The Small Business Charade: The Chemical Industry's Stealth Campaign Against Public Health

17 Pages Posted: 14 Feb 2016 Last revised: 22 Mar 2016

See all articles by Rena I. Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law; Center for Progressive Reform

Matthew Shudtz

University of Georgia Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems

James Goodwin

Center for Progressive Reform

Date Written: February 1, 2015

Abstract

The Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy is tiny and largely unaccountable, but it wields surprising power over the federal regulatory system. In its day-to-day work, the SBA Office of Advocacy has pursued a determined anti-regulatory agenda, focusing on forming alliances with big businesses, and especially trade associations that lobby on behalf of large corporate interests, and working to block any regulations that they might find inconvenient to their bottom line, even at the cost of properly safeguarding people and the environment. This work, of course, strays far from its statutory mission of advancing the interests of small businesses that may lack the resources or expertise to field expansive lobbying efforts in Washington.

This report details one example of the SBA Office of Advocacy's troubling work on behalf of a powerful trade association that undermines its mission to advance the interests of real small businesses. It looks at how the SBA Office of Advocacy has worked side-by-side with the American Chemistry Council to block, delay, and weaken the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) pending silica rule.

Keywords: Regulation, Workers, Health, Safety, Rulemaking, Silica, OSHA

JEL Classification: K23, K31, K32

Suggested Citation

Steinzor, Rena I. and Shudtz, Matthew and Goodwin, James, The Small Business Charade: The Chemical Industry's Stealth Campaign Against Public Health (February 1, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2731870 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2731870

Rena I. Steinzor

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law ( email )

500 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201-1786
United States

Center for Progressive Reform ( email )

500 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
United States

Matthew Shudtz (Contact Author)

University of Georgia Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems ( email )

United States

James Goodwin

Center for Progressive Reform ( email )

455 Massachusetts Ave., NW, #150-513
Washington, DC 20001
United States

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