Regulatory Reform Initiative: Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME)

Published date07 February 2020
Citation85 FR 7254
Record Number2020-02366
SectionProposed rules
CourtSmall Business Administration
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 26 (Friday, February 7, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 26 (Friday, February 7, 2020)]
                [Proposed Rules]
                [Pages 7254-7256]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2020-02366]
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                SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
                13 CFR Part 119
                RIN 3245-AH11
                Regulatory Reform Initiative: Program for Investment in
                Microentrepreneurs (PRIME)
                AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration.
                ACTION: Proposed rule.
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                SUMMARY: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) is
                proposing to revise one regulation and remove 19 regulations from the
                Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) related to the Program for Investment
                in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME) that are repetitive and unnecessary
                because they duplicate identical guidance and requirements already
                stipulated in other legal sources and/or provided to grant applicant
                and recipients in the annual PRIME funding opportunity announcement.
                The removal of these regulations will assist the public by simplifying
                SBA's regulations in the CFR and reducing the amount of time grant
                applicants and recipients must spend reviewing programmatic guidance.
                DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 7, 2020.
                [[Page 7255]]
                ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN: 3245-AH11 by any
                of the following methods:
                 Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
                Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
                 Mail or Hand Delivery/Courier: Daniel Upham, Chief,
                Microenterprise Development Division, Office of Capital Access, U.S.
                Small Business Administration, 409 Third Street SW, Washington, DC
                20416.
                 SBA will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. If you
                wish to submit confidential business information (CBI), as defined in
                the User Notice at http://www.regulations.gov, please submit the
                information to Daniel Upham, Chief, Microenterprise Development
                Division, Office of Capital Access, U.S. Small Business Administration,
                409 Third Street SW, Washington, DC 20416, or send an email to
                [email protected]. Highlight the information that you consider to be
                CBI and explain why you believe SBA should hold this information as
                confidential. SBA will review the information and make the final
                determination on whether it will publish the information.
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Upham, Chief, Microenterprise
                Development Division, Office of Capital Access, at 202-205-7001 or
                [email protected].
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                I. Background Information
                A. Part 119--Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (``PRIME'' or
                ``The Act'')
                 Under the PRIME program, SBA is authorized by 15 U.S.C. 6902 to
                make grants to qualified organizations for the purpose of funding: (i)
                Training and technical assistance to disadvantaged microentrepreneurs;
                (ii) training and capacity-building services for microenterprise
                development organizations; (iii) research and development of the best
                practices in the fields of microenterprise development and technical
                assistance for disadvantaged microentrepreneurs; and (iv) other related
                activities as the Agency deems appropriate.
                 In this rule, SBA is proposing to modify one regulation and remove
                19 regulations from the CFR related to the Program for Investment in
                Microentrepreneurs (PRIME) that are no longer necessary because they
                duplicate identical guidance and requirements already stipulated in the
                enabling legislation (15 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), the governmentwide grant
                regulations (2 CFR part 200), and/or provided to grant applicant and
                recipients in the PRIME funding opportunity announcements published
                annually by SBA at www.grants.gov. The removal of these regulations
                will assist the public by simplifying SBA's regulations in the CFR and
                reducing the amount of time grant applicants and recipients must spend
                reviewing programmatic guidance.
                B. Executive Order 13771
                 On January 30, 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13771,
                Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs, which, among
                other objectives, is intended to ensure that an agency's regulatory
                costs are prudently managed and controlled so as to minimize the
                compliance burden imposed on the public. For every new regulation an
                agency proposes to implement, unless prohibited by law, this Executive
                Order requires the agency to (i) identify at least two existing
                regulations that the agency can cancel; and (ii) use the cost savings
                from the cancelled regulations to offset the cost of the new
                regulation.
                C. Executive Order 13777
                 On February 24, 2017, the President issued Executive Order 13777,
                Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda, which further emphasized the
                goal of the Administration to alleviate the regulatory burdens placed
                on the public. Under Executive Order 13777, agencies must evaluate
                their existing regulations to determine which ones should be repealed,
                replaced, or modified. In doing so, agencies should focus on
                identifying regulations that, among other things: Eliminate jobs or
                inhibit job creation; are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective; impose
                costs that exceed benefits; create a serious inconsistency or otherwise
                interfere with regulatory reform initiatives and policies; or are
                associated with Executive Orders or other Presidential directives that
                have been rescinded or substantially modified.
                II. Section by Section Analysis
                A. Section 119
                 This rule currently summarizes the purpose of the PRIME program.
                SBA intends to retain this statement of programmatic purpose and
                proposes to add further subsections addressing how qualified
                organizations may apply for grant awards under the PRIME program.
                B. Sections 119.2 Through 119.20
                 These rules provide guidance to PRIME program applicants regarding
                the application and selection process, as well as inform grant
                recipients of certain restrictions and requirements related to the
                conduct of PRIME grant projects. They are no longer necessary because
                the guidance, restrictions, and requirements they reiterate are also
                covered in other sources that are more authoritative, informative, and/
                or frequently updated. As such, they are duplicative of, and of less
                utility, than these other sources. SBA therefore proposes removing
                these sections and instead relying upon the content contained in other
                Federal guidance, such as the enabling legislation (15 U.S.C. 6901 et
                seq.), the government-wide grant regulations (2 CFR part 200), and the
                PRIME program annual funding opportunity announcements and award terms
                and conditions issued by SBA. Program information will be published
                annually at www.grants.gov.
