This bill, the Prove It Act, changes parts of the federal rulemaking process to give small businesses more notice and review rights. It requires agencies to consider and report indirect costs that a proposed rule may cause for small entities. The bill creates a formal petition process at the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. Small entities or groups can ask the Chief Counsel for Advocacy to review an agency's certification that a proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The Chief Counsel must do a quick prima facie check within 10 days and, if merited, conduct a full review that includes a meeting with the agency and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The Chief Counsel must publish review results within 30 days. If the Chief Counsel finds a significant impact, the agency must perform initial and final regulatory flexibility analyses. The bill also requires agencies to publish guidance documents for rules likely to affect many small entities and allow public comments on those guidance documents. It tightens periodic 10-year reviews of existing rules to include indirect costs and says a rule that is not reviewed on time is treated as having ceased to be effective until a review is completed. The bill applies to final rules issued in the five years before enactment and to rules issued after enactment. The bill states no additional funds are authorized to carry it out.
No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act or its amendments. No publicly available information in the bill text provides an estimate of budgetary costs or savings.
The bill states its purpose is to require greater transparency for regulatory decisions that impact small businesses. The text creates processes intended to surface indirect costs, allow small entities to seek review, publish guidance, and enforce periodic reviews.
No publicly available information in the bill text describes specific objections or opposing views.