Title 15 — Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73not60

§6617 Suspension of Penalties for Certain Year 2000 Failures by Small Business Concerns

Title 15 › Chapter 92— YEAR 2000 COMPUTER DATE CHANGE › § 6617

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

Agencies must name a person to help small businesses with Y2K-related problems and rule compliance within 30 days after July 20, 1999. They must put that person’s name and phone number in the Federal Register. No agency may fine a small business for a first-time rule violation caused by a Y2K failure if the business shows it tried in good faith to prepare and fix the problem, the violation was caused by a Y2K failure that seriously hurt its ability to follow the rule, the violation was unavoidable or happened while preventing harm, the business promptly tried to fix it, and it told the agency within 5 business days of learning about the violation. Agencies can still fine a business if the failure caused real harm or an immediate threat to public health, safety, or the environment, or if the business does not fix the violation within 1 month after being told. Definitions: agency — an executive agency that can fine small businesses; first-time violation — a rule broken because of a Y2K failure that hadn’t been broken by that business in the prior 3 years (excluding bank or securities integrity rules); small business concern — the same type of small business named in section 6604(b)(2)(B). This rule does not cover Y2K failures that happen after December 31, 2000.

Full Legal Text

Title 15, §6617

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)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)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)Subject to subsections (d) and (e), no agency shall impose any civil money penalty on a small business concern for a first-time violation.

(d)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)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)This section shall not apply to first-time violations caused by a Y2K failure occurring after December 31, 2000.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

15 U.S.C. § 6617

Title 15 — Commerce and Trade

Last Updated

Apr 3, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60