[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 327 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.327

                      One Hundred Seventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
          the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two


                                 An Act


 
To amend chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, for the purpose of 
facilitating compliance by small business concerns with certain Federal 
paperwork requirements, to establish a task force to examine information 
          collection and dissemination, 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 Paperwork Relief Act 
of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FACILITATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Requirements Applicable to the Director of OMB.--Section 
3504(c) of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 
``Paperwork Reduction Act''), is amended--
        (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
    semicolon;
        (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period and inserting a 
    semicolon; and
        (3) by adding at the end the following:
        ``(6) publish in the Federal Register and make available on the 
    Internet (in consultation with the Small Business Administration) 
    on an annual basis a list of the compliance assistance resources 
    available to small businesses, with the first such publication 
    occurring not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 
    Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002.''.
    (b) Establishment of Agency Point of Contact.--Section 3506 of 
title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(i)(1) In addition to the requirements described in subsection 
(c), each agency shall, with respect to the collection of information 
and the control of paperwork, establish 1 point of contact in the 
agency to act as a liaison between the agency and small business 
concerns (as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
632)).
    ``(2) Each point of contact described under paragraph (1) shall be 
established not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 
Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002.''.
    (c) Additional Reduction of Paperwork for Certain Small 
Businesses.--Section 3506(c) of title 44, United States Code, is 
amended--
        (1) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
    semicolon;
        (2) in paragraph (3)(J), by striking the period and inserting 
    ``; and''; and
        (3) by adding at the end the following:
        ``(4) in addition to the requirements of this chapter regarding 
    the reduction of information collection burdens for small business 
    concerns (as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 
    U.S.C. 632)), make efforts to further reduce the information 
    collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 
    employees.''.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE ON INFORMATION COLLECTION AND 
              DISSEMINATION.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, is 
amended--
        (1) by redesignating section 3520 as section 3521; and
        (2) by inserting after section 3519 the following:

``Sec. 3520. Establishment of task force on information collection and 
            dissemination

