What is the objective of the r3 program?
The r3 program is intended to help small businesses address the cumulative Federal regulatory burden, which is now estimated to exceed $1.1 trillion. Through the r3 program, we believe federal agencies will do a better job of identifying and revising rules that need to be reformed. Why did the Office of Advocacy initiate the r3 program? The r3 program is, in part, a response to a July 2007 report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Reexamining Regulations: Opportunities Exist to Improve Effectiveness and Transparency of Retrospective Reviews. The report looked at the job agencies do when they evaluate the effectiveness of their existing regulations, including periodic reviews of their current rules required by Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). GAO found that federal agencies often did a poor job of involving the public in the review process and explaining what they look at when they evaluate their rules. As a result, GAO concluded that agencies revi
