Union Calendar No. 462

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3158

[Report No. 104–850]

A BILL

To amend the Small Business Act to extend the

gram, and for other purposes.pilot Small Business Technology Transfer proSEPTEMBER 26, 1996

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 462

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3158

[Report No. 104–850]

To amend the Small Business Act to extend the pilot Small Business

Technology Transfer program, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 25, 1996

Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas (for herself, Mr. POSHARD, Mr. TORKILDSEN, and

Mr. LAFALCE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Small Business

SEPTEMBER 26, 1996

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 25, 1996]

A BILL

To amend the Small Business Act to extend the pilot Small

Business Technology Transfer program, 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 ‘‘Pilot Small Business

3 Technology Transfer Program Extension Act of 1996’’.

4 SEC. 2. PROGRAM EXTENSION.

5 Section 9(n) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

6 638(n)) is amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (1)—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘in fiscal year 1994, 1995,

9 or 1996,’’;

10 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub11 paragraph (B);

12 (C) by striking the comma at the end of

13 subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

14 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the

15 following new subparagraph:

16 ‘‘(D) not less than 0.25 percent of such

17 budget in fiscal year 1997 and each succeeding

18 fiscal year,’’; and

19 (2) by adding at the end the following new para20 graph:

21 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM EXPIRATION.—Authorization to

22 carry out the STTR program pursuant to this sub23 section (and subsections (o) and (p) of this section)

24 shall expire on September 30, 2000.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL.

2 (a) ASSESSMENT REQUIRED.—The Comptroller Gen3 eral of the United States shall conduct an assessment of the

4 ongoing implementation of the Small Business Innovation

5 Research (SBIR) program and the pilot Small Business

6 Technology Transfer (STTR) program. The assessment

7 shall address the following issues with respect to each pro8 gram:

9 (1) The extent of competition and the quality of

10 proposals submitted for the award of SBIR and

11 STTR agreements, and the quality of subsequent per12 formance by the recipients of such awards.

13 (2) Whether any adverse effects on the research

14 or research and development programs of any spon15 soring agency are attributable to the agency’s partici16 pation in the SBIR program or the pilot STTR pro17 gram.

18 (3) Whether any awards by a sponsoring agency

19 in each fiscal year represent the applicable percent20 ages of such agency’s extramural budget, identifying

21 any systemic management weaknesses contributing to

22 such limitation on implementation.

23 (4) Any management techniques initiated by

24 sponsoring agencies that attempt to minimize delays

25 between the successful completion of a Phase I agree26 ment and the award (and commencement of perform-
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1 ance) under a Phase II agreement or ameliorate the

2 adverse effects of such delays.

3 (5) The implementation of Phase III by partici4 pating agencies, including awards in support of

5 Phase III and other techniques adopted by the agen6 cies to foster commercialization.

7 (6) The extent to which small business partici8 pants in each program, especially recipients of STTR

9 awards, utilize the results of research undertaken for

10 Federal agencies by universities, federally funded re11 search and development centers, and other research

12 institutions, and the extent to which the results were

13 subsequently developed by such small firms to meet

14 the needs of Federal, State, and local government or

15 advanced to use in the commercial marketplace.

16 (7) Whether the required and structured collabo17 ration between a small business and a research insti18 tution under the pilot STTR program is necessary in

19 light of the experiences with voluntary collaborations

20 under the SBIR program.

21 (8) Any duplication between the SBIR program

22 and the pilot STTR program.

23 (9) The extent to which each agency participat24 ing in the SBIR program has complied with the pol25 icy directives to enhance outreach efforts to increase
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1 the participation of socially and economically dis2 advantaged small business concerns and women3 owned small business concerns issued under section

4 (9)(j)(2)(F) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

5 638(j)(2)(F)) and the extent to which each agency

6 participating in the STTR program has made out7 reach efforts to increase the participation of such con8 cerns in the agency’s STTR program.

9 (10) Any other relevant information as deter10 mined by the Comptroller General.

