[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2757 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>





                                                       Calendar No. 628
116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2757

                          [Report No. 116-326]

    To waive the imposition of a civil fine for certain first-time 
            paperwork violations by small business concerns.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 31, 2019

   Mr. Lankford (for himself, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Inhofe) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

                           December 15, 2020

               Reported by Mr. Johnson, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To waive the imposition of a civil fine for certain first-time 
            paperwork violations by small business concerns.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Harmless Error Lesser 
Penalty for Small Businesses Act'' or the ``HELP for Small Businesses 
Act''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. PAPERWORK VIOLATIONS BY SMALL BUSINESSES.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--Section 3512 of title 44, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(c) Small Businesses.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) First-time violation.--The term 
                `first-time violation' means a violation by a small 
                business concern of a requirement regarding collection 
                of information by an agency, where the small business 
                concern has not previously violated any similar 
                requirement regarding collection of information by that 
                agency.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Small business concern.--The term 
                `small business concern' has the meaning given the term 
                in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
                632).</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) First-time violation.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (C), in the case of a first-time violation 
                by a small business concern of a requirement regarding 
                the collection of information by an agency, the head of 
                the agency shall not impose a civil fine on the small 
                business concern.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Determination.--For purposes of 
                determining whether to impose a civil fine on a small 
                business concern under subparagraph (A), the head of an 
                agency shall not take into account any violation by the 
                small business concern of a requirement regarding 
                collection of information by another agency.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) Exception.--The head of an agency 
                may impose a civil fine on a small business concern for 
                a first-time violation if the head of the agency 
                determines that--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) the violation has the 
                        potential to impede or interfere with the 
                        detection of criminal activity;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) the violation is a 
                        violation of an internal revenue law or a law 
                        concerning the assessment or collection of any 
                        tax, debt, revenue, or receipt;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iii) the violation was not 
                        corrected on or before the date that is 180 
                        days after the date on which the head of the 
                        agency provided the small business concern with 
                        actual notice of the violation in writing; 
                        or</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iv) except as provided in 
                        paragraph (3), the violation--</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(I) presents a danger to 
                                the public health or safety; 
                                or</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(II) has the potential 
                                to cause serious harm to the public 
                                interest.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(3) Danger to public health or safety or 
        potential harm to public interest.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) In general.--In any case in which 
                the head of an agency determines under paragraph 
                (2)(C)(iv) that a violation presents a danger to the 
                public health or safety or has the potential to cause 
                serious harm to the public interest, the head of the 
                agency may determine not to impose a civil fine on the 
                small business concern if the violation is corrected 
                not later than 24 hours after the head of the agency 
                provides the owner of the small business concern with 
                actual notice of the violation in writing.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Considerations.--In determining 
                whether to impose a civil fine under subparagraph (A), 
                the head of an agency shall take into account the 
                nature and seriousness of the violation, including--
                </DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) whether the violation is 
                        technical or inadvertent or involves willful or 
                        criminal conduct; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) whether the small business 
                        concern had made a good faith effort to comply 
                        with applicable laws and to remedy the 
                        violation within the 24-hour time period 
                        described in that subparagraph.''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--Section 3512(b) 
of title 44, United States Code, is amended by striking ``this 
section'' and inserting ``subsection (a)''.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Harmless Error Lesser Penalty for 
Small Businesses Act'' or the ``HELP for Small Businesses Act''.

SEC. 2. PAPERWORK VIOLATIONS BY SMALL BUSINESSES.

    (a) In General.--Section 3512 of title 44, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Small Businesses.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) First-time violation.--The term `first-time 
                violation' means a violation by a small business 
                concern of a requirement regarding collection of 
                information by an agency, where the small business 
                concern has not previously violated any similar 
                requirement regarding collection of information by that 
                agency.
                    ``(B) Small business concern.--The term `small 
                business concern', with respect to a calendar year, 
                means a business concern that employed an average of 
                not more than 50 full-time employees on business days 
                during the preceding calendar year.
            ``(2) First-time violation.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (C), in the case of a first-time violation 
                by a small business concern of a requirement regarding 
                the collection of information by an agency, the agency 
                shall not impose a civil fine on the small business 
                concern.
                    ``(B) Determination.--For purposes of determining 
                whether to impose a civil fine on a small business 
                concern under subparagraph (A), an agency shall not 
                take into account any violation by the small business 
                concern of a requirement regarding collection of 
                information by another agency.
                    ``(C) Exception.--An agency may impose a civil fine 
                on a small business concern for a first-time violation 
                if the agency determines that--
                            ``(i) the violation has the potential to 
                        impede or interfere with the detection of 
                        criminal activity;
                            ``(ii) the violation is a violation of an 
                        internal revenue law or a law concerning the 
                        assessment or collection of any tax, debt, 
                        revenue, or receipt;
                            ``(iii) the violation was not corrected on 
                        or before the date that is 30 days after the 
                        date on which the agency provided the small 
                        business concern with actual notice of the 
                        violation in writing;
                            ``(iv) the violation presents, or has the 
                        potential to present--
                                    ``(I) a danger to public health;
                                    ``(II) a danger to safety; or
                                    ``(III) a danger, or risk of harm, 
                                to the environment; or
                            ``(v) the violation has the potential to 
                        cause serious harm, injury, or death.
            ``(3) Agency tracking of first-time violations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Director shall promulgate 
                regulations requiring an agency to track each first-
                time violation of a requirement regarding the 
                collection of information by the agency.
                    ``(B) Requirements.--In promulgating regulations 
                under subparagraph (A), the Director shall ensure that 
                an agency--
                            ``(i) does not make data compiled under the 
                        regulations available to the public; and
                            ``(ii) maintains the data described in 
                        clause (i) in a format that is consistent 
                        across agencies.
            ``(4) Annual report.--Each year, any agency that waived a 
        civil fine under paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection during the 
        preceding year and any agency (as defined in section 221 of the 
        Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 
        U.S.C. 601 note; Public Law 104-121)) that waived or reduced a 
        civil penalty under section 223 of that Act during the 
        preceding year shall submit a report to Congress that 
        describes, for each such waiver or reduction--
                    ``(A) the specific requirement that was violated, 
                including the provision of law that authorizes the 
                agency to impose the civil fine or civil penalty for 
                the violation;
                    ``(B) the amount of the civil fine or civil penalty 
                that the agency could have imposed; and
                    ``(C) the industry in which the small business 
                concern or small entity that committed the violation 
                operates.
            ``(5) Relation to other laws.--In the event of a conflict 
        between section 223 of the Small Business Regulatory 
        Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; Public Law 
        104-121) and this subsection, this subsection shall control.
            ``(6) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection 
        shall be construed to relieve a small business concern from the 
        obligation to comply with all legal requirements.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 3512(b) of title 44, United States Code, is 
        amended by striking ``this section'' and inserting ``subsection 
        (a)''.
            (2) Section 223(c) of the Small Business Regulatory 
        Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; Public Law 
        104-121) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``Agencies shall'' and inserting 
                the following:
            ``(1) Initial report.--Agencies shall''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Annual report.--Agencies shall submit annual reports 
        to Congress in accordance with section 3512(c)(4) of title 44, 
        United States Code.''.
                                                       Calendar No. 628

116th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 2757

                          [Report No. 116-326]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To waive the imposition of a civil fine for certain first-time 
            paperwork violations by small business concerns.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           December 15, 2020

                       Reported with an amendment