66342 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 216 / Friday, November 7, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

13 CFR Chapter I 

RIN 3245–AG64 

Small Business Innovation Research 

(SBIR) and Small Business Technology 

Transfer (STTR) Policy Directives; Data 

Rights; Phase III Award Preference; 

Other Clarifying Amendments 

AGENCY: Small Business Administration. 

ACTION: Advanced Notice of Policy 

Directive Amendments; request for 

comments 

SUMMARY: The Small Business 

Administration (SBA) seeks comments 

from the public on two key areas of the 

SBIR and STTR Policy Directives that 

the SBA is considering revising: SBIR 

and STTR data rights, and the 

Government’s responsibilities with 

respect to SBIR and STTR Phase III 

awards. The SBA intends to provide 

greater clarity and detail on these issues 

in the Policy Directives. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before January 6, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 3245–AG64, by any of 

the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: technology@sba.gov. Include 

RIN 3245–AG64 in the subject line of 

the message. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Edsel 

Brown, Office of Innovation, U.S. Small 

Business Administration, 409 Third 

Street SW., Washington, DC 20416. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Edsel Brown Jr., Assistant Director, 

Office of Technology, Office of 

Innovation and Investment, (202) 205– 

6450 or at technology@sba.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 

6, 2012, SBA published a final SBIR 

Policy Directive at 77 FR 46806, and a 

final STTR Policy Directive at 77 FR 

46855 (both available at www.sbir.gov), 

implementing the various provisions of 

the National Defense Authorization Act 

for Fiscal Year 2012 (Defense 

Authorization Act), Public Law 112–81, 

125-Stat. 1298, related to the SBIR and 

STTR programs. These provisions were 

specifically enacted in Section 5001, 

Division E of the Defense Authorization 

Act, the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act 

of 2011 (Reauthorization Act), which 

amended the Small Business Act and 

made several amendments to the SBIR 

and STTR Programs. Subsequent to the 

publication of the SBIR and STTR final 

directives SBA issued clarifying 

amendments on January 8, 2014 at 79 

FR 1303 (SBIR) and 79 FR 1309 (STTR). 

In the notices of the final directives, 

SBA stated it intended to update the 

directives on a regular basis and to 

restructure and reorganize the 

directives, as well as address certain 

policy issues (e.g., those concerning 

data rights). At this time, SBA intends 

to revise the SBIR and STTR policy 

directives to provide greater 

clarification of SBIR and STTR data 

rights and the issues related to SBIR and 

STTR Phase III work. SBA intends this 

clarification to provide additional 

guidance to agencies regarding the 

implementation of the programs, 

additional policy language to inform 

regulatory texts in the Federal 

Acquisition Regulation and agency 

supplemental regulations, and useful 

information for SBIR/STTR awardee and 

applicant firms. 

Although the SBIR and STTR Policy 

Directives are intended for use by the 

SBIR and STTR participating agencies, 

SBA believes that public input from all 

parties involved in the program would 

be invaluable. Therefore, before 

proceeding with proposed changes, SBA 

would like to know from the public if 

there are specific concerns that SBA 

should address when clarifying program 

policy in these identified areas. 

1. SBIR/STTR Data Rights 

The Small Business Act provides for 

SBIR and STTR awardees to receive 

certain data rights. See e.g. 15 U.S.C. 

638(j)(1)(B)(v) (‘‘retention of rights in 

data generated in the performance of the 

contract by the small business 

concern;’’); id. at 638(j)(2)(A) and 

638(p)(2)(B)(v) (‘‘retention by a small 

business concern of the rights to data 

generated by the concern in the 

performance of an [SBIR or STTR] 

award for a period of not less than 4 

years;’’). SBA’s Policy Directives also 

explain that agencies must protect from 

disclosure and non-governmental use all 

SBIR/STTR technical data developed 

from work performed under an SBIR or 

STTR funding agreement for a period of 

not less than four years from delivery of 

the last deliverable under that 

agreement (either Phase I, Phase II, or 

Federally-funded SBIR/STTR Phase III) 

unless the agency obtains permission to 

disclose such SBIR or STTR technical 

data from the awardee or applicant. See 

SBIR and STTR Policy Directives, 

section 8(b)(2). 

