[Senate Report 107-153]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



107th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     107-153
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     




              SMALL BUSINESS PAPERWORK RELIEF ACT OF 2001

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 1271

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




                  May 21, 2002.--Ordered to be printed

                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
99-010                    WASHINGTON : 2002

                   COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

               JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan                 FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii              TED STEVENS, Alaska
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois          SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey     GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MAX CLELAND, Georgia                 THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah
JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri              JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
MARK DAYTON, Minnesota               PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois

           Joyce A. Rechtschaffen, Staff Director and Counsel
                       Lawrence B. Novey, Counsel
              Richard A. Hertling, Minority Staff Director
               Elizabeth A. VanDersarl, Minority Counsel
                     Darla D. Cassell, Chief Clerk

107th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     107-153

======================================================================



 
              SMALL BUSINESS PAPERWORK RELIEF ACT OF 2001

                                _______
                                

                  May 21, 2002.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Lieberman, from the Committee on Governmental Affairs, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1271]

    The Committee on Governmental Affairs, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1271) 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, reports 
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the 
bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purposes and Summary.............................................1
 II. Background and Discussion of Legislation.........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................4
 IV. Section-by-Section Description...................................5
  V. Regulatory Impact Statement......................................7
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................7
VII. Changes to Existing Law..........................................8

                        I. Purposes and Summary

    S. 1271, as amended, helps small businesses. The bill aids 
small businesses in understanding and complying with Federal 
information-collection requirements, mandates a study of how to 
streamline information-collection requirements for small 
businesses and how to strengthen the dissemination of 
information by the Federal Government, and directs that certain 
data be compiled about enforcement activities involving small 
entities. The legislation includes the following provisions to 
help small businesses:
     The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will 
annually publish in the Federal Register and make available on 
the Internet a list of the compliance assistance resources 
available to small businesses.
     Each agency will establish a single point of 
contact within the agency to serve as liaison with small 
business concerns with respect to the collection of information 
and the control of paperwork.
     Each agency will make efforts to further reduce 
the information collection burden for very small business 
concerns with fewer than 25 employees.
     An interagency task force will be convened to 
study measures to streamline information collection 
requirements for small businesses and to strengthen 
dissemination of information by the Federal Government. Among 
other things, the task force will recommend a plan for an 
interactive government website to help small businesses 
understand which Federal information-collection requirements 
apply to its business and will examine the savings from 
electronic reporting of information.
     Each agency will report biennially on the number 
of enforcement actions in which civil penalties were assessed, 
the number of such actions against small entities, the number 
of such actions in which civil penalties were reduced or 
waived, and the amount of such reductions and waivers.

