Recruiting Small Businesses for Rulemaking

[Tom Kelly <kelly.tom@epa.gov>]

Our experience at EPA is that small businesses have a tremendous lot to offer in the rulemaking process.  We have hundreds of examples of regulatory improvements that have come about because small businesses got a whack at the rule before its design was completed.  Nevertheless, there are a lot of obstacles involving small businesses in EPA's rulemaking.  Here are just a few:

o  They are small.  They tend to be tied to the shop floor and their production/delivery schedules.  It's hard for them to take time out to help people in Washington understand their needs.

o  Or maybe they're not.  Often, if a "small" business has the time and the specialized staff to participate in a Washington rulemaking, it is actually one of the larger businesses classified as "small" by SBA (in some cases the definition includes firms with as many as 1000 employees).  That can present a false picture of the everyday circumstances of a genuine "mom and pop" operation.

o  They are scared.  Many small business owners fear not only regulation, but inspection and enforcement as well.  They tend to "lie low in the weeds" for fear of unfair treatment if they call attention to themselves.

o  They know their business, but they don't know the industry.  The perspective a given SB owner/operator offers may not be adequately representative of the class of operations EPA is seeking to regulate.

o  They know their business, but they don't know how regulations are written.  This means they may not recognize and contribute the best information at their disposal to help EPA shape the rule in the most responsible manner.

Clearly, it is a big challenge for EPA to identify a representative sample of affected small businesses and to recruit them into the job of advising the Agency on a forthcoming regulatory action.