The Enforcers
The RFA is no longer something to be ignored.
It's too early to tell whether President Bush's recent
executive order and OSHA's creation of a small-business office
will prove to be wellsprings of regulatory relief.
The president's mid-August order calls for the Office of
Management and Budget to make sure federal agencies take the
22-year-old Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) seriously. That law
says federal agencies must consider the impact their rules have on
small businesses. Of course, the Small Business Regulatory and
Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), passed in 1996, had the same
goal-but Claudia Rayford-Rodgers, senior counsel for the SBA's
Office of Advocacy, argues that the executive order will be more
effective.
The order requires all federal agencies to submit RFA compliance
plans to the Office of Advocacy within 90 days and publish those
plans within 180 days. The agencies must give "appropriate
consideration" to advocacy's input. The term
"appropriate consideration" is undefined. Some agencies,
such as the EPA, already have well-developed RFA-compliance
plans.
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OSHA's decision to create a new Office of Small Business two
weeks after the Bush executive order wasn't really a sign of
taking the order to heart, but it was promising nonetheless. The
small-business office will house the existing state consultation
program and an outreach effort.
Stephen Barlas is a freelance business reporter who covers
the Washington beat for 15 magazines.