1: Ombudsman Program
Address issues associated with unfair enforcement of regulations. Other Information:
The Office of the National Ombudsman (ONO) helps address issues associated with unfair enforcement of regulations.
Stakeholder(s):
- Office of the National Ombudsman (ONO)
- Facilitation of Comments (Performer): As required under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, ONO works with each federal agency with regulatory
authority over small businesses to ensure that small businesses that receive or are subject to an audit, on-site inspection,
compliance assistance effort, or other enforcement related communication or contact by Agency personnel are provided with
a means to comment on the enforcement activity conducted by such personnel. The National Ombudsman receives comments from
small business concerns and acts as a liaison between them and federal agencies. Comments received from small businesses are
forwarded to federal agencies for a high level review and federal agencies are requested to consider the fairness of their
enforcement action. A copy of the agency's response is sent to the small business owner by the Office of the National Ombudsman.
In some cases, fines have been lowered or eliminated and decisions changed in favor of the small business owner.
- Event Participation (Performer): The national ombudsman, as well as the members of the 10 Regional Regulatory Fairness Boards across the country, participates
in public events throughout the country to listen to and record comments from small business owners and representatives of
small businesses.
- Advice Receipt (Performer): Additionally, the national ombudsman receives advice from the RegFair boards about matters of concern to small businesses
relating to the enforcement activities of agencies.
- Annual Reporting (Performer): The national ombudsman prepares and submits an annual report to Congress evaluating the enforcement activities of federal
agency personnel regarding small business.
Objective(s):
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