Orrin Hatch: “I strongly support the Abraham-Dole amendment, which would require agencies to include in their schedule to review…”

“I strongly support the Abraham-Dole amendment, which would require agencies to include in their schedule to review existing rules, pursuant to section 623 of S. 343, any existing regulation that substantially affects small business as selected by the chief counsel for advocacy of the Small Business Administration. Under section 623 as currently drafted, a regulation would not be subject to review unless an agency chooses to place an existing rule on the review schedule or an interested party is successful in having a petition to place a rule on the schedule for review. Unfortunately, the petition process is costly and thus particularly burdensome to small businesses. Most small businesses do not have the resources to hire the attorneys, consultants, economists, or environmental experts, that may be necessary to prepare a petition that meets the exacting standards in section 624 necessary for granting a petition to review rules that are burdensome to small business. This amendment will allow the chief counsel for advocacy of the SBA with the concurrence of head of OIRA to select rules to be put on the agency review schedule as a substitute for the petition process available to larger businesses with greater capital assets. It assures that the one official in the Administration exclusively responsible with representing the needs of small business will have authority to ensure that regulations burdensome to small business will be reviewed.”