Regulatory Reform Project

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Regulatory Reform Project

AGENCY: Small Business Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of

Management and Budget have commenced a project to identify, recommend

and help implement specific reforms of the regulatory process in order

to ease the impact of government regulations on small businesses. Six

Federal agencies are participating in the initial phase of the project:

The Department of Labor, the Department of Justice, the Department of

Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal

Revenue Service, and the Food and Drug Administration. The project will

begin with a Small Business Forum on Regulatory Reform to be held on

March 17, 1994 in Washington, DC. This Forum will consist of a panel of

senior representatives from the six agencies, chaired by Erskine B.

Bowles, Administrator of the SBA, and Sally Katzen, Administrator of

OIRA. They will listen to oral presentations from several members of

the small business community and from SBA's Acting Chief Counsel for

Advocacy. They also will be reviewing written statements submitted by

other business owners who were unable to present their remarks to the

Forum panel in person.

The Forum will be followed by an examination of the cumulative

impact of regulations on five designated industries, representatives

from various Federal regulatory agencies, with specific direction from

those agencies participating on the Forum panel. By this Notice, SBA

and OIRA announce that they are seeking written comments from

interested members of the public to assist in successful completion of

this project. These written comments will be considered by the five

industry working groups in preparing reports to be presented at a

second Small Business Forum, to be held in late June 1994.

DATES: Written comments must be received by May 2, 1994. The second

Forum will be held in late June 1994.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed to Doris Freedman, Acting

Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small Business Administration, 409 Third

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20416.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Doris Freedman, 202/205-6533.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive Order 12866, issued on September

30, 1993, announces a government-wide commitment to regulatory reform

and meaningful public participation in the regulatory process and

directs the development of ``streamlined regulatory approaches for

small businesses and other entities.'' To this end, SBA and OIRA have

initiated a project to bring together representatives of six Federal

agencies for the purpose of identifying burdens imposed by present

regulatory procedures and the means by which the regulatory process can

be altered to facilitate participation by small businesses.

Initially, the regulatory impact on small business of six Federal

agencies will be examined: The Department of Labor, the Department of

Justice, the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection

Agency, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Food and Drug

Administration. The burden of compliance with each agency's regulations

will be evaluated in terms of their individual and cumulative impact on

small businesses in five discrete industry groups: (1) Processing of

food and related products; (2) trucking and transportation; (3)

restaurants; (4) environmental recycling and waste disposal; and (5)

chemicals and metals.

A working group will be established for each of the five industry

groups, composed of representatives from the six participating

agencies, as well as representatives from SBA, OIRA and other Federal

agencies. Each working group will meet over a ten-week period and will

solicit the input and meaningful participation of small business

owners, small business trade associations, State and local governments,

and other interested parties, via oral presentations and written

comments received during the initial 45 days of the ten-week period.

Each working group will prepare a report with specific recommendations

for improvements in the regulatory process and in any specific

regulations which appear to affect the particular industry in an unduly

burdensome way.

Extensive public participation is essential to this evaluative

process. This participation will occur at the public Forum on March 17,

1994, and the second Forum in June of 1994. Each Forum will hear from

representatives selected from various sectors of the small business

community and will be attended by senior representatives from the six

participating agencies. These agencies have stated publicly their

commitment to working with each other and with members of the small

business community toward the goal of regulatory reform.

Broader public participation in the form of written comments is

also essential to this process and is being solicited through this

Notice. Comments received by May 2, 1994 will be considered by the five

industry working groups in preparing the reports which then will be

presented by SBA at the second Forum. Public comments should be as

specific as possible and should focus on possible constructive

solutions to any problems presented. Each submission should identify

the industry affected, so as to facilitate a referral to the

appropriate industry working group. SBA, OIRA and the participating

agencies are particularly interested in comments concerning the

following:

--Specific ways in which existing regulatory programs and the

regulatory process can be made more ``user-friendly'' to small

businesses.

--Constructive suggestions for reducing forms and paperwork,

particularly where they are duplicative, overly complicated or

otherwise burdensome for small businesses.

--Effective ways to communicate with small business owners and to

assist them in their understanding and implementation of complex

regulations.

--Non-punitive methods for ensuring compliance with regulatory

objectives or requirements, including preinspection programs, advisory

services, greater reliance on communication and dissemination of

information, and industry self-regulation.

--More effective ways to elicit participation from the private sector

in efforts to simplify and clarify regulations so that they are not

overly complex or unduly difficult to interpret or implement.

--Systematic ways to identify proposed regulations which are

inconsistent with or duplicative of other regulations of the issuing

agency or other Federal agencies.

--Suggestions for involving small business owners and their

representatives in the rulemaking process in a more meaningful way.

Written comments must be received no later than May 2, 1994, in

order to be incorporated into the industry working group reports to be

presented at the second Small Business Forum on Regulatory Reform to be

held in late June 1994. Comments which are received thereafter will be

reviewed by SBA's Office of Advocacy and, to the extent feasible, will

be transmitted to the affected agencies for their review as well.

Dated: March 10, 1994.

Erskine B. Bowles,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 94-6198 Filed 3-16-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8025-01-M