[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 49 (Monday, March 14, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13532-13534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-5839]
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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
13 CFR Chapter 1
[Docket No.: SBA-2011-0012]
Reducing Regulatory Burden; Retrospective Review Under Executive
Order 13563
AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: As part of its implementation of Executive Order 13563,
``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' the Small Business
Administration (SBA) is seeking comments and information from
interested parties to assist the agency in reviewing its existing
regulations to determine whether they should be streamlined, expanded,
or withdrawn. The primary objectives of this review are to make SBA's
regulatory program more cost effective and less burdensome on
participants in the Agency's programs while continuing to promote
economic growth, innovation, and job creation. SBA seeks public input
on the design of a plan to use for periodic retrospective review of its
regulations and an initial list of the rules to be reviewed under the
plan.
DATES: Comments are requested on or before April 13, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket Number SBA-
2011-0012 using any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Identify
comments by ``Docket Number SBA-2011-0012, Regulatory Burden RFI,'' and
follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of the General
Counsel, 409 Third Street, SW., Washington, DC 20416.
SBA will post comments on http://www.regulations.gov. If you wish to
submit confidential business information (CBI) as defined in the User
Notice at http://www.regulations.gov, please submit the information to
Martin S. Conrey, Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and
Appropriations, Office of General Counsel, 409 Third Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20416. Highlight the information that you consider to be
CBI, and explain why you believe this information should be held
confidential. SBA will review the information and make the final
determination of whether it will publish the information or not.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin S. Conrey, Assistant General
Counsel for Legislation and Appropriations, Office of the General
Counsel, 409 Third Street, SW., Washington, DC 20416; telephone number:
202-619-0638; fax number: 202-205-6846; e-mail address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
The mission of the Small Business Administration is to maintain and
strengthen the Nation's economy by enabling the establishment and
viability of small businesses, and by assisting in economic recovery of
communities after disasters. In carrying out this mission, SBA has
developed a regulatory policy that is implemented primarily through
several core program offices: Office of Capital Access, Office of
Disaster Assistance, Office of Entrepreneurial Development, Office of
Government Contracting and Business Development, Office of
International Trade, and Office of Investment and Innovation. SBA's
regulations are codified at Title 13 Code of Federal Regulations,
Chapter I, and consist of Parts 100 through 147.
II. Executive Order 13563
On January 18, 2011, the President issued Executive Order 13563,
``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' that requires Federal
agencies to seek more affordable, less intrusive means to achieve
policy goals, and to give careful consideration to the benefits and
costs of their regulations. The Executive Order also requires agencies
to review existing rules to remove outdated regulations that stifle job
creation and make the U.S. economy less competitive. Agencies are
directed to develop a preliminary plan under which they will
periodically review existing regulations to determine which should be
maintained, modified, strengthened, or withdrawn in order to increase
their effectiveness and decrease the burdens of the agency's regulatory
program.
III. Retrospective Review Plan
In compliance with the executive order, SBA seeks help in designing
the plan it will use for the periodic review of its existing
regulations and an initial list of candidate rules for review. The
Agency's goal is to create a systematic method for identifying those
significant rules that are obsolete, unnecessary, unjustified, or
counterproductive. The public is first asked to comment on how SBA
should devise its preliminary plan, with a defined method and schedule,
for identifying certain significant rules that may be obsolete,
unnecessary, unjustified, excessively burdensome, or counterproductive.
It would be helpful for comments to address how SBA could best evaluate
and analyze regulations in order to expand on those that work and to
modify, improve, or rescind those that do not. Comments might address
how SBA can best obtain and consider accurate, objective information
and data about the costs, burdens, and benefits of existing regulations
and whether there are existing sources of data that SBA can use to
evaluate the post-promulgation effects of regulations over time. SBA is
particularly interested in the public's views about how well its
current processes for reviewing regulations function and how those
processes might be expanded or otherwise adapted to meet the objectives
of Executive Order 13563. SBA is also interested in comments about
factors that we should consider in setting priorities and selecting
rules for review.
SBA intends for its preliminary plan to include an initial list of
candidate rules to review. SBA solicits suggestions for specific rules
that should be on the list. In suggesting rules for review,
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commenters might usefully address, among other things, how SBA can use
the retrospective review process to achieve the following objectives:
(1) Promote economic growth, innovation, competitiveness, and job
creation; (2) eliminate outdated regulations; (3) lessen the burdens
imposed on those directly or indirectly affected by our regulations,
particularly small entities; (4) increase the benefits provided to the
public by our regulations, and improve the cost-benefit balance of our
regulations; (5) eliminate duplicative or overlapping regulations; (6)
reduce paperwork by eliminating duplication, lessening frequency,
allowing electronic submission, standardizing forms, exempting small
entities, or other means; (7) eliminate conflicts and inconsistencies
in SBA's regulations; (8) simplify or clarify language in regulations;
(9) revise regulations to address changes in technology, economic
conditions, or other factors; (10) determine if matters in an existing
regulation could be better handled fully by trade organizations or
participants without Federal regulations; (11) reduce burdens by
incorporating industry consensus standards into regulations; (12)
reconsider regulations that were based on scientific or other
information that has been discredited or superseded; and (13) expand
regulations that are insufficient to address their intended objective
or obtain additional benefits.
