Prove It Act of 2016

To require greater transparency for Federal regulatory decisions that impact small businesses. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Prove It Act of 2016 2. Review procedures relating to initial regulatory flexibility analysis certifications (a) In general Section 605(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— (1) by inserting (1) Sections 603 (2) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by inserting (in this subsection referred to as the Chief Counsel Administration (3) by adding at the end the following: (2) (A) If the Chief Counsel disagrees with a certification and statement providing the factual basis for the certification submitted by a Federal agency under paragraph (1) with respect to an initial regulatory flexibility analysis for a proposed rule, the Chief Counsel may submit a request to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (in this section referred to as the Administrator (B) A request for review under subparagraph (A) shall— (i) be published in the Federal Register and on the website of the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration not later than 10 days after the date on which the Federal agency submitted the certification and statement to the Chief Counsel under paragraph (1); (ii) include any documentation or comments the Chief Counsel provided or made during the notice and comment period for the proposed rule; and (iii) include an explanation of why the Chief Counsel disagreed with the certification and statement received under paragraph (1), which may include— (I) an identification of any material facts in controversy; (II) an analysis of why the proposed rule will, if promulgated, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, including any data determined relevant to the analysis by the Chief Counsel; and (III) any other information the Chief Counsel determines relevant. (C) Not later than 10 days after the date on which the Chief Counsel publishes in the Federal Register a request for review under subparagraph (A), the Federal agency shall submit to the Administrator and publish in the Federal Register and on the website of the Federal agency a response to the request for review. (D) In conducting a review of a certification and a statement of a Federal agency under this paragraph with respect to a proposed rule, the Administrator shall consider— (i) whether the agency correctly determined which small entities will be affected by the proposed rule; (ii) whether the Federal agency considered adequate economic data to assess whether the proposed rule will have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities; and (iii) the economic implications of the proposed rule, including whether the data supplied by the Chief Counsel in the request for review under subparagraph (A) would lead to the proposed rule having a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. (E) Not later than 40 days after the date on which the Chief Counsel submits to the Administrator a request for review under subparagraph (A), the Administrator shall submit to the Chief Counsel and the Federal agency and publish in the Federal Register and on the website of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs the results of the review. If the Administrator determines that the proposed rule will, if promulgated, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, the Federal agency shall perform an initial regulatory flexibility analysis and a final regulatory flexibility analysis for the proposed rule under sections 603 and 604, respectively. .

Summary: (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.) Prove It Act of 2016 (Sec. 2) This bill authorizes the Chief Counsel of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to request the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review any federal agency certification that a proposed rule, if promulgated, will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities and so need not submit a regulatory flexibility analysis of the rule. The request for a review must: be published in the Federal Register and on the website of the SBA Office of Advocacy, include any documentation or comments the Chief Counsel furnished or made during the notice and comment period for the proposed rule, and explain why the Chief Counsel disagreed with the certification and statement providing the factual basis for it. Within 10 days after the request for review is published in the Federal Register, the federal agency in question shall submit to the SBA a response to the request and publish it in the Federal Register and on the agency website. If it is determined, after a specified procedure, that the proposed rule will, if promulgated, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, the federal agency shall then perform both an initial and a final regulatory flexibility analysis for the rule.