating Small 
        Business Development Centers are members of the association.
            ``(2) Participating small business development center.--The 
        term `participating Small Business Development Center' means a 
        Small Business Development Center selected to participate in 
        the pilot program established under this section.
            ``(3) Regulatory compliance assistance.--The term 
        `regulatory compliance assistance' means assistance provided by 
        a Small Business Development Center to a small business concern 
        to enable the concern to comply with Federal regulatory 
        requirements.
            ``(4) Small business development center.--The term `Small 
        Business Development Center' means a Small Business Development 
        Center described in section 21.
    ``(b) Authority.--In accordance with this section, the 
Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall establish a 
pilot program to provide regulatory compliance assistance to small 
business concerns through participating Small Business Development 
Centers, the Association, and Federal compliance partnership programs.
    ``(c) Small Business Development Centers.--
            ``(1) In general.--In carrying out the pilot program under 
        this section, the Administrator shall enter into arrangements 
        with participating Small Business Development Centers under 
        which such centers will provide--
                    ``(A) access to information and resources, 
                including current Federal and State nonpunitive 
                compliance and technical assistance programs similar to 
                those established under section 507 of the Clean Air 
                Act Amendments of 1990;
                    ``(B) training and educational activities;
                    ``(C) confidential, free-of-charge, one-on-one, in-
                depth counseling to the owners and operators of small 
                business concerns regarding compliance with Federal 
                regulations, provided that such counseling is not 
                considered to be the practice of law in a State in 
                which a Small Business Development Center is located or 
                in which such counseling is conducted; and
                    ``(D) technical assistance.
            ``(2) Quarterly reports.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Administrator shall require 
                that each participating Small Business Development 
                Center transmit to the Association a quarterly report 
                that includes--
                            ``(i) a summary of the regulatory 
                        compliance assistance provided by the center 
                        under the pilot program; and
                            ``(ii) any data and information obtained by 
                        the center from a Federal agency regarding 
                        regulatory compliance that the agency intends 
                        to be disseminated to small business concerns.
                    ``(B) Form.--Each report referred to in 
                subparagraph (A) shall be transmitted to the 
                Association in electronic form.
                    ``(C) Interim reports.--During any time period 
                falling between the transmittal of quarterly reports, a 
                participating Small Business Development Center may 
                transmit to the Association any interim report 
                containing data or information considered by the center 
                to be necessary or useful.
                    ``(D) Limitation on disclosure requirements.--The 
                Administrator may not require a Small Business 
                Development Center to disclose the name or address of 
                any small business concern that received or is 
                receiving assistance under the pilot program, except 
                that the Administrator shall require such a disclosure 
                if ordered to do so by a court in any civil or criminal 
                enforcement action commenced by a Federal or State 
                agency.
    ``(d) Association of Small Business Development Centers.--
            ``(1) In general.--In carrying out the pilot program under 
        this section, the Administrator, acting through the Office of 
        Small Business Development Centers (or any successor to such 
        office), shall enter into a contract with the Association under 
        which the Association will--
                    ``(A) act as the repository of and clearinghouse 
                for data and information submitted by Small Business 
                Development Centers; and
                    ``(B) transmit an annual report to the President, 
                the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory 
                Enforcement Ombudsman described in section 30(b), and 
                to the Committees on Small Business of the Senate and 
                House of Representatives, which report shall include--
                            ``(i) a description of the types of 
                        assistance provided by participating Small 
                        Business Development Centers under the pilot 
                        program;
                            ``(ii) data regarding the number of small 
                        business concerns that contacted participating 
                        Small Business Development Centers regarding 
                        assistance under the pilot program;
                            ``(iii) data regarding the number of small 
                        business concerns assisted by participating 
                        Small Business Development Centers under the 
                        pilot program;
                            ``(iv) data and information regarding 
                        outreach activities conducted by participating 
                        Small Business Development Centers under the 
                        pilot program, including any activities 
                        conducted in partnership with Federal agencies;
                            ``(v) data and information regarding each 
                        case known to the Association in which 1 or 
                        more Small Business Development Centers offered 
                        conflicting advice or information regarding 
                        compliance with a Federal regulation to 1 or 
                        more small business concerns; and
                            ``(vi) any recommendations for improvements 
                        in the regulation of small business concerns; 
                        and
                    ``(C) not later than 3 years after the 
                establishment of the pilot program, transmit to the 
                recipients referred to in subparagraph (B) a report 
                containing an evaluation of the pilot program and any 
                recommendations as to whether the pilot program, 
                without or without modification, should be extended to 
                include the participation of all Small Business 
                Development Centers.
    ``(e) Selection of Participating Centers.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the 
        Administrator shall select 1 Small Business Development Center 
        from each of the following States to participate in the pilot 
        program carried out under this section:
            ``(1) Massachusetts.
            ``(2) New Hampshire.
            ``(3) New York.
            ``(4) New Jersey.
            ``(5) Maryland.
            ``(6) Pennsylvania.
            ``(7) Florida.
            ``(8) South Carolina.
            ``(9) Illinois.
            ``(10) Ohio.
            ``(11) New Mexico.
            ``(12) Texas.
            ``(13) Missouri.
            ``(14) Iowa.
            ``(15) Colorado.
            ``(16) South Dakota.
            ``(17) California.
            ``(18) Nevada.
            ``(19) Washington.
            ``(20) Alaska.
            ``(2) States with multiple centers.--In the case of each 
        State listed in paragraph (1) in which there is located more 
        than 1 Small Business Development Center, the Administrator 
        shall select for participation in the pilot program the center 
        that the State director (or, in the case of the State of Texas, 
        the regional director) of Small Business Development Centers 
        for the State (or the region of the State) determines to be the 
        most qualified, based on the director's assessment of the 
        center's capability to provide regulatory compliance 
        assistance.''.
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