[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 52 (Thursday, March 17, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-6198]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: March 17, 1994]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
