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Office of Advocacy Statutory Authority
- Office of Advocacy within the Small Business Administration; Chief Counsel for Advocacy
Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA)
- The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires
federal agencies to review regulations for their impact
on small businesses and consider less burdensome alternatives.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA)
- The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
of 1996 provides new avenues for small businesses to participate
in and have access to the federal regulatory arena.
Administrative
Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. Subchapter II) - The Administrative
Procedure Act sets out the basic guidelines by which Federal
Agencies promulgate Regulations.
Equal
Access to Justice Act (EAJA) - The EAJA provides
for the awarding of attorney’s fees in cases where inappropriate
or unwarranted actions were taken by the federal government
against an individual.
Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act - The Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act provides that each bill must be analyzed for its impact
on local government and other entities before it can be
voted on. In this way, its impact is known to the legislators
before they impose it.
Paperwork Reduction Act 0f 1980- The Paperwork Reduction
Act requires all proposed regulations to be analyzed for
the paperwork that they require and that paperwork be reduced
to a minimum. A regulation which creates a new paperwork
requirement must be cleared by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB).
Small
Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002 - This law
institutes a process to make paperwork reduction a serious,
ongoing effort and introduces measures to make it easier
for small businesses to comply with the law. The law:
- requires the Office of
Management and Budget to publish an annual list of compliance
assistance resources available to small businesses in
the Federal Register and on the Internet;
- requires each federal
agency to establish one point of contact to act as a liaison
for small businesses and to make efforts to further reduce
paperwork requirements for businesses with fewer than
25 employees;
- establishes an interagency
taskforce to recommend improvements in information collection
and dissemination; and
- requires agencies to report
on their enforcement actions against small businesses
and penalty reductions in such actions to Congress and
the Small Business and Agricultural Regulatory Ombudsman
so that they can monitor the regulatory burden reduction
efforts of the Agencies.
Small
Business Paperwork Relief Task Force
Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. Chapter 14A)
Executive
Orders
Executive
Order 12866 - as amended by E.O. 13258 and E.O. 13422 on Regulatory Planning and Review (January 18, 2007).
Executive
Order 13272 - requires
federal agencies to better asses the impact that their proposed
regulations will have on small entities. The requirements
of the executive order are designed to strengthen the current
requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and
to allow Advocacy to participate as early as possible in
the rulemaking process when small business impact is at
issue.(8/13/02)
MOU
with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
-
the objective of the MOU is to assist OSHA in its efforts
to reach small business as it develops new industry specific
ergonomic guidelines. Industry- and task-specific guidelines
are a key component of OSHA's program of addressing ergonomics
in the workplace with outreach and education.
MOU
with the Office of the National Ombudsman -
the objectives are to establish an information sharing process
to ensure that small business complaints, comments or concerns
are handled by the appropriate office and to establish guidance
for dissemination of information to small businesses and
Federal agencies explaining the statutory responsibilities
of both offices.
MOU
with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)
- the
objectives of the MOU are to establish an information sharing
process between Advocacy and OIRA when a draft rulemaking
is likely to impact small entities; to establish Advocacy
guidance for Federal agencies on the requirements of the
RFA; and to establish training for Federal agencies on compliance
with the RFA.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reports
- July
2007 - Reexamining Regulations: Opportunities Exist to Improve Effectiveness and Transparency of Retrospective Reviews; Highlights
- September
2000 - Regulatory Flexibility Act: Implementation
in EPA Programs Office and Proposed Lead Rule
- April
1999 - Regulatory Flexibility Act: Agencies' Interpretation
of Review Requirements Vary
- March
1998 - Implementation of the SBREFA Panel Requirements
- February
1998 - Regulatory Reform: Agencies' Section
610 Review Notices Often Did Not Meet Statutory Requirements
