Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB358 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 358
5	5	To amend chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as
6	6	the ‘‘Regulatory Flexibility Act’’), to ensure complete analysis of potential
7	7	impacts on small entities of rules, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	JANUARY13, 2023
10	10	Mr. C
11	11	LINE(for himself and Mrs. MILLERof Illinois) introduced the following
12	12	bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addi-
13	13	tion to the Committees on Small Business, and Oversight and Account-
14	14	ability, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
15	15	each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
16	16	tion of the committee concerned
17	17	A BILL
18	18	To amend chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code (com-
19	19	monly known as the ‘‘Regulatory Flexibility Act’’), to
20	20	ensure complete analysis of potential impacts on small
21	21	entities of rules, and for other purposes.
22	22	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
23	23	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
24	24	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
25	25	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Regu-4
26	26	latory Flexibility Improvements Act’’. 5
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29	29	•HR 358 IH
30	30	SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION AND EXPANSION OF RULES COV-1
31	31	ERED BY THE REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY 2
32	32	ACT. 3
33	33	(a) I
34	34	NGENERAL.—Section 601(2) of title 5, United 4
35	35	States Code, is amended to read as follows: 5
36	36	‘‘(2) R
37	37	ULE.—The term ‘rule’— 6
38	38	‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term in 7
39	39	section 551(4); and 8
40	40	‘‘(B) does not include— 9
41	41	‘‘(i) a rule pertaining to the protection 10
42	42	of the rights of and benefits for veterans 11
43	43	or part 232 of title 32, Code of Federal 12
44	44	Regulations (as in effect on July 1, 2014), 13
45	45	or any successor provisions thereto; or 14
46	46	‘‘(ii) a rule of particular (and not gen-15
47	47	eral) applicability relating to rates, wages, 16
48	48	corporate or financial structures or reorga-17
49	49	nizations thereof, prices, facilities, appli-18
50	50	ances, services, or allowances therefor or to 19
51	51	valuations, costs or accounting, or prac-20
52	52	tices relating to such rates, wages, struc-21
53	53	tures, prices, appliances, services, or allow-22
54	54	ances.’’. 23
55	55	(b) I
56	56	NCLUSION OF RULESWITHINDIRECTEF-24
57	57	FECTS.—Section 601 of title 5, United States Code, is 25
58	58	amended by adding at the end the following: 26
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61	61	•HR 358 IH
62	62	‘‘(9) ECONOMIC IMPACT.—The term ‘economic 1
63	63	impact’ means, with respect to a proposed or final 2
64	64	rule— 3
65	65	‘‘(A) any direct economic effect on small 4
66	66	entities of such rule; and 5
67	67	‘‘(B) any indirect economic effect (includ-6
68	68	ing compliance costs and effects on revenue) on 7
69	69	small entities which is reasonably foreseeable 8
70	70	and results from such rule (without regard to 9
71	71	whether small entities will be directly regulated 10
72	72	by the rule).’’. 11
73	73	(c) I
74	74	NCLUSION OFRULESWITHBENEFICIALEF-12
75	75	FECTS.— 13
76	76	(1) I
77	77	NITIAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANAL -14
78	78	YSIS.—Section 603(c) of title 5, United States Code, 15
79	79	is amended by striking the first sentence and insert-16
80	80	ing ‘‘Each initial regulatory flexibility analysis shall 17
81	81	also contain a detailed description of alternatives to 18
82	82	the proposed rule which minimize any adverse sig-19
83	83	nificant economic impact or maximize any beneficial 20
84	84	significant economic impact on small entities.’’. 21
85	85	(2) F
86	86	INAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANAL -22
87	87	YSIS.—Section 604(a) of title 5, United States Code, 23
88	88	is amended— 24
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91	91	•HR 358 IH
92	92	(A) by redesignating the second paragraph 1
93	93	designated as paragraph (6) (relating to cov-2
94	94	ered agencies) as paragraph (7); and 3
95	95	(B) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘mini-4
96	96	mize the significant economic impact’’ and in-5
97	97	serting ‘‘minimize the adverse significant eco-6
98	98	nomic impact or maximize the beneficial signifi-7
99	99	cant economic impact’’. 8
100	100	(d) I
101	101	NCLUSION OFRULESAFFECTINGTRIBALORGA-9
102	102	NIZATIONS.—Section 601(5) of title 5, United States 10
103	103	Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘and tribal organizations 11
104	104	(as defined in section 4(l) of the Indian Self-Determina-12
105	105	tion and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(l))),’’ 13
106	106	after ‘‘special districts,’’. 14
107	107	(e) I
108	108	NCLUSION OFLANDMANAGEMENTPLANS AND 15
109	109	F
110	110	ORMALRULEMAKING.— 16
111	111	(1) I
112	112	NITIAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANAL -17
113	113	YSIS.—Section 603(a) of title 5, United States Code, 18
114	114	is amended in the first sentence— 19
115	115	(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘proposed 20
116	116	rule,’’; and 21
117	117	(B) by inserting ‘‘or publishes a revision or 22
118	118	amendment to a land management plan,’’ after 23
119	119	‘‘United States,’’. 24
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122	122	•HR 358 IH
123	123	(2) FINAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANAL -1
124	124	YSIS.—Section 604(a) of title 5, United States Code, 2
125	125	is amended in the first sentence— 3
126	126	(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘proposed rule-4
127	127	making,’’; and 5
128	128	(B) by inserting ‘‘or adopts a revision or 6
129	129	amendment to a land management plan,’’ after 7
130	130	‘‘section 603(a),’’. 8
131	131	(3) L
132	132	AND MANAGEMENT PLAN DEFINED .—Sec-9
133	133	tion 601 of title 5, United States Code, as amended 10
134	134	by subsection (b), is amended by adding at the end 11
135	135	the following: 12
136	136	‘‘(10) L
137	137	AND MANAGEMENT PLAN .— 13
138	138	‘‘(A) I
139	139	N GENERAL.—The term ‘land man-14
