[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]


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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
 

Regulatory Reform Project

AGENCY: Small Business Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

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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