              II. Background and Discussion of Legislation

    America's small businesses are a critical part of the 
nation's economy and a key driver of new job growth. Small 
businesses comprise 99% of all businesses, generate about 50% 
of the gross domestic product, and sustain about 53% of private 
industry's workforce.\1\ However, small businesses face 
particular challenges in complying with government information-
collection requirements, and the costs in time and money needed 
to understand and comply with these requirements can have a 
direct impact on the businesses' bottom line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ See regulatory Reform: Implementation of Selected Agencies' 
Civil Penalty Relief Policies for Small Entities, at page 6 (GAO-01-
280, February 2001).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Many categories of government activity to protect or 
otherwise benefit the public depend on the collection of 
information--including tax collection, regulatory and 
compliance reporting, applications for benefits, agency program 
planning and evaluation, development of basic statistics, and 
scientific research. For example, environmental, health, and 
safety programs depend heavily on reporting to enable 
government to identify risks and head off potential danger, and 
a number of these programs rely on public disclosures of 
information, in lieu of more restrictive regulations, to help 
protect the public.
    Recognizing the importance of such collections of 
information, it is crucial that those entities subject to the 
requirements be able to understand and comply with them easily. 
But the cost in time and money required to understand and 
comply with information-collection requirements can be very 
substantial, and, because of economies of scale, it may be 
relatively more expensive for small businesses than for big 
businesses to hire the technical and legal assistance to 
facilitate understanding and complying with Federal information 
collection requirements.\2\ Indeed, the smallest businesses may 
lack research departments and legal teams, while their 
statutory and regulatory obligations (Federal, State, and 
local) may be substantial in proportion to the company's size. 
Accordingly, S. 1271 establishes several initiatives to assist 
small businesses in ascertaining, understanding, and complying 
with their Federal information-collection obligations. 
Implementation of these initiatives should reduce the costs and 
other impacts of those requirements on small businesses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Regulatory requirements generally, and information collection 
requirements in particular, may affect small businesses and other small 
entities more, in proportion to their size, than big entities. See, 
e.g., id.; Part V, ``Factors Contributing to Disproportionate Small-
Entity Costs,'' in Impacts of Federal Regulation, Paperwork, and Tax 
Requirements on Small Business, Report Prepared for the U.S. Small 
Business Administration, by Microeconomic Applications Inc. (September 
10, 1988).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Federal agencies, frequently at the direction of Congress, 
have developed an array of different programs over the years to 
help small businesses in complying with reporting requirements. 
Federal agencies and others make available many books, 
pamphlets, manuals, and--of increasing importance--Internet web 
sites to help businesses understand how to fill in forms and 
fulfill other information-collection responsibilities. However, 
many businesses may be unaware of the available resources and 
how to gain access to them. The bill requires the Director of 
OMB, in consultation with the Small Business Administration, to 
compile a list of such compliance assistance resources 
available to small businesses and to publish it, as well as 
annual updates, in the Federal Register and on the Internet. A 
central inventory of such resources would make it easier for 
small businesses to take advantage of all the compliance 
assistance programs available to them.
    Likewise, the bill requires the appointment of a single 
small business liaison within each agency. Under this 
provision, small businesses will know the single person within 
each agency to whom they can turn to find information and 
assistance. The bill also provides for the establishment of a 
task force of agency officials and others, whose mission will 
include studying and making recommendations regarding two 
strategies intended to help small businesses ascertain what 
information-collection requirements are applicable. First, the 
task force will recommend a plan for the development of an 
interactive website to allow each small business to identify 
which specific Federal requirements apply to their specific 
situation. Second, the task force will examine whether, and to 
what extent, it would be feasible and beneficial to small 
businesses for the Director of OMB to publish in the Federal 
Register and on the Internet an annual list of all Federal 
information collection requirements, organized by North 
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, by 
industrial sector description, or another manner by which small 
businesses can more easily identify which requirements apply to 
their particular businesses. The Small Business Administration 
(SBA) is already establishing on the Internet a one-stop 
compliance assistance portal for small businesses,\3\ and the 
task force may coordinate its activities with SBA to avoid 
duplication of effort and to achieve the greatest benefit. 
These provisions of the bill should increase the level of 
compliance with reporting requirements, while also making it 
simpler and less time-consuming for small businesses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Under its ``Business Compliance One-Stop'' initiative, the SBA 
is developing an Internet portal (www.BusinessLaw.gov) to help small 
business find, understand, and comply with Federal, State, and local 
laws and regulation. See Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget, Managing Information Collection and 
Dissemination, Fiscal Year 2002, pages 40-41; SBA Budget Request and 
Performance Plan, FY 2003 Congressional Submission, at pages 13, 42-43.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The task force is also directed to study measures to help 
small businesses through integration and streamlining of 
information-collection processes and by implementing electronic 
paperwork submission. Specifically, the task force will examine 
the feasibility of requiring agencies to consolidate 
information-collection requirements without negatively 
impacting the effectiveness of underlying laws and regulations 
to enable a small business to submit required information to 
one place in each agency and in a single format, such as an 
electronic reporting system. The task force also will focus 
specifically on examining the savings that could be realized by 
implementing a system of electronic paperwork submissions. The 
task force would look at the potential savings of time and 
money both to the businesses and others who submit information 
and to the agencies that receive and use the information. As 
part of this inquiry, the task force should also consider ways 
to better identify and authenticate the filer.
    The task force will also study ways to strengthen the 
dissemination of information by the Federal Government to 
facilitate greater public access to the information.
    Finally, the bill includes a permanent requirement that 
each agency file biennial reports providing certain data about 
its enforcement and penalty actions, including data regarding 
such actions against small businesses. Requiring this 
information will facilitate congressional oversight.