140	140	agement plan’ means— 15
141	141	‘‘(i) any plan developed by the Sec-16
142	142	retary of Agriculture under section 6 of 17
143	143	the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re-18
144	144	sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 19
145	145	1604); and 20
146	146	‘‘(ii) any plan developed by the Sec-21
147	147	retary of the Interior under section 202 of 22
148	148	the Federal Land Policy and Management 23
149	149	Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712). 24
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152	152	•HR 358 IH
153	153	‘‘(B) REVISION.—The term ‘revision’ 1
154	154	means any change to a land management plan 2
155	155	which— 3
156	156	‘‘(i) in the case of a plan described in 4
157	157	subparagraph (A)(i), is made under section 5
158	158	6(f)(5) of the Forest and Rangeland Re-6
159	159	newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 7
160	160	(16 U.S.C. 1604(f)(5)); or 8
161	161	‘‘(ii) in the case of a plan described in 9
162	162	subparagraph (A)(ii), is made under sec-10
163	163	tion 1610.5–6 of title 43, Code of Federal 11
164	164	Regulations (or any successor regulation). 12
165	165	‘‘(C) A
166	166	MENDMENT.—The term ‘amend-13
167	167	ment’ means any change to a land management 14
168	168	plan which— 15
169	169	‘‘(i) in the case of a plan described in 16
170	170	subparagraph (A)(i), is made under section 17
171	171	6(f)(4) of the Forest and Rangeland Re-18
172	172	newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 19
173	173	(16 U.S.C. 1604(f)(4)) and with respect to 20
174	174	which the Secretary of Agriculture pre-21
175	175	pares a statement described in section 22
176	176	102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 23
177	177	Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 24
178	178	4332(2)(C)); or 25
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181	181	•HR 358 IH
182	182	‘‘(ii) in the case of a plan described in 1
183	183	subparagraph (A)(ii), is made under sec-2
184	184	tion 1610.5–5 of title 43, Code of Federal 3
185	185	Regulations (or any successor regulation), 4
186	186	and with respect to which the Secretary of 5
187	187	the Interior prepares a statement described 6
188	188	in section 102(2)(C) of the National Envi-7
189	189	ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 8
190	190	4332(2)(C)).’’. 9
191	191	(f) I
192	192	NCLUSION OFCERTAININTERPRETIVERULES 10
193	193	I
194	194	NVOLVING THEINTERNALREVENUELAWS.— 11
195	195	(1) I
196	196	N GENERAL.—Section 603(a) of title 5, 12
197	197	United States Code, is amended by striking the pe-13
198	198	riod at the end and inserting ‘‘or a recordkeeping re-14
199	199	quirement, and without regard to whether such rec-15
200	200	ordkeeping requirement is imposed by statute or reg-16
201	201	ulation.’’. 17
202	202	(2) C
203	203	OLLECTION OF INFORMATION .—Section 18
204	204	601(7) of title 5, United States Code, is amended to 19
205	205	read as follows: 20
206	206	‘‘(7) C
207	207	OLLECTION OF INFORMATION .—The term 21
208	208	‘collection of information’ has the meaning given the 22
209	209	term in section 3502 of title 44.’’. 23
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212	212	•HR 358 IH
213	213	(3) RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENT .—Section 1
214	214	601(8) of title 5, United States Code, is amended to 2
215	215	read as follows: 3
216	216	‘‘(8) R
217	217	ECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENT .—The 4
218	218	term ‘recordkeeping requirement’ has the meaning 5
219	219	given the term in section 3502 of title 44.’’. 6
220	220	(g) D
221	221	EFINITION OFSMALLORGANIZATION.—Section 7
222	222	601(4) of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read 8
223	223	as follows: 9
224	224	‘‘(4) S
225	225	MALL ORGANIZATION.— 10
226	226	‘‘(A) I
227	227	N GENERAL.—The term ‘small orga-11
228	228	nization’ means any nonprofit enterprise which, 12
229	229	as of the issuance of a notice of proposed rule-13
230	230	making— 14
231	231	‘‘(i) in the case of an enterprise which 15
232	232	is described by a classification code of the 16
233	233	North American Industrial Classification 17
234	234	System, does not exceed the size standard 18
235	235	established by the Administrator of the 19
236	236	Small Business Administration pursuant to 20
237	237	section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 21
238	238	U.S.C. 632) for small business concerns 22
239	239	described by such classification code; and 23
240	240	‘‘(ii) in the case of any other enter-24
241	241	prise, has a net worth that does not exceed 25
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244	244	•HR 358 IH
245	245	$7,000,000 and has not more than 500 1
246	246	employees. 2
247	247	‘‘(B) L
248	248	OCAL LABOR ORGANIZATIONS .—In 3
249	249	the case of any local labor organization, sub-4
250	250	paragraph (A) shall be applied without regard 5
251	251	to any national or international organization of 6
252	252	which such local labor organization is a part. 7
253	253	‘‘(C) A
254	254	GENCY DEFINITIONS .—Subpara-8
255	255	graphs (A) and (B) shall not apply to the ex-9
256	256	tent that an agency, after consultation with the 10
257	257	Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Ad-11
258	258	ministration and after opportunity for public 12
259	259	comment, establishes one or more definitions 13
260	260	for such term which are appropriate to the ac-14
261	261	tivities of the agency and publishes such defini-15
262	262	tions in the Federal Register.’’. 16
263	263	SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF REPORT OF REGULATORY AGENDA. 17
264	264	Section 602 of title 5, United States Code, is amend-18
265	265	ed— 19
266	266	(1) in subsection (a)— 20
267	267	(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘, and’’ 21
268	268	at the end and inserting a semicolon; 22
269	269	(B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 23
270	270	paragraph (4); and 24
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273	273	•HR 358 IH
274	274	(C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 1
275	275	following: 2
276	276	‘‘(3) a brief description of the sector of the 3
277	277	North American Industrial Classification System 4
278	278	that is primarily affected by any rule which the 5
