Office of Advocacy

By Prianka Sharma, Assistant Chief Counsel On January 19, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published a final rule outlining policies for domestic hemp production. This rule follows and…

On January 8, 2021 the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published two proposed rules to establish critical habitat for ringed and bearded seals. Both rules concern areas of marine habitat in the…

On January 11, 2021, EPA proposed revisions for its 2018 fees rule under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). EPA is required to review and adjust the fees, if necessary, every three years. Among the proposed changes, EPA is…

On December 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to solicit comments and feedback on whether to establish a regulatory…

On December 22, 2020, EPA published a notice of data availability and a request for additional information to reconsider its definition of “beneficial use” and its provisions for coal combustion residuals (CCR) piles. In August 2020, EPA…

EPA has found unreasonable risks to workers, occupational non-users, consumers, and bystanders from 59 conditions of use of Perchloroethylene (PCE), which is used as a solvent for cleaning and degreasing, and in lubricants, adhesives, and…

On December 21, 2020, the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) submitted a comment letter in response to a Guidance for Grants and Agreements published in the Federal Register by the Office of Information and…

The Office of Advocacy has released the latest edition of its newsletter, “The Small Business Advocate,” Vol. 39, No. 11. If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter, you may do so here.

Lending to businesses in counties where a bank has no branches is highly sensitive to economic conditions. During the 2007 recession, distant lending contracted far more sharply than local lending, leaving the share of loans made at a…

On November 30, 2020, the Defense Acquisition Regulations System implemented changes to the Department of Defense’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). The CMMC, designed to improve cybersecurity measures for U.S. defense…