IB 

Union Calendar No. 102 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2965 

[Report No. 111–190, Parts I and II] 

To amend the Small Business Act with respect to the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer 

Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 19, 2009 

Mr. ALTMIRE (for himself, Mr. WU, Mr. GRAVES, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. 

SCHOCK, Mr. NYE, Mrs. HALVORSON, and Mr. BRIGHT) 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 

JUNE 26, 2009 

Reported from the Committee on Small Business with an amendment 

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

JUNE 26, 2009 

Referral to the Committee on Science and Technology extended for a period 

ending not later than July 7, 2009 

JULY 7, 2009 

Additional sponsors: Mr. LUJA ́N and Mrs. BIGGERT

JULY 7, 2009 

Reported from the Committee on Science and Technology with an amendment 


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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 19, 2009] 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act with respect to the Small 

Business Innovation Research Program and the Small 

Business Technology Transfer Program, and for other 

purposes. 


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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 ‘‘En5 hancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act of 

6 2009’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—PROGRAM EXTENSION AND VENTURE CAPITAL 

OPERATING COMPANY INVOLVEMENT 

Sec. 101. Extension of termination dates. 

Sec. 102. Ensuring that innovative small businesses with substantial investment 

from venture capital operating companies are able to participate 

in the SBIR and STTR programs. 

TITLE II—COMMERCIALIZATION ACTIVITIES AND RESEARCH 

TOPICS DESERVING SPECIAL CONSIDERATION 

Sec. 201. Focus on commercialization. 

Sec. 202. Inclusion of energy-related research topics and rare disease-related research topics as deserving ‘‘special consideration’’ as SBIR research topics. 

Sec. 203. Nanotechnology-related research topics. 

Sec. 204. Clarifying the definition of ‘‘Phase Three’’. 

Sec. 205. Agency research goals. 

Sec. 206. Commercialization programs. 

TITLE III—RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND OUTREACH 

Sec. 301. Outreach and support activities. 

Sec. 302. Rural preference. 

Sec. 303. Obtaining SBIR applicant’s consent to release contact information to 

economic development organizations. 

Sec. 304. Increased partnerships between SBIR awardees and prime contractors, 

venture capital investment companies, and larger businesses. 

TITLE IV—SBIR AND STTR ENHANCEMENT 

Sec. 401. Increased number of research topic solicitations annually and shortened 

period for final decisions on applications. 

Sec. 402. Agencies should fund vital R&D projects with the potential for commercialization. 

Sec. 403. Federal agency engagement with SBIR awardees that have been awarded multiple Phase One awards but have not been awarded Phase 

Two awards. 


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Sec. 404. Funding for administrative, oversight, and contract processing costs. 

Sec. 405. Comptroller general audit of how Federal agencies calculate extramural 

research budgets. 

Sec. 406. Agency databases to support program evaluation. 

Sec. 407. Agency databases to support technology utilization. 

Sec. 408. Interagency Policy Committee. 

Sec. 409. National Research Council SBIR Study. 

Sec. 410. Express authority to ‘‘fast-track’’ Phase Two awards for promising 

Phase One research. 

Sec. 411. Increased SBIR and STTR award levels. 

Sec. 412. Express authority for an agency to award sequential Phase Two awards 

for SBIR-funded projects. 

Sec. 413. First phase required. 

Sec. 414. Involvement of Chief Counsel for Advocacy. 

1 TITLE I—PROGRAM EXTENSION 

2 AND VENTURE CAPITAL OP3 ERATING COMPANY INVOLVE4 MENT 

5 SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF TERMINATION DATES. 

6 (a) SBIR.—Section 9(m) of the Small Business Act 

7 (15 U.S.C. 638(m)) is amended by striking ‘‘2008’’ and in8 serting ‘‘2011’’. 

9 (b) STTR.—Section 9(n)(1)(A) of the Small Business 

10 Act (15 U.S.C. 638(n)(1)(A)) is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘2009’’ and inserting ‘‘2011’’. 

12 SEC. 102. ENSURING THAT INNOVATIVE SMALL BUSINESSES 

13 WITH SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT FROM VEN14 TURE CAPITAL OPERATING COMPANIES ARE 

15 ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SBIR AND 

16 STTR PROGRAMS. 

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

18 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(aa) VENTURE CAPITAL OPERATING COMPANIES.— 

2 Effective only for the SBIR and STTR programs the fol3 lowing shall apply: 

4 ‘‘(1) A business concern that has more than 500 

5 employees shall not qualify as a small business con6 cern. 

7 ‘‘(2) In determining whether a small business 

8 concern is independently owned and operated under 

9 section 3(a)(1) or meets the small business size stand10 ards instituted under section 3(a)(2), the Adminis11 trator shall not consider a business concern to be af12 filiated with a venture capital operating company (or 

13 with any other business that the venture capital oper14 ating company has financed) if— 

15 ‘‘(A) the venture capital operating company 

16 does not own 50 percent or more of the business 

17 concern; and 

18 ‘‘(B) employees of the venture capital oper19 ating company do not constitute a majority of 

20 the board of directors of the business concern. 

21 ‘‘(3) A business concern shall be deemed to be 

22 ‘independently owned and operated’ if— 

23 ‘‘(A) it is owned in majority part by one or 

24 more natural persons or venture capital oper25 ating companies; 


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1 ‘‘(B) there is no single venture capital oper2 ating company that owns 50 percent or more of 

3 the business concern; and 

4 ‘‘(C) there is no single venture capital oper5 ating company the employees of which constitute 

6 a majority of the board of directors of the busi7 ness concern. 

8 ‘‘(4) If a venture capital operating company 

9 controlled by a business with more than 500 employ10 ees (in this paragraph referred to as a ‘VCOC under 

11 large business control’) has an ownership interest in 

12 a small business concern that is owned in majority 

13 part by venture capital operating companies, the 

14 small business concern is eligible to receive an award 

15 under the SBIR or STTR program only if— 

16 ‘‘(A) not more than two VCOCs under large 

17 business control have an ownership interest in 

18 the small business concern; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the VCOCs under large business con20 trol do not collectively own more than 20 percent 

21 of the small business concern. 

22 ‘‘(5) The term ‘venture capital operating com23 pany’ means a business concern— 

24 ‘‘(A) that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) is a Venture Capital Operating 

2 Company, as that term is defined in regula3 tions promulgated by the Secretary of 

4 Labor; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) is an entity that— 

6 ‘‘(I) is registered under the Invest7 ment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 

8 80a–51 et seq.); or 

9 ‘‘(II) is an investment company, 

10 as defined in section 3(c)(1) of such 

11 Act (15 U.S.C. 80a–3(c)(1)), which is 

12 not registered under such Act because 

13 it is beneficially owned by less than 

14 100 persons; and 

15 ‘‘(B) that is itself organized or incorporated 

16 and domiciled in the United States, or is con17 trolled by a business concern that is incorporated 

18 and domiciled in the United States.’’. 

19 TITLE II—COMMERCIALIZATION 

20 ACTIVITIES AND RESEARCH 

21 TOPICS DESERVING SPECIAL 

22 CONSIDERATION 

23 SEC. 201. FOCUS ON COMMERCIALIZATION. 

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

25 638(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘It 


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1 is further the policy of Congress that the programs estab2 lished in this section should focus on promoting research 

3 and development of projects governed by commercial busi4 ness plans, which have significant potential to produce 

5 products or services for the marketplace or for acquisition 

6 by Federal agencies.’’. 

7 SEC. 202. INCLUSION OF ENERGY-RELATED RESEARCH TOP8 ICS AND RARE DISEASE-RELATED RESEARCH 

9 TOPICS AS DESERVING ‘‘SPECIAL CONSIDER10 ATION’’ AS SBIR RESEARCH TOPICS. 

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

12 638(g)(3)) is amended— 

13 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by 

14 inserting after ‘‘critical technologies’’ the following: 

15 ‘‘or pressing research priorities’’; 

16 (2) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

17 end; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(C) the National Academy of Sciences, in 

20 the final report issued by the ‘America’s Energy 

21 Future: Technology Opportunities, Risks, and 

22 Tradeoffs’ project, and in subsequent reports 

23 issued by the National Academy of Sciences on 

24 sustainability, energy, and alternative fuels; 


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1 ‘‘(D) the National Institutes of Health, in 

2 the annual report on the rare diseases research 

3 activities of the National Institutes of Health for 

4 fiscal year 2005, and in subsequent reports 

5 issued by the National Institutes of Health on 

6 rare diseases research activities; or 

7 ‘‘(E) the National Academy of Sciences, in 

8 the final report issued by the ‘Transit Research 

9 and Development: Federal Role in the National 

10 Program’ project and the ‘Transportation Re11 search, Development and Technology Strategic 

12 Plan (2006–2010)’ issued by the United States 

13 Department of Transportation Research and In14 novative Technology Administration, and in sub15 sequent reports issued by the National Academy 

16 of Sciences and United States Department of 

17 Transportation on transportation and infra18 structure;’’. 

19 SEC. 203. NANOTECHNOLOGY-RELATED RESEARCH TOPICS. 

20 (a) SBIR.—Section 9(g)(3) of the Small Business Act 

21 (15 U.S.C. 638(g)(3)), as amended, is further amended— 

22 (1) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

23 end; 

24 (2) in subparagraph (E) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 

25 end; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(F) the national nanotechnology strategic 

3 plan required under section 2(c)(4) of the 21st 

4 Century Nanotechnology Research and Develop5 ment Act (15 U.S.C. 7501(c)(4)) and in subse6 quent reports issued by the National Science and 

7 Technology Council Committee on Technology, 

8 focusing on areas of nanotechnology identified in 

9 such plan;’’. 