279	279	agency expects to propose or promulgate which is 6
280	280	likely to have a significant economic impact on a 7
281	281	substantial number of small entities; and’’; and 8
282	282	(2) in subsection (c), to read as follows: 9
283	283	‘‘(c)(1) Not later than 3 days after the date on which 10
284	284	an agency publishes a regulatory flexibility agenda in the 11
285	285	Federal Register under subsection (a), the agency shall 12
286	286	prominently display on the website of the agency a plain 13
287	287	language summary of the information contained in the 14
288	288	regulatory flexibility agenda. 15
289	289	‘‘(2) The Office of Advocacy of the Small Business 16
290	290	Administration shall compile, by agency, and prominently 17
291	291	display on the website of the Small Business Administra-18
292	292	tion a plain language summary of each regulatory flexi-19
293	293	bility agenda published under subsection (a) not later than 20
294	294	3 days after the date of publication in the Federal Reg-21
295	295	ister.’’. 22
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298	298	•HR 358 IH
299	299	SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS PROVIDING FOR MORE DETAILED 1
300	300	ANALYSES. 2
301	301	(a) I
302	302	NITIALREGULATORYFLEXIBILITYANALYSIS.— 3
303	303	Section 603(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 4
304	304	to read as follows: 5
305	305	‘‘(b) Each initial regulatory flexibility analysis re-6
306	306	quired under this section shall contain a detailed state-7
307	307	ment— 8
308	308	‘‘(1) describing the reasons why action by the 9
309	309	agency is being considered; 10
310	310	‘‘(2) describing the objectives of, and legal basis 11
311	311	for, the proposed rule; 12
312	312	‘‘(3) estimating the number and type of small 13
313	313	entities to which the proposed rule will apply; 14
314	314	‘‘(4) describing the projected reporting, record-15
315	315	keeping, and other compliance requirements of the 16
316	316	proposed rule, including an estimate of the classes of 17
317	317	small entities which will be subject to the require-18
318	318	ment and the type of professional skills necessary 19
319	319	for preparation of the report and record; 20
320	320	‘‘(5) describing all relevant Federal rules which 21
321	321	may duplicate, overlap, or conflict with the proposed 22
322	322	rule, or the reasons why such a description could not 23
323	323	be provided; 24
324	324	‘‘(6) estimating the additional cumulative eco-25
325	325	nomic impact of the proposed rule on small entities 26
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328	328	•HR 358 IH
329	329	beyond that already imposed on the class of small 1
330	330	entities by the agency or why such an estimate is 2
331	331	not available; 3
332	332	‘‘(7) describing any disproportionate economic 4
333	333	impact on small entities or a specific class of small 5
334	334	entities; and 6
335	335	‘‘(8) describing any impairment of the ability of 7
336	336	small entities to have access to credit.’’. 8
337	337	(b) F
338	338	INALREGULATORYFLEXIBILITYANALYSIS.— 9
339	339	(1) I
340	340	N GENERAL.—Section 604(a) of title 5, 10
341	341	United States Code, is amended— 11
342	342	(A) in paragraph (4)— 12
343	343	(i) by inserting ‘‘detailed’’ before ‘‘de-13
344	344	scription’’; and 14
345	345	(ii) by striking ‘‘an explanation’’ and 15
346	346	inserting ‘‘a detailed explanation’’; 16
347	347	(B) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘de-17
348	348	tailed’’ before ‘‘description’’; 18
349	349	(C) in paragraph (6)— 19
350	350	(i) by inserting ‘‘detailed’’ before ‘‘de-20
351	351	scription’’; and 21
352	352	(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 22
353	353	(D) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated, 23
354	354	by striking the period at the end and inserting 24
355	355	‘‘; and’’; and 25
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358	358	•HR 358 IH
359	359	(E) by adding at the end the following: 1
360	360	‘‘(8) a detailed description of any dispropor-2
361	361	tionate economic impact on small entities or a spe-3
362	362	cific class of small entities.’’. 4
363	363	(2) I
364	364	NCLUSION OF RESPONSE TO COMMENTS ON 5
365	365	CERTIFICATION OF PROPOSED RULE .—Section 6
366	366	604(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 7
367	367	by inserting ‘‘(or certification of the proposed rule 8
368	368	under section 605(b))’’ after ‘‘initial regulatory flexi-9
369	369	bility analysis’’. 10
370	370	(3) P
371	371	UBLICATION OF ANALYSIS ON WEBSITE .— 11
372	372	Section 604(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 12
373	373	amended to read as follows: 13
374	374	‘‘(b) The agency shall make copies of the final regu-14
375	375	latory flexibility analysis available to the public, including 15
376	376	placement of the entire analysis on the website of the 16
377	377	agency, and shall publish in the Federal Register the final 17
378	378	regulatory flexibility analysis, or a summary thereof which 18
379	379	includes the telephone number, mailing address, and link 19
380	380	to the website where the complete analysis may be ob-20
381	381	tained.’’. 21
382	382	(c) C
383	383	ROSS-REFERENCES TO OTHERANALYSES.— 22
384	384	Section 605(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 23
385	385	to read as follows: 24
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388	388	•HR 358 IH
389	389	‘‘(a) A Federal agency shall be treated as satisfying 1
390	390	any requirement regarding the content of a regulatory 2
391	391	flexibility agenda or regulatory flexibility analysis under 3
392	392	section 602, 603, or 604 if the Federal agency provides 4
393	393	in the agenda or analysis a cross-reference to the specific 5
394	394	portion of another agenda or analysis which is required 6
395	395	by any other law and which satisfies the requirement.’’. 7
396	396	(d) C
397	397	ERTIFICATIONS.—Section 605(b) of title 5, 8
398	398	United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘statement 9
399	399	providing the factual basis for such certification.’’ and in-10
400	400	serting ‘‘detailed statement providing the factual and legal 11
401	401	basis for such certification. The detailed statement shall 12
402	402	include an economic assessment or a summary thereof 13
