1.
This Act may be cited as the
Small Business Compliance Assistance
Enhancement Act of 2005
.
2.
(a)
Congress finds the following:
(1)
Small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employers, employ
half of all private sector employees, and pay 44.3 percent of total United
States private payroll.
(2)
Small businesses generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs
annually over the last decade.
(3)
Very small firms with fewer than 20 employees spend 60 percent
more per employee than larger firms to comply with Federal regulations. Small
firms spend twice as much on tax compliance as their larger counterparts. Based
on an analysis in 2001, firms employing fewer than 20 employees face an annual
regulatory burden of nearly $7,000 per employee, compared to a burden of almost
$4,500 per employee for a firm with over 500 employees.
(4)
Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note) requires agencies to produce small entity
compliance guides for each rule or group of rules for which an agency is
required to prepare a final regulatory flexibility analysis under section 604
of title 5, United States Code.
(5)
The Government Accountability Office has found that agencies have
rarely attempted to comply with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note). When agencies did try to
comply with that requirement, they generally did not produce adequate
compliance assistance materials.
(6)
The Government Accountability Office also found that section 212
of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601
note) and other sections of that Act need clarification to be effective.
(b)
The purposes of this Act are the following:
(1)
To clarify the requirement contained in section 212 of the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note) for
agencies to produce small entity compliance guides.
(2)
To clarify other terms relating to the requirement in section 212
of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601
note).
(3)
To ensure that agencies produce adequate and useful compliance
assistance materials to help small businesses meet the obligations imposed by
regulations affecting such small businesses, and to increase compliance with
these regulations.
3.
Enhanced compliance assistance for small businesses
(a)
Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note) is amended by striking subsection (a) and
inserting the following:
(a)
(1)
For each rule or group of related rules for which an agency is
required to prepare a final regulatory flexibility analysis under section
605(b) of title 5, United States Code, the agency shall publish 1 or more
guides to assist small entities in complying with the rule and shall entitle
such publications small entity compliance guides
.
(2)
The publication of each guide under this subsection shall
include—
(A)
the posting of the guide in an easily identified location on
the website of the agency; and
(B)
distribution of the guide to known industry contacts, such as
small entities, associations, or industry leaders affected by the rule.
(3)
An agency shall publish each guide (including the posting and
distribution of the guide as described under paragraph (2))—
(A)
on the same date as the date of publication of the final rule
(or as soon as possible after that date); and
(B)
not later than the date on which the requirements of that rule
become effective.
(4)
(A)
Each guide shall explain the actions a small entity is required
to take to comply with a rule.
(B)
The explanation under subparagraph (A)—
(i)
shall include a description of actions needed to meet the
requirements of a rule, to enable a small entity to know when such requirements
are met; and
(ii)
if determined appropriate by the agency, may include a
description of possible procedures, such as conducting tests, that may assist a
small entity in meeting such requirements.
(C)
Procedures described under subparagraph (B)(ii)—
(i)
shall be suggestions to assist small entities; and
(ii)
shall not be additional requirements relating to the
rule.
(5)
Agency preparation of guides
The agency shall, in its sole discretion, taking into account
the subject matter of the rule and the language of relevant statutes, ensure
that the guide is written using sufficiently plain language likely to be
understood by affected small entities. Agencies may prepare separate guides
covering groups or classes of similarly affected small entities and may
cooperate with associations of small entities to develop and distribute such
guides. An agency may prepare guides and apply this section with respect to a
rule or a group of related rules.
(6)
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the
Small Business Compliance Assistance
Enhancement Act of 2005, and annually thereafter, the head of
each agency shall submit a report to the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House
of Representatives describing the status of the agency's compliance with
paragraphs (1) through (5).
.
(b)
Technical and conforming amendment
Section 211(3) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note) is amended by inserting and
entitled
after designated
.