Report on the Regulatory Flexibility Act, FY 2004: The Annual Report of the Chief Counsel for Advocacy on Implementation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 13272

摘要

FY 2004 efforts by the Office of Advocacy to implement the RFA and E.O. 13272 helped save small businesses more than $17 billion in first-year regulatory compliance costs and $2.8 billion in ongoing annual costs. In FY 2004, Advocacy focused on inadequate analysis of small entity impacts, failure to consider significant alternatives to regulatory proposals, and a lack of outreach to small businesses and other small entities. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Communications Commission topped the list of agencies whose regulations received the most Advocacy attention in their importance to small firms. The report details FY 2004 comment letters and SBREFA panels. In response to E.O. 13272, the Office of Advocacy made significant strides in training federal agencies to comply with the RFA in FY 2004. Thirty of the 66 federal agencies that affect small businesses have now been trained, and plans are under way to develop an online training module. Agencies increasingly recognize that Advocacy's RFA expertise can help them regulate more effectively. The report notes that early intervention by the Office of Advocacy has helped agencies understand the role small businesses play in the economy and the reasons for ensuring that regulations carry out their intended purposes without unduly stifling entrepreneurial activity. Advocacy provides agencies with economic data and helps federal agencies gain input from small businesses. The report also documents a growing movement among states to adopt statutes similar to the RFA to govern the state regulatory development process. In FY 2004, 17 states introduced small business regulatory flexibility legislation; seven signed the bills into law.