403	403	that is sufficiently detailed to support the certification of 14
404	404	the agency.’’. 15
405	405	(e) Q
406	406	UANTIFICATIONREQUIREMENTS.—Section 607 16
407	407	of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as fol-17
408	408	lows: 18
409	409	‘‘§ 607. Quantification requirements 19
410	410	‘‘In complying with sections 603 and 604, an agency 20
411	411	shall provide— 21
412	412	‘‘(1) a quantifiable or numerical description of 22
413	413	the effects of the proposed or final rule and alter-23
414	414	natives to the proposed or final rule; or 24
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417	417	•HR 358 IH
418	418	‘‘(2) a more general descriptive statement and 1
419	419	a detailed statement explaining why quantification is 2
420	420	not practicable or reliable.’’. 3
421	421	SEC. 5. REPEAL OF WAIVER AND DELAY AUTHORITY; ADDI-4
422	422	TIONAL POWERS OF THE CHIEF COUNSEL 5
423	423	FOR ADVOCACY. 6
424	424	(a) I
425	425	NGENERAL.—Section 608 of title 5, United 7
426	426	States Code, is amended to read as follows: 8
427	427	‘‘§ 608. Additional powers of Chief Counsel for Advo-9
428	428	cacy 10
429	429	‘‘(a)(1) Not later than 270 days after the date of en-11
430	430	actment of the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Im-12
431	431	provements Act, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 13
432	432	Small Business Administration shall, after opportunity for 14
433	433	notice and comment under section 553, issue rules gov-15
434	434	erning agency compliance with this chapter. The Chief 16
435	435	Counsel may modify or amend such rules after notice and 17
436	436	comment under section 553. This chapter (other than this 18
437	437	subsection) shall not apply with respect to the issuance, 19
438	438	modification, and amendment of rules under this para-20
439	439	graph. 21
440	440	‘‘(2) An agency shall not issue rules which supple-22
441	441	ment the rules issued under paragraph (1) unless such 23
442	442	agency has first consulted with the Chief Counsel for Ad-24
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445	445	•HR 358 IH
446	446	vocacy to ensure that the supplemental rules comply with 1
447	447	this chapter and the rules issued under paragraph (1). 2
448	448	‘‘(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the Chief Coun-3
449	449	sel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration 4
450	450	may intervene in any agency adjudication (unless such 5
451	451	agency is authorized to impose a fine or penalty under 6
452	452	such adjudication) and may inform the agency of the im-7
453	453	pact that any decision on the record may have on small 8
454	454	entities. The Chief Counsel shall not initiate an appeal 9
455	455	with respect to any adjudication in which the Chief Coun-10
456	456	sel intervenes under this subsection. 11
457	457	‘‘(c) The Chief Counsel for Advocacy may file com-12
458	458	ments in response to any agency notice requesting com-13
459	459	ment, regardless of whether the agency is required to file 14
460	460	a general notice of proposed rule making under section 15
461	461	553.’’. 16
462	462	(b) C
463	463	ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.—Section 611(a) of 17
464	464	title 5, United States Code, is amended— 18
465	465	(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘608(b),’’; 19
466	466	(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘608(b),’’; 20
467	467	and 21
468	468	(3) in paragraph (3)— 22
469	469	(A) by striking subparagraph (B); and 23
470	470	(B) by striking ‘‘(3)(A) A small entity’’ 24
471	471	and inserting the following: 25
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474	474	•HR 358 IH
475	475	‘‘(3) A small entity’’. 1
476	476	SEC. 6. PROCEDURES FOR GATHERING COMMENTS. 2
477	477	Section 609 of title 5, United States Code, is amend-3
478	478	ed by striking subsections (b) through (e) and inserting 4
479	479	the following: 5
480	480	‘‘(b)(1) Prior to publication of any proposed rule de-6
481	481	scribed in subsection (e), an agency making the rule shall 7
482	482	notify the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Busi-8
483	483	ness Administration and provide the Chief Counsel with— 9
484	484	‘‘(A) all materials prepared or utilized by the 10
485	485	agency in making the proposed rule, including the 11
486	486	draft of the proposed rule; and 12
487	487	‘‘(B) information on the potential adverse and 13
488	488	beneficial economic impacts of the proposed rule on 14
489	489	small entities and the type of small entities that 15
490	490	might be affected. 16
491	491	‘‘(2) An agency shall not be required under para-17
492	492	graph (1) to provide the exact language of any draft if 18
493	493	the rule— 19
494	494	‘‘(A) relates to the internal revenue laws of the 20
495	495	United States; or 21
496	496	‘‘(B) is proposed by an independent regulatory 22
497	497	agency. 23
498	498	‘‘(c) Not later than 15 days after the receipt of the 24
499	499	materials and information under subsection (b), the Chief 25
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502	502	•HR 358 IH
503	503	Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administra-1
504	504	tion shall— 2
505	505	‘‘(1) identify small entities or representatives of 3
506	506	small entities or a combination of both for the pur-4
507	507	pose of obtaining advice, input, and recommenda-5
508	508	tions from those persons about the potential eco-6
509	509	nomic impacts of the proposed rule and the compli-7
510	510	ance of the agency with section 603; and 8
511	511	‘‘(2) convene a review panel consisting of an 9
512	512	employee from the Office of Advocacy of the Small 10
513	513	Business Administration, an employee from the 11
514	514	agency making the rule, and, in the case of an agen-12
515	515	cy other than an independent regulatory agency, an 13
516	516	employee from the Office of Information and Regu-14
517	517	latory Affairs of the Office of Management and 15
518	518	Budget to review the materials and information pro-16
519	519	vided to the Chief Counsel under subsection (b). 17
520	520	‘‘(d)(1) Not later than 60 days after the review panel 18
521	521	described in subsection (c)(2) is convened, the Chief Coun-19
522	522	sel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration 20
523	523	shall, after consultation with the members of the panel, 21