10 (b) STTR.—Section 9(o)(3) of the Small Business Act 

11 (15 U.S.C. 638(o)(3)) is amended— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

13 end; 

14 (2) in subparagraph (B) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 

15 end; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(C) by the national nanotechnology stra18 tegic plan required under section 2(c)(4) of the 

19 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and De20 velopment Act (15 U.S.C. 7501(c)(4)) and in 

21 subsequent reports issued by the National Science 

22 and Technology Council Committee on Tech23 nology, focusing on areas of nanotechnology 

24 identified in such plan;’’. 


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1 SEC. 204. CLARIFYING THE DEFINITION OF ‘‘PHASE THREE’’. 

2 Section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 638(e)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (4)(C) in the matter preceding 

5 clause (i) by inserting after ‘‘a third phase’’ the fol6 lowing: ‘‘, which shall consist of work that derives 

7 from, extends, or logically concludes efforts performed 

8 under prior SBIR funding agreements (which may be 

9 referred to as ‘Phase III’)’’; 

10 (2) in paragraph (8) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

11 end; 

12 (3) in paragraph (9) by striking the period at 

13 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(10) the term ‘commercialization’ means the 

16 process of developing marketable products or services 

17 and producing and delivering products or services for 

18 sale (whether by the originating party or by others) 

19 to government or commercial markets.’’. 

20 SEC. 205. AGENCY RESEARCH GOALS. 

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

22 as amended, is further amended by striking subsection (h) 

23 and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(h) AGENCY RESEARCH GOALS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the require26 ments of subsection (f), each Federal agency that is 


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1 required by this section to have an SBIR program 

2 and that awards annually $5,000,000,000 or more in 

3 procurement contracts shall, effective for fiscal year 

4 2010 and each fiscal year thereafter, establish annual 

5 goals for commercialization of projects funded by 

6 SBIR awards. 

7 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC GOALS.—The goals required by 

8 paragraph (1) shall include specific goals for each of 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) The percentage of SBIR projects that 

11 receive funding for the third phase (as defined in 

12 subsection (e)(4)(C)). 

13 ‘‘(B) The percentage of SBIR projects that 

14 are successfully integrated into a program of 

15 record. 

16 ‘‘(C) The amount of Federal dollars received 

17 by SBIR projects through Federal contracts, not 

18 including dollars received through the SBIR pro19 gram. 

20 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION TO COMMITTEES.—For each 

21 fiscal year for which goals are required by paragraph 

22 (1), the agency shall submit to the Committee on 

23 Small Business and the Committee on Science and 

24 Technology of the House of Representatives and the 


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1 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

2 of the Senate— 

3 ‘‘(A) not later than 60 days after the begin4 ning of the fiscal year, the goals; and 

5 ‘‘(B) not later than 90 days after the end of 

6 the fiscal year, data on the extent to which the 

7 goals were met and a description of the method8 ology used to collect such data.’’. 

9 SEC. 206. COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAMS. 

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

11 as amended, is further amended, by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(bb) COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAMS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each agency required by 

15 this section to conduct an SBIR program shall estab16 lish a commercialization program that supports the 

17 progress of SBIR awardees to the third phase. The 

18 commercialization program may include activities 

19 such as partnership databases, partnership con20 ferences, multiple second phases, mentoring between 

21 prime contractors and SBIR awardees, multiple sec22 ond phases with matching private investment require23 ments, jumbo awards, SBIR helpdesks, and transition 

24 assistance programs. The agency shall include in its 

25 annual report an analysis of the various activities 


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1 considered for inclusion in the commercialization pro2 gram and a statement of the reasons why each activ3 ity considered was included or not included, as the 

4 case may be. 

5 ‘‘(2) FUNDING FOR COMMERCIALIZATION PRO6 GRAMS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made 

8 available to carry out this paragraph, the Ad9 ministrator may, on petition by agencies re10 quired by this section to conduct an SBIR pro11 gram, transfer funds to such agencies to support 

12 the commercialization programs of such agencies. 

13 ‘‘(B) PETITIONS.—The Administrator shall 

14 establish rules for making transfers under sub15 paragraph (A). The initial set of rules shall be 

16 promulgated not later than 90 days after the 

17 date of the enactment of this paragraph. 

18 ‘‘(C) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA19 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

20 to the Administrator to carry out this paragraph 

21 $27,500,000 for fiscal year 2010 and each fiscal 

22 year thereafter. 

23 ‘‘(3) FUNDING LIMITATION.—For payment of ex24 penses incurred to administer the commercialization 

25 programs described in paragraphs (1) and (2), the 


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1 head of an agency may use not more than an amount 

2 equal to 1 percent of the funds set aside for the agen3 cy’s Small Business Innovation Research program. 

4 Such funds— 

5 ‘‘(A) shall not be subject to the limitations 

6 on the use of funds in subsection (f)(2); and 

7 ‘‘(B) shall not be used for the purpose of 

8 funding costs associated with salaries and ex9 penses of employees of the Federal Government.’’. 

10 TITLE III—RURAL 

11 DEVELOPMENT AND OUTREACH 

12 SEC. 301. OUTREACH AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES. 

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

14 as amended, is further amended by inserting after sub15 section (r) the following: 

16 ‘‘(s) OUTREACH AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the other provi18 sions of this subsection, the Administrator shall make 

19 grants on a competitive basis to organizations, to be 

20 used by the organizations to do one or both of the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(A) To conduct outreach efforts to increase 

23 participation in the programs under this section. 

24 ‘‘(B) To provide application support and 

25 entrepreneurial and business skills support to 


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1 prospective participants in the programs under 

2 this section. 

3 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin5 istrator $10,000,000 to carry out paragraph (1) for 

6 each of fiscal years 2010 and 2011. 

7 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—For each of sub8 paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1), the 

9 amount of assistance provided to an organization 

10 under that subparagraph in any fiscal year— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall be equal to the total amount of 

12 matching funds from non-Federal sources pro13 vided by the organization; and 

14 ‘‘(B) shall not exceed $250,000. 

15 ‘‘(4) DIRECTION.—An organization receiving 

16 funds under paragraph (1) shall, in using those 

17 funds, direct its activities at one or both of the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(A) Small business concerns located in geo20 graphic areas that are underrepresented in the 

21 programs under this section. 

22 ‘‘(B) Small business concerns owned and 

23 controlled by women, small business concerns 

24 owned and controlled by service-disabled vetVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:34 Jul 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2965.RH H2965

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1 erans, and small business concerns owned and 

2 controlled by minorities. 

3 ‘‘(5) ADVISORY BOARD.— 

4 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 

5 days after the date of the enactment of this sub6 section, the Administrator shall establish an ad7 visory board for the activities carried out under 

8 this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(B) NON-APPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The 

10 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

11 shall not apply to the advisory board. 

12 ‘‘(C) MEMBERS.—The members of the advi13 sory board shall include the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) The Administrator (or the Admin15 istrator’s designee). 

16 ‘‘(ii) For each Federal agency required 

17 by this section to conduct an SBIR pro18 gram, the head of the agency (or the des19 ignee of the head of the agency). 

20 ‘‘(iii) Representatives of small business 

21 concerns that are current or former recipi22 ents of SBIR awards, or representatives of 

23 organizations of such concerns. 

24 ‘‘(iv) Representatives of service pro25 viders of SBIR outreach and assistance, or 


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1 representatives of organizations of such 

2 service providers. 

3 ‘‘(D) DUTIES.—The advisory board shall 

4 have the following duties: 

5 ‘‘(i) To develop guidelines for awards 

6 under paragraph (1), including guidelines 

7 relating to award sizes, proposal require8 ments, measures for monitoring awardee 

9 performance, and measures for determining 

10 the overall value of the activities carried out 

11 by the awardees. 

12 ‘‘(ii) To identify opportunities for co13 ordinated outreach, technical assistance, 

14 and commercialization activities among 

15 Federal agencies, the recipients of the 

16 awards under paragraph (1), and appli17 cants and recipients of SBIR awards, in18 cluding opportunities such as— 

19 ‘‘(I) podcasting or webcasting for 

20 conferences, training workshops, and 

21 other events; 

22 ‘‘(II) shared online resources to 

23 match prospective applicants with the 

24 network of paragraph (1) recipients; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(III) venture capital conferences 

2 tied to technologies and sectors that 

3 cross agencies. 

