Carl Harris, a Kansas home builder appearing on behalf of the NAHB, testified on March 14 before the House Small Business Committee's Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations, drawing attention to federal agencies' apparent disregard for the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980.
The act requires agencies such as OSHA and the EPA to convene panels of small business advocates to review potential regulations to ensure that they are not overly burdensome on smaller businesses. Harris, who has served on several of these panels, said OSHA treats the process as "little more than a procedural hurdle," showing "little interest" in making changes based on the panels' recommendations.
A press release from NAHB reported that the EPA failed to convene a review panel for the Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule when the agency first moved to amend it in 2008. As a result, the final rule, which went into effect in 2010, placed undue financial pressure on small businesses, the NAHB said.
Many of the deficiencies in EPA's RRP rule could have been addressed if the agency had complied with both the letter and the spirit of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, Harris said.