524	524	submit a report to the agency and, in the case of an agen-22
525	525	cy other than an independent regulatory agency, the Office 23
526	526	of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of 24
527	527	Management and Budget. 25
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530	530	•HR 358 IH
531	531	‘‘(2) Each report described in paragraph (1) shall in-1
532	532	clude an assessment of the economic impact of the pro-2
533	533	posed rule on small entities, including— 3
534	534	‘‘(A) an assessment of the impact of the pro-4
535	535	posed rule on the cost that small entities pay for en-5
536	536	ergy; 6
537	537	‘‘(B) an assessment of the impact of the pro-7
538	538	posed rule on startup costs for small entities; and 8
539	539	‘‘(C) a discussion of any alternatives that will 9
540	540	minimize adverse significant economic impacts or 10
541	541	maximize beneficial significant economic impacts on 11
542	542	small entities. 12
543	543	‘‘(3) Each report described in paragraph (1) shall be-13
544	544	come part of the rulemaking record. In the publication of 14
545	545	the proposed rule, the agency shall explain what actions, 15
546	546	if any, the agency took in response to the report. 16
547	547	‘‘(e) A proposed rule is described by this subsection 17
548	548	if the Administrator of the Office of Information and Reg-18
549	549	ulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, 19
550	550	the head of the agency (or the delegatee of the head of 20
551	551	the agency), or an independent regulatory agency deter-21
552	552	mines that the proposed rule is likely to result in— 22
553	553	‘‘(1) an annual effect on the economy of 23
554	554	$100,000,000 or more; 24
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557	557	•HR 358 IH
558	558	‘‘(2) a major increase in costs or prices for con-1
559	559	sumers, individual industries, the Federal Govern-2
560	560	ment, State or local governments, tribal organiza-3
561	561	tions, or geographic regions; 4
562	562	‘‘(3) significant adverse effects on competition, 5
563	563	employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or 6
564	564	the ability of United States-based enterprises to 7
565	565	compete with foreign-based enterprises in domestic 8
566	566	and export markets; or 9
567	567	‘‘(4) a significant economic impact on a sub-10
568	568	stantial number of small entities. 11
569	569	‘‘(f) Upon application by the agency, the Chief Coun-12
570	570	sel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration 13
571	571	may waive the requirements of subsections (b) through (e) 14
572	572	if the Chief Counsel determines that compliance with the 15
573	573	requirements of such subsections is impracticable, unnec-16
574	574	essary, or contrary to the public interest. 17
575	575	‘‘(g) A small entity or a representative of a small enti-18
576	576	ty may submit a request that the agency provide a copy 19
577	577	of the report prepared under subsection (d) and all mate-20
578	578	rials and information provided to the Chief Counsel for 21
579	579	Advocacy of the Small Business Administration under 22
580	580	subsection (b). The agency receiving such request shall 23
581	581	provide the report, materials, and information to the re-24
582	582	questing small entity or representative of a small entity 25
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585	585	•HR 358 IH
586	586	not later than 10 business days after receiving such re-1
587	587	quest, except that the agency shall not disclose any infor-2
588	588	mation that is prohibited from disclosure to the public 3
589	589	pursuant to section 552(b) of this title. 4
590	590	‘‘(h) In this section, the term ‘independent regulatory 5
591	591	agency’ has the meaning given the term in section 3502 6
592	592	of title 44.’’. 7
593	593	SEC. 7. PERIODIC REVIEW OF RULES. 8
594	594	Section 610 of title 5, United States Code, is amend-9
595	595	ed to read as follows: 10
596	596	‘‘§ 610. Periodic review of rules 11
597	597	‘‘(a) Not later than 180 days after the date of enact-12
598	598	ment of the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Im-13
599	599	provements Act, each agency shall publish in the Federal 14
600	600	Register and place on the website of the agency a plan 15
601	601	for the periodic review of rules issued by the agency which 16
602	602	the head of the agency determines have a significant eco-17
603	603	nomic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 18
604	604	Such determination shall be made without regard to 19
605	605	whether the agency performed an analysis under section 20
606	606	604. The purpose of the review shall be to determine 21
607	607	whether such rules should be continued without change, 22
608	608	or should be amended or rescinded, consistent with the 23
609	609	stated objectives of applicable statutes, to minimize any 24
610	610	adverse significant economic impacts or maximize any 25
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613	613	•HR 358 IH
614	614	beneficial significant economic impacts on a substantial 1
615	615	number of small entities. Such plan may be amended by 2
616	616	the agency at any time by publishing the revision in the 3
617	617	Federal Register and subsequently placing the amended 4
618	618	plan on the website of the agency. 5
619	619	‘‘(b) The plan shall provide for the review of all such 6
620	620	agency rules existing on the date of enactment of the 7
621	621	Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act 8
622	622	within 10 years of the date of publication of the plan in 9
623	623	the Federal Register and for review of rules adopted after 10
624	624	the date of enactment of the Small Business Regulatory 11
625	625	Flexibility Improvements Act within 10 years after the 12
626	626	publication of the final rule in the Federal Register. If 13
627	627	the head of the agency determines that completion of the 14
628	628	review of existing rules is not feasible by the established 15
629	629	date, the head of the agency shall so certify in a statement 16
630	630	published in the Federal Register and may extend the re-17
631	631	view for not longer than 2 years after publication of notice 18
632	632	of extension in the Federal Register. Such certification 19