Comments should focus on regulations that have demonstrated
deficiencies. Comments that rehash debates over recently issued rules
will be less useful. The public should focus on rule changes that will
achieve a broad public impact, rather than an individual, personal or
corporate benefit. Where feasible, comments should reference a specific
regulation, by Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) citation, and provide
SBA information on what needs fixing and why. Comments do not
necessarily have to address how to fix the perceived problem, though
such comments are welcome. Lastly, we also want to stress that this
review is for existing rules; the public should not use this process to
submit comments on proposed rules.
With these factors in mind, SBA is contemplating focusing its
retrospective review on the rules that govern the following programs:
Small Business Investment Companies (Part 107); Surety Bond Guarantee
(Part 115); Business Loans (Part 120); Disaster Loans (Part 123);
Government Contracting (Part 125); and HUBZone (Part 126).
SBA has just completed a comprehensive review of the regulations
for the 8(a) Business Development/Small Disadvantaged Business program
(Part 124) pursuant to section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 601, et seq. The final rule reflects an extensive public
participation process, including a lengthy notice and comment period,
several public hearings in diverse areas of the country, and
consultations with various groups. See, 76 FR 8221 (Feb. 11, 2011). SBA
is currently conducting a similar review of its size regulations (Part
121) and will be soliciting specific comments on those regulations as
they are developed and published in the Federal Register. In light of
these comprehensive reviews, pursuant to the requirements of section
610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, SBA does not intend to include
these two sets of regulations in the retrospective review under
Executive Order 13563.
IV. Request for Information
Consistent with the Agency's commitment to public participation in
the rulemaking process, SBA is issuing this Request for Information
(RFI) to solicit views from the public on how best to design a plan to
conduct its retrospective analysis of existing SBA rules, and identify
those rules that should be included in the plan for possible
modification, streamlining, expansion or repeal. While SBA promulgates
rules in accordance with the law and to the best of its capability, it
is difficult to be certain of the consequences of a rule, including its
costs and benefits, until it has been tested. Therefore, SBA invites
interested parties to submit data that documents the costs, burdens,
and benefits of existing regulations. The Agency believes that members
of the public are likely to have useful information and perspectives on
the benefits and burdens of existing regulations, and can assist SBA in
identifying and prioritizing those rules that are most in need of
review.
SBA is accepting your comments from now through April 1, 2011.
Although the Agency will not be able to respond to every individual
comment, your input is valued and your ideas merit careful
consideration. By late May or early June, you will have the opportunity
to review SBA's retrospective review plan on our Open Government
webpage, http://sba.gov/opengovernment, as well as an initial list of
regulations that we plan to review first.
As you comment, SBA requests that you keep these key considerations
in mind:
SBA must uphold its mission to strengthen America's
economy by providing tools to help grow businesses, create jobs, and
help victims recover from disasters.
SBA's plan will be tailored to reflect its resources,
rulemaking history, and volume.
A number of laws or executive orders already direct the
Agency to regularly review certain regulations. Your input is requested
on developing a plan that is integrated with those existing
requirements.
V. List of Questions for Commenters
The list of questions below is designed to identify issues that
might arise in the development of a preliminary plan for the
retrospective analysis of the agency's regulations. This non-exhaustive
list is meant to assist in the formulation of public comments and is
not intended to restrict the issues that may be addressed. SBA requests
that commenters identify the specific regulation at issue and explain,
in as much detail as possible, why the regulation should be modified,
streamlined, expanded, or withdrawn, as well as specific suggestions of
ways SBA can better achieve its regulatory objectives.
(1) How can SBA identify those rules that might be modified,
streamlined, expanded, or repealed?
(2) What factors should the agency consider in selecting and
prioritizing rules for review?
(3) Are there regulations that have become unnecessary, or
ineffective, and, if so, what are they?
(4) Are there rules that can be withdrawn without impairing SBA's
regulatory programs and, if so, what are they?
(5) Are there rules that have become outdated and, if so, how can
they be modernized to better accomplish their regulatory objectives?
(6) Are there rules that are still necessary, but which have not
operated as well as expected such that a modified, stronger, or
slightly different approach is justified?
(7) Are there regulations, or regulatory processes that are
unnecessarily complicated or could be streamlined to achieve regulatory
objectives more efficiently?
(8) Are there any technological developments that can be leveraged
to modify, streamline, or repeal any existing regulatory requirements?
(9) Are there any SBA regulations that are not tailored to impose
the least burden on the public?
(10) How can SBA best obtain and consider accurate, objective
information
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and data about the costs, burdens, and benefits of existing
regulations?
(11) Are there existing sources of data SBA can use to evaluate the
post-promulgation effects of regulations over time?
(12) Are there regulations that are working well that can be
expanded or used as a model to fill gaps in other SBA regulatory
programs?
SBA notes that this RFI is issued solely for information and
planning purposes and that the Agency is not bound to any further
actions related to the comments submitted. All submissions will be made
publically available on http://www.regulations.gov.
All comments received are considered part of the public record and
made available for public inspection online at http://www.regulations.gov. Such information includes personal identifying
information (e.g. your name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by
the commenter.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 5(b)(6).
Dated: March 8, 2011.
Sara D. Lipscomb,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-5839 Filed 3-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025-01-P