§ 6617. — Suspension of penalties for certain year 2000 failures by small business concerns.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC6617]
TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
CHAPTER 92--YEAR 2000 COMPUTER DATE CHANGE
Sec. 6617. Suspension of penalties for certain year 2000
failures by small business concerns
(a) Definitions
In this section--
(1) the term ``agency'' means any executive agency, as defined
in section 105 of title 5, that has the authority to impose civil
penalties on small business concerns;
(2) the term ``first-time violation'' means a violation by a
small business concern of a federally enforceable rule or regulation
(other than a Federal rule or regulation that relates to the safety
and soundness of the banking or monetary system or for the integrity
of the National Securities markets, including protection of
depositors and investors) caused by a Y2K failure if that Federal
rule or regulation had not been violated by that small business
concern within the preceding 3 years; and
(3) the term ``small business concern'' has the same meaning as
a defendant described in section 6604(b)(2)(B) of this title.
(b) Establishment of liaisons
Not later than 30 days after July 20, 1999, each agency shall--
(1) establish a point of contact within the agency to act as a
liaison between the agency and small business concerns with respect
to problems arising out of Y2K failures and compliance with Federal
rules or regulations; and
(2) publish the name and phone number of the point of contact
for the agency in the Federal Register.
(c) General rule
Subject to subsections (d) and (e) of this section, no agency shall
impose any civil money penalty on a small business concern for a first-
time violation.
(d) Standards for waiver
An agency shall provide a waiver of civil money penalties for a
first-time violation, provided that a small business concern
demonstrates, and the agency determines, that--
(1) the small business concern previously made a reasonable good
faith effort to anticipate, prevent, and effectively remediate a
potential Y2K failure;
(2) a first-time violation occurred as a result of the Y2K
failure of the small business concern or other entity, which
significantly affected the small business concern's ability to
comply with a Federal rule or regulation;
(3) the first-time violation was unavoidable in the face of a
Y2K failure or occurred as a result of efforts to prevent the
disruption of critical functions or services that could result in
harm to life or property;
(4) upon identification of a first-time violation, the small
business concern initiated reasonable and prompt measures to correct
the violation; and
(5) the small business concern submitted notice to the
appropriate agency of the first-time violation within a reasonable
time not to exceed 5 business days from the time that the small
business concern became aware that the first-time violation had
occurred.
(e) Exceptions
An agency may impose civil money penalties authorized under Federal
law on a small business concern for a first-time violation if--
(1) the small business concern's failure to comply with Federal
rules or regulations resulted in actual harm, or constitutes or
creates an imminent threat to public health, safety, or the
environment; or
(2) the small business concern fails to correct the violation
not later than 1 month after initial notification to the agency.
(f) Expiration
This section shall not apply to first-time violations caused by a
Y2K failure occurring after December 31, 2000.
(Pub. L. 106-37, Sec. 18, July 20, 1999, 113 Stat. 202.)