633	633	and notice shall be sent to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy 20
634	634	of the Small Business Administration and Congress. 21
635	635	‘‘(c) The plan shall include a section that details how 22
636	636	an agency will conduct outreach to and meaningfully in-23
637	637	clude small businesses (including small business concerns 24
638	638	owned and controlled by women, small business concerns 25
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641	641	•HR 358 IH
642	642	owned and controlled by veterans, and small business con-1
643	643	cerns owned and controlled by socially and economically 2
644	644	disadvantaged individuals (as such terms are defined in 3
645	645	section 3 and section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act 4
646	646	(15 U.S.C. 632, 637(d)(3)(C)))) for the purposes of car-5
647	647	rying out this section. The agency shall include in this sec-6
648	648	tion a plan for how the agency will contact small busi-7
649	649	nesses and gather their input on existing agency rules. 8
650	650	‘‘(d) Each agency shall annually submit a report re-9
651	651	garding the results of its review pursuant to such plan 10
652	652	to Congress, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 11
653	653	Business Administration, and, in the case of agencies 12
654	654	other than independent regulatory agencies (as defined in 13
655	655	section 3502 of title 44), to the Administrator of the Of-14
656	656	fice of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office 15
657	657	of Management and Budget. Such report shall include the 16
658	658	identification of any rule with respect to which the head 17
659	659	of the agency made a determination described in para-18
660	660	graph (5) or (6) of subsection (e) and a detailed expla-19
661	661	nation of the reasons for such determination. 20
662	662	‘‘(e) In reviewing a rule pursuant to subsections (a) 21
663	663	through (d), the agency shall amend or rescind the rule 22
664	664	to minimize any adverse significant economic impact on 23
665	665	a substantial number of small entities or disproportionate 24
666	666	economic impact on a specific class of small entities, or 25
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669	669	•HR 358 IH
670	670	maximize any beneficial significant economic impact of the 1
671	671	rule on a substantial number of small entities to the great-2
672	672	est extent possible, consistent with the stated objectives 3
673	673	of applicable statutes. In amending or rescinding the rule, 4
674	674	the agency shall consider the following factors: 5
675	675	‘‘(1) The continued need for the rule. 6
676	676	‘‘(2) The nature of complaints received by the 7
677	677	agency from small entities concerning the rule. 8
678	678	‘‘(3) Comments by the Regulatory Enforcement 9
679	679	Ombudsman and the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 10
680	680	the Small Business Administration. 11
681	681	‘‘(4) The complexity of the rule. 12
682	682	‘‘(5) The extent to which the rule overlaps, du-13
683	683	plicates, or conflicts with other Federal rules and, 14
684	684	unless the head of the agency determines it to be in-15
685	685	feasible, State, territorial, and local rules. 16
686	686	‘‘(6) The contribution of the rule to the cumu-17
687	687	lative economic impact of all Federal rules on the 18
688	688	class of small entities affected by the rule, unless the 19
689	689	head of the agency determines that such calculations 20
690	690	cannot be made and reports that determination in 21
691	691	the annual report required under subsection (d). 22
692	692	‘‘(7) The length of time since the rule has been 23
693	693	evaluated or the degree to which technology, eco-24
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696	696	•HR 358 IH
697	697	nomic conditions, or other factors have changed in 1
698	698	the area affected by the rule. 2
699	699	‘‘(f) Each year, each agency shall publish in the Fed-3
700	700	eral Register and on its website a list of rules to be re-4
701	701	viewed pursuant to such plan. The agency shall include 5
702	702	in the publication a solicitation of public comments on any 6
703	703	further inclusions or exclusions of rules from the list and 7
704	704	shall respond to such comments. Such publication shall 8
705	705	include a brief description of the rule, state the reason 9
706	706	why the agency determined that it has a significant eco-10
707	707	nomic impact on a substantial number of small entities 11
708	708	(without regard to whether it had prepared a final regu-12
709	709	latory flexibility analysis for the rule), and request com-13
710	710	ments from the public, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 14
711	711	the Small Business Administration, and the Regulatory 15
712	712	Enforcement Ombudsman concerning the enforcement of 16
713	713	the rule.’’. 17
714	714	SEC. 8. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE RE-18
715	715	QUIREMENTS OF THE REGULATORY FLEXI-19
716	716	BILITY ACT AVAILABLE AFTER PUBLICATION 20
717	717	OF THE FINAL RULE. 21
718	718	(a) I
719	719	NGENERAL.—Section 611(a) of title 5, United 22
720	720	States Code, is amended— 23
721	721	(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘final agency 24
722	722	action’’ and inserting ‘‘such rule’’; 25
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725	725	•HR 358 IH
726	726	(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(or which 1
727	727	would have such jurisdiction if publication of the 2
728	728	final rule constituted final agency action)’’ after 3
729	729	‘‘provision of law,’’; and 4
730	730	(3) in paragraph (3)— 5
731	731	(A) by striking ‘‘final agency action’’ and 6
732	732	inserting ‘‘publication of the final rule’’; and 7
733	733	(B) by inserting ‘‘, in the case of a rule for 8
734	734	which the date of final agency action is the 9
735	735	same date as the publication of the final rule,’’ 10
736	736	after ‘‘except that’’. 11
737	737	(b) I
738	738	NTERVENTION BY CHIEFCOUNSEL FORADVO-12
739	739	CACY.—Section 612(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 13
740	740	amended by inserting before the first period ‘‘or agency 14
741	741	compliance with section 601, 603, 604, 605(b), 609, or 15
742	742	610’’. 16
743	743	SEC. 9. JURISDICTION OF COURT OF APPEALS OVER RULES 17