                III. Compliance With Executive Orders 12866, 13771, 12988, and 13132,
                the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C., Ch. 35), and the Regulatory
                Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612)
                A. Executive Order 12866
                 The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has determined that this
                rule does not constitute a significant regulatory action for purposes
                of Executive Order 12866 and is not a major rule under the
                Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.
                B. Executive Order 13771
                 This proposed rule is expected to be an Executive Order 13771
                deregulatory action with an annualized net savings of $10,188 and a net
                present value of $145,543 in savings, both in 2016 dollars. This rule
                will remove redundant information which will save grant applicants from
                reading the same information from multiple sources. The reduced burden
                assumes 130 grant applicants read the regulation per year, which is the
                average number of applicants per year, and that they would save 2 hours
                each from not reading the removed information. This time is valued at
                $40.83 per hour--the wage of a community service manager based on 2018
                U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data--and adding 30 percent more
                for benefits for a total savings per year of $10,616 in current
                dollars.
                 It is assumed that there will be no costs to this rule as it
                removes duplicative information.
                C. Executive Order 12988
                 This action meets applicable standards set forth in Section 3(a)
                and 3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, to minimize
                litigation, eliminate ambiguity, and reduce
                [[Page 7256]]
                burden. The action does not have retroactive or preemptive effect.
                D. Executive Order 13132
                 This rule does not have federalism implications as defined in
                Executive Order 13132. It will not have substantial direct effects on
                the States, on the relationship between the national government and the
                States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the
                various levels of government, as specified in the Executive Order. As
                such it does not warrant the preparation of a Federalism Assessment.
                E. Paperwork Reduction Act
                 The SBA has determined that this proposed rule does not affect any
                existing collection of information.
                F. Regulatory Flexibility Act
                 When an agency issues a proposed rule, the Regulatory Flexibility
                Act (RFA) requires the agency to prepare an initial regulatory
                flexibility analysis (IRFA), which describes whether the rule will have
                a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
                entities. However, Section 605 of the RFA allows an agency to certify a
                rule, in lieu of preparing an IRFA, if the rulemaking is not expected
                to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
                entities.
                 There are approximately 130 PRIME grant applications per year. This
                rule would remove regulations that are no longer necessary because they
                contain information that exists in multiple sources which could affect
                all PRIME grant applicants. The total annual savings to applicants is
                estimated at $10,616 in 2018 dollars, or about $82 per PRIME grant
                applicant. More information on this estimate can be found in the
                Executive Order 13771 discussion above.
                 Accordingly, the Administrator of the SBA hereby certifies that
                this rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
                number of small entities. The SBA invites comments from the public on
                this certification.
                List of Subjects in 13 CFR Part 119
                 Grant programs--business, small businesses.
                0
                Accordingly, for the reasons stated in the preamble, SBA proposes to
                revise 13 CFR part 119 to read as follows:
                PART 119--PROGRAM FOR INVESTMENT IN MICROENTREPRENEURS (``PRIME''
                or ``The Act'')
                Sec
                119.1 What is the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs
                (PRIME)?
                119.2 through 119.20 [Reserved]
                 Authority: 15 U.S.C. 634(b)(6), 6901-6910.
                Sec. 119.1 What is the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs
                (PRIME)?
                 (a) The PRIME program authorizes SBA to award grants to qualified
                organizations to fund training and technical assistance for
                disadvantaged microentrepreneurs; training and capacity-building
                services for microenterprise development organizations; research and
                development of the best practices in the fields of microenterprise
                development and the provision of technical assistance to disadvantaged
                microentrepreneurs; and such other activities as the Agency deems
                appropriate.
                 (b) Dependent upon the availability of funds and continuing program
                authority, SBA will issue, via Grants.gov or any successor platform,
                funding announcements specifying the terms, conditions, and evaluation
                criteria for each potential round of PRIME awards. These funding
                announcements will identify who is eligible to apply for PRIME awards;
                summarize the purposes for which the available funds may be used;
                advise potential applicants regarding the process for obtaining,
                completing, and submitting an application packet; and provide
                information regarding application deadlines and any additional
                limitations, special rules, procedures, and restrictions which SBA may
                deem advisable.
                 (c) SBA will evaluate applications for PRIME awards in accordance
                with the stated statutory goals of the program and the specific
                criteria described in the relevant funding announcement.
                 (d) In administering the PRIME program, SBA will require recipients
                to provide reports in accordance with the subject matter areas and
                schedule identified in the terms and conditions of their awards. In
                addition, SBA may, as it deems appropriate, make site visits to
                recipients' premises and review all applicable documentation and
                records.
                Sec. Sec. 119.2 through 119.20 [Reserved]
                Jovita Carranza,
                Administrator.
                [FR Doc. 2020-02366 Filed 2-6-20; 8:45 am]
                 BILLING CODE P
                

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