II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7198 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 9, 2024 

Received 

AN ACT 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to require greater 

transparency for Federal regulatory decisions that impact 

small businesses, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prove It Act of 2024’’. 

3 SEC. 2. INITIAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 6 of title 5, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in section 603(b)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(6) where feasible, any reasonably foreseeable 

11 potential indirect costs the proposed rule may im12 pose on small entities, including small entities 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(A) purchase products or services from, 

15 sell products or services to, or otherwise con16 duct business with entities directly regulated by 

17 the rule; 

18 ‘‘(B) are directly regulated by other gov19 ernmental entities as a result of the rule; or 

20 ‘‘(C) are not directly regulated by the 

21 agency as a result of the rule but are otherwise 

22 subject to other agency rules as a result of the 

23 rule.’’; 

24 (2) in section 605(b), by striking ‘‘The agency’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘Not later than 10 days after comVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Jan 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7198.RDS H7198

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1 pleting the certification described in this subsection, 

2 the agency’’; and 

3 (3) by inserting after section 605 the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 605A. Review procedures relating to initial regu5 latory flexibility analysis certifications 

6 ‘‘(a) FILING A PETITION TO REVIEW AGENCY CER7 TIFICATION OF A PROPOSED RULE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any small entity, group of 

9 small entities, or organization representing the inter10 ests of small entities may petition the Chief Counsel 

11 for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration 

12 (in this section referred to as the ‘Chief Counsel’) to 

13 review a certification published under section 605(b) 

14 that a proposed rule will not, if promulgated, have 

15 a significant economic impact on a substantial num16 ber of small entities. 

17 ‘‘(2) FORM.—The Chief Counsel shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) determine the method, timing, and 

19 form of disseminating a petition described in 

20 paragraph (1); and 

21 ‘‘(B) display the information described in 

22 subparagraph (A) on the website of the Office 

23 of Advocacy of the Small Business Administra24 tion in a conspicuous manner. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—Each petition described in 

2 paragraph (1) with respect to a certification pub3 lished under section 605(b) for a proposed rule shall 

4 clearly and concisely— 

5 ‘‘(A) specify the name of the petitioner and 

6 a telephone number, a mailing address, and an 

7 email address that the Chief Counsel may use 

8 to communicate with the petitioner; 

9 ‘‘(B) if the petitioner is an organization, 

10 provide additional identifying information, as 

11 applicable, including the organizational or cor12 porate status of the petitioner, the State of in13 corporation of the petitioner, the registered 

14 agent of the petitioner, the interest of the peti15 tioner in representing small entities affected by 

16 the proposed rule and the certification at issue, 

17 and the name and authority of the individual 

18 who signed the petition on behalf of the organi19 zational or corporate petitioner; 

20 ‘‘(C) present the specific problems or 

21 issues that the petitioner believes should be ad22 dressed or considered through a review of the 

23 certification, such as— 

24 ‘‘(i) any specific circumstances in 

25 which the determination of the certification 


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1 that the proposed rule will not, if promul2 gated, have a significant economic impact 

3 on a substantial number of small entities is 

4 incorrect, incomplete, or inadequate; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) why the proposed rule would, if 

6 promulgated, have a significant economic 

7 impact on a substantial number of small 

8 entities; 

9 ‘‘(D) cite, enclose, or reference any rel10 evant and non-protected or confidential tech11 nical, scientific, or other data or information 

12 supporting any assertion of the problems or 

13 issues with the certification; 

14 ‘‘(E) present a proposed solution to the 

15 problems or issues raised in the petition, includ16 ing potential regulatory or compliance alter17 natives to the proposed rule; 

18 ‘‘(F) provide an analysis, discussion, or ar19 gument that explains how the proposed solution 

20 described in subparagraph (E) solves the prob21 lems or issues raised in the petition; and 

22 ‘‘(G) cite, enclose, or reference any other 

23 publicly available data or information sup24 porting the proposed solution described in sub25 paragraph (E). 


