On June 4, 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published proposed rules regarding emissions standards for boilers, process heaters, and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators (CISWI units). EPA will accept public comments on these proposed rules through August 3, 2010.

On July 8, 2010, the Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) filed comments with the Consumer Product Safety Commission providing the agency with its Regulatory Flexibility Act suggestions and industry concerns about the potential economic impacts associated with finalizing the safety standards for children?s bassinets and cradles.

The July 2010 issue of The Small Business Advocate features a new study on small business credit, as well as a column by the chief economist on high-impact entrepreneurs.

The research study "Bank Credit, Trade Credit or No Credit: Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finances" compares firms that use credit (leveraged firms) with those that do not (unleveraged firms), and examines which kind of credit the leveraged firms use?bank credit (loans or lines of credit), trade credit (from suppliers), or both. The study finds that three-fifths of the small firms that use credit, use trade credit.

The research study "Bank Credit, Trade Credit or No Credit: Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finances" compares firms that use credit (leveraged firms) with those that do not (unleveraged firms), and examines which kind of credit the leveraged firms use?bank credit (loans or lines of credit), trade credit (from suppliers), or both. The study finds that three-fifths of the small firms that use credit, use trade credit.

Section 692 of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 establishes a limitation on subcontracting for cost-reimbursement type contracts above the simplified acquisition threshold entered into to facilitate the response to or recovery from a natural disaster or act of terrorism or other man-made disaster. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing to amend its Homeland Security Acquisition Regulation (HSAR) to implement this limitation. Comments are due by August 9, 2010.

U.S. Census Bureau employment size of firm data (partially funded by Advocacy) has been updated for 2007. The data list the number of firms, establishments, employment, annual payroll and receipts by firm size for regions by industry. The data is now available for a twenty-year period covering a few business cycles, making time series analysis a possibility. Additions to the data for this year include county figures and more industry detail for states (going back to 1998.) Historic county figures are a future priority.

On June 9, 2010, the Office of Advocacy submitted written comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) asking the board not to adopt the 2010 Draft Report submitted by the Inorganic Arsenic Cancer Review Work Group.

Structure of Household Debt of Small Business Owners in the United States utilizes the 1998 through 2007 Surveys of Consumer Finances (SCF) to examine the intermingling of financial resources between the household and the business.

On May 10, 2010, the Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) filed a comment letter with Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding its proposal to list nine species of constrictor snakes as injurious reptiles under the Lacey Act.