                        III. Legislative History

    On July 15, 1999, in the 106th Congress, Senator Voinovich 
introduced S. 1378, a predecessor bill to S. 1271, for himself 
and Senator Lincoln, and a hearing was held on the bill. In the 
107th Congress, S. 1271 was introduced on July 30, 2001, by 
Senator Voinovich, for himself and Senators Lincoln and Leahy, 
and was referred to the Governmental Affairs Committee. The 
bill now has 13 additional cosponsors: Senators Bond, Bunning, 
Carnahan, Carper, Cleland, Collins, Conrad, Dayton, Jeffords, 
Kerry, Lieberman, Miller, and Thompson.
    The bill was considered by the Committee at its business 
meeting on November 14, 2001. At the meeting, Senator Voinovich 
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute, which had 
been developed after discussions with Senator Lieberman and 
others. Changes made to the bill by the amendment in the nature 
of a substitute include:
      Requiring that the Director of OMB publish 
annually a list of compliance assistance resources available to 
small businesses.
      Striking a requirement that the Director of OMB 
publish annually a list of information-collection requirements 
applicable to small business concerns, organized by North 
American Industrial Classification System, and requiring 
instead that the task force examine the feasibility and 
helpfulness of such an undertaking.
      Adding that the task force's purposes include 
strengthening the dissemination of information.
      Adding three representatives of the small 
business community to the task force.
      Requiring that the task study several ways that 
Internet-based technology could enable small businesses to 
better understand applicable requirements and to submit 
paperwork electronically.
      Adding the caveat that, in studying the 
feasibility of requiring consolidation of information-
collection requirements, the task force will not study any 
measure that would negatively impact the effectiveness of 
underlying laws and regulations.
      Striking a provision requiring the task force to 
study whether information collection should be consolidated by 
enabling small businesses to submit all paperwork required by 
an agency ``on the same date.''
    The Committee adopted the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute by voice vote and ordered the bill, as amended, 
favorably reported by voice vote. Senators present were: 
Senators Akaka, Durbin, Cleland, Carper, Carnahan, Thompson, 
Voinovich, Cochran, Bunning, and Lieberman.

                   IV. Section-by-Section Description


Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 of the bill provides that the Act may be cited as 
the ``Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2001.''

Section 2. Facilitation of compliance with Federal paperwork 
        requirements

    Publication of list of compliance-assistance resources. 
Subsection (a) of section 2 of the bill adds a new paragraph to 
the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), at 44 U.S.C. 
Sec. 3504(c)(6). The new paragraph (6), read together with 
existing subsection (c), requires that, with respect to the 
collection of information and the control of paperwork, the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will 
publish in the Federal Register and make available on the 
Internet a list of compliance assistance resources available to 
small businesses. The applicable definition of ``collection of 
information'' in the PRA, at 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3502(3), includes 
an agency's questions and recordkeeping requirements posted to, 
or imposed upon, 10 or more persons to obtain information or 
require its disclosure. The purpose of this subsection of the 
bill is to provide small businesses a resource to help them 
quickly and efficiently find the compliance assistance they 
need.
    Point of contact. Subsection (b) of section 2 of the bill 
adds a new subsection to the PRA, at 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3506(i), 
requiring that, with respect to the collection of information 
and the control of paperwork, each agency must establish one 
point of contact to act as liaison between the agency and small 
business concerns. The applicable definition of ``agency,'' as 
set forth in the PRA at 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3502(1), includes 
generally any department, Government corporation, or other 
establishment in the executive branch, including independent 
regulatory agencies. The amendment also makes applicable the 
definition of ``small business concern'' in the Small Business 
Act, at 15 U.S.C. Sec. 632. The purpose of this subsection of 
the bill is to establish the place in each agency that small 
businesses can contact when they need help with respect to 
information collection or the control of paperwork. This 
subsection applies to any agency with a head listed as a level 
I position on the Executive Schedule, as well as the FCC, the 
SEC, and the EPA.
    Further efforts to reduce paperwork for very small 
enterprises. Subsection (c) of section 2 of the amendment adds 
a new paragraph to the PRA, at 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3506(c)(4), 
requiring that, in addition to the requirements of the PRA 
regarding the reduction of information collection burdens for 
small business concerns generally, each agency must make 
efforts to further reduce the information collection burden for 
small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees and 
eliminate any unnecessary paperwork burdens.