744	744	IMPLEMENTING THE REGULATORY FLEXI-18
745	745	BILITY ACT. 19
746	746	(a) I
747	747	NGENERAL.—Section 2342 of title 28, United 20
748	748	States Code, is amended— 21
749	749	(1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 22
750	750	end; 23
751	751	(2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 24
752	752	the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 25
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755	755	•HR 358 IH
756	756	(3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol-1
757	757	lowing: 2
758	758	‘‘(8) all final rules under section 608(a) of title 3
759	759	5.’’. 4
760	760	(b) C
761	761	ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.—Section 2341(3) 5
762	762	of title 28, United States Code, is amended— 6
763	763	(1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 7
764	764	the end; 8
765	765	(2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 9
766	766	at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10
767	767	(3) by adding at the end the following: 11
768	768	‘‘(F) the Office of Advocacy of the Small 12
769	769	Business Administration, when the final rule is 13
770	770	under section 608(a) of title 5.’’. 14
771	771	(c) A
772	772	UTHORIZATIONTOINTERVENE AND COMMENT 15
773	773	ONAGENCYCOMPLIANCEWITHADMINISTRATIVEPROCE-16
774	774	DURE.—Section 612(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 17
775	775	amended by inserting ‘‘chapter 5, and chapter 7,’’ after 18
776	776	‘‘this chapter,’’. 19
777	777	SEC. 10. ESTABLISHMENT AND APPROVAL OF SMALL BUSI-20
778	778	NESS CONCERN SIZE STANDARDS BY CHIEF 21
779	779	COUNSEL FOR ADVOCACY. 22
780	780	(a) I
781	781	NGENERAL.—Section 3(a)(2)(A) of the Small 23
782	782	Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)(2)(A)) is amended to read 24
783	783	as follows: 25
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786	786	•HR 358 IH
787	787	‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the cri-1
788	788	teria specified in paragraph (1)— 2
789	789	‘‘(i) the Administrator may specify de-3
790	790	tailed definitions or standards by which a 4
791	791	business concern may be determined to be 5
792	792	a small business concern for purposes of 6
793	793	this Act or the Small Business Investment 7
794	794	Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 661 et seq.); and 8
795	795	‘‘(ii) the Chief Counsel for Advocacy 9
796	796	may specify such definitions or standards 10
797	797	for purposes of any other Act.’’. 11
798	798	(b) A
799	799	PPROVAL BY CHIEFCOUNSEL.—Section 12
800	800	3(a)(2)(C)(iii) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 13
801	801	632(a)(2)(C)(iii)) is amended to read as follows: 14
802	802	‘‘(iii) except in the case of a size 15
803	803	standard prescribed by the Administrator, 16
804	804	is approved by the Chief Counsel for Advo-17
805	805	cacy.’’. 18
806	806	(c) I
807	807	NDUSTRYVARIATION.—Section 3(a)(3) of the 19
808	808	Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)(3)) is amended— 20
809	809	(1) by inserting ‘‘or Chief Counsel for Advo-21
810	810	cacy, as appropriate,’’ before ‘‘shall ensure’’; and 22
811	811	(2) by inserting ‘‘or Chief Counsel for Advo-23
812	812	cacy’’ before the period at the end. 24
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815	815	•HR 358 IH
816	816	(d) JUDICIALREVIEW OFSIZESTANDARDSAP-1
817	817	PROVED BYCHIEFCOUNSEL.—Section 3(a) of the Small 2
818	818	Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)) is amended by adding 3
819	819	at the end the following: 4
820	820	‘‘(10) J
821	821	UDICIAL REVIEW OF STANDARDS AP -5
822	822	PROVED BY CHIEF COUNSEL .—In the case of an ac-6
823	823	tion for judicial review of a rule which includes a 7
824	824	definition or standard approved by the Chief Counsel 8
825	825	for Advocacy under this subsection, the party seek-9
826	826	ing such review shall be entitled to join the Chief 10
827	827	Counsel as a party in such action.’’. 11
828	828	SEC. 11. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 12
829	829	(a) D
830	830	EFINITIONS.—Section 601 of title 5, United 13
831	831	States Code, is amended— 14
832	832	(1) in paragraph (1)— 15
833	833	(A) by striking the semicolon at the end 16
834	834	and inserting a period; and 17
835	835	(B) by striking ‘‘(1) the term’’ and insert-18
836	836	ing the following: 19
837	837	‘‘(1) A
838	838	GENCY.—The term’’; 20
839	839	(2) in paragraph (3)— 21
840	840	(A) by striking the semicolon at the end 22
841	841	and inserting a period; and 23
842	842	(B) by striking ‘‘(3) the term’’ and insert-24
843	843	ing the following: 25
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846	846	•HR 358 IH
847	847	‘‘(3) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term’’; 1
848	848	(3) in paragraph (5)— 2
849	849	(A) by striking the semicolon at the end 3
850	850	and inserting a period; and 4
851	851	(B) by striking ‘‘(5) the term’’ and insert-5
852	852	ing the following: 6
853	853	‘‘(5) S
854	854	MALL GOVERNMENTAL JURISDICTION .— 7
855	855	The term’’; and 8
856	856	(4) in paragraph (6)— 9
857	857	(A) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a pe-10
858	858	riod; and 11
859	859	(B) by striking ‘‘(6) the term’’ and insert-12
860	860	ing the following: 13
861	861	‘‘(6) S
862	862	MALL ENTITY.—The term’’. 14
863	863	(b) I
864	864	NCORPORATIONS BY REFERENCE AND CERTIFI-15
865	865	CATIONS.—The heading of section 605 of title 5, United 16
866	866	States Code, is amended to read as follows: 17
867	867	‘‘§ 605. Incorporations by reference and certifi-18
868	868	cations’’. 19
869	869	(c) T
870	870	ABLE OFSECTIONS.—The table of sections for 20
871	871	chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code, is amended as 21
872	872	follows: 22
873	873	(1) By striking the item relating to section 605 23
874	874	and inserting the following new item: 24
875	875	‘‘605. Incorporations by reference and certifications.’’.
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878	878	•HR 358 IH
879	879	(2) By striking the item relating to section 607 1
880	880	and inserting the following new item: 2
881	881	‘‘607. Quantification requirements.’’.
882	882	(3) By striking the item relating to section 608 3
883	883	and inserting the following: 4
884	884	‘‘608. Additional powers of Chief Counsel for Advocacy.’’.
