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17. Do the proposed rules have any impact on the environment? If yes, please explain.
The proposed rules will not have any impact on the environment.
18. Describe whether and how the agency considered exempting small businesses from the proposed rules.
The department did not consider exempting small business because they are not impacted by the proposed rules.
19. If small businesses are not exempt, describe (a) the manner in which the agency reduced the economic impact
of the proposed rules on small businesses, including a detailed recitation of the efforts of the agency to comply
with the mandate to reduce the disproportionate impact of the rules upon small businesses as described below (in
accordance with MCL 24.240(1)(a-d)), or (b) the reasons such a reduction was not lawful or feasible.
The rules cannot exempt small businesses because the rules do not directly regulate small businesses. The rules
regulate individual registrants and licensees. Further, the Michigan Public Health Code requires social service
technicians to be registered and bachelor’s and master’s social workers to be licensed.
A. Identify and estimate the number of small businesses affected by the proposed rules and the probable effect on
small businesses.
There are approximately 28,992 registered or licensed social work professionals in Michigan.
A registrant or licensee may work in a small business. However, no matter what type of business environment the
registrant or licensee works in, he or she will have to comply with the proposed rules. The rules do not impact small
businesses differently because the impact is to the individual licensee only.
B. Describe how the agency established differing compliance or reporting requirements or timetables for small
businesses under the rules after projecting the required reporting, record-keeping, and other administrative costs.
The agency did not establish separate compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses. The proposed rules
will apply to all social worker registrants and licensees. The rules were drafted to be the least burdensome on all
affected registrants and licensees.
C. Describe how the agency consolidated or simplified the compliance and reporting requirements for small
businesses and identify the skills necessary to comply with the reporting requirements.
The agency did not consolidate or simplify compliance and reporting requirements for small businesses with the
proposed rules because the proposed rules do not impact small businesses.
D. Describe how the agency established performance standards to replace design or operation standards required
by the proposed rules.
The agency did not establish performance standards to replace design or operation standards required by these rules.
20. Identify any disproportionate impact the proposed rules may have on small businesses because of their size or
geographic location.
The proposed rules do not impact small business. They impact an individual registrant or licensee. Therefore, there
is no disproportionate impact on a small business because of its size or geographic location.
21. Identify the nature of any report and the estimated cost of its preparation by small businesses required to
comply with the proposed rules.
The proposed rules affect individuals applying for registration, licensure, and renewal, regardless if they practice in a
small business. There is no separate cost to a small business.
22. Analyze the costs of compliance for all small businesses affected by the proposed rules, including costs of
equipment, supplies, labor, and increased administrative costs.
There are no expected costs for equipment, supplies, labor, or administrative costs that a small business would incur
in complying with the proposed rules. The rules impact licensees and registrants, not small businesses.
23. Identify the nature and estimated cost of any legal, consulting, or accounting services that small businesses
would incur in complying with the proposed rules.
There are no expected costs for legal, consulting, or accounting services that a small business would incur in
complying with the proposed rules.
24. Estimate the ability of small businesses to absorb the costs without suffering economic harm and without
adversely affecting competition in the marketplace.
There are no expected costs to a small business that will cause economic harm to a small business or the marketplace
as a result of the proposed rules.
25. Estimate the cost, if any, to the agency of administering or enforcing a rule that exempts or sets lesser
standards for compliance by small businesses.
MCL 24.245(3)