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 the feasibility of streamlining paperwork requirements applicable to small business concerns, and for other purposes.

July 30, 2001

Mr. VOINOVICH (for himself, Mrs. LINCOLN, and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

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 the feasibility of streamlining paperwork requirements applicable 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 `Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2001'.

SEC. 2. FACILITATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS.

(a) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE DIRECTOR OF OMB- Section 3504(c) of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the `Paperwork Reduction Act'), is amended--

(1) in paragraph (4), by striking `; and' and inserting a semicolon;

(2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

`(6) publish in the Federal Register on an annual basis 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 by North American Industrial Classification System code and industrial/sector description (as published by the Office of Management and Budget), 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; and

`(7) make available on the Internet, not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2001, the list of requirements described in paragraph (6).'.

(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCY POINT OF CONTACT- Section 3506 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(i) In addition to the requirements described in subsection (c), each agency 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)).'.

(c) ADDITIONAL REDUCTION OF PAPERWORK FOR CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESSES- Section 3506(c) of title 44, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking `; and' and inserting a semicolon;

(2) in paragraph (3)(J), by striking the period and inserting `; and'; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

`(4) in addition to the requirements of this chapter regarding the reduction of paperwork for small-business concerns (as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), make efforts to further reduce the paperwork burden for small-business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.'.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE TO STUDY STREAMLINING OF PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS FOR SMALL-BUSINESS CONCERNS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, is amended--

(1) by redesignating section 3520 as section 3521; and

(2) by inserting after section 3519 the following:

`Sec. 3520. Establishment of task force on feasibility of streamlining information collection requirements

`(a) There is established a task force to study the feasibility of streamlining requirements with respect to small-business concerns regarding collection 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 each of two agencies other than the Department of Labor, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, and the Small Business Administration; and

`(6) not less than 2 representatives of the Department of Health and Human Services, including one representative of the Health Care Financing Administration.

`(c) The task force shall--

`(1) recommend a system to clarify which small businesses within particular North American Industrial Classification System codes are subject to which information compliance requirements; and

`(2) examine the feasibility of requiring each agency to consolidate requirements regarding collections of information with respect to small-business concerns, in order that each small business concern may submit all information required by the agency--

`(A) to 1 point of contact in the agency;

`(B) in a single format, such as a single electronic reporting system, with respect to the agency; and

`(C) on the same date.

`(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 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 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).'.

(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The table of sections for chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 3520 and inserting the following:

`3520. Establishment of task force on feasibility of streamlining information collection requirements.

`3521. Authorization of appropriations.'.

SEC. 4. REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT REFORMS.

Section 223 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note) is amended by striking subsection (c) and inserting:

`(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 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 or proposed to be assessed.

`(B) The number of enforcement actions in which a civil penalty is assessed or proposed to be 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.'.

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