[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2483 Reported in Senate (RS)]
Calendar No. 696
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2483
[Report No. 107-308]
To amend the Small Business Act 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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 8, 2002
Mr. Cleland (for himself, Mr. Kerry, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Jeffords, Mr.
Harkin, Mr. Bingaman, Mrs. Carnahan, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Lieberman, Mr.
Johnson, Mr. Miller, Ms. Stabenow, Ms. Cantwell, and Mr. Carper)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
October 9, 2002
Reported by Mr. Kerry, with an amendment
[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act 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.
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 2002''.
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) utilize the service delivery network of Small Business
Development Centers to improve access of small business
concerns to programs to assist them with regulatory compliance.
SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration, acting
through the Associate Administrator for Small Business
Development Centers.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) Regulatory compliance assistance.--The term
``regulatory compliance assistance'' means assistance provided
by a Small Business Development Center to a small business
concern to facilitate the concern in complying with Federal and
State regulatory requirements derived from Federal law.
(5) 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).
(6) 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 will--
(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) In general.--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
following groups of States to participate in the pilot program
established under this section:
(A) Group 1: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode Island.
(B) Group 2: New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and
the Virgin Islands.
(C) Group 3: Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia,
Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware.
(D) Group 4: Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Kentucky, and
Tennessee.
(E) Group 5: Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana,
Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
(F) Group 6: Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma,
and Louisiana.
(G) Group 7: Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas.
(H) Group 8: Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, South
Dakota, Montana, and Utah.
(I) Group 9: California, Guam, American Samoa,
Hawaii, Nevada, and Arizona.
(J) Group 10: Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and
Oregon.
(2) Deadline for selection.--The Administrator shall make
selections under this subsection not later than 60 days after
publication of final regulations under section 4 of this Act.
(f) Matching Not Required.--Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section
21(a)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)) shall not
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--
(1) not less than $150,000 per fiscal year; and
(2) not to exceed $300,000 per fiscal year.
(h) Evaluation and Report.--Not later than 30 months after the
disbursement of the first grant under the pilot program, the General
Accounting Office shall--
(1) initiate an evaluation of the pilot program; and
(2) within 6 months 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 under paragraph
(1); 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 fiscal year beginning after
the enactment of this Act; and
(B) $5,000,000 for each of the 3 fiscal years
following the <DELETED>enactment of this Act</DELETED>
fiscal year authorized under subparagraph (A).
(2) Limitation on use of other funds.--The Administrator
may carry out the pilot program only with amounts appropriated
in advance specifically to carry out this section.
(j) Termination.--The authorization to carry out the Small Business
Regulatory Assistance Pilot Program established under this section
shall terminate 4 years after the disbursement of the first grant.
SEC. 4. PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.
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;
(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.
SEC. 5. PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
CENTERS.
(a) Section 21(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(c)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(9) Privacy requirements.--
``(A) In general.--No Small Business Development
Center, consortium of Small Business Development
Centers, or contractor or agent of a Small Business
Development Center shall disclose the name, street,
address, or telephone number of any individual or small
business concern receiving assistance under this
section without the consent of such individual or small
business concern, except that--
``(i) the Administrator shall require such
disclosure if ordered to do so by a court in
any civil or criminal enforcement action
commenced by a Federal or State agency; and
``(ii) if the Administrator considers it
necessary while undertaking a financial audit
of a Small Business Development Center, the
Administrator shall require such disclosure for
the sole purpose of undertaking such audit.
``(B) Regulations.--The Administrator shall issue
regulations to establish standards for requiring
disclosures during a financial audit under subparagraph
(A)(ii).
``(C) Administration use of information.--This
section shall not be interpreted to--
``(i) restrict Administration access to
program activity data; or
``(ii) prevent the Administration from
using client information (other than the
information listed in subparagraph (A)) to
conduct client surveys.''.
(b) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect 30 days after
the date of enactment of this Act.
Calendar No. 696
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2483
[Report No. 107-308]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act 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.
_______________________________________________________________________
October 9, 2002
Reported with an amendment