11 (b) PERIOD OF ASSESSMENT.—The assessment re12 quired by subsection (a) shall focus on the implementation

13 of each program during the period beginning October 1,

14 1995, and ending September 30, 1999.

15 (c) REPORT.—

16 (1) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—The Comptroller

17 General shall submit a report of the assessment re18 quired by subsection (a) to the Committees on Small

19 Business of the Senate and House of Representatives

20 not later than February 1, 2000.

21 (2) APPENDICES TO REPORT.—The report shall

22 include—

23 (A) an appendix summarizing the findings

24 of previous reports issued by the Comptroller
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1 General with respect to the SBIR program and

2 the pilot STTR program; and

3 (B) an appendix listing reports of other as4 sessments of the SBIR program or the pilot

5 STTR program issued by the Small Business

6 Administration, any of the sponsoring agencies,

7 and any other entities determined by the Comp8 troller General to be useful resources to the Con9 gress in evaluating each program for reauthor10 ization.

11 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON COMMERCIALIZA12 TION.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Small

14 Business Administration shall convene and supervise an

15 interagency task force on fostering commercialization of the

16 results of projects being undertaken by small business con17 cerns through the SBIR program and the pilot STTR pro18 gram.

19 (b) DUTIES.—The interagency task force shall—

20 (1) review existing studies and analyses and con21 duct independent assessments, as may be appropriate,

22 regarding the obstacles faced by small business entre23 preneurs seeking to commercialize results of basic re24 search or research and development undertaken

25 through Federal funding;
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1 (2) devise recommendations to overcome (or min2 imize the effects of) such obstacles; and

3 (3) address other matters that the Administrator

4 determines are appropriate to ensure a comprehensive

5 analysis and the development of practical rec6 ommendations.

7 (c) PARTICIPATION.—

8 (1) TASK FORCE MEMBERSHIP.—The interagency

9 task shall include participation by representatives

10 of—

11 (A) the Office of the Chief Counsel for Advo12 cacy of the Small Business Administration;

13 (B) the 5 Executive agencies having the

14 greatest dollar value of awards under the SBIR

15 program in fiscal year 1995;

16 (C) the Executive agencies participating in

17 the pilot STTR program in fiscal year 1995;

18 (D) the Office of Science and Technology

19 Policy, Executive Office of the President; and

20 (E) any other Executive agencies invited by

21 the Administrator.

22 (2) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In undertaking its

23 assessments and fashioning its recommendations, the

24 interagency task force shall provide opportunities for

25 consultation with representatives of—
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1 (A) small businesses and other entities that

2 have participated in the SBIR program or the

3 pilot STTR program;

4 (B) organizations representing small busi5 ness concerns;

6 (C) organizations representing venture cap7 ital sources, especially those focusing on the

8 needs of small high-technology entrepreneurs;

9 and

10 (D) any other public or private entities that

11 the Administrator determines are appropriate.

12 (d) SCHEDULE.—

13 (1) NOTICE AND INITIAL CALL FOR PUBLIC PAR14 TICIPATION.—Not earlier than May 1, 1997, the Ad15 ministrator shall publish in the Federal Register (and

16 through other means likely to result in broad dissemi17 nation) a notice, which at a minimum, announces the

18 existence of the interagency task force, identifies the

19 members of task force, summarizes purposes and ob20 jectives of the task force, requests suggestions and rec21 ommendations from the public regarding the work of

22 the task force, providing at least 180 days to make a

23 submission in response to such notice, and announces

24 any schedule of meetings of the task force or other

25 public meetings.
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1 (2) ONGOING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In con2 ducting its assessments and fashioning its rec3 ommendations the task force shall make every reason4 able effort to solicit ideas from the public.

5 (e) REPORT.—Not later than March 1, 1999, the Ad6 ministrator shall submit to the Committees on Small Busi7 ness of the Senate and House of Representatives a report

8 of the work of the interagency task force, including such

9 recommendations for legislative or administrative action.

10 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

11 Section 9(e)(4)(A) of the Small Business Act (15

12 U.S.C. 638(e)(4)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘(B)(ii)’’ and

13 inserting ‘‘(B)’’.