The Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002 requires the Office of Management & Budget to publish in the Federal Register a list of the compliance assistance resources available at Federal agencies for small businesses. By law, the list must be available on the Internet, too. With help from the Small Business Administration’s National Ombudsman, OMB has listed compliance assistance resources now available.

SBPRA also requires OMB to list agency contacts who are liaisons to small businesses on information collection and the control of paperwork. Because it may help the public to have the list of agency contacts together with the list of compliance assistance resources, the OMB makes these lists available.

This effort is consistent with assistance to small businesses begun by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. SBREFA called on Federal regulatory agencies to publish small business guides that assist small firms in complying with and answer small businesses’ inquiries about Federal regulations.

SBREFA also created the SBA Office of the Small Business and Agriculture Enforcement Ombudsman. The Ombudsman works with federal agencies that regulate small businesses to create a small-business-friendly regulatory environment. The Ombudsman accepts comments and concerns from small businesses on federal regulatory agencies and reports this information annually to Congress.

SBREFA and SBPRA are closely related. SBREFA focuses on helping small businesses understand how to comply with Federal regulations. SBPRA focuses on helping small businesses understand how to comply with Federal information collection—completing forms, reporting information, and keeping certain records. These requirements are related because Federal agencies generally collect information, or mandate those regulated to keep records. The information-related provisions are designed to help the agency ensure compliance with its rules.