When designing regulations, small details can be extremely important. Small businesses and solo practitioners, in particular, often operate on very thin margins, and seemingly minor aspects of a regulation can have large effects on profitability and the availability of service. This week’s Modernization Highlights features the work of two agencies that made updates to existing regulations that will make life easier for both businesses and their clients.

 

The Department of Health eliminates a cap on rain barrel sizes.

When the Governor’s Office celebrated hitting the 25% regulatory requirement reduction goal last month, small business owner Tyrone Jarvis spoke about how his auto repair business has benefited from new regulations allowing rainwater harvesting. He explained how he’s now able to use an innovative rainwater harvesting system he developed.

While reviewing these regulations, the Virginia Department of Health recently noted that the definitions section placed a 100-gallon size cap on harvesting vessels. The agency determined the size cap was unnecessary: many businesses and individuals use larger barrels, and there’s no health or safety risk associated with doing so. It therefore modified the regulation (see Action 6786) to drop the cap.

 

The Board of Psychology creates a new “psychological practitioner” license.

The medical field is facing an acute shortage of practitioners. It is of course important to ensure that medical professionals possess the necessary training and experience. But making it too difficult to enter a profession leads to provider shortages, which can drive up prices and reduce the availability of healthcare options.

In response to a statutory change, the Board of Psychology recently created a new license (see Action 6567) for “psychological practitioners.” Unlike the requirements for clinical psychology, a practitioner can enter the profession with only a master’s degree. And though the range of practice for a psychological practitioner is more limited, these professionals can provide more cost-effective access to many different types of services.

Everyone wins as a result of this change: aspiring psychological professionals who want to start working sooner will be able to do so, and patients will benefit from the wider array of options.