EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503 |
STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY
(THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN COORDINATED BY OMB WITH THE CONCERNED AGENCIES.)
March 26, 1998
(House)
H.R. 3310 - Small Business Paperwork Reduction Act Amendments
(McIntosh (R) IN and 43 cosponsors)
The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 3310, which would waive fines for first-time violators of Federal information collection requirements. The waiver provision could seriously hamper agencies' ability to ensure safety, protect the environment, detect criminal activity, and carry out a number of other statutory responsibilities. If H.R. 3310 were presented to the President in its current form, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Labor, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency would recommend that he veto it. As current law already requires agencies to help first-time small business violators who make a good faith effort to comply, the primary beneficiaries of H.R. 3310 would appear to be those who do not act in good faith, and those who intentionally or willfully violate the applicable regulations.