4 ‘‘(iii) To review and recommend revi5 sions to activities under paragraph (1). 

6 ‘‘(iv) To submit to the Committee on 

7 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

8 the Senate and the Committee on Small 

9 Business and the Committee on Science and 

10 Technology of the House of Representatives 

11 an annual report on the activities carried 

12 out under paragraph (1) and the effective13 ness and impact of those activities. 

14 ‘‘(6) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In awarding grants 

15 under this subsection, the Administrator shall use se16 lection criteria developed by the advisory board estab17 lished under paragraph (5). The criteria shall in18 clude— 

19 ‘‘(A) criteria designed to give preference to 

20 applicants who propose to carry out activities 

21 that will reach either an underperforming geo22 graphic area or an underrepresented population 

23 group (as measured by the number of SBIR ap24 plicants); 


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1 ‘‘(B) criteria designed to give preference to 

2 applicants who propose to carry out activities 

3 that complement, and are integrated into, the ex4 isting public-private innovation support system 

5 for the targeted region or population; 

6 ‘‘(C) criteria designed to give preference to 

7 applicants who propose to measure the effective8 ness of the proposed activities; and 

9 ‘‘(D) criteria designed to give preference to 

10 applicants who include a Small Business Devel11 opment Center program that is accredited for its 

12 technology services. 

13 ‘‘(7) PEER REVIEW.—In awarding grants under 

14 this subsection, the Administrator shall use a peer re15 view process. Reviewers shall include— 

16 ‘‘(A) SBIR program managers for agencies 

17 required by this section to conduct SBIR pro18 grams; and 

19 ‘‘(B) private individuals and organizations 

20 that are knowledgeable about SBIR, the innova21 tion process, technology commercialization, and 

22 State and regional technology-based economic de23 velopment programs. 

24 ‘‘(8) PER-STATE LIMITATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive 

2 a grant under this subsection, the applicant 

3 must have the written endorsement of the Gov4 ernor of the State where the targeted regions or 

5 populations are located (if the regions or popu6 lations are located in more than one State, the 

7 applicant must have the written endorsement of 

8 the Governor of each such State). Such an en9 dorsement must indicate that the Governor will 

10 ensure that the activities to be carried out under 

11 the grant will be integrated with the balance of 

12 the State’s portfolio of investments to help small 

13 business concerns commercialize technology. 

14 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Each fiscal year, a Gov15 ernor may have in effect not more than one writ16 ten endorsement for a grant under paragraph 

17 (1)(A), and not more than one written endorse18 ment for a grant under paragraph (1)(B). 

19 ‘‘(9) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR AWARDS.— 

20 In making awards under paragraph (1) the Adminis21 trator shall ensure that each award shall be for a pe22 riod of 2 fiscal years. The Administrator shall estab23 lish rules and performance goals for the disbursement 

24 of funds for the second fiscal year, and funds shall not 

25 be disbursed to a recipient for such a fiscal year until 


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1 after the advisory board established under this sub2 section has determined that the recipient is in compli3 ance with the rules and performance goals.’’. 

4 SEC. 302. RURAL PREFERENCE. 

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

6 as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(cc) RURAL PREFERENCE.—In making awards under 

9 this section, Federal agencies shall give priority to applica10 tions so as to increase the number of SBIR and STTR 

11 award recipients from rural areas.’’. 

12 SEC. 303. OBTAINING SBIR APPLICANT’S CONSENT TO RE13 LEASE CONTACT INFORMATION TO ECO14 NOMIC DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS. 

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

16 as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(dd) CONSENT TO RELEASE CONTACT INFORMATION

19 TO ORGANIZATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) ENABLING CONCERN TO GIVE CONSENT.— 

21 Each Federal agency required by this section to con22 duct an SBIR program shall enable a small business 

23 concern that is an SBIR applicant to indicate to the 

24 agency whether the agency has its consent to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) identify the concern to appropriate 

2 local and State-level economic development orga3 nizations as an SBIR applicant; and 

4 ‘‘(B) release the concern’s contact informa5 tion to such organizations. 

6 ‘‘(2) RULES.—The Administrator shall establish 

7 rules to implement this subsection. The rules shall in8 clude a requirement that the agency include in its 

9 SBIR application forms a provision through which 

10 the applicant can indicate consent for purposes of 

11 paragraph (1).’’. 

12 SEC. 304. INCREASED PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN SBIR 

13 AWARDEES AND PRIME CONTRACTORS, VEN14 TURE CAPITAL INVESTMENT COMPANIES, 

15 AND LARGER BUSINESSES. 

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

17 as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(ee) INCREASED PARTNERSHIPS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each agency required by 

21 this section to conduct an SBIR program shall estab22 lish initiatives by which the agency encourages part23 nerships between SBIR awardees and prime contrac24 tors, venture capital investment companies, business 

25 incubators, and larger businesses, for the purpose of 


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1 facilitating the progress of the SBIR awardees to the 

2 third phase. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

4 ‘business incubator’ means an entity that provides co5 ordinated and specialized services to entrepreneurial 

6 businesses which meet selected criteria during the 

7 businesses’ startup phases, including providing serv8 ices such as shared office space and office services, ac9 cess to equipment, access to telecommunications and 

10 technology services, flexible leases, specialized manage11 ment assistance, access to financing, mentoring and 

12 training services, or other coordinated business or 

13 technical support services designed to provide business 

14 development assistance to entrepreneurial businesses 

15 during these businesses’ startup phases.’’. 

16 TITLE IV—SBIR AND STTR 

17 ENHANCEMENT 

18 SEC. 401. INCREASED NUMBER OF RESEARCH TOPIC SO19 LICITATIONS ANNUALLY AND SHORTENED 

20 PERIOD FOR FINAL DECISIONS ON APPLICA21 TIONS. 

22 (a) INCREASED NUMBER OF RESEARCH TOPIC SOLICI23 TATIONS ANNUALLY.—Section 9(g)(2) of the Small Business 

24 Act (15 U.S.C. 638(g)(2)) is amended by inserting before 


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1 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, but not less often 

2 than twice per year’’. 

3 (b) SHORTENED PERIOD FOR FINAL DECISIONS ON

4 APPLICATIONS.—Section 9(g)(4) of the Small Business Act 

5 (15 U.S.C. 638(g)(4)) is amended by inserting before the 

6 semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, but a final decision 

7 on each proposal shall be rendered not later than 90 days 

8 after the date on which the solicitation closes unless the Ad9 ministrator determines, on a case by case basis, that a deci10 sion may be extended from 90 days to 180 days’’. 

11 SEC. 402. AGENCIES SHOULD FUND VITAL R&D PROJECTS 

12 WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR COMMERCIALIZA13 TION. 

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

15 as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(ff) MULTIPLE FIRST PHASE SBIR AWARDS RE18 PORT.—The Administrator shall, on an annual basis, sub19 mit to the Committee on Small Business and the Committee 

20 on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives 

21 and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneur22 ship of the Senate a list identifying each small business con23 cern that, for the period covered by the preceding 5 fiscal 

24 years, received 15 or more first phase SBIR awards and 

25 no second phase SBIR awards.’’. 


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1 SEC. 403. FEDERAL AGENCY ENGAGEMENT WITH SBIR 

2 AWARDEES THAT HAVE BEEN AWARDED MUL3 TIPLE PHASE ONE AWARDS BUT HAVE NOT 

4 BEEN AWARDED PHASE TWO AWARDS. 

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

6 as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(gg) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO FEDERAL AGEN9 CY ENGAGEMENT WITH CERTAIN FIRST PHASE SBIR 

10 AWARDEES.—Each Federal agency required by this section 

11 to conduct an SBIR program shall engage with SBIR 

12 awardees that have been awarded multiple first phase SBIR 

13 awards but have not been awarded any second phase SBIR 

14 awards and shall develop performance measures with re15 spect to awardee progression in the SBIR program.’’. 

16 SEC. 404. FUNDING FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, OVERSIGHT, 

17 AND CONTRACT PROCESSING COSTS. 

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

19 as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(hh) ASSISTANCE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, OVERSIGHT, 

22 AND CONTRACT PROCESSING COSTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail24 able to carry out this subsection, the Administrator 

25 may, on petition by Federal agencies required by this 

26 section to conduct an SBIR program, transfer funds 


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1 to such agencies to assist with the administrative, 

2 oversight, and contract processing costs relating to 

3 such program. 

4 ‘‘(2) PETITIONS.—The Administrator shall estab5 lish rules for making transfers under paragraph (1). 

6 The initial set of rules shall be promulgated not later 

7 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 

8 subsection. 

9 ‘‘(3) LIMIT ON TRANSFER.—A Federal agency 

10 may not receive under this subsection in a fiscal year 

11 an amount greater than 3 percent of the SBIR budget 

12 of such agency for such fiscal year. 

