SmallBusinessNewz

According to the Office of Advocacy's annual Report on the Regulatory Flexibility Act, small businesses saved $2.6 billion in first-year cost savings and $285 million in annually recurring savings in Fiscal year 2007, thanks to the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA).

The RFA requires agencies to review the economic impacts of proposed regulations on small entities and consider less burdensome alternatives.

According to the office:

    In FY 2007, the Office of Advocacy completed its initial RFA training of rule writers in all the major regulatory agencies. President Bush mandated the training program in Executive Order 13272, signed in August 2002. The report notes that in FY 2007 the office also reviewed over 469 regulations to assess RFA compliance, convened 29 roundtables to solicit the priorities and comments of small entity stakeholders, and submitted 30 public comment letters to federal agencies on regulatory proposals.

    A new chapter in the report discusses the RFA's "lookback" provision--section 610 -- which requires agencies to review existing regulations to determine if they are outdated, duplicative, or overly complex. The Office of Advocacy's new r3 initiative is designed to help agencies and small business stakeholders better understand and benefit from section 610 and other types of retrospective reviews of existing rules. After a process in which more than 80 rules were nominated by the small business community, Advocacy announced the top 10 rules for agency review in 2008 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, February 28.

"Small firms are better equipped to do what they do best -- grow the economy -- when they are freed from coping with overly burdensome or duplicative regulations," said Chief Counsel for Advocacy Thomas Sullivan. "Federal agencies are learning that the RFA and Executive Order 13272 are valuable tools to help them consider the impact of their rules while still meeting regulatory goals."

The Office of Advocacy is considered "the small business watchdog" of the federal government. Its purpose is to examine the relationship between small business and the economy.

The Office of Advocacy is offering the entire report as well as more information at their website.