I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5789 

To reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program 

and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2008 

Mr. WU (for himself, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. BAIRD, and Mr. WILSON

of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on Science 

and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research 

(SBIR) Program and the Small Business Technology 

Transfer (STTR) 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Science and Technology Innovation Act of 2008’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAMS 

Sec. 101. Extension of SBIR and STTR Programs. 

TITLE II—FEDERAL INNOVATIONS INVESTMENTS 

Sec. 201. SBIR cap increase. 

Sec. 202. STTR cap increase. 

Sec. 203. Adjustments in SBIR and STTR award levels. 

Sec. 204. Majority equity investment in SBIR and STTR firms. 

TITLE III—UTILIZATION SUPPORT 

Sec. 301. Agency databases to support program evaluation. 

Sec. 302. Agency databases to support technology utilization. 

Sec. 303. Interagency Policy Committee. 

TITLE IV—OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 401. Use of program funds for administrative costs. 

Sec. 402. SBIR discretionary technical assistance. 

TITLE V—IMPLEMENTATION 

Sec. 501. Conforming amendments to the SBIR and STTR policy directives. 

Sec. 502. National Research Council SBIR Study. 

1 TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION OF 

2 PROGRAMS 

3 SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS. 

4 (a) SBIR PROGRAM.—Section 9(m) of the Small 

5 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(m)) is amended by striking 

6 ‘‘2008’’ and inserting ‘‘2010’’. 

7 (b) STTR PROGRAM.—Section 9(n)(1)(A) of the 

8 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(n)(1)(A)) is amended 

9 by striking ‘‘2009’’ and inserting ‘‘2010’’. 


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1 TITLE II—FEDERAL 

2 INNOVATIONS INVESTMENTS 

3 SEC. 201. SBIR CAP INCREASE. 

4 Section 9(f)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

5 638(f)(1)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

7 the end; 

8 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘each fis9 cal year thereafter,’’ and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal 

10 years 1997 through 2008; and’’; and 

11 (3) by adding after subparagraph (C) the fol12 lowing new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(D) not less than 3 percent in fiscal year 

14 2009 and each fiscal year thereafter,’’. 

15 SEC. 202. STTR CAP INCREASE. 

16 Section 9(n)(1)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 

17 U.S.C. 638(n)(1)(B)) is amended— 

18 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

19 (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2004 

20 and each fiscal year thereafter.’’ and inserting ‘‘each 

21 of fiscal years 2004 through 2008; and’’; and 

22 (3) by adding after clause (ii) the following new 

23 clause: 

24 ‘‘(iii) 0.6 percent for fiscal year 2009 

25 and each fiscal year thereafter.’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. ADJUSTMENTS IN SBIR AND STTR AWARD LEV2 ELS. 

3 (a) SBIR ADJUSTMENTS.—Section 9(j)(2)(D) of the 

4 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(j)(2)(D)) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘$300,000’’; and 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘$750,000’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘$2,200,000’’. 

10 (b) STTR ADJUSTMENTS.—Section 9(p)(2)(B)(ix) of 

11 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(p)(2)(B)(ix)) is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘$300,000’’; and 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘$750,000’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘$2,200,000’’. 

17 (c) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS.—Section 9 of the Small 

18 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (j)(2)(D), by striking ‘‘and an 

20 adjustment of such amounts once every 5 years to 

21 reflect economic adjustments and programmatic con22 siderations’’ and inserting ‘‘and a mandatory annual 

23 adjustment of such amounts to reflect economic ad24 justments and programmatic considerations’’; and 

25 (2) in subsection (p)(2)(B)(ix), by striking 

26 ‘‘greater or lesser amounts’’ and inserting ‘‘with a 


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1 mandatory annual adjustment of such amounts to 

2 reflect economic adjustments and programmatic con3 siderations, and with lesser amounts’’. 

4 (d) LIMITATION ON CERTAIN AWARDS.—Section 9 of 

5 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(z) LIMITATION ON PHASE I AND II AWARDS.—No 

8 Federal agency shall issue an award under the SBIR pro9 gram or the STTR program if the size of the award ex10 ceeds the amounts established under subsections (j)(2)(D) 

11 and (p)(2)(B)(ix). 

12 ‘‘(aa) SUBSEQUENT PHASES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A small business concern 

14 which received an award from a Federal agency 

15 under this section shall be eligible to receive an 

16 award for a subsequent phase from another Federal 

17 agency, if the head of each relevant Federal agency 

18 makes a written determination that the topics of the 

19 relevant awards are the same. 

20 ‘‘(2) CROSSOVER BETWEEN PROGRAMS.—A 

21 small business concern which received an award 

22 under this section under the SBIR program or the 

23 STTR program may, at the discretion of the grant24 ing agency, receive an award under this section for 


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1 a subsequent phase in either the SBIR program or 

2 the STTR program. 