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1 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any entity or organization 

3 desiring to file a petition under subsection (a) may 

4 request a consultation with the Chief Counsel before 

5 or after filing the petition. 

6 ‘‘(2) FORM.—The Chief Counsel shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) determine the method, timing, and 

8 form of requesting a consultation with the Chief 

9 Counsel under paragraph (1); and 

10 ‘‘(B) display the information described in 

11 subparagraph (A) on the website of the Office 

12 of Advocacy of the Small Business Administra13 tion in a conspicuous manner. 

14 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS ON ASSISTANCE.—In any 

15 consultation regarding a petition under paragraph 

16 (1), the Chief Counsel— 

17 ‘‘(A) may only— 

18 ‘‘(i) describe the process for filing, 

19 docketing, tracking, closing, amending, 

20 withdrawing, and resolving the petition; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) assist the petitioner to clarify the 

23 petition so that the Chief Counsel is able 

24 to understand the issues of concern to the 

25 petitioner; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) may not advise a petitioner on wheth2 er the petition should be amended or with3 drawn. 

4 ‘‘(c) PRIMA FACIE REVIEW.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt of a petition 

6 filed under this section with respect to the certifi7 cation of a proposed rule, the Chief Counsel shall 

8 make an initial prima facie determination on the 

9 merit of the issues raised in petition as to the 

10 properness of the certification and whether the pro11 posed rule in question would, if promulgated, have 

12 a significant economic impact on a substantial num13 ber of small entities. 

14 ‘‘(2) NO FURTHER REVIEW.—If, following the 

15 prima facie review of a petition under paragraph (1), 

16 the Chief Counsel determines that the issues raised 

17 in the petition do not merit further review by the 

18 Chief Counsel, the Chief Counsel shall, not later 

19 than 10 days after receipt of the petition, inform the 

20 petitioner of that determination and the matter shall 

21 be closed. 

22 ‘‘(3) FURTHER REVIEW.—If, following the 

23 prima facie review of a petition under paragraph (1), 

24 the Chief Counsel determines that the issues raised 

25 in the petition do merit further review by the Chief 


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1 Counsel, the Chief Counsel shall, not later than 10 

2 days after receipt of the petition, inform the peti3 tioner and the agency that promulgated the pro4 posed rule that the Chief Counsel shall conduct a 

5 full review of the certification and proposed rule to 

6 which the petition relates under subsection (d). 

7 ‘‘(d) FULL REVIEW.— 

8 ‘‘(1) CONSIDERATIONS; MEETING.—In con9 ducting a full review under this subsection with re10 spect to the certification made under section 605(b), 

11 the Chief Counsel shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) consider— 

13 ‘‘(i) whether the agency that promul14 gated the proposed rule correctly deter15 mined which small entities will be affected 

16 by the proposed rule; 

17 ‘‘(ii) whether the agency considered 

18 adequate economic data to assess whether 

19 the proposed rule will have a significant 

20 impact on a substantial number of small 

21 entities; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) the economic implications of the 

23 proposed rule; and 

24 ‘‘(B) convene a virtual or in-person meet25 ing between the Chief Counsel, the petitioner, 


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1 representatives of the agency that promulgated 

2 the proposed rule who are determined appro3 priate by the Chief Counsel, and the Adminis4 trator of the Office of Information and Regu5 latory affairs to— 

6 ‘‘(i) provide positions and support for 

7 those positions regarding the certification 

8 of the proposed rule; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) allow the Chief Counsel to ask 

10 questions as the Chief Counsel determines 

11 necessary to make a final determination as 

12 to the validity of the certification. 

13 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 30 days 

14 after the date on which the Chief Counsel begins a 

15 full review of a certification made with respect to a 

16 proposed rule under paragraph (1), the Chief Coun17 sel shall submit to the petitioner and the agency that 

18 promulgated the proposed rule, and publish in the 

19 Federal Register and on the website of the Office of 

20 Advocacy of the Small Business Administration, the 

21 results of the review conducted under paragraph (1). 

