WASHINGTON - The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy’s Regulatory Review and Reform Initiative, or r3, has been created to identify and address existing federal regulations that should be revised because they are ineffective, duplicative, or out of date.

The r3 program is intended to help small businesses address the cumulative federal regulatory burden, which is now estimated to exceed $1.1 trillion, said SBA. Through the r3 program, SBA believes federal agencies will do a better job of identifying and revising rules that need to be reformed.

The r3 program has three components: (1) providing tools to improve federal agencies’ compliance with Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, leading to a better understanding of the impact of their current regulations on small businesses; (2) developing a process for small business stakeholders to identify current rules that are outdated or ineffective and recommend targeted reforms; and (3) posting the recommended reforms on Advocacy’s Website and updating the status of reforms twice a year.

Stakeholders who are interested in recommending reform of a current rule or regulatory program should provide the Office of Advocacy with a description of the current rule and the reasons why the rule or program should be reformed. Stakeholders also need to describe their recommended reform. After Advocacy receives and reviews a recommendation for reform, Advocacy staff will work with the stakeholder to develop sufficient information to move forward. Initial recommendations for reform are due by Dec. 31, 2007.

To suggest reviews and reforms, call Keith Holman of the Office of Advocacy at 202-205-6936 or e-mail advocacy@sba.gov.

Publication date: 09/24/2007