PROVE IT Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1920 To provide for Federal agency accountability and improve the effectiveness of major rules in accomplishing their regulatory objectives by requiring retrospective review and report, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 16, 2021 Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana (for himself and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide for Federal agency accountability and improve the effectiveness of major rules in accomplishing their regulatory objectives by requiring retrospective review and report, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Retrospec- 4 tive Observations Validating Economics and Increasing 5 Transparency Act of 2021’’ or as the ‘‘PROVE IT Act 6 of 2021’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1920.IH H1920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1920 IH SEC. 2. INCORPORATING RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW FOR 1 NEW MAJOR RULES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 3 5, United States Code, is amended— 4 (1) in section 551— 5 (A) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 6 and inserting a semicolon; 7 (B) in paragraph (14), by striking the pe- 8 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(15) ‘Administrator’ means the Administrator 11 of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 12 of the Office of Management and Budget; and 13 ‘‘(16) ‘major rule’ means any rule that the Ad- 14 ministrator finds has resulted in or is likely to result 15 in— 16 ‘‘(A) an annual effect on the economy of 17 $100,000,000 or more; 18 ‘‘(B) a major increase in costs or prices for 19 consumers, individual industries, Federal, 20 State, or local government agencies, or geo- 21 graphic regions; or 22 ‘‘(C) significant adverse effects on competi- 23 tion, employment, investment, productivity, in- 24 novation, or on the ability of United States- 25 based enterprises to compete with foreign-based 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1920.IH H1920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1920 IH enterprises in domestic and export markets.’’; 1 and 2 (2) in section 553, by adding at the end the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(f) REGULATION-SPECIFIC FRAMEWORKS.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 180 days after 6 the date of enactment of this subsection, when an 7 agency publishes a final major rule in the Federal 8 Register, the agency shall publish a report on the 9 benefits and costs of the final rule on entities whose 10 conduct is regulated by the rule in the Federal Reg- 11 ister biannually thereafter while the rule remains in 12 effect. The report shall— 13 ‘‘(A) assess the impacts, including any 14 costs, of the major rule on regulated entities; 15 ‘‘(B) include a determination about how 16 the actual benefits and costs of the major rule 17 has varied from those anticipated at the time 18 the major rule was issued; 19 ‘‘(C) assess the effectiveness and benefits 20 of the major rule in producing the regulatory 21 objectives of the major rule; and 22 ‘‘(D) be reviewed by the Administrator 23 when required under Executive order. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1920.IH H1920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1920 IH ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The agency shall 1 provide a report to Congress not later than 90 days 2 after the agency makes any determination under 3 paragraph (1)(C) that the cost to regulated entities 4 has exceeded the anticipated cost at the time the 5 final rule was issued. Agencies shall assess in their 6 report— 7 ‘‘(A) whether the major rule is accom- 8 plishing its regulatory objective; and 9 ‘‘(B) whether the major rule has been ren- 10 dered unnecessary, taking into consideration— 11 ‘‘(i) changes in the subject area af- 12 fected by the major rule; 13 ‘‘(ii) whether the major rule overlaps, 14 duplicates, or conflicts with other rules or, 15 to the extent feasible, State and local gov- 16 ernment regulations; and 17 ‘‘(iii) other alternatives to the major 18 rule or modification of the major rule could 19 achieve better results while imposing a 20 smaller burden on society or at a lower 21 cost, taking into consideration any cost al- 22 ready incurred. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1920.IH H1920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1920 IH ‘‘(3) REOPENING OF PUBLIC DOCKET.—Upon 1 delivery of the report required in paragraph (2) the 2 agency shall— 3 ‘‘(A) reopen the public docket for 60 days 4 to receive additional comments; and 5 ‘‘(B) consider modifications or alternatives 6 that reduce costs and increase benefits to regu- 7 lated entities or individuals. 8 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 9 this subsection may be construed to affect any other 10 provision of law that requires an agency to conduct 11 retrospective reviews of rules issued by the agency.’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1920.IH H1920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS