[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 96 (Friday, July 15, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8385-S8386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KERRY (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Bond, Mr. 
        Burns, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Carper, Mr. Bingaman, and 
        Mr. Rockefeller):
  S. 1411. A bill 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; to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my distinguished 
colleague from Maine and Chair of the Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship Committee, Senator Olympia J. Snowe, in reintroducing 
the National Small Business Regulatory Assistance Act. This bill has a 
long history of bipartisan support in Congress because of the critical 
assistance it provides to small businesses.
  Small businesses, particularly small businesses with very few 
employees, often are overwhelmed with the task of complying with 
Federal regulations, especially when implementation varies for 
different regions of the country, or from State to State. Many small 
businesses fail to comply with important and needed labor and 
environmental regulations not because they want to break the law, but 
because they are unaware of the actions they need to take to comply. In 
addition, small business owners are often afraid to seek guidance from 
Federal agencies for fear of exposing problems at their businesses.
  One important way to help small businesses comply with Federal 
regulations is to provide them with free, confidential advice outside 
of the normal relationship between a small business and a regulatory 
agency. The Small Business Administration's Small Business Development 
Centers, SBDCs, are in a unique position to provide this type of 
assistance, with some 1,000 centers around the country, well-
established relationships and visibility within local communities, and 
the trust of area small businesses.
  Our bill establishes a 4-year pilot program to award competitive 
matching grants to 20 selected SBDCs, two from each SBA region, which 
would allow these SBDCs to provide regulatory compliance assistance to 
small businesses. The SBA would be authorized to award grants between 
$150,000 and $300,000, depending on the population of the SBDC's state.
  Under our legislation, the SBDCs would need to form partnerships with 
Federal compliance programs, conduct educational and training 
activities, offer free-of-charge compliance counseling to small 
business owners, and consult with the SBA's independent Office of 
Advocacy. The legislation will complement, not duplicate, current small 
business development assistance and expand upon existing regulatory 
compliance help.
  The legislation we are reintroducing today uses only SBA funds and 
will serve to complement current small-business development assistance 
as well as existing compliance assistance programs. Versions of this 
legislation introduced in previous Congresses had used Environmental 
Protection Agency, EPA, enforcement funds to pay for these grants.
  The SBA's independent Office of Advocacy estimates that small 
businesses with fewer than 20 employees--which make up 89 percent of 
all U.S. businesses--pay nearly $7,000 per employee to comply with 
Federal regulations. This is nearly 60 percent higher than the cost to 
larger firms. While all small businesses should be complying with 
Federal regulations, the Federal Government should also do it's best to 
ensure that the burden on small businesses is minimized, that small 
businesses are taken into account when new regulations are drafted, and 
that unnecessarily burdensome regulations are eliminated. In addition, 
the government should make sure that small businesses understand the 
regulations. Often, noncompliance is due to confusion not ill intent. 
By providing free, private regulatory assistance, we can increase 
compliance while decreasing the burden on small businesses.
  Small-business owners have enough on their plates without worrying 
about complying with confusing regulations. This legislation will 
decrease the burden on small businesses by helping them cut through 
government red tape. Small businesses can succeed when it comes to 
complying with Federal regulations, if provided with the necessary 
tools and information. The National Small Business Regulatory 
Assistance Act will go a long way toward assisting our Nation's small 
businesses that want to comply with Federal regulations.
  The legislation we are introducing today is nearly identical to the 
Kerry-Ensign legislation introduced last Congress. On the House side, 
the National Small Business Regulatory Assistance Act, H.R. 230, has 
been introduced and passed by Congressman John Sweeney of New York in 
each of the past three Congresses and was just approved by the Small 
Business Committee yesterday. In 2002, our Senate version passed the 
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship but was not taken up 
by the full Senate.
  I am pleased to say that we have the full support of the Association 
of Small Business Development Centers, which has been working closely 
with us to re-introduce the Senate version of this legislation, as well 
as support from the National Small Business Association, the American 
Industrial Hygiene Association, and Congressman Sweeney.
  I want to express my sincere thanks to Chair Snowe for her had work 
and support on this issue. I also want to thank our cosponsors, 
Senators Cantwell, Bond, Burns, Leahy, Jeffords, Carper, Bingaman, and 
Rockefeller for their ongoing efforts to pass this important 
assistance. I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1411

       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 ``National Small Business 
     Regulatory Assistance Act of 2005''.

     SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of this Act is to establish a 4-year 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 
     and State regulations derived from Federal law;
       (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) expand the services delivered by the Small Business 
     Development Centers under section 21(c)(3)(H) of the Small 
     Business Act to improve access to programs to assist small 
     business concerns with regulatory compliance.

     SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PILOT PROGRAM.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section, the following 
     definitions shall apply:
       (1) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the 
     Small Business Administration.
       (2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
     Administrator of the Small Business Administration, acting 
     through the Associate Administrator for Small Business 
     Development Centers.
       (3) Association.--The term ``association'' means the 
     association established pursuant to section 21(a)(3)(A) of 
     the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)(A)) representing 
     a majority of Small Business Development Centers.
       (4) Participating small business development center.--The 
     term ``participating Small Business Development Center'' 
     means a Small Business Development Center participating in 
     the pilot program established under this Act.
       (5) Regulatory compliance assistance.--The term 
     ``regulatory compliance assistance'' means assistance 
     provided by a Small Business Development Center to a small 
     business concern to assist and facilitate the concern in 
     complying with Federal and State regulatory requirements 
     derived from Federal law.
       (6) Small business development center.--The term ``Small 
     Business Development Center'' means a Small Business 
     Development Center described in section 21 of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648).