13 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin15 istrator to carry out this subsection $27,500,000 for 

16 each of fiscal years 2010 and 2011.’’. 

17 SEC. 405. COMPTROLLER GENERAL AUDIT OF HOW FED18 ERAL AGENCIES CALCULATE EXTRAMURAL 

19 RESEARCH BUDGETS. 

20 The Comptroller General of the United States shall 

21 carry out a detailed audit of how Federal agencies calculate 

22 extramural research budgets for purposes of calculating the 

23 size of the agencies’ Small Business Innovation Research 

24 Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Pro25 gram budgets. Not later than 1 year after the date of the 


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1 enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit 

2 to the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on 

3 Science and Technology of the House of Representatives and 

4 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

5 the Senate a report on the results of the audit. 

6 SEC. 406. AGENCY DATABASES TO SUPPORT PROGRAM 

7 EVALUATION. 

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

9 638(k)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

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

12 (ii); 

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

14 (iii); and 

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

16 clause: 

17 ‘‘(iv) information on the ownership 

18 structure of award recipients, both at the 

19 time of receipt of the award and upon com20 pletion of the award period;’’; 

21 (2) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol22 lows: 

23 ‘‘(3) UPDATING INFORMATION FOR DATABASE.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Federal agency shall 

25 not make a Phase I or Phase II payment to a 


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1 small business concern under this section unless 

2 the small business concern has provided all in3 formation required under this subsection and 

4 available at the time with respect to the award 

5 under which the payment is made, and with re6 spect to any other award under this section pre7 viously received by the small business concern or 

8 a predecessor in interest to the small business 

9 concern. 

10 ‘‘(B) APPORTIONMENT.—In complying with 

11 this paragraph, a small business concern may 

12 apportion sales or additional investment infor13 mation relating to more than one second phase 

14 award among those awards, if it notes the ap15 portionment for each award. 

16 ‘‘(C) ANNUAL UPDATES UPON TERMI17 NATION.—A small business concern receiving an 

18 award under this section shall— 

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

20 award, update information in the databases 

21 required under paragraphs (2) and (6) con22 cerning that award at the termination of 

23 the award period; 

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

25 not described in clause (iii), be requested to 


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1 voluntarily update such information annu2 ally thereafter for a period of 5 years; and 

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

4 concern applying for a subsequent first 

5 phase or second phase award, be required to 

6 update such information annually there7 after for a period of 5 years.’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new para9 graph: 

10 ‘‘(6) AGENCY PROGRAM EVALUATION DATA11 BASES.—Each Federal agency required to establish 

12 an SBIR or STTR program under this section shall 

13 develop and maintain, for the purpose of evaluating 

14 such programs, a database containing information re15 quired to be contained in the database under para16 graph (2). Each such database shall be designed to be 

17 accessible to other agencies that are required to main18 tain a database under this paragraph. Each such 

19 database shall be developed and operated in a manner 

20 to ensure that each such database is relevant to and 

21 contributes to the agency’s oversight and evaluation of 

22 the SBIR and STTR programs. Paragraphs (4) and 

23 (5) apply to each database under this paragraph.’’. 


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1 SEC. 407. 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, is further amended by adding at the 

5 end the following new paragraph: 

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

8 SBIR or STTR program shall create and maintain 

9 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 them 

12 attract customers for the products and services gen13 erated under the SBIR or STTR project, and to at14 tract additional investors and business partners. 

15 Each database created under this paragraph shall in16 clude information on the other databases created 

17 under this paragraph by other Federal agencies. Par18 ticipation in a database under this paragraph shall 

19 be voluntary, except that such participation is re20 quired of all award recipients who received supple21 mental payments from SBIR and STTR program 

22 funds above their initial Phase II award. Each data23 base created under this paragraph shall be developed 

24 and operated in a manner to ensure that each such 

25 database is relevant to and contributes to the agency’s 


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1 oversight and evaluation of the SBIR and STTR pro2 grams.’’. 

3 SEC. 408. INTERAGENCY POLICY COMMITTEE. 

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

5 Science and Technology Policy shall establish an Inter6 agency SBIR/STTR Policy Committee comprised of one 

7 representative from each Federal agency with an SBIR pro8 gram and the Office of Management and Budget. 

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

10 and Technology Policy and the Director of the National In11 stitute of Standards and Technology shall jointly chair the 

12 Interagency SBIR/STTR Policy Committee. 

13 (c) DUTIES.—The Interagency SBIR/STTR Policy 

14 Committee shall review the following issues and make policy 

15 recommendations on ways to improve program effectiveness 

16 and efficiency: 

17 (1) The public and government databases de18 scribed in section 9(k) (1) and (2) of the Small Busi19 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(k) (1) and (2)). 

20 (2) Federal agency flexibility in establishing 

21 Phase I and II award sizes, and appropriate criteria 

22 to exercise such flexibility. 

23 (3) Commercialization assistance best practices 

24 in Federal agencies with significant potential to be 

25 employed by other agencies, and the appropriate steps 


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1 to achieve that leverage, as well as proposals for new 

2 initiatives to address funding gaps business concerns 

3 face after Phase II but before commercialization. 

4 (4) Development and incorporation of a stand5 ard evaluation framework to enable systematic assess6 ment of SBIR and STTR, including through im7 proved tracking of awards and outcomes and develop8 ment of performance measures for individual agency 

9 programs. 

10 (d) REPORTS.—The Interagency SBIR/STTR Policy 

11 Committee shall transmit to the Committee on Science and 

12 Technology and the Committee on Small Business of the 

13 House of Representatives, and to the Committee on Small 

14 Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate— 

15 (1) a report on its review and recommendations 

16 under subsections (c)(1) and (c)(4) not later than 1 

17 year after the date of enactment of this Act; 

18 (2) a report on its review and recommendations 

19 under subsection (c)(2) not later than 18 months after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act; and 

21 (3) a report on its review and recommendations 

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

23 the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 409. NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL SBIR STUDY. 

2 Section 108(d) of the Small Business Reauthorization 

3 Act of 2000 (15 U.S.C. 638 note), enacted into law by ref4 erence under section 1(a)(9) of the Consolidated Appropria5 tions Act, 2001 (Public Law 106–554), is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘of the Senate’’ and all that fol7 lows through ‘‘not later than 3’’ and inserting ‘‘of the 

8 Senate, not later than 3’’; and 

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

10 through ‘‘update of such report’’. 

11 SEC. 410. EXPRESS AUTHORITY TO ‘‘FAST-TRACK’’ PHASE 

12 TWO AWARDS FOR PROMISING PHASE ONE 

13 RESEARCH. 

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

15 as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(ii) AUTHORITY TO ‘FAST-TRACK’ PHASE TWO

18 AWARDS FOR PROMISING PHASE ONE RESEARCH.—To ad19 dress the delay between an award for the first phase of an 

20 SBIR program and the application for and extension of 

21 an award for the second phase of such program, each Fed22 eral agency with an SBIR program may develop ‘fast-track’ 

23 programs to eliminate such delay by issuing second phase 

24 SBIR awards as soon as practicable, including in appro25 priate cases simultaneously with the issuance of the first 


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1 phase SBIR award. The Administrator shall encourage the 

2 development of such ‘fast-track’ programs.’’. 

3 SEC. 411. INCREASED SBIR AND STTR AWARD LEVELS. 

4 (a) SBIR AWARD LEVEL AND ANNUAL ADJUST5 MENTS.—Section 9(j) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 638(j)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(4) FURTHER ADDITIONAL MODIFICATIONS.—Not 

8 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this para9 graph and notwithstanding paragraph (2)(D), the Admin10 istrator shall modify the policy directives issued pursuant 

11 to this subsection to provide for an increase to $250,000 

12 in the amount of funds which an agency may award in 

13 the first phase of an SBIR program, and to $2,000,000 in 

14 the second phase of an SBIR program, and a mandatory 

15 annual adjustment of such amounts to reflect economic ad16 justments and programmatic considerations.’’. 

17 (b) STTR AWARD LEVEL AND ANNUAL ADJUST18 MENTS.—Section 9(p)(2)(B)(ix) of the Small Business Act 

19 (15 U.S.C. 638(p)(2)(B)(ix)) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and ‘‘$750,000’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘$250,000’’ and ‘‘$2,000,000’’, respectively; 

22 and 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘greater or lesser amounts’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘with a mandatory annual adjustment of 

25 such amounts to reflect economic adjustments and 


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1 programmatic considerations, and with lesser 

2 amounts’’. 

3 (c) LIMITATION ON CERTAIN AWARDS.—Section 9 of 

4 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is 

5 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(jj) LIMITATION ON PHASE I AND II AWARDS.—No 

7 Federal agency shall issue an award under the SBIR pro8 gram or the STTR program if the size of the award exceeds 

9 the amounts established under subsections (j)(4) and 

10 (p)(2)(B)(ix).’’. 