885	885	(d) OTHERCLERICALAMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 5
886	886	6.—Chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code, is amend-6
887	887	ed— 7
888	888	(1) in section 603(d)— 8
889	889	(A) by striking paragraph (2); 9
890	890	(B) by striking ‘‘(1) For a covered agency, 10
891	891	as defined in section 609(d)(2), each initial reg-11
892	892	ulatory flexibility analysis’’ and inserting ‘‘Each 12
893	893	initial regulatory flexibility analysis by an agen-13
894	894	cy’’; 14
895	895	(C) by striking ‘‘(A) any’’ and inserting 15
896	896	‘‘(1) any’’; 16
897	897	(D) by striking ‘‘(B) any significant’’ and 17
898	898	inserting ‘‘(2) any significant’’; and 18
899	899	(E) by striking ‘‘(C) advice’’ and inserting 19
900	900	‘‘(3) advice’’; and 20
901	901	(2) in paragraph (7) of section 604(a), as so re-21
902	902	designated by section 2(c)(2)(A) of this Act, by 22
903	903	striking ‘‘for a covered agency, as defined in section 23
904	904	609(d)(2),’’. 24
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907	907	•HR 358 IH
908	908	SEC. 12. AGENCY PREPARATION OF GUIDES. 1
909	909	Section 212(a)(5) the Small Business Regulatory En-2
910	910	forcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note) is 3
911	911	amended to read as follows: 4
912	912	‘‘(5) A
913	913	GENCY PREPARATION OF GUIDES .—The 5
914	914	agency shall, in its sole discretion, taking into ac-6
915	915	count the subject matter of the rule and the lan-7
916	916	guage of relevant statutes, ensure that the guide is 8
917	917	written using sufficiently plain language likely to be 9
918	918	understood by affected small entities. Agencies may 10
919	919	prepare separate guides covering groups or classes of 11
920	920	similarly affected small entities and may cooperate 12
921	921	with associations of small entities to distribute such 13
922	922	guides. In developing guides, agencies shall solicit 14
923	923	input from affected small entities or associations of 15
924	924	affected small entities. An agency may prepare 16
925	925	guides and apply this section with respect to a rule 17
926	926	or a group of related rules.’’. 18
927	927	SEC. 13. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT. 19
928	928	Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 20
929	929	of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 21
930	930	shall complete and publish a study that examines whether 22
931	931	the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Ad-23
932	932	ministration has the capacity and resources to carry out 24
933	933	the duties of the Chief Counsel under this Act and the 25
934	934	amendments made by this Act. 26
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937	937	•HR 358 IH
938	938	SEC. 14. WAIVER OF FINES FOR FIRST-TIME PAPERWORK 1
939	939	VIOLATIONS BY SMALL BUSINESSES. 2
940	940	Section 3506 of title 44, United States Code (com-3
941	941	monly referred to as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’), is 4
942	942	amended by adding at the end the following: 5
943	943	‘‘(j) S
944	944	MALLBUSINESSES.— 6
945	945	‘‘(1) D
946	946	EFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 7
947	947	‘‘(A) F
948	948	IRST-TIME VIOLATION.—The term 8
949	949	‘first-time violation’ means a violation by a 9
950	950	small business concern of a requirement regard-10
951	951	ing collection of information by an agency, 11
952	952	where the small business concern has not pre-12
953	953	viously violated any similar requirement regard-13
954	954	ing collection of information by that same agen-14
955	955	cy during the 5-year period preceding the viola-15
956	956	tion. 16
957	957	‘‘(B) S
958	958	MALL BUSINESS CONCERN .—The 17
959	959	term ‘small business concern’ has the meaning 18
960	960	given the term in section 3 of the Small Busi-19
961	961	ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 20
962	962	‘‘(2) F
963	963	IRST-TIME VIOLATION.— 21
964	964	‘‘(A) I
965	965	N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 22
966	966	subparagraph (C), in the case of a first-time 23
967	967	violation by a small business concern of a re-24
968	968	quirement regarding the collection of informa-25
969	969	tion by an agency, the head of the agency shall 26
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972	972	•HR 358 IH
973	973	not impose a civil fine on the small business 1
974	974	concern. 2
975	975	‘‘(B) D
976	976	ETERMINATION.—For purposes of 3
977	977	determining whether to impose a civil fine on a 4
978	978	small business concern under subparagraph (A), 5
979	979	the head of an agency shall not take into ac-6
980	980	count any violation by the small business con-7
981	981	cern of a requirement regarding collection of in-8
982	982	formation by another agency. 9
983	983	‘‘(C) E
984	984	XCEPTION.—An agency may impose 10
985	985	a civil fine on a small business concern for a 11
986	986	first-time violation if the head of the agency de-12
987	987	termines that— 13
988	988	‘‘(i) the violation has the potential to 14
989	989	cause serious harm to the public interest; 15
990	990	‘‘(ii) failure to impose a civil fine 16
991	991	would impede or interfere with the detec-17
992	992	tion of criminal activity; 18
993	993	‘‘(iii) the violation is a violation of an 19
994	994	internal revenue law or a law concerning 20
995	995	the assessment or collection of any tax, 21
996	996	debt, revenue, or receipt; 22
997	997	‘‘(iv) the violation was not corrected 23
998	998	on or before the date that is 6 months 24
999	999	after the date on which the small business 25
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1002	1002	•HR 358 IH
1003	1003	concern receives notification of the viola-1
1004	1004	tion in writing from the agency; or 2
1005	1005	‘‘(v) except as provided in paragraph 3
1006	1006	(3), the violation presents a danger to the 4
1007	1007	public health or safety. 5
1008	1008	‘‘(3) D
1009	1009	ANGER TO PUBLIC HEALTH OR SAFE -6
1010	1010	TY.— 7
1011	1011	‘‘(A) I
1012	1012	N GENERAL.—In any case in which 8
1013	1013	the head of an agency determines under para-9
1014	1014	graph (2)(C)(v) that a violation presents a dan-10
1015	1015	ger to the public health or safety, the head of 11
1016	1016	the agency may determine not to impose a civil 12
1017	1017	fine on the small business concern if the viola-13
1018	1018	tion is corrected not later than 24 hours after 14
1019	1019	receipt by the owner of the small business con-15
1020	1020	cern of notification of the violation in writing. 16
1021	1021	‘‘(B) C
1022	1022	ONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 17
1023	1023	whether to allow a small business concern 24 18
1024	1024	hours to correct a violation under subparagraph 19
1025	1025	(A), the head of an agency shall take into ac-20
1026	1026	count all of the facts and circumstances regard-21
1027	1027	ing the violation, including— 22
1028	1028	‘‘(i) the nature and seriousness of the 23
1029	1029	violation, including whether the violation is 24
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1032	1032	•HR 358 IH
1033	1033	technical or inadvertent or involves willful 1
1034	1034	or criminal conduct; 2
1035	1035	‘‘(ii) whether the small business con-3
1036	1036	cern had made a good faith effort to com-4
1037	1037	ply with applicable laws and to remedy the 5
1038	1038	violation within the shortest practicable pe-6
1039	1039	riod of time; and 7
1040	1040	‘‘(iii) whether the small business con-8
1041	1041	cern has obtained a significant economic 9
1042	1042	benefit from the violation. 10
1043	1043	‘‘(C) N
1044	1044	OTICE TO CONGRESS.—In any case 11
1045	1045	in which the head of an agency imposes a civil 12
1046	1046	fine on a small business concern for a violation 13
1047	1047	that presents a danger to the public health or 14
1048	1048	safety and does not allow the small business 15
1049	1049	concern 24 hours to correct the violation under 16
1050	1050	subparagraph (A), the head of the agency shall 17
1051	1051	notify Congress regarding the determination 18
1052	1052	not later than 60 days after the date on which 19
1053	1053	the civil fine is imposed by the agency.’’. 20
1054	1054	Æ
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