3 ‘‘(3) PHASE II SBIR APPLICATIONS.—An agency 

4 may permit an applicant to apply directly for a 

5 Phase II award, as described in subsection 

6 (e)(4)(B), without first completing a Phase I award, 

7 as described in subsection (e)(4)(A), if the applicant 

8 can demonstrate that project feasibility was achieved 

9 without SBIR or other Federal funding. 

10 ‘‘(4) PHASE II STTR APPLICATIONS.—An agen11 cy may permit an applicant to submit proposals for 

12 Phase II awards, as described in subsection 

13 (e)(6)(B), without first completing a Phase I award, 

14 as described in subsection (e)(6)(A), if the applicant 

15 can demonstrate it has accomplished Phase I 

16 through cooperative research and development 

17 achieved without STTR or other Federal funding. 

18 ‘‘(bb) WAIVER OF MINIMUM WORK REQUIREMENT.— 

19 A Federal agency making an SBIR or STTR award under 

20 this section may waive the minimum small business con21 cern or research institution work requirements under sub22 section (e)(7) if the agency determines that to provide 

23 such waiver would be consistent with the purposes of this 

24 section and consistent with achieving the objectives of the 

25 award proposal.’’. 


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1 SEC. 204. MAJORITY EQUITY INVESTMENT IN SBIR AND 

2 STTR FIRMS. 

3 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 

4 as amended by this Act, is further amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(cc) MAJORITY EQUITY INVESTMENT IN SBIR AND

7 STTR FIRMS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—No 

9 small business concern shall be excluded from par10 ticipation in the SBIR or STTR program on the 

11 ground that such small business concern is owned in 

12 majority part by more than 1 equity provider, except 

13 that no single equity provider shall be permitted to 

14 own more than 49 percent of such small business 

15 concern. 

16 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub17 section— 

18 ‘‘(A) the term ‘equity provider’ means a 

19 venture capital operating company; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the term ‘venture capital operating 

21 company’ means a business concern that— 

22 ‘‘(i) is a venture capital operating 

23 company, as that term is defined in regula24 tions promulgated by the Secretary of 

25 Labor under the Employee Retirement In26 come Security Act of 1974; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is registered under the Invest2 ment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 

3 80a–51 et seq.); or 

4 ‘‘(iii) is an investment company, as 

5 defined in section 3(c)(14) of such Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 80a–3(c)(14)), which is not reg7 istered under such Act because it is bene8 ficially owned by less than 100 persons.’’. 

9 TITLE III—UTILIZATION 

10 SUPPORT 

11 SEC. 301. AGENCY DATABASES TO SUPPORT PROGRAM 

12 EVALUATION. 

13 Section 9(k) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

14 638(k)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause 

17 (ii); 

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause 

19 (iii); and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

21 clause: 

22 ‘‘(iv) information on the ownership 

23 structure of award recipients, both at the 

24 time of receipt of the award and upon com25 pletion of the award period;’’; 


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1 (2) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(3) UPDATING INFORMATION FOR DATA4 BASE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Federal agency 

6 shall not make a Phase I or Phase II payment 

7 to a small business concern under this section 

8 unless the small business concern has provided 

9 all information required under this subsection 

10 with respect to the award under which the pay11 ment is made, and with respect to any other 

12 award under this section previously received by 

13 the small business concern or a predecessor in 

14 interest to the small business concern. 

15 ‘‘(B) APPORTIONMENT.—In complying 

16 with this paragraph, a small business concern 

17 may apportion sales or additional investment 

18 information relating to more than one second 

19 phase award among those awards, if it notes 

20 the apportionment for each award. 

21 ‘‘(C) ANNUAL UPDATES UPON TERMI22 NATION.—A small business concern receiving an 

23 award under this section shall— 

24 ‘‘(i) in the case of a second phase 

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1 bases required under paragraphs (2) and 

2 (6) concerning that award at the termi3 nation of the award period; 

4 ‘‘(ii) in the case of award recipients 

5 not described in clause (iii), be requested 

6 to voluntarily update such information an7 nually thereafter for a period of 5 years; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a small business 

10 concern applying for a subsequent first 

11 phase or second phase award, be required 

12 to update such information annually there13 after for a period of 5 years.’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(6) AGENCY PROGRAM EVALUATION DATA17 BASES.—Each Federal agency required to establish 

18 an SBIR or STTR program under this section shall 

19 develop and maintain, for the purpose of evaluating 

20 such programs, a database containing information 

21 required to be contained in the database under para22 graph (2). Each such database shall be designed to 

23 be accessible to other agencies that are required to 

24 maintain a database under this paragraph.’’. 