11 SEC. 412. EXPRESS AUTHORITY FOR AN AGENCY TO AWARD 

12 SEQUENTIAL PHASE TWO AWARDS FOR SBIR13 FUNDED PROJECTS. 

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

15 as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(kk) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO ADDITIONAL SEC18 OND PHASE SBIR AWARDS.— 

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

20 that receives a second phase SBIR award for a project 

21 remains eligible to receive additional second phase 

22 SBIR awards for such project. 

23 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL OR WEAPONS SYSTEMS.—Agen24 cies are expressly authorized to provide additional 

25 second phase SBIR awards for testing and evaluation 


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1 assistance for the insertion of SBIR technologies into 

2 technical or weapons systems.’’. 

3 SEC. 413. FIRST PHASE REQUIRED. 

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

5 as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(ll) FIRST PHASE REQUIRED.—Under this section, a 

8 Federal agency shall provide to a small business concern 

9 an award for the second phase of an SBIR program with 

10 respect to a project only if such agency finds that the small 

11 business concern has been provided an award for the first 

12 phase of an SBIR program with respect to such project or 

13 has completed the determinations described in subsection 

14 (e)(4)(A) with respect to such project despite not having 

15 been provided an award for the first phase.’’. 

16 SEC. 414. INVOLVEMENT OF CHIEF COUNSEL FOR ADVO17 CACY. 

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

19 as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(mm) INVOLVEMENT OF CHIEF COUNSEL FOR ADVO22 CACY.—The Chief Counsel for Advocacy, as described in sec23 tion 201 of Public Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634a), and any 

24 individual reporting to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, 

25 without regard to whether such individual was hired under 


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1 section 204 of Public Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634d), may 

2 not provide to the Administrator, to any individual who 

3 reports directly or indirectly to the Administrator, or to 

4 any Federal agency any advice, guidance, oversight, or re5 view with respect to the programs authorized under this sec6 tion.’’. 

7 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

9 the ‘‘Enhancing Small Business Research and 

10 Innovation Act of 2009’’. 

11 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con12 tents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—PROGRAM EXTENSION AND VENTURE CAPITAL 

OPERATING COMPANY INVOLVEMENT 

Sec. 101. Extension of termination dates. 

Sec. 102. Ensuring that innovative small businesses with substantial investment from venture capital operating companies are able to participate in the 

SBIR and STTR programs. 

TITLE II—COMMERCIALIZATION ACTIVITIES AND 

RESEARCH TOPICS DESERVING SPECIAL CONSIDERATION 

Sec. 201. Focus on commercialization. 

Sec. 202. Inclusion of energy-related research topics and rare 

disease-related research topics as deserving ‘‘special consideration’’ as SBIR research topics. 

Sec. 203. Nanotechnology-related research topics. 

Sec. 204. Clarifying the definition of ‘‘Phase Three’’. 

Sec. 205. Agency research goals. 

Sec. 206. Commercialization programs. 

TITLE III—RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND OUTREACH 

Sec. 301. Outreach and support activities. 

Sec. 302. Rural preference. 

Sec. 303. Obtaining SBIR applicant’s consent to release contact 

information to economic development organizations. 


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Sec. 304. Increased partnerships between SBIR awardees and 

prime contractors, venture capital investment 

companies, and larger businesses. 

TITLE IV—SBIR AND STTR ENHANCEMENT 

Sec. 401. Increased number of research topic solicitations annually and shortened period for final decisions on 

applications. 

Sec. 402. Agencies should fund vital R&D projects with the potential for commercialization. 

Sec. 403. Federal agency engagement with SBIR awardees that 

have been awarded multiple Phase One awards 

but have not been awarded Phase Two awards. 

Sec. 404. Funding for administrative, oversight, and contract 

processing costs. 

Sec. 405. Comptroller general audit of how Federal agencies 

calculate extramural research budgets. 

Sec. 406. Agency databases to support program evaluation. 

Sec. 407. Agency databases to support technology utilization. 

Sec. 408. Interagency Policy Committee. 

Sec. 409. National Research Council SBIR Study. 

Sec. 410. Express authority to ‘‘fast-track’’ Phase Two awards 

for promising Phase One research. 

Sec. 411. Increased SBIR and STTR award levels. 

Sec. 412. Express authority for an agency to award sequential 

Phase Two awards for SBIR-funded projects. 

Sec. 413. First phase required. 

1 TITLE I—PROGRAM EXTENSION 

2 AND VENTURE CAPITAL OP3 ERATING COMPANY INVOLVE4 MENT 

5 SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF TERMINATION DATES. 

6 (a) SBIR.—Section 9(m) of the Small Busi7 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(m)) is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘2008’’ and inserting ‘‘2011’’. 

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

10 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(n)(1)(A)) is amend11 ed by striking ‘‘2009’’ and inserting ‘‘2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. ENSURING THAT INNOVATIVE SMALL BUSI2 NESSES WITH SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT 

3 FROM VENTURE CAPITAL OPERATING COM4 PANIES ARE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 

5 SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS. 

6 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 638) is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(aa) VENTURE CAPITAL OPERATING COMPA10 NIES.—Effective only for the SBIR and STTR 

11 programs the following shall apply: 

12 ‘‘(1) A business concern that has more 

13 than 500 employees shall not qualify as a 

14 small business concern. 

15 ‘‘(2) In determining whether a small 

16 business concern is independently owned 

17 and operated under section 3(a)(1) or 

18 meets the small business size standards 

19 instituted under section 3(a)(2), the Ad20 ministrator shall not consider a business 

21 concern to be affiliated with a venture 

22 capital operating company (or with any 

23 other business that the venture capital 

24 operating company has financed) if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the venture capital operating 

2 company does not own 50 percent or 

3 more of the business concern; and 

4 ‘‘(B) employees of the venture 

5 capital operating company do not 

6 constitute a majority of the board of 

7 directors of the business concern. 

8 ‘‘(3) A business concern shall be 

9 deemed to be ‘independently owned and 

10 operated’ if— 

11 ‘‘(A) it is owned in majority part 

12 by one or more natural persons or 

13 venture capital operating companies; 

14 ‘‘(B) there is no single venture 

15 capital operating company that owns 

16 50 percent or more of the business 

17 concern; and 

18 ‘‘(C) there is no single venture 

19 capital operating company the em20 ployees of which constitute a major21 ity of the board of directors of the 

22 business concern. 

23 ‘‘(4) If a venture capital operating 

24 company controlled by a business with 

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1 graph referred to as a ‘VCOC under large 

2 business control’) has an ownership inter3 est in a small business concern that is 

4 owned in majority part by venture cap5 ital operating companies, the small busi6 ness concern is eligible to receive an 

7 award under the SBIR or STTR program 

8 only if— 

9 ‘‘(A) not more than two VCOCs 

10 under large business control have an 

11 ownership interest in the small busi12 ness concern; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the VCOCs under large busi14 ness control do not collectively own 

15 more than 20 percent of the small 

16 business concern. 

17 ‘‘(5) The term ‘venture capital oper18 ating company’ means a business con19 cern— 

20 ‘‘(A) that— 

21 ‘‘(i) is a Venture Capital Oper22 ating Company, as that term is 

23 defined in regulations promul24 gated by the Secretary of Labor; 

25 or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is an entity that— 

2 ‘‘(I) is registered under 

3 the Investment Company Act 

4 of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–51 et 

5 seq.); or 

6 ‘‘(II) is an investment com7 pany, as defined in section 

8 3(c)(1) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

9 80a–3(c)(1)), which is not reg10 istered under such Act be11 cause it is beneficially owned 

12 by less than 100 persons; and 

13 ‘‘(B) that is itself organized or in14 corporated and domiciled in the 

15 United States, or is controlled by a 

16 business concern that is incorporated 

17 and domiciled in the United States.’’. 

18 TITLE II—COMMERCIALIZATION 

19 ACTIVITIES AND RESEARCH 

20 TOPICS DESERVING SPECIAL 

21 CONSIDERATION 

22 SEC. 201. FOCUS ON COMMERCIALIZATION. 

23 Section 9(a) of the Small Business Act (15 

24 U.S.C. 638(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

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1 gress that the programs established in this 

2 section should focus on promoting research 

3 and development of projects governed by 

4 commercial business plans, which have sig5 nificant potential to produce products or 

6 services for the marketplace or for acquisi7 tion by Federal agencies.’’. 

