Regulatory report looks at small-business rules

PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Office of Regulatory Reform released a report last week outlining key findings and recommendations from period two of the Regulatory Reform Initiative to analyze all state-agency regulations and their impact on Rhode Island’s small businesses.
During the second review phase, state agencies recommended the repeal of two additional regulations, after having recommended a dozen regulations for repeal during period one. An additional 12 regulations were identified for amendment on top of the 45 regulations identified in the last progress report.
The reform initiative began last summer after state lawmakers ordered state agencies to analyze all existing regulations within four years. The first of four review phases ended at the close of 2012, and the last is scheduled to end at the close of this year.
Now halfway through the Regulatory Reform Initiative, the ORR has to date received 1,089 regulations for review, or 66.2 percent of the 1,646 total regulations on file with the secretary of state. Of the 1,089 regulations received, 187 were exempt from review, the ORR said.
Developing a new model for defining whether and how a particular regulation affects local small businesses was a major focus of the ORR in period two, according to the report. During the first two review periods, the ORR defined regulations with “small-business impact” as only those regulations requiring applicable businesses to comply in order to operate.
Based on this model, the ORR identified 164 regulations in period two that impact small businesses, in addition to the 235 regulations identified during period one. •

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