Protect Small Business Jobs Act of 2013 - Requires a federal agency, before any enforcement action is taken on any sanction on a small business for any violation of a rule or pursuant to an adjudication, to: (1) notify the small business that it may be subject to a sanction at the end of a six-month grace period following such notification; (2) delay further action for 15 days after such notification; (3) defer further action for the six-month period (allowing an additional three-month period upon application by the small business demonstrating reasonable good-faith efforts to remedy the violation or other conduct giving rise to the sanction); (4) make a further determination at the end of the applicable grace period as to whether the small business would still be subject to the sanction; and (5) upon a negative determination, waive the sanction. Makes the grace period inapplicable with respect to a violation that puts anyone in imminent danger, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Makes null and void any sanction imposed in violation of such requirements.
Requires: (1) federal agencies to report annually to the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman on the utilization of this directive and to disclose the penalty mitigation for small businesses, and (2) the Ombudsman to include such information in a currently-required annual report to Congress.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 746 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 746
To provide small businesses with a grace period for a regulatory
violation, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 15, 2013
Mr. Bentivolio (for himself, Mr. Hall, Mr. Roskam, Mr. Gohmert, Mr.
Chabot, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Walberg, Mr. Valadao, Mr. Benishek,
Mrs. Bachmann, Mr. Broun of Georgia, Mr. Hultgren, and Mr. Pittenger)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide small businesses with a grace period for a regulatory
violation, 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 ``Protect Small Business Jobs Act of
2013''.
SEC. 2. IN GENERAL.
Section 558 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(d) Before any enforcement action is taken on any sanction on a
business for any violation of a rule or pursuant to an adjudication an
agency shall--
``(1) not later than 10 business days after the date on
which the agency determines that a sanction may be imposed on
the business, provide notice to the business that, if the
business is a small business as defined in subsection (k), the
small business may be subject to a sanction at the end of the
grace period described in paragraph (3);
``(2) delay any further action for a period of 15 calendar
days;
``(3) for any small business, defer any further action for
a period of not less than 6 months, less the 15 days described
in paragraph (2), which shall be extended by an additional
period of 3 months on application by the small business
demonstrating reasonable efforts made in good faith to remedy
the violation or other conduct giving rise to the sanction;
``(4) make a further determination after the period
described in paragraph (3) as to whether or not the small
business would still be subject to the sanction as of the end
of that period;
``(5) if the determination under paragraph (4) is that the
small business would not be subject to the sanction, waive the
sanction; and
``(6) if notice is given more than 10 business days after
the date on which the agency determines that a sanction may be
imposed on the business, and the agency determines that the
same sanction may have been imposed on the business 10 business
days prior to the date of the notice, that date of notice shall
be the effective date commencing the grace period described in
paragraph (3).
``(e) The grace period described by subsection (d) shall be
applicable only once per business per rule, but shall cover subsequent
violations of the same rule until it expires.
``(f) The grace period described by subsection (d) shall not apply
to a violation that puts anyone in imminent danger, as defined by the
Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 662 et seq.).
``(g) Nothing in subsection (d) shall be construed to prevent a
small business from appealing any sanction imposed in accordance with
the procedures of the agency, or from seeking review under chapter 7 of
this title.
``(h) Any sanction by an agency on a small business for any
violation of a rule or pursuant to an adjudication, absent proof of
written notice of the sanction and the date on which the agency
determined that a sanction may be imposed, or in violation of
subsection (d)(3), shall be null and void.
``(i) Federal agencies shall report annually to the Ombudsman on
the utilization of this directive and disclose the penalty mitigation
for small businesses.
``(j) The Ombudsman shall include in its annual report to Congress
the agency reports described by subsection (i) and a summary of the
findings.
``(k) For purposes of this section--
``(1) term `small business' is defined as any sole
proprietorship, partnership, corporation, limited liability
company, or other business entity, that--
``(A) had less than $10,000,000 in gross receipts
in the preceding calendar year;
``(B) is considered a `small-business concern' as
such term is defined pursuant to Section 3(a) of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a));
``(C) employed fewer than 200 individuals in the
preceding calendar year; or
``(D) had CPI adjusted gross receipts of less than
$10,000,000 in the preceding year.
``(2) the term `Ombudsman' has the same meaning given such
term in section 30(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
657(a));
``(3) the term `consumer price index' means the consumer
price index for all urban consumers published by the Department
of Labor; and
``(4) the term `CPI adjusted gross receipts' means the
amount of gross receipts, divided by the consumer price index
for calendar year 2012, and multiplied by the consumer price
index for the preceding calendar year, rounded to the nearest
multiple of $100,000 (or, if midway between multiples of
$100,000, to the next higher multiple of $100,000).''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law.
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