SBA has heard from small businesses 

that SBIR and STTR data has been 

disclosed to large contractors in 

procurement specifications, 

solicitations, or through reverse 

engineering. SBA has also received 

reports that Government contractors 

have been unaware that SBIR and STTR 

awards have special features with regard 

to data rights. SBA intends to address 

these issues by clarifying the language 

on data rights in the policy directives. 

SBA specifically requests comments on 

the following: 

• The extent to which the awardee 

owns the data it generates in 

performance of an award. 

• The Government’s obligations to 

protect SBIR/STTR data from disclosure 

for at least four years following the 

delivery of the last deliverable of an 

SBIR/STTR award. 

• During the protection period, the 

Government’s right to access, review 

and evaluate SBIR/STTR data, but not to 

modify the data. 

• After the protection period expires, 

the Government’s right to use and 

disclose the data solely on behalf of the 

government, which means that the 

government may use and disclose data 

for competitive procurements (with 

non-disclosure agreements) but cannot 

use the data for commercial (nongovernmental) purposes. 

• Possible discrepancies between 

current FAR and agency supplemental 

regulations and SBA’s SBIR/STTR 

Policy Directives. 

• The feasibility and helpfulness of a 

short form data rights option (especially 

for grant agencies). Such a short form 

would be a simple agreement stating 

that the Government receives essentially 

no rights to SBIR/STTR technical data. 

The simplified data rights option would 

be for any agency or specific award. 

2. SBIR/STTR Phase III Policy 

The Small Business Act, as 

implemented by the SBIR and STTR 

Policy Directives at section 4(c), states 

that a Phase III award is one that derives 

from, extends, or completes efforts made 

under prior funding agreements under 

the SBIR program— 

• in which commercial applications of 

SBIR-funded research or research and 

development are funded by non-Federal 

sources of capital or, for products or services 

intended for use by the Federal Government, 

by follow-on non-SBIR Federal funding 

awards; or 

• for which awards from non-SBIR Federal 

funding sources are used for the continuation 

of research or research and development that 

has been competitively selected using peer 

review or merit-based selection procedures; 

15 U.S.C. 638(e)(4)(C); see also, id. at 

638(e)(6)(C). 

If the government is interested in 

pursuing further work that was 

performed under an SBIR or STTR 

award, the government must, to the 

extent practicable, pursue that work 

with the SBIR or STTR awardee that 

performed the earlier work. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 216 / Friday, November 7, 2014 / Proposed Rules 66343 

In the program’s recent 

reauthorization legislation, Congress 

added the following language to the 

Small Business Act reinforcing the 

responsibility of the government to 

pursue such work with the awardee 

firm: 

PHASE III AWARDS.—To the greatest 

extent practicable, Federal agencies and 

Federal prime contractors shall issue Phase 

III awards relating to technology, including 

sole source awards, to the SBIR and STTR 

award recipients that developed the 

technology. 

Id. at 638(r)(4). 

SBA is concerned that there is 

ambiguity or misunderstanding about 

how this policy governing Phase III 

awards should be implemented. 

Agencies and awardee firms may 

disagree as to whether new work 

qualifies as SBIR/STTR Phase III work. 

Additionally, even if there is agreement 

that the follow-on work is Phase III 

work, there may be disagreement as to 

how the agency is required to show 

preference to the SBIR/STTR awardee 

for the Phase III work. 

One question that has been raised is 

whether preference for the Phase III 

work can be shown within a 

competitive solicitation. Another 

question is how such preference can or 

should be shown if the SBIR or STTR 

awardee would perform the Phase III 

work as a subcontractor to a prime 

federal contractor. Finally, there may be 

uncertainty about the steps that should 

be taken when applying the preference. 