[[Page S8386]]

       (7) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
     States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
     Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam.
       (b) Authority.--In accordance with this section, the 
     Administrator shall establish a pilot program to provide 
     regulatory compliance assistance to small business concerns 
     through participating Small Business Development Centers.
       (c) Small Business Development Centers.--
       (1) In general.--In carrying out the pilot program 
     established under this section, the Administrator shall enter 
     into arrangements with participating Small Business 
     Development Centers under which such Centers shall--
       (A) provide 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 (42 
     U.S.C. 7661f);
       (B) conduct training and educational activities;
       (C) offer confidential, free-of-charge, one-on-one, in-
     depth counseling to the owners and operators of small 
     business concerns regarding compliance with Federal and State 
     regulations derived from Federal law, 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;
       (D) provide technical assistance;
       (E) give referrals to experts and other providers of 
     compliance assistance who meet such standards for 
     educational, technical, and professional competency as are 
     established by the Administrator; and
       (F) form partnerships with Federal compliance programs.
       (2) Reports.--Each participating Small Business Development 
     Center shall transmit to the Administrator and the Chief 
     Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration, as 
     the Administrator may direct, a quarterly report that 
     includes--
       (A) a summary of the regulatory compliance assistance 
     provided by the Center under the pilot program;
       (B) the number of small business concerns assisted under 
     the pilot program; and
       (C) for every fourth report, any regulatory compliance 
     information based on Federal law that a Federal or State 
     agency has provided to the Center during the preceding year 
     and requested that it be disseminated to small business 
     concerns.
       (d) Eligibility.--A Small Business Development Center shall 
     be eligible to receive assistance under the pilot program 
     established under this section only if such Center is 
     certified under section 21(k)(2) of the Small Business Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 648(k)(2)).
       (e) Selection of Participating State Programs.--
       (1) Groupings.--
       (A) Consultation.--In consultation with the association, 
     and giving substantial weight to the recommendations of the 
     association, the Administrator shall select the Small 
     Business Development Center Programs of 2 States from each of 
     the groups of States described in subparagraphs (B) through 
     (K) to participate in the pilot program established under 
     this section.
       (B) Group 1.--Group 1 shall consist of Maine, 
     Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode 
     Island.
       (C) Group 2.--Group 2 shall consist of New York, New 
     Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
       (D) Group 3.--Group 3 shall consist of Pennsylvania, 
     Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, the District of Columbia, 
     and Delaware.
       (E) Group 4.--Group 4 shall consist of Georgia, Alabama, 
     North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, 
     Kentucky, and Tennessee.
       (F) Group 5.--Group 5 shall consist of Illinois, Ohio, 
     Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
       (G) Group 6.--Group 6 shall consist of Texas, New Mexico, 
     Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
       (H) Group 7.--Group 7 shall consist of Missouri, Iowa, 
     Nebraska, and Kansas.
       (I) Group 8.--Group 8 shall consist of Colorado, Wyoming, 
     North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Utah.
       (J) Group 9.--Group 9 shall consist of California, Guam, 
     American Samoa, Hawaii, Nevada, and Arizona.
       (K) Group 10.--Group 10 shall consist of Washington, 
     Alaska, Idaho, and Oregon.
       (2) Deadline for selection.--The Administrator shall make 
     selections under this subsection not later than 60 days after 
     the date of publication of final regulations under section 4.
       (f) Matching Requirement.--Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 
     section 21(a)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     648(a)(4)) shall apply to assistance made available under the 
     pilot program established under this section.
       (g) Grant Amounts.--Each State program selected to receive 
     a grant under subsection (e) shall be eligible to receive a 
     grant in an amount equal to--
       (1) not less than $150,000 per fiscal year; and
       (2) not more than $300,000 per fiscal year.
       (h) Evaluation and Report.--The Comptroller General of the 
     United States shall--
       (1) not later than 30 months after the date of disbursement 
     of the first grant under the pilot program established under 
     this section, initiate an evaluation of the pilot program; 
     and
       (2) not later than 6 months after the date of the 
     initiation of the evaluation under paragraph (1), transmit to 
     the Administrator, the Committee on Small Business and 
     Entrepreneurship of the Senate, and the Committee on Small 
     Business of the House of Representatives, a report 
     containing--
       (A) the results of the evaluation; and
       (B) any recommendations as to whether the pilot program, 
     with or without modification, should be extended to include 
     the participation of all Small Business Development Centers.
       (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
     carry out this section--
       (A) $5,000,000 for the first fiscal year beginning after 
     the date of enactment of this Act; and
       (B) $5,000,000 for each of the 3 fiscal years following the 
     fiscal year described in subparagraph (A).
       (2) Limitation on use of other funds.--The Administrator 
     may carry out the pilot program established under this 
     section only with amounts appropriated in advance 
     specifically to carry out this section.
       (j) Termination.--The Small Business Regulatory Assistance 
     Pilot Program established under this section shall terminate 
     4 years after the date of disbursement of the first grant 
     under the pilot program.

     SEC. 4. RULEMAKING.

       After providing notice and an opportunity for comment, and 
     after consulting with the association (but not later than 180 
     days after the date of enactment of this Act), the 
     Administrator shall promulgate final regulations to carry out 
     this Act, including regulations that establish--
       (1) priorities for the types of assistance to be provided 
     under the pilot program established under this Act;
       (2) standards relating to educational, technical, and 
     support services to be provided by participating Small 
     Business Development Centers;
       (3) standards relating to any national service delivery and 
     support function to be provided by the association under the 
     pilot program;
       (4) standards relating to any work plan that the 
     Administrator may require a participating Small Business 
     Development Center to develop; and
       (5) standards relating to the educational, technical, and 
     professional competency of any expert or other assistance 
     provider to whom a small business concern may be referred for 
     compliance assistance under the pilot program.
                                 ______