Small businesses will now have better access to compliance guides for federal regulations, due to Senator Olympia Snowe's (R-ME) amendment contained in the "U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans‚ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007." Amendment 103, co-sponsored by Senators Michael Enzi (R-WY), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Harry Reid (D-NV), John Kerry (D-MA), John Sununu (R-NH), and Pat Roberts (R-KS) strengthened section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA).

Section 212 requires federal agencies to publish a small business compliance guide for each final rule that has a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.  Amendment 103 strengthens those requirements and further mandates that federal agencies annually report to Congress on their efforts to comply with Section 212.

"Research shows that American small businesses are disproportionally impacted by the burden of federal regulations," said Thomas M. Sullivan, Chief Counsel for Advocacy. "By requiring federal agencies to produce understandable and useable compliance guides, Congress has taken a step toward helping to reduce that burden."

As part of its ongoing training of federal agencies on how to comply with SBREFA and the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Office of Advocacy will assist agencies with the development of small business compliance guides.

The Office of Advocacy, the "small business watchdog" of the federal government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President.  It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats, and it funds research into small business issues.

For more information, visit the Office of Advocacy website at www.sba.gov/advo.