PUBLIC COMMENT BUILDER · RIN 3245-AI67
This is a proposed rule, not law. Federal agencies are required to read and respond to substantive public comments before finalizing one, and the record is thin compared to the number of firms this would affect. The builder below assembles a properly formatted comment in about two minutes, whether you support the rule, oppose it, or land somewhere in between. Free, no signup, nothing stored.
WHAT THE PROPOSAL ACTUALLY SAYS
Existing industry size standards would be consolidated into 338, set at the 4 and 5 digit NAICS level rather than the 6 digit level used today.
Additional firms would become eligible as small businesses. Fewer than 200 firms would lose eligibility, spread across 24 industry groups.
Of the newly eligible firms, roughly 37,002 already hold federal contracts — 105,655 contracts worth more than $71 billion in FY2025.
Total firms meeting a small business size standard would rise from 6,344,967 to 6,459,508.
The proposal also removes the ceiling on size standards and applies a productivity adjustment on top of inflation, which is why the increases run well past what an inflation update alone would produce. No size standard is reduced.
Source: proposed rule published in the Federal Register on August 20, 2026, RIN 3245-AI67 / Docket No. SBA-2026-0199. SBA issued two related rules that day — an industry size standards rule and a revised methodology rule. The figures above are from the rule carrying this RIN. Read the rule yourself before commenting; nothing here is legal advice.
HOW TO ACTUALLY FILE ONE
Build your comment below
Pick your position, select the points that actually apply to your business, and write the part that only you can write. Then copy it.
Go to regulations.gov
Search for Docket SBA-2026-0199 or RIN 3245-AI67. Open the proposed rule and use the Comment button on the docket page.
Paste, review, submit
Comments are part of the public record and are posted publicly, including anything identifying you. There is no fee and no account required. SBA must receive it on or before September 21, 2026.
SBA must receive comments on or before September 21, 2026. Search Docket SBA-2026-0199 on regulations.gov to submit.
Re: Small Business Size Standards RIN 3245-AI67 / Docket No. SBA-2026-0199 I am submitting this comment as a small business. I am concerned about the effect this proposal would have on small businesses in my industry, for the following reasons. 1. SBA estimates the proposal would make 114,541 additional firms eligible as small businesses, including roughly 37,002 firms that already hold federal contracts — 105,655 contracts worth more than $71 billion in FY2025. Those are established competitors, not new entrants. Because the volume of set-aside work does not increase alongside that eligibility, the practical effect for the smallest firms is a materially more crowded competitive field for the same requirements. I ask that SBA consider these effects on the smallest firms in each industry before finalizing the rule, and that it explain how the methodology accounts for them. Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Read it before you send it, and edit anything that is not true for your business. Identical form comments carry far less weight than a specific one, which is why the box above matters more than the checkboxes.
NOT SURE WHICH PROGRAMS YOU QUALIFY FOR?
If this rule is adopted, the narrower certifications — 8(a), SDVOSB, WOSB, HUBZone — do not expand the way the broad small business category would. Knowing which ones you qualify for matters more, not less. We built a free check that takes five questions and no signup.
CHECK YOUR ELIGIBILITY →IR is an independent commercial website and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially associated with the U.S. Small Business Administration or any other federal agency. This page is provided as a free public resource and takes no position on the rule. Nothing here is legal advice. Your comment is drafted in your browser and is not sent to us or stored on our servers — you submit it yourself on regulations.gov.