Section 3. Establishment of task force on information collection and 
        dissemination

    Establishment of task force and statement of purposes. 
Section 3 of the bill adds a new section to the PRA, at 44 
U.S.C. Sec. 3520. Subsection (a) of new 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3520 
establishes 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 by the Federal Government.
    Selection of task force members. Subsection (b) of new 44 
U.S.C. Sec. 3520 provides that the Director of OMB will appoint 
the representatives from each of a number of departments and 
agencies named in the bill and from two additional agencies to 
be named by the Director. The Director will appoint a 
representative of the Director, who will convene and chair the 
task force, and will appoint no fewer than three 
representatives of the small business community to serve on the 
task force.
    Task force assignments. Subsection (c) of new 44 U.S.C. 
Sec. 3520 directs the task force to do the following:
     Recommend a plan for the development of an 
interactive Internet-based system to allow each small business 
to better understand which Federal information-collection 
requirements (and, where possible, which other Federal 
regulatory requirements) apply.
     Identify ways to integrate information collection 
and examine whether, and to what extent, it would be feasible 
to require agencies to consolidate requirements regarding 
collections of information within and across agencies (without 
negatively impacting the effectiveness of underlying laws and 
regulations) in order to enable each small business concern to 
submit required information--(A) to one point of contact in the 
agency, and (B) in a single format, such as an electronic 
reporting system.
     Examine whether, and to what extent, it would be 
feasible and helpful to small businesses for the Director to 
publish a list of all collections of information applicable to 
small business concerns organized by North American Industry 
Classification System (NAICS) code, by industrial sector 
description, or in another manner by which small business 
concerns can more easily identify applicable requirements.
     Examine the savings for implementing a system of 
electronic paperwork submission.
    The task force will also study ways to strengthen the 
dissemination of information by the Federal Government to 
facilitate greater public access to the information.
    Task force reports. Subsection (d) of new 44 U.S.C. 
Sec. 3520 requires the task force to submit a report of its 
findings not later than one year after enactment of the bill. 
The task force shall submit its report to the Director of OMB 
and to certain committees of Congress identified in the bill.

Section 4. Regulatory enforcement reports

    Section 4 of the bill revises section 223 of the Small 
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 
Sec. 601 note) to require that each agency shall submit 
biennial reports 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 items 
(A) and (B), above, in which the civil penalty is reduced or 
waived.
    (D) The total monetary amount of the reductions or waivers 
referred to under item (C), above.
    Each report shall include definitions of the terms 
``enforcement actions,'' ``reduction or waiver,'' and ``small 
entity'' as used in the report. Each agency shall submit a 
report not later than one year after the date of enactment of 
the bill and not later than every two years thereafter to 
certain committees of Congress identified in the bill.

                     V. Regulatory Impact Statement

    Paragraph 11(b)(1) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of 
the Senate requires that each report accompanying a bill 
evaluate the ``regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out this bill.'' S. 1271 would have no direct 
regulatory impact, because it imposes no requirements on 
entities and individuals outside of the Federal Government.
    However, implementation of S. 1271 is likely to have an 
indirect regulatory impact. Insofar as the implementation of 
the bill successfully fulfills the objective of assisting small 
businesses in ascertaining, understanding, and complying with 
Federal information-collection requirements, the cost and other 
impact of those requirements on small businesses should be 
reduced. Likewise, insofar as the implementation of the bill 
successfully causes Federal information-collection requirements 
to be integrated and consolidated for small businesses, the 
time that small businesses spend on fulfilling these 
requirements should be reduced, thereby decreasing the costs 
and other impacts of those requirements on small businesses.

             VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate and with section 403 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 2 U.S.C. Sec. 653, the 
Committee sets forth the following cost estimate with respect 
to S. 1202 submitted to the Committee by the Congressional 
Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, November 19, 2001.
Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman,
Chairman, Committee on Governmental Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed estimate for S. 1271, the Small Business 
Paperwork Relief Act of 2001.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew 
Pickford.
            Sincerely,
                                           Steven Lieberman
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

S. 1271--Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2001

    S. 1271 would seek to provide relief from federal 
administrative requirements to small businesses by: (1) 
directing the Office of Management and Budget to publish an 
annual list of paperwork requirements, (2) requiring that 
agencies provide a single point of contact for small business, 
and (3) establishing a multi-agency task force, including 
members of the small business community, to study the 
feasibility of streamlining requirements for collecting and 
reporting information to the federal government.
    Under S. 1271, agencies would incur additional costs to 
publish lists of paperwork requirements, to participate in the 
multi-agency task force, and to provide reports, but CBO 
expects that such costs would not be significant. The bill 
would not affect direct spending or receipts, so pay-as-you-go 
procedures would not apply. S. 1271 contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on 
state, local, or tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                      VII. Changes to Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
S. 1202 as reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed 
to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in 
italic, and existing law in which no change is proposed is 
shown in roman):

                           UNITED STATES CODE

                TITLE 44--PUBLIC PRINTING AND DOCUMENTS

         CHAPTER 35--COORDINATION OF FEDERAL INFORMATION POLICY


Sec. 3504. Authority and functions of Director

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    (c) With respect to the collection of information and the 
control of paperwork, the Director shall--

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (4) * * * [ ; and ] ;
          (5) * * * [ . ] ;
          (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 
        2001.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 3506. Federal agency responsibilities

    (c) With respect to the collection of information and the 
control of paperwork, each agency shall--

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (2) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                  (B) * * * [; and] ;

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (3) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                  (J) * * * [.] ;
          (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--
                  (A) further reduce the information collection 
                burden for small business concerns with fewer 
                than 25 employees; and
                  (B) eliminate any unnecessary paperwork 
                burdens.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    (i)(1) In addition to the requirements described in 
subsection (c), each agency described under paragraph (2) 
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)). Each such point of contact shall 
be established not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2001.
    (2) An agency described under this paragraph is--
          (A) any agency with a head that is listed at a level 
        I position on the Executive Schedule under section 5312 
        of title 5; and
          (B) the Federal Communications Commission, the 
        Securities and Exchange Commission, and the 
        Environmental Protection Agency.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


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) The members of the task force shall be appointed by the 
Director, and include--
          (1) 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;
          (2) not less than 1 representative of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency;
          (3) not less than 1 representative of the Department 
        of Transportation;
          (4) not less than 1 representative of the Office of 
        Advocacy of the Small Business Administration;
          (5) not less than 1 representative of the Internal 
        Revenue Service;
          (6) not less than 2 representatives of the Department 
        of Health and Human Services, including 1 
        representative of the Health Care Financing 
        Administration;
          (7) not less than 1 representative of the Department 
        of Agriculture;
          (8) not less than 1 representative of the Department 
        of Interior;
          (9) not less than 1 representative of the General 
        Services Administration;
          (10) not less than 1 representative of each of 2 
        agencies not represented by representatives described 
        under paragraphs (1) through (9) and (11);
          (11) 1 representative of the Director, who shall 
        convene and chair the task force; and
          (12) not less than 3 representatives of the small 
        business community.
    (c) The task force shall--
          (1) recommend a plan for the development of an 
        interactive Government application, available through 
        the Internet, to allow each small business to better 
        understand which Federal requirements regarding 
        collection of information (and, when possible, which 
        other Federal regulatory requirements) apply to that 
        particular business;
          (2) identify ways to integrate the collection of 
        information across Federal agencies and programs and 
        examine the feasibility 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; and
                  (B) in a single format, such as a single 
                electronic reporting system, with respect to 
                the agency;
          (3) examine the feasibility and helpfulness to small 
        businesses of the Director publishing a list 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 Industrial 
                Classification System code;
                  (B) 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; and
          (4) examine the savings, including cost savings, for 
        implementing a system of electronic paperwork 
        submissions.
    (d) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2001, the task force 
shall submit a report of its findings under subsection (c) to--
          (1) the Director; and
          (2) the chairpersons and ranking minority members 
        of--
                  (A) the Committee on Governmental Affairs and 
                the Committee on Small Business of the Senate; 
                and
                  (B) the Committee on Government Reform and 
                the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
                Representatives.
    (e) 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).
                              ----------                              


       SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT FAIRNESS ACT OF 1996


              Public Law 104-121 (5 U.S.C. Sec. 601 note)


SEC. 223. RIGHTS OF SMALL ENTITIES IN ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    [(c) Reporting.--Agencies shall report to the Committee on 
Small Business and Committee on Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate and the Committee on Small Business and Committee on 
Judiciary of the House of Representatives no later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this section (Mar. 29, 1996) on 
the scope of their program or policy, the number of enforcement 
actions against small entities that qualified or failed to 
qualify for the program or policy, and the total amount of 
penalty reductions and waivers.]
    (c) Reports.--
          (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
        of enactment of the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act 
        of 2001, and not later than every 2 years thereafter, 
        each agency shall submit a report to the Director of 
        the Office of Management and Budget and the 
        chairpersons and ranking minority members of the 
        Committee on Governmental Affairs and the Committee on 
        Small Business of the Senate, and the Committee on the 
        Judiciary and the Committee on Small Business of the 
        House of Representatives, that includes information 
        with respect to the applicable 1-year period or 2-year 
        period covered by the report 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).
          (2) Definitions in reports.--Each report under 
        paragraph (1) shall include definitions of the terms 
        ``enforcement actions'', ``reduction or waiver'', and 
        ``small entity'' as used in the report.

                                  
