SBA’s organizational structure comprises headquarters and regional, district, and area field offices. At the headquarters level, SBA is divided into several key functional areas that manage and set policy for the agency’s programs. Seventeen headquarters offices report to the Office of the Administrator. SBA provides its services to small businesses through a network of regional and district offices that are led by the Office of Field Operations (OFO) and area offices, led by OGCBD, as discussed in greater detail later in this report. Regional offices oversee the district offices and promote the President’s and SBA Administrator’s messages throughout the region. District offices serve as the point of delivery for most SBA programs and services. Four program offices at the headquarters level manage the agency’s programs that provide capital, contracting, counseling, and disaster assistance services to small businesses: the Office of Capital Access, the Office of Entrepreneurial Development, the Office of Disaster Assistance, and OGCBD. OGCBD promotes small business participation in federal contracting through a variety of programs, including programs that provide small businesses with contracting preferences based on socioeconomic designations—the 8(a) Business Development (8(a)), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), women-owned small business (WOSB), and service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) programs. The 8(a) program provides business development assistance to small, disadvantaged businesses and helps them participate in the federal contracting market through sole-source and competitive 8(a) set-aside contracts. The HUBZone program aims to stimulate economic development in economically distressed areas by helping urban and rural small businesses that are located in designated economically distressed areas to access federal procurement opportunities. The SDVOSB program helps service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses acquire federal contracts. The WOSB Federal Contracting program helps women-owned small businesses acquire federal contracts. In addition, SBA administers a prime contracts program, subcontracting assistance program, certificate of competency program, and size determination program to increase federal contracting opportunities for small businesses. These programs, among other things, seek to maximize federal contracting opportunities for small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, women-owned small businesses, and any other firm participating in an OGCBD program. OGCBD has four main offices at the headquarters level: Office of Business Development (which includes the new All Small Mentor-Protégé program), Office of Government Contracting, Office of HUBZone Program, and Office of Policy, Planning and Liaison. The Office of Business Development administers the 8(a) business development program and includes the new Office of All Small Mentor-Protégé which was established in summer 2016 to provide mentor-protégé services to all eligible small businesses. The Office of Government Contracting administers SBA’s prime contracts, subcontracting assistance, WOSB Federal Contracting program, certificate of competency, and size determination programs. The Office of HUBZone Program administers the HUBZone program. The Office of Policy, Planning, and Liaison is responsible for implementing small business government contracting legislation and policy through SBA regulations. SBA’s field-office structure consists of 6 area offices, 68 district offices, and 10 regional offices. Area offices may sometimes be co-located with regional and district offices but differ in mission and function. Area offices report to OGCBD and while headquartered in six cities across the country, cover multiple SBA regional geographic areas encompassing a number of states where contracting activity is most prevalent. The primary function of these offices is to manage government buying activities throughout the country, which includes reviewing potential agency requirements and making recommendations to agency contracting officers on the portion of contracts to set aside for qualified small businesses. This also includes working with federal agencies and small businesses after contracts have been awarded to adjudicate size protests and conduct subcontracting compliance reviews, among other functions. District offices report to OFO and are located in at least one city for each state. The primary functions of these offices are (1) to market all SBA programs and services such as the aforementioned contracting programs, entrepreneurial development programs, and programs that facilitate loans from lenders to small business or capital access; (2) to provide business development assistance to entrepreneurs and small business owners; and (3) to support compliance and oversight responsibilities across capital and economic development programs. They also have geographic-specific contracting compliance responsibilities for local businesses in their portfolio. Branch offices and Alternative Work Sites serve as an extension of district offices and are in areas where local business needs require an additional SBA presence. Regional offices report to OFO and are responsible for marketing SBA and its programs to businesses and local government. Regional offices provide oversight of all district offices in their region and are often located in the same physical location as a district office. OGCBD sets policy for SBA’s government contracting and 8(a) business development programs and coordinates with OFO to implement its programs in field offices. OGCBD creates policies for field staff implementing its programs that include defining district office staff responsibilities and identifying counseling procedures that govern how district staff are to service firms. OGCBD also coordinates with OFO through weekly management calls to exchange information and provide updates on changes to policies and procedures. OGCBD has also coordinated with OFO to evaluate and update position descriptions for staff in field offices implementing its programs, most recently in 2016. SBA’s Office of Policy, Planning and Liaison (OPPL) is responsible for implementing small business government contracting laws and policy through SBA regulations. Executive branch agencies involved in rule making, including SBA, have authority and responsibility for developing and issuing regulations to implement laws. Many laws, regulations, and executive actions govern the federal rule-making process, including the following: Administrative Procedure Act (APA): The APA was enacted in 1946 and established the basic framework of administrative law governing federal agency action, including rule making. The APA governs “notice-and-comment” rule making, also referred to as “informal” or “APA rule making.” This act generally requires (1) publication of a notice of proposed rule making, (2) opportunity for public participation in the rule making by submission of written comments, and (3) publication of a final rule and accompanying statement of basis and purpose not less than 30 days before the rule’s effective date. Congresses and presidents have taken a number of actions to refine and reform this regulatory process since the APA was enacted. Executive Order 12866. Under Executive Order 12866, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), within OMB, reviews agencies’ significant regulatory actions (including both proposed and final rules) and is generally required to complete its review within 90 days after an agency formally submits a draft regulation. Each agency is to provide OIRA a list of its planned regulatory actions, indicating those that the agency believes are significant. For each rule identified by the agency as, or determined by the Administrator of OIRA to be, a significant regulatory action, the agency submits the rule to OIRA for formal review—including the coordination of interagency review. After receipt of this list, the Administrator of OIRA may also notify the agency that OIRA has determined that a planned regulation is a significant regulatory action within the meaning of the executive order. The order defines significant regulatory actions as those that are likely to result in a rule that may: 1. have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy; a sector of the economy; productivity; competition; jobs; the environment; public health or safety; or state, local, or tribal governments or communities; 2. create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another agency; 3. materially alter the budgetary effect of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or 4. raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President’s priorities, or the principles set forth in Executive Order 12866. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Certain acquisition regulations must go through a separate OMB process after the final rule has been published before being added to the FAR. The FAR is a regulation that generally governs acquisitions of goods and services by executive branch agencies. It addresses various aspects of the acquisition process, from acquisition planning to contract formation to contract management. Part 19 of the FAR governs small business contracting programs. Federal Register notices proposing or announcing amendments to the FAR are generally issued jointly by the Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), though these items typically receive the concurrence of OMB’s FAR Council. After receiving a memorandum from an agency proposing to amend the FAR, the FAR Council refers potential changes to standing FAR teams for review. The process of amending the FAR can take anywhere from months to years. There are three phases in the federal rule-making process: initiation of rule-making actions, development of proposed rules, and development of final rules. During the initiation phase agency officials identify sources of potential rule makings. Potential rule makings may result from statutory requirements or issues identified through external sources (for example, public hearings or petitions from the regulated community) or internal sources (for example, management agendas). During this phase, agencies gather information that would allow them to determine whether a rule making is needed and to identify potential regulatory options. The second phase of the rule-making process starts when an agency begins developing the proposed rule. During this phase, the agency drafts the rule and begins to address analytical and procedural requirements. Also built into this phase are opportunities for internal and external deliberations and reviews, including official management approval. OIRA may be involved informally at any point during the process.