8 SEC. 202. INCLUSION OF ENERGY-RELATED RESEARCH 

9 TOPICS AND RARE DISEASE-RELATED RE10 SEARCH TOPICS AS DESERVING ‘‘SPECIAL 

11 CONSIDERATION’’ AS SBIR RESEARCH TOP12 ICS. 

13 Section 9(g)(3) of the Small Business Act 

14 (15 U.S.C. 638(g)(3)) is amended— 

15 (1) in the matter preceding subpara16 graph (A) by inserting after ‘‘critical tech17 nologies’’ the following: ‘‘or pressing re18 search priorities’’; 

19 (2) in subparagraph (A) by striking 

20 ‘‘or’’ at the end; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(C) the National Academy of 

24 Sciences, in the final report issued by 

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1 nology Opportunities, Risks, and 

2 Tradeoffs’ project, and in subsequent 

3 reports issued by the National Acad4 emy of Sciences on sustainability, en5 ergy, and alternative fuels; 

6 ‘‘(D) the National Institutes of 

7 Health, in the annual report on the 

8 rare diseases research activities of 

9 the National Institutes of Health for 

10 fiscal year 2005, and in subsequent 

11 reports issued by the National Insti12 tutes of Health on rare diseases re13 search activities; or 

14 ‘‘(E) the National Academy of 

15 Sciences, in the final report issued by 

16 the ‘Transit Research and Develop17 ment: Federal Role in the National 

18 Program’ project and the ‘Transpor19 tation Research, Development and 

20 Technology Strategic Plan (2006– 

21 2010)’ issued by the United States De22 partment of Transportation Research 

23 and Innovative Technology Adminis24 tration, and in subsequent reports 

25 issued by the National Academy of 


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1 Sciences and United States Depart2 ment of Transportation on transpor3 tation and infrastructure;’’. 

4 SEC. 203. NANOTECHNOLOGY-RELATED RESEARCH TOPICS. 

5 (a) SBIR.—Section 9(g)(3) of the Small 

6 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(g)(3)), as amended, 

7 is further amended— 

8 (1) in subparagraph (D) by striking 

9 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

10 (2) in subparagraph (E) by adding 

11 ‘‘or’’ at the end; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(F) the national nanotechnology 

15 strategic plan required under section 

16 2(c)(4) of the 21st Century Nanotech17 nology Research and Development 

18 Act (15 U.S.C. 7501(c)(4)) and in subse19 quent reports issued by the National 

20 Science and Technology Council 

21 Committee on Technology, focusing 

22 on areas of nanotechnology identified 

23 in such plan;’’. 


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1 (b) STTR.—Section 9(o)(3) of the Small 

2 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(o)(3)) is amend3 ed— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking 

5 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

6 (2) in subparagraph (B) by adding 

7 ‘‘or’’ at the end; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(C) by the national nanotechnol11 ogy strategic plan required under 

12 section 2(c)(4) of the 21st Century 

13 Nanotechnology Research and Devel14 opment Act (15 U.S.C. 7501(c)(4)) and 

15 in subsequent reports issued by the 

16 National Science and Technology 

17 Council Committee on Technology, fo18 cusing on areas of nanotechnology 

19 identified in such plan;’’. 

20 SEC. 204. CLARIFYING THE DEFINITION OF ‘‘PHASE 

21 THREE’’. 

22 Section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 

23 U.S.C. 638(e)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (4)(C) in the matter 

25 preceding clause (i) by inserting after ‘‘a 


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1 third phase’’ the following: ‘‘, which shall 

2 consist of work that derives from, ex3 tends, or logically concludes efforts per4 formed under prior SBIR funding agree5 ments (which may be referred to as 

6 ‘Phase III’)’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (8) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

8 at the end; 

9 (3) in paragraph (9) by striking the 

10 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

11 and 

12 (4) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(10) the term ‘commercialization’ 

15 means the process of developing market16 able products or services and producing 

17 and delivering products or services for 

18 sale (whether by the originating party or 

19 by others) to government or commercial 

20 markets.’’. 

21 SEC. 205. AGENCY RESEARCH GOALS. 

22 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

23 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is further amended 

24 by striking subsection (h) and inserting the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(h) AGENCY RESEARCH GOALS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the 

3 requirements of subsection (f), each Fed4 eral agency that is required by this sec5 tion to have an SBIR program and that 

6 awards annually $5,000,000,000 or more 

7 in procurement contracts shall, effective 

8 for fiscal year 2010 and each fiscal year 

9 thereafter, establish annual goals for 

10 commercialization of projects funded by 

11 SBIR awards. 

12 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC GOALS.—The goals re13 quired by paragraph (1) shall include 

14 specific goals for each of the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) The percentage of SBIR 

16 projects that receive funding for the 

17 third phase (as defined in subsection 

18 (e)(4)(C)). 

19 ‘‘(B) The percentage of SBIR 

20 projects that are successfully inte21 grated into a program of record. 

22 ‘‘(C) The amount of Federal dol23 lars received by SBIR projects 

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1 cluding dollars received through the 

2 SBIR program. 

3 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION TO COMMITTEES.—For 

4 each fiscal year for which goals are re5 quired by paragraph (1), the agency shall 

6 submit to the Committee on Small Busi7 ness and the Committee on Science and 

8 Technology of the House of Representa9 tives and the Committee on Small Busi10 ness and Entrepreneurship of the Sen11 ate— 

12 ‘‘(A) not later than 60 days after 

13 the beginning of the fiscal year, the 

14 goals; and 

15 ‘‘(B) not later than 90 days after 

16 the end of the fiscal year, data on the 

17 extent to which the goals were met 

18 and a description of the methodology 

19 used to collect such data.’’. 

20 SEC. 206. COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAMS. 

21 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

22 U.S.C. 638) as amended, is further amended, 

23 by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(bb) COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAMS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each agency re2 quired by this section to conduct an SBIR 

3 program shall establish a commercializa4 tion program that supports the progress 

5 of SBIR awardees to the third phase. The 

6 commercialization program may include 

7 activities such as partnership databases, 

8 partnership conferences, multiple second 

9 phases, mentoring between prime con10 tractors and SBIR awardees, multiple 

11 second phases with matching private in12 vestment requirements, jumbo awards, 

13 SBIR helpdesks, and transition assistance 

14 programs. The agency shall include in its 

15 annual report an analysis of the various 

16 activities considered for inclusion in the 

17 commercialization program and a state18 ment of the reasons why each activity 

19 considered was included or not included, 

20 as the case may be. 

21 ‘‘(2) FUNDING FOR COMMERCIALIZATION

22 PROGRAMS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—From amounts 

24 made available to carry out this para25 graph, the Administrator may, on peVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:34 Jul 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6202 E:\BILLS\H2965.RH H2965

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1 tition by agencies required by this 

2 section to conduct an SBIR program, 

3 transfer funds to such agencies to 

4 support the commercialization pro5 grams of such agencies. 

6 ‘‘(B) PETITIONS.—The Adminis7 trator shall establish rules for making 

8 transfers under subparagraph (A). 

9 The initial set of rules shall be pro10 mulgated not later than 90 days after 

11 the date of the enactment of this 

12 paragraph. 

13 ‘‘(C) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA14 TIONS.—There is authorized to be ap15 propriated to the Administrator to 

16 carry out this paragraph $27,500,000 

17 for fiscal year 2010 and each fiscal 

18 year thereafter. 

19 ‘‘(3) FUNDING LIMITATION.—For pay20 ment of expenses incurred to administer 

21 the commercialization programs de22 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2), the 

23 head of an agency may use not more than 

24 an amount equal to 1 percent of the 

25 funds set aside for the agency’s Small 


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1 Business Innovation Research program. 

2 Such funds— 

3 ‘‘(A) shall not be subject to the 

4 limitations on the use of funds in sub5 section (f)(2); and 

6 ‘‘(B) shall not be used for the pur7 pose of funding costs associated with 

8 salaries and expenses of employees of 

9 the Federal Government.’’. 

10 TITLE III—RURAL 

11 DEVELOPMENT AND OUTREACH 

12 SEC. 301. OUTREACH AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES. 

13 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

14 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is further amended 

15 by inserting after subsection (r) the following: 

16 ‘‘(s) OUTREACH AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the other 

18 provisions of this subsection, the Admin19 istrator shall make grants on a competi20 tive basis to organizations, to be used by 

21 the organizations to do one or both of the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(A) To conduct outreach efforts 

24 to increase participation in the pro25 grams under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(B) To provide application sup2 port and entrepreneurial and busi3 ness skills support to prospective par4 ticipants in the programs under this 

5 section. 

6 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA7 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appro8 priated to the Administrator $10,000,000 

9 to carry out paragraph (1) for each of fis10 cal years 2010 and 2011. 

11 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—For each 

12 of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para13 graph (1), the amount of assistance pro14 vided to an organization under that sub15 paragraph in any fiscal year— 

16 ‘‘(A) shall be equal to the total 

17 amount of matching funds from non18 Federal sources provided by the orga19 nization; and 

20 ‘‘(B) shall not exceed $250,000. 

21 ‘‘(4) DIRECTION.—An organization re22 ceiving funds under paragraph (1) shall, 

23 in using those funds, direct its activities 

24 at one or both of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Small business concerns lo2 cated in geographic areas that are 

3 underrepresented in the programs 

4 under this section. 

5 ‘‘(B) Small business concerns 

6 owned and controlled by women, 

7 small business concerns owned and 

8 controlled by service-disabled vet9 erans, and small business concerns 

10 owned and controlled by minorities. 

