,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #bbaf  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,april #g1     
#bjad ,mr4 ,paul introduced the         
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,homeland
 ,security and ,governmental ,affairs   
,a ,,bill  ,to provide small businesses 
with a grace period for a regulatory    
violation1 and for other purposes4  #a4 
,short title  ,this ,act may be cited as
 the ,protect ,small ,business ,jobs    
,act of #bjad4  #b4  ,in general        
,section #eeh of title #e1 ,united      
,states ,code1 is amended by adding at  
the end the following3  7d7 ,before any 
enforcement action is taken on a        
sanction on a business for a violation  
of a rule or pursuant to an             
adjudication1 and subject to subsection 
7e7 and 7f71 an agency shall--  7#a7 not
 later than #aj business days after the 
date on which the agency determines that
 the sanction may be imposed on the     
business1 provide notice to the business

 that1 if the business is a small       
business1 the small business may be     
subject to a sanction at the end of the 
grace period described in paragraph     
7#c72  7#b7 delay any further action    
relating to the sanction until the end  
of the #ae-;calendar day period         
beginning on the date on which the      
agency provides notice under paragraph  
7#a72  7#c7 for a small business-- 7,a7 
delay any further action relating to the
 sanction until not earlier than the end
 of the #f-month period beginning on the
 date on which the agency provides      
notice under paragraph 7#a72 and  7,b7  
upon application by the small business  
demonstrating reasonable efforts made in
 good faith to remedy the violation or  
other conduct giving rise to the        
sanction1 extending the period under    
subparagraph 7,a7 by #c months2  7#d7   
after the end of the period described in
 paragraph 7#c71 redetermine whether1 as
 of the day after the end of the period1
 the small business would still be      

subject to the sanction2 and  7#e7 if   
the agency determines under paragraph   
7#d7 that the small business would not  
be subject to the sanction1 waive the   
sanction4  7e7 ,if an agency provides   
notice described in subsection 7d77#a7  
to a business on or after the date that 
is #aa business days after the date on  
which the agency determines that a      
sanction may be imposed on the          
business-- 7#a7 if the agency determines
 that the same sanction may have been   
imposed on the business #aj business    
days before the date of the notice1 the 
agency shall take further action in     
accordance with subsection 7d72 and     
7#b7 if the agency determines that the  
same sanction could not have been       
imposed on the business #aj business    
days before the date of the notice1 the 
agency shall waive the sanction and take
 no further action relating to          
imposition of the sanction4  7f7 ,the   
period during which further action is   
delayed under subsection 7d7-- 7#a7     

shall apply to a business only #a time  
in relation to any single rule2  7#b7   
until the end of such period1 as        
determined in accordance with subsection
 7d71 shall apply to action by the      
agency relating to any subsequent       
violation of the same rule2 and  7#c7   
shall not apply to a violation that puts
 any person in imminent danger1 within  
the meaning given that term under       
section #ac of the ,occupational ,safety
 and ,health ,act 7#bi ,u4,s4,c4 #ffb74 
7g7 ,nothing in subsection 7d7 shall be 
construed to prevent a small business   
from appealing any sanction imposed in  
accordance with the procedures of the   
agency1 or from seeking review under    
chapter #g4  7h7 ,any sanction imposed  
by an agency on a small business for any
 violation of a rule or pursuant to an  
adjudication1 absent proof of written   
notice of the sanction and the date on  
which the agency determined that a      
sanction may be imposed1 or in violation
 of subsection 7d77#c71 shall have no   

force or effect4  7i7 ,each ,federal    
agency shall submit to the ,ombudsman an
 annual report on the implementation of 
subsection 7d71 including a discussion  
of the deferral of action relating to   
and waiver of sanctions on small        
businesses4  7j7 ,the ,ombudsman shall  
include in the annual report to         
,congress required under section        
#cj7;b77#b77;,c7 of the ,small ,business
 ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #feg7;b77#b77;,c77 
the agency reports described by         
subsection 7i7 and a summary of the     
findings4  7k7 ,for purposes of this    
section--  7#a7 the term consumer price 
index means the consumer price index for
 all urban consumers published by the   
,department of ,labor2  7#b7 the term   
,,cpi adjusted gross receipts means the 
amount of gross receipts1 divided by the
 consumer price index for calendar year 
#bjab1 and multiplied by the consumer   
price index for the preceding calendar  
year1 rounded to the nearest multiple of
 #ajj1jjj 7or1 if midway between        

multiples of #ajj1jjj1 to the next      
higher multiple of #ajj1jjj72  7#c7 the 
term ,ombudsman has the same meaning    
given such term in section #cj7;a7 of   
the ,small ,business ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4
 #feg7;a772 and  7#d7 term small        
business means any sole proprietorship1 
partnership1 corporation1 limited       
liability company1 or other business    
entity1 that--  7,a7 had less than      
#aj1jjj1jjj in gross receipts in the    
preceding calendar year2  7,b7 is       
considered a small-business concern 7as 
defined under section #c7;a7 of the     
,small ,business ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4    
#fcb7;a772  7,c7 employed fewer than    
#bjj individuals in the preceding       
calendar year2 or  7,d7 had ,,cpi       
adjusted gross receipts of less than    
#aj1jjj1jjj in the preceding calendar   
year4  4