SBA intends to revise the language in 

the Policy Directives to clarify these 

issues, that is, the responsibility of 

agencies with regard to Phase III work 

and processes that can be used when 

determining the appropriate actions in 

Phase III cases. To help in the 

development of the revised policy 

guidance, SBA requests comments on 

the following: 

• Whether SBA should define ‘‘to the 

greatest extent practicable’’ with respect 

to when agencies shall issue these Phase 

III awards; and if so, how the phrase 

should be defined. 

• Whether, if the agency elects not to 

issue a Phase III sole source award to 

the SBIR or STTR Phase II awardee for 

follow-on Phase III work, there are other 

ways the agency could meet this 

statutory requirement. 

• Whether an SBIR or STTR awardee 

can receive the required Phase III 

preference within a full and open 

competition. 

• Whether the policy directive should 

outline the steps an agency must take in 

deciding or understanding when the 

Phase III preference applies. 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 638 

Dated: September 15, 2014. 

Javier E. Saade, 

Associate Administrator, Office of Investment 

and Innovation. 

Maria Contreras-Sweet, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2014–26583 Filed 11–6–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2014–0755; Directorate 

Identifier 2014–NM–080–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing 

Company Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: We propose to adopt a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for all The 

Boeing Company Model 737–600, –700, 

–700C, –800, –900, and –900ER series 

airplanes, Model 757 airplanes, Model 

767 airplanes, and Model 777 airplanes. 

This proposed AD results from fuel 

system reviews conducted by the 

manufacturer. This proposed AD would 

require an inspection to determine if 

certain spar-mounted motor-operated 

valve actuators for the spar-mounted 

fuel valves are installed, and 

replacement of any affected actuators. 

We are proposing this AD to prevent 

electrical energy from lightning, hot 

shorts, or fault current from entering the 

fuel tank through the actuator shaft, 

which could result in fuel tank 

explosions and consequent loss of the 

airplane. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by December 22, 

2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

using the procedures found in 14 CFR 

11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: Deliver to Mail 

address above between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

Examining the AD Docket 

You may examine the AD docket on 

the Internet http://www.regulations.gov 

by searching for and locating Docket No. 

FAA–2014–0755; or in person at the 

Docket Management Facility between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. The AD 

docket contains this proposed AD, the 

regulatory evaluation, any comments 

received, and other information. The 

street address for the Docket Office 

(phone: 800–647–5527) is in the 

ADDRESSES section. Comments will be 

available in the AD docket shortly after 

receipt. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rebel Nichols, Aerospace Engineer, 

Propulsion Branch, ANM–140S, FAA, 

Seattle Aircraft Certification Office, 

1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA 

98057–3356; phone: 425–917–6509; fax: 

425–917–6590; email: rebel.nichols@

faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

We invite you to send any written 

relevant data, views, or arguments about 

this proposal. Send your comments to 

an address listed under the ADDRESSES

section. Include ‘‘Docket No. FAA– 

2014–0755; Directorate Identifier 2014– 

NM–080–AD’’ at the beginning of your 

comments. We specifically invite 

comments on the overall regulatory, 

economic, environmental, and energy 

aspects of this proposed AD. We will 

consider all comments received by the 

closing date and may amend this 

proposed AD because of those 

comments. 

We will post all comments we 

receive, without change, to http://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information you provide. We 

will also post a report summarizing each 

substantive verbal contact we receive 

about this proposed AD. 

Discussion 

The FAA has examined the 

underlying safety issues involved in fuel 

tank explosions on several large 

transport airplanes, including the 

adequacy of existing regulations, the 

service history of airplanes subject to 

those regulations, and existing 

maintenance practices for fuel tank 

systems. As a result of those findings, 

we issued a regulation titled ‘‘Transport 

Airplane Fuel Tank System Design 

Review, Flammability Reduction and 

Maintenance and Inspection 

Requirements’’ (66 FR 23086, May 7, 

2001). In addition to new airworthiness 

standards for transport airplanes and 

new maintenance requirements, this 


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