Grassroots WASHINGTON WATCH Shoring up the defenses ICBA is working to neutralize burdensome small-business rules before they arrive. By Aaron Stetter and Lilly Thomas I n the community banking industry's continued push for relief from excessive and unnecessary regulations, it is not enough to roll back the glut of regulations that have accumulated over the years. Replacing the nation's one-size-fits-all regulatory system with tiered and proportionate rules also requires industry advocates to intercept dangerous standards before they can be implemented. ICBA is using this active approach to regulatory relief in tackling upcoming small-business data collection and reporting requirements being developed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Unless the industry can achieve needed reforms, these still-under-development reporting mandates will require community banks and other institutions to collect and report vast quantities of information regarding small-business loan applications. ICBA is employing a multipronged campaign on Capitol Hill and at the CFPB to head these rules off at the pass. Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires the CFPB to implement 28 ICBA IndependentBanker August 2017 rules for the collection and reporting of data on financial institutions' small-business lending under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The statute lays out 12 pieces of data required for every small-business credit application and for womenor minority-owned businesses of any size, including the race, sex and ethnicity of the principal business owners. The CFPB has the discretion to require the reporting of any additional information it deems necessary to fulfill the purposes of the statute. Covered financial institutions would have to make an inquiry of