(B) As used in this article "small business" means a commercial retail service, industry entity, or nonprofit corporation, including its affiliates, that:

1. (1) is, if a commercial retail service or industry service, independently owned and operated; and
2. (2) employs fewer than one hundred full-time employees or has gross annual sales or program service revenues of less than five million dollars.

(C) Before an agency submits to the General Assembly for review a regulation that may have a significant adverse impact on small businesses, the agency, if directed by the Small Business Regulatory Review Committee, shall prepare:

1. (1) an economic impact statement that includes the following:

   1. (a) an identification and estimate of the number of small businesses subject to the proposed regulation;
   2. (b) the projected reporting, recordkeeping, and other administrative costs required for compliance with the proposed regulation, including the type of professional skills necessary for preparation of the report or record;
   3. (c) a statement of the economic impact on small businesses; and
   4. (d) a description of less intrusive or less costly alternative methods of achieving the purpose of the proposed regulation;
2. (2) a regulatory flexibility analysis in which the agency, where consistent with health, safety, and environmental and economic welfare, shall consider utilizing regulatory methods that accomplish the objectives of applicable statutes while minimizing a significant adverse impact on small businesses.

(D) The agency shall consider, without limitation, each of the following methods of reducing the impact of the proposed regulation on small businesses:

1. (a) establishment of less stringent compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses;
2. (b) establishment of less stringent schedules or deadlines for compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses;
3. (c) consolidation or simplification of compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses;
4. (d) establishment of performance standards for small businesses to replace design or operational standards required in the proposed regulation; and
5. (e) exemption of small businesses from all or a part of the requirements contained in the proposed regulation.

(F)

1. (1) Within five years of the effective date of this article, each agency shall review all agency regulations existing at the time of the effective date to determine whether to continue the regulations without change or amend or rescind them to minimize economic impact of the regulations on small businesses in a manner consistent with the stated objective of applicable statutes. If the head of the agency determines that completion of the review of existing regulations is not feasible by the established date, the agency shall publish in the State Register a statement certifying that determination.
2. (2) Regulations that take effect on or after the effective date of this article must be reviewed within five years of the publication of the final regulation in the State Register and every five years after that to ensure that they minimize economic impact on small businesses in a manner consistent with the stated objectives of applicable statutes.

3. (3) In reviewing regulations to minimize their economic impact on small businesses, the agency shall consider the:

   1. (a) continued need for the regulation;
   2. (b) nature of complaints or comments received concerning the regulation from the public;
   3. (c) complexity of the regulation;
   4. (d) extent to which the regulation overlaps, duplicates, or conflicts with other federal, state, and local governmental regulations; and
   5. (e) length of time since the regulation has been evaluated or the degree to which technology, economic conditions, or other factors have changed in the area affected by the regulation.