    ``(a) There is established a task force to study the feasibility of 
streamlining requirements with respect to small business concerns 
regarding collection of information and strengthening dissemination of 
information (in this section referred to as the `task force').
    ``(b)(1) The Director shall determine--
        ``(A) subject to the minimum requirements under paragraph (2), 
    the number of representatives to be designated under each 
    subparagraph of that paragraph; and
        ``(B) the agencies to be represented under paragraph (2)(K).
    ``(2) After all determinations are made under paragraph (1), the 
members of the task force shall be designated by the head of each 
applicable department or agency, and include--
        ``(A) 1 representative of the Director, who shall convene and 
    chair the task force;
        ``(B) not less than 2 representatives of the Department of 
    Labor, including 1 representative of the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
    and 1 representative of the Occupational Safety and Health 
    Administration;
        ``(C) not less than 1 representative of the Environmental 
    Protection Agency;
        ``(D) not less than 1 representative of the Department of 
    Transportation;
        ``(E) not less than 1 representative of the Office of Advocacy 
    of the Small Business Administration;
        ``(F) not less than 1 representative of the Internal Revenue 
    Service;
        ``(G) not less than 2 representatives of the Department of 
    Health and Human Services, including 1 representative of the 
    Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;
        ``(H) not less than 1 representative of the Department of 
    Agriculture;
        ``(I) not less than 1 representative of the Department of the 
    Interior;
        ``(J) not less than 1 representative of the General Services 
    Administration; and
        ``(K) not less than 1 representative of each of 2 agencies not 
    represented by representatives described under subparagraphs (A) 
    through (J).
    ``(c) The task force shall--
        ``(1) identify ways to integrate the collection of information 
    across Federal agencies and programs and examine the feasibility 
    and desirability of requiring each agency to consolidate 
    requirements regarding collections of information with respect to 
    small business concerns within and across agencies, without 
    negatively impacting the effectiveness of underlying laws and 
    regulations regarding such collections of information, in order 
    that each small business concern may submit all information 
    required by the agency--
            ``(A) to 1 point of contact in the agency;
            ``(B) in a single format, such as a single electronic 
        reporting system, with respect to the agency; and
            ``(C) with synchronized reporting for information 
        submissions having the same frequency, such as synchronized 
        quarterly, semiannual, and annual reporting dates;
        ``(2) examine the feasibility and benefits to small businesses 
    of publishing a list by the Director of the collections of 
    information applicable to small business concerns (as defined in 
    section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), organized--
            ``(A) by North American Industry Classification System 
        code;
            ``(B) by industrial sector description; or
            ``(C) in another manner by which small business concerns 
        can more easily identify requirements with which those small 
        business concerns are expected to comply;
        ``(3) examine the savings, including cost savings, and develop 
    recommendations for implementing--
            ``(A) systems for electronic submissions of information to 
        the Federal Government; and
            ``(B) interactive reporting systems, including components 
        that provide immediate feedback to assure that data being 
        submitted--
                ``(i) meet requirements of format; and
                ``(ii) are within the range of acceptable options for 
            each data field;
        ``(4) make recommendations to improve the electronic 
    dissemination of information collected under Federal requirements;
        ``(5) recommend a plan for the development of an interactive 
    Governmentwide system, available through the Internet, to allow 
    each small business to--
            ``(A) better understand which Federal requirements 
        regarding collection of information (and, when possible, which 
        other Federal regulatory requirements) apply to that particular 
        business; and
            ``(B) more easily comply with those Federal requirements; 
        and
        ``(6) in carrying out this section, consider opportunities for 
    the coordination--
            ``(A) of Federal and State reporting requirements; and
            ``(B) among the points of contact described under section 
        3506(i), such as to enable agencies to provide small business 
        concerns with contacts for information collection requirements 
        for other agencies.
    ``(d) The task force shall--
        ``(1) by publication in the Federal Register, provide notice 
    and an opportunity for public comment on each report in draft form; 
    and
        ``(2) make provision in each report for the inclusion of--
            ``(A) any additional or dissenting views of task force 
        members; and
            ``(B) a summary of significant public comments.
    ``(e) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 
Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the task force shall 
submit a report of its findings under subsection (c) (1), (2), and (3) 
to--
        ``(1) the Director;
        ``(2) the chairpersons and ranking minority members of--
            ``(A) the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the 
        Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate; 
        and
            ``(B) the Committee on Government Reform and the Committee 
        on Small Business of the House of Representatives; and
        ``(3) the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement 
    Ombudsman designated under section 30(b) of the Small Business Act 
    (15 U.S.C. 657(b)).
    ``(f) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the 
Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the task force shall 
submit a report of its findings under subsection (c) (4) and (5) to--
        ``(1) the Director;
        ``(2) the chairpersons and ranking minority members of--
            ``(A) the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the 
        Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate; 
        and
            ``(B) the Committee on Government Reform and the Committee 
        on Small Business of the House of Representatives; and
        ``(3) the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement 
    Ombudsman designated under section 30(b) of the Small Business Act 
    (15 U.S.C. 657(b)).
    ``(g) The task force shall terminate after completion of its work.
    ``(h) In this section, the term `small business concern' has the 
meaning given under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
632).''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by striking the 
item relating to section 3520 and inserting the following:

``3520. Establishment of task force on information collection and 
          dissemination.
``3521. Authorization of appropriations.''.

SEC. 4. REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT REPORTS.

    (a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``agency'' has the 
meaning given that term under section 551 of title 5, United States 
Code.
    (b) In General.--
        (1) Initial report.--Not later than December 31, 2003, each 
    agency shall submit an initial report to--
            (A) the chairpersons and ranking minority members of--
                (i) the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the 
            Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 
            Senate; and
                (ii) the Committee on Government Reform and the 
            Committee on Small Business of the House of 
            Representatives; and
            (B) the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory 
        Enforcement Ombudsman designated under section 30(b) of the 
        Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657(b)).
        (2) Final report.--Not later than December 31, 2004, each 
    agency shall submit a final report to the members and officer 
    described under paragraph (1) (A) and (B).
        (3) Content.--The initial report under paragraph (1) shall 
    include information with respect to the 1-year period beginning on 
    October 1, 2002, and the final report under paragraph (2) shall 
    include information with respect to the 1-year period beginning on 
    October 1, 2003, on each of the following:
            (A) The number of enforcement actions in which a civil 
        penalty is assessed.
            (B) The number of enforcement actions in which a civil 
        penalty is assessed against a small entity.
            (C) The number of enforcement actions described under 
        subparagraphs (A) and (B) in which the civil penalty is reduced 
        or waived.
            (D) The total monetary amount of the reductions or waivers 
        referred to under subparagraph (C).
        (4) Definitions in reports.--Each report under this subsection 
    shall include definitions selected at the discretion of the 
    reporting agency of the terms ``enforcement actions'', ``reduction 
    or waiver'', and ``small entity'' as used in the report.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.