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1 SEC. 302. AGENCY DATABASES TO SUPPORT TECHNOLOGY 

2 UTILIZATION. 

3 Section 9(k) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 638(k)), as amended by this Act, is further amended by 

5 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(7) AGENCY DATABASES TO SUPPORT TECH7 NOLOGY UTILIZATION.—Each Federal agency with 

8 an SBIR or STTR program shall create and main9 tain a technology utilization database, which shall be 

10 available to the public and shall contain data sup11 plied by the award recipients specifically to help 

12 them attract customers for the products and services 

13 generated under the SBIR or STTR project, and to 

14 attract additional investors and business partners. 

15 Each database created under this paragraph shall 

16 include information on the other databases created 

17 under this paragraph by other Federal agencies. 

18 Participation in a database under this paragraph 

19 shall be voluntary, except that such participation is 

20 required of all award recipients who received supple21 mental payments from SBIR and STTR program 

22 funds above their initial Phase II award.’’. 

23 SEC. 303. INTERAGENCY POLICY COMMITTEE. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Office of 

25 Science and Technology Policy shall establish an Inter26 agency SBIR/STTR Policy Committee comprised of one 


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1 representative from each Federal agency with an SBIR 

2 program. 

3 (b) COCHAIRS.—The Director of the Office of Science 

4 and Technology Policy and the Director of the National 

5 Institute of Standards and Technology shall jointly chair 

6 the Interagency Policy Committee. 

7 (c) DUTIES.—The Interagency Policy Committee 

8 shall review the following issues and make policy rec9 ommendations on ways to improve program effectiveness 

10 and efficiency: 

11 (1) The public and government databases de12 scribed in section 9(k)(1) and (2) of the Small Busi13 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(k)(1) and (2)). 

14 (2) Federal agency flexibility in establishing 

15 Phase I and II award sizes, and appropriate criteria 

16 to exercise such flexibility. 

17 (3) Commercialization assistance best practices 

18 in Federal agencies with significant potential to be 

19 employed by other agencies, and the appropriate 

20 steps to achieve that leverage, as well as proposals 

21 for new initiatives to address funding gaps business 

22 concerns face after Phase II but before commer23 cialization. 

24 (d) REPORTS.—The Interagency Policy Committee 

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1 nology and the Committee on Small Business of the House 

2 of Representatives, and to the Committee on Small Busi3 ness and Entrepreneurship of the Senate— 

4 (1) a report its review and recommendations 

5 under subsection (c)(1) not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act; 

7 (2) a report its review and recommendations 

8 under subsection (c)(2) not later than 18 months 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act; and 

10 (3) a report its review and recommendations 

11 under subsection (c)(3) not later than 2 years after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act. 

13 TITLE IV—OUTREACH AND 

14 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 

15 SEC. 401. USE OF PROGRAM FUNDS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE 

16 COSTS. 

17 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 

18 is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (f)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘any’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘more than 3.0 percent’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (n)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘any’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘more than 3.0 percent’’. 

23 SEC. 402. SBIR DISCRETIONARY TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

24 Section 9(q) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

25 638(q)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and in3 serting ‘‘paragraph (2)(A), or another Federal 

4 agency under paragraph (2)(B),’’; 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub6 paragraph (C); 

7 (C) by striking the period at the end of 

8 subparagraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

10 subparagraph: 

11 ‘‘(E) implementing manufacturing proc12 esses and production strategies for utilization.’’; 

13 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE PROVIDERS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) VENDOR SELECTION.—Each agency 

17 may select a vendor to assist small business 

18 concerns to meet the goals listed in paragraph 

19 (1) for a term not to exceed 3 years. Such se20 lection shall be competitive and shall utilize 

21 merit-based criteria. 

22 ‘‘(B) INTERAGENCY COLLABORATION.—In 

23 addition, each agency may enter into a collabo24 rative agreement with the technical extension or 

25 assistance programs of other Federal agencies 


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1 in order to provide the assistance described in 

2 paragraph (1).’’; and 

3 (3) in paragraph (3)— 

4 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

5 ‘‘$4,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’; and 

6 (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 

7 as follows: 

8 ‘‘(B) SECOND PHASE.—Each agency re9 ferred to in paragraph (1) may provide directly, 

10 or authorize any second phase SBIR award re11 cipient to purchase with funds available from 

12 their SBIR awards, services described in para13 graph (1), in an amount equal to not more than 

14 $8,000 per year, per award.’’. 

15 TITLE V—IMPLEMENTATION 

16 SEC. 501. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO THE SBIR AND 

17 STTR POLICY DIRECTIVES. 

18 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business Ad20 ministration shall promulgate amendments to the SBIR 

21 and the STTR Policy Directives to conform such directives 

22 to this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

23 SEC. 502. NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL SBIR STUDY. 

24 Section 108(d) of the Small Business Reauthoriza25 tion Act of 2000 is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘of the Senate’’ and all that fol2 lows through ‘‘not later than 3’’ and inserting ‘‘of 

3 the Senate, not later than 3’’; and 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and all that follows 

5 through ‘‘update of such report’’. 

Æ 


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