22 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT TO PERFORM ANALYSES.— 

23 If, after a full review of a certification made with re24 spect to a proposed rule under paragraph (1), the 

25 Chief Counsel determines that the proposed rule 


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1 will, if promulgated, have a significant economic im2 pact on a substantial number of small entities, the 

3 agency that promulgated the proposed rule shall per4 form an initial regulatory flexibility analysis and a 

5 final regulatory flexibility analysis for the proposed 

6 rule under sections 603 and 604, respectively. 

7 ‘‘(4) PENALTY.—If an agency fails to attend 

8 the required meeting under paragraph (1)(B) or in 

9 any other way fails to assist the Chief Counsel in a 

10 full review under paragraph (1) with respect to a 

11 proposed rule of the agency, as determined by the 

12 Chief Counsel, the final rule shall not apply to small 

13 entities. 

14 ‘‘(5) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—For purposes of judi15 cial review under chapter 7 of this title, a certifi16 cation made by an agency under section 605(b) for 

17 which a petition is filed under subsection (a) shall 

18 be considered final agency action as of the date on 

19 which the Chief Counsel— 

20 ‘‘(A) makes a determination under sub21 section (c)(2) that the issues raised in the peti22 tion do not merit further review; or 

23 ‘‘(B) publishes the results of a full review 

24 of the certification under paragraph (1).’’. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

2 The table of sections for chapter 6 of title 5, United States 

3 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

4 section 605 the following: 

‘‘605A. Review procedures relating to initial regulatory flexibility analysis certifications.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF GUIDANCE. 

6 Section 609 of title 5, United States Code, is amend7 ed by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(f) With respect to any rule that an agency deter9 mines is likely to have a significant economic impact on 

10 a substantial number of small entities, the head of the 

11 agency shall, on regulations.gov or any similar internet 

12 website— 

13 ‘‘(1) publish all guidance documents and other 

14 relevant documents, as determined by the agency, 

15 including any updated guidance documents that set 

16 forth interpretations of the rule; and 

17 ‘‘(2) allow for comments on the documents de18 scribed in paragraph (1) to ensure that small enti19 ties may access and provide feedback on those docu20 ments.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. REVIEW PROCEDURES FOR SECTION 610 PERIODIC 

22 REVIEW OF RULES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 610 of title 5, United 

24 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b)— 

2 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

3 by striking ‘‘the following factors’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

5 the end; 

6 (C) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe7 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(6) any indirect costs described in the initial 

10 regulatory flexibility analysis under section 

11 603(b)(6), and any other indirect costs that may 

12 have arisen during the 10-year period described in 

13 subsection (a).’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(d) If an agency fails to conduct a review of a rule 

16 as required under this section within the 10-year period 

17 described in subsection (a)— 

18 ‘‘(1) the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

19 Small Business Administration shall notify the agen20 cy that the rule has ceased to be effective; 

21 ‘‘(2) the agency shall publish in the Federal 

22 Register a notification that the rule has ceased to be 

23 effective, and solicit comments for why the rule 

24 should be reinstated; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) if, based on the comments received under 

2 paragraph (2), the agency determines that the rule 

3 should be reinstated— 

4 ‘‘(A) the agency shall have 180 days begin5 ning on the date of that determination to com6 plete the review of the rule under this section; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(B) upon completion of the review under 

9 subparagraph (A), the rule shall be reinstated, 

10 notwithstanding the notice and comment rule11 making procedures under section 553 of this 

12 title.’’. 

13 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub14 section (a)(2) shall apply with respect to any final rule 

15 issued by an agency— 

16 (1) during the 5-year period preceding the date 

17 of enactment of this Act; or 

18 (2) on or after the date of enactment of this 

19 Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 5, 

2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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