11 ‘‘(5) ADVISORY BOARD.— 

12 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later 

13 than 90 days after the date of the en14 actment of this subsection, the Ad15 ministrator shall establish an advi16 sory board for the activities carried 

17 out under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(B) NON-APPLICABILITY OF FACA.— 

19 The Federal Advisory Committee Act 

20 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the 

21 advisory board. 

22 ‘‘(C) MEMBERS.—The members of 

23 the advisory board shall include the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The Administrator (or the 

2 Administrator’s designee). 

3 ‘‘(ii) For each Federal agency 

4 required by this section to con5 duct an SBIR program, the head 

6 of the agency (or the designee of 

7 the head of the agency). 

8 ‘‘(iii) Representatives of small 

9 business concerns that are cur10 rent or former recipients of SBIR 

11 awards, or representatives of or12 ganizations of such concerns. 

13 ‘‘(iv) Representatives of serv14 ice providers of SBIR outreach 

15 and assistance, or representatives 

16 of organizations of such service 

17 providers. 

18 ‘‘(D) DUTIES.—The advisory board 

19 shall have the following duties: 

20 ‘‘(i) To develop guidelines for 

21 awards under paragraph (1), in22 cluding guidelines relating to 

23 award sizes, proposal require24 ments, measures for monitoring 

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1 ures for determining the overall 

2 value of the activities carried out 

3 by the awardees. 

4 ‘‘(ii) To identify opportunities 

5 for coordinated outreach, tech6 nical assistance, and commer7 cialization activities among Fed8 eral agencies, the recipients of 

9 the awards under paragraph (1), 

10 and applicants and recipients of 

11 SBIR awards, including opportu12 nities such as— 

13 ‘‘(I) podcasting or 

14 webcasting for conferences, 

15 training workshops, and other 

16 events; 

17 ‘‘(II) shared online re18 sources to match prospective 

19 applicants with the network 

20 of paragraph (1) recipients; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(III) venture capital con23 ferences tied to technologies 

24 and sectors that cross agen25 cies. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) To review and rec2 ommend revisions to activities 

3 under paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(iv) To submit to the Com5 mittee on Small Business and En6 trepreneurship of the Senate and 

7 the Committee on Small Business 

8 and the Committee on Science 

9 and Technology of the House of 

10 Representatives an annual report 

11 on the activities carried out 

12 under paragraph (1) and the ef13 fectiveness and impact of those 

14 activities. 

15 ‘‘(6) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In awarding 

16 grants under this subsection, the Admin17 istrator shall use selection criteria devel18 oped by the advisory board established 

19 under paragraph (5). The criteria shall 

20 include— 

21 ‘‘(A) criteria designed to give pref22 erence to applicants who propose to 

23 carry out activities that will reach ei24 ther an underperforming geographic 

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1 lation group (as measured by the 

2 number of SBIR applicants); 

3 ‘‘(B) criteria designed to give pref4 erence to applicants who propose to 

5 carry out activities that complement, 

6 and are integrated into, the existing 

7 public-private innovation support 

8 system for the targeted region or pop9 ulation; 

10 ‘‘(C) criteria designed to give pref11 erence to applicants who propose to 

12 measure the effectiveness of the pro13 posed activities; and 

14 ‘‘(D) criteria designed to give 

15 preference to applicants who include 

16 a Small Business Development Center 

17 program that is accredited for its 

18 technology services. 

19 ‘‘(7) PEER REVIEW.—In awarding 

20 grants under this subsection, the Admin21 istrator shall use a peer review process. 

22 Reviewers shall include— 

23 ‘‘(A) SBIR program managers for 

24 agencies required by this section to 

25 conduct SBIR programs; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) private individuals and orga2 nizations that are knowledgeable 

3 about SBIR, the innovation process, 

4 technology commercialization, and 

5 State and regional technology-based 

6 economic development programs. 

7 ‘‘(8) PER-STATE LIMITATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to 

9 receive a grant under this subsection, 

10 the applicant must have the written 

11 endorsement of the Governor of the 

12 State where the targeted regions or 

13 populations are located (if the re14 gions or populations are located in 

15 more than one State, the applicant 

16 must have the written endorsement 

17 of the Governor of each such State). 

18 Such an endorsement must indicate 

19 that the Governor will ensure that 

20 the activities to be carried out under 

21 the grant will be integrated with the 

22 balance of the State’s portfolio of in23 vestments to help small business con24 cerns commercialize technology. 


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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Each fiscal year, 

2 a Governor may have in effect not 

3 more than one written endorsement 

4 for a grant under paragraph (1)(A), 

5 and not more than one written en6 dorsement for a grant under para7 graph (1)(B). 

8 ‘‘(9) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR

9 AWARDS.—In making awards under para10 graph (1) the Administrator shall ensure 

11 that each award shall be for a period of 

12 2 fiscal years. The Administrator shall es13 tablish rules and performance goals for 

14 the disbursement of funds for the second 

15 fiscal year, and funds shall not be dis16 bursed to a recipient for such a fiscal 

17 year until after the advisory board estab18 lished under this subsection has deter19 mined that the recipient is in compliance 

20 with the rules and performance goals.’’. 

21 SEC. 302. RURAL PREFERENCE. 

22 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

23 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is further amended 

24 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(cc) RURAL PREFERENCE.—In making 

2 awards under this section, Federal agencies 

3 shall give priority to applications so as to in4 crease the number of SBIR and STTR award 

5 recipients from rural areas.’’. 

6 SEC. 303. OBTAINING SBIR APPLICANT’S CONSENT TO RE7 LEASE CONTACT INFORMATION TO ECO8 NOMIC DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS. 

9 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

10 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is further amended 

11 by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(dd) CONSENT TO RELEASE CONTACT IN13 FORMATION TO ORGANIZATIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ENABLING CONCERN TO GIVE CON15 SENT.—Each Federal agency required by 

16 this section to conduct an SBIR program 

17 shall enable a small business concern 

18 that is an SBIR applicant to indicate to 

19 the agency whether the agency has its 

20 consent to— 

21 ‘‘(A) identify the concern to ap22 propriate local and State-level eco23 nomic development organizations as 

24 an SBIR applicant; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) release the concern’s contact 

2 information to such organizations. 

3 ‘‘(2) RULES.—The Administrator shall 

4 establish rules to implement this sub5 section. The rules shall include a require6 ment that the agency include in its SBIR 

7 application forms a provision through 

8 which the applicant can indicate consent 

9 for purposes of paragraph (1).’’. 

10 SEC. 304. INCREASED PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN SBIR 

11 AWARDEES AND PRIME CONTRACTORS, VEN12 TURE CAPITAL INVESTMENT COMPANIES, 

13 AND LARGER BUSINESSES. 

14 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

15 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is further amended 

16 by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(ee) INCREASED PARTNERSHIPS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each agency re19 quired by this section to conduct an SBIR 

20 program shall establish initiatives by 

21 which the agency encourages partner22 ships between SBIR awardees and prime 

23 contractors, venture capital investment 

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1 tating the progress of the SBIR awardees 

2 to the third phase. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, 

4 the term ‘business incubator’ means an 

5 entity that provides coordinated and spe6 cialized services to entrepreneurial busi7 nesses which meet selected criteria dur8 ing the businesses’ startup phases, in9 cluding providing services such as shared 

10 office space and office services, access to 

11 equipment, access to telecommunications 

12 and technology services, flexible leases, 

13 specialized management assistance, ac14 cess to financing, mentoring and training 

15 services, or other coordinated business or 

16 technical support services designed to 

17 provide business development assistance 

18 to entrepreneurial businesses during 

19 these businesses’ startup phases.’’. 


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1 TITLE IV—SBIR AND STTR 

2 ENHANCEMENT 

3 SEC. 401. INCREASED NUMBER OF RESEARCH TOPIC SO4 LICITATIONS ANNUALLY AND SHORTENED 

5 PERIOD FOR FINAL DECISIONS ON APPLICA6 TIONS. 

7 (a) INCREASED NUMBER OF RESEARCH TOPIC

8 SOLICITATIONS ANNUALLY.—Section 9(g)(2) of 

9 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(g)(2)) is 

10 amended by inserting before the semicolon at 

11 the end the following: ‘‘, but not less often 

12 than twice per year’’. 

13 (b) SHORTENED PERIOD FOR FINAL DECI14 SIONS ON APPLICATIONS.—Section 9(g)(4) of the 

15 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(g)(4)) is 

16 amended by inserting before the semicolon at 

17 the end the following: ‘‘, but a final decision 

18 on each proposal shall be rendered not later 

19 than 90 days after the date on which the solic20 itation closes unless the Administrator deter21 mines, on a case by case basis, that a decision 

22 may be extended from 90 days to 180 days’’. 


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1 SEC. 402. AGENCIES SHOULD FUND VITAL R&D PROJECTS 

2 WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR COMMERCIALIZA3 TION. 

4 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is further amended 

6 by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(ff) MULTIPLE FIRST PHASE SBIR AWARDS

8 REPORT.—The Administrator shall, on an an9 nual basis, submit to the Committee on Small 

10 Business and the Committee on Science and 

11 Technology of the House of Representatives 

12 and the Committee on Small Business and En13 trepreneurship of the Senate a list identifying 

14 each small business concern that, for the pe15 riod covered by the preceding 5 fiscal years, 

16 received 15 or more first phase SBIR awards 

17 and no second phase SBIR awards.’’. 

18 SEC. 403. FEDERAL AGENCY ENGAGEMENT WITH SBIR 

19 AWARDEES THAT HAVE BEEN AWARDED MUL20 TIPLE PHASE ONE AWARDS BUT HAVE NOT 

21 BEEN AWARDED PHASE TWO AWARDS. 

22 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

23 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is further amended 

24 by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(gg) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO FEDERAL

26 AGENCY ENGAGEMENT WITH CERTAIN FIRST


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1 PHASE SBIR AWARDEES.—Each Federal agency 

2 required by this section to conduct an SBIR 

3 program shall engage with SBIR awardees 

4 that have been awarded multiple first phase 

5 SBIR awards but have not been awarded any 

6 second phase SBIR awards and shall develop 

7 performance measures with respect to award8 ee progression in the SBIR program.’’. 

9 SEC. 404. FUNDING FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, OVERSIGHT, 

10 AND CONTRACT PROCESSING COSTS. 

11 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is further amended 

13 by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(hh) ASSISTANCE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, 

15 OVERSIGHT, AND CONTRACT PROCESSING

16 COSTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts 

18 made available to carry out this sub19 section, the Administrator may, on peti20 tion by Federal agencies required by this 

21 section to conduct an SBIR program, 

22 transfer funds to such agencies to assist 

23 with the administrative, oversight, and 

24 contract processing costs relating to such 

25 program. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PETITIONS.—The Administrator 

2 shall establish rules for making transfers 

3 under paragraph (1). The initial set of 

4 rules shall be promulgated not later than 

5 180 days after the date of the enactment 

6 of this subsection. 

7 ‘‘(3) LIMIT ON TRANSFER.—A Federal 

8 agency may not receive under this sub9 section in a fiscal year an amount greater 

10 than 3 percent of the SBIR budget of 

11 such agency for such fiscal year. 

12 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA13 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appro14 priated to the Administrator to carry out 

15 this subsection $27,500,000 for each of fis16 cal years 2010 and 2011.’’. 

17 SEC. 405. COMPTROLLER GENERAL AUDIT OF HOW FED18 ERAL AGENCIES CALCULATE EXTRAMURAL 

19 RESEARCH BUDGETS. 

20 The Comptroller General of the United 

21 States shall carry out a detailed audit of how 

22 Federal agencies calculate extramural re23 search budgets for purposes of calculating the 

24 size of the agencies’ Small Business Innova25 tion Research Program and Small Business 


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1 Technology Transfer Program budgets. Not 

2 later than 1 year after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

4 shall submit to the Committee on Small Busi5 ness and the Committee on Science and Tech6 nology of the House of Representatives and 

7 the Committee on Small Business and Entre8 preneurship of the Senate a report on the re9 sults of the audit. 

10 SEC. 406. AGENCY DATABASES TO SUPPORT PROGRAM 

11 EVALUATION. 

12 Section 9(k) of the Small Business Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 638(k)) is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

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

16 clause (ii); 

17 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end 

18 of clause (iii); and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the fol20 lowing new clause: 

21 ‘‘(iv) information on the own22 ership structure of award recipi23 ents, both at the time of receipt of 

24 the award and upon completion 

25 of the award period;’’; 


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1 (2) by amending paragraph (3) to 

2 read as follows: 

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

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Federal agen6 cy shall not make a Phase I or Phase 

7 II payment to a small business con8 cern under this section unless the 

9 small business concern has provided 

10 all information required under this 

11 subsection and available at the time 

12 with respect to the award under 

13 which the payment is made, and with 

14 respect to any other award under this 

15 section previously received by the 

16 small business concern or a prede17 cessor in interest to the small busi18 ness concern. 

19 ‘‘(B) APPORTIONMENT.—In com20 plying with this paragraph, a small 

21 business concern may apportion sales 

22 or additional investment information 

23 relating to more than one second 

24 phase award among those awards, if 


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1 it notes the apportionment for each 

2 award. 

3 ‘‘(C) ANNUAL UPDATES UPON TERMI4 NATION.—A small business concern re5 ceiving an award under this section 

6 shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) in the case of a second 

8 phase award, update information 

9 in the databases required under 

10 paragraphs (2) and (6) concerning 

11 that award at the termination of 

12 the award period; 

13 ‘‘(ii) in the case of award re14 cipients not described in clause 

15 (iii), be requested to voluntarily 

16 update such information annually 

17 thereafter for a period of 5 years; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a small 

20 business concern applying for a 

21 subsequent first phase or second 

22 phase award, be required to up23 date such information annually 

24 thereafter for a period of 5 

25 years.’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following 

2 new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(6) AGENCY PROGRAM EVALUATION

4 DATABASES.—Each Federal agency re5 quired to establish an SBIR or STTR pro6 gram under this section shall develop 

7 and maintain, for the purpose of evalu8 ating such programs, a database con9 taining information required to be con10 tained in the database under paragraph 

11 (2). Each such database shall be designed 

12 to be accessible to other agencies that are 

13 required to maintain a database under 

14 this paragraph. Each such database shall 

15 be developed and operated in a manner 

16 to ensure that each such database is rel17 evant to and contributes to the agency’s 

18 oversight and evaluation of the SBIR and 

19 STTR programs. Paragraphs (4) and (5) 

20 apply to each database under this para21 graph.’’. 

22 SEC. 407. AGENCY DATABASES TO SUPPORT TECHNOLOGY 

23 UTILIZATION. 

24 Section 9(k) of the Small Business Act (15 

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1 ed by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(7) AGENCY DATABASES TO SUPPORT

4 TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION.—Each Federal 

5 agency with an SBIR or STTR program 

6 shall create and maintain a technology 

7 utilization database, which shall be avail8 able to the public and shall contain data 

9 supplied by the award recipients specifi10 cally to help them attract customers for 

11 the products and services generated 

12 under the SBIR or STTR project, and to 

13 attract additional investors and business 

14 partners. Each database created under 

15 this paragraph shall include information 

16 on the other databases created under this 

17 paragraph by other Federal agencies. 

18 Participation in a database under this 

19 paragraph shall be voluntary, except that 

20 such participation is required of all 

21 award recipients who received supple22 mental payments from SBIR and STTR 

23 program funds above their initial Phase 

24 II award. Each database created under 

25 this paragraph shall be developed and 


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1 operated in a manner to ensure that each 

2 such database is relevant to and contrib3 utes to the agency’s oversight and evalua4 tion of the SBIR and STTR programs.’’. 

5 SEC. 408. INTERAGENCY POLICY COMMITTEE. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the 

7 Office of Science and Technology Policy shall 

8 establish an Interagency SBIR/STTR Policy 

9 Committee comprised of one representative 

10 from each Federal agency with an SBIR pro11 gram and the Office of Management and 

12 Budget. 

13 (b) COCHAIRS.—The Director of the Office 

14 of Science and Technology Policy and the Di15 rector of the National Institute of Standards 

16 and Technology shall jointly chair the Inter17 agency SBIR/STTR Policy Committee. 

18 (c) DUTIES.—The Interagency SBIR/STTR 

19 Policy Committee shall review the following 

20 issues and make policy recommendations on 

21 ways to improve program effectiveness and 

22 efficiency: 

23 (1) The public and government data24 bases described in section 9(k) (1) and (2) 


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1 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

2 638(k) (1) and (2)). 

3 (2) Federal agency flexibility in estab4 lishing Phase I and II award sizes, and 

5 appropriate criteria to exercise such 

6 flexibility. 

7 (3) Commercialization assistance best 

8 practices in Federal agencies with signifi9 cant potential to be employed by other 

10 agencies, and the appropriate steps to 

11 achieve that leverage, as well as pro12 posals for new initiatives to address 

13 funding gaps business concerns face after 

14 Phase II but before commercialization. 

15 (4) Development and incorporation of 

16 a standard evaluation framework to en17 able systematic assessment of SBIR and 

18 STTR, including through improved track19 ing of awards and outcomes and develop20 ment of performance measures for indi21 vidual agency programs. 

22 (d) REPORTS.—The Interagency SBIR/ 

23 STTR Policy Committee shall transmit to the 

24 Committee on Science and Technology and 

25 the Committee on Small Business of the 


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1 House of Representatives, and to the Com2 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneur3 ship of the Senate— 

4 (1) a report on its review and rec5 ommendations under subsections (c)(1) 

6 and (c)(4) not later than 1 year after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act; 

8 (2) a report on its review and rec9 ommendations under subsection (c)(2) 

10 not later than 18 months after the date of 

11 enactment of this Act; and 

12 (3) a report on its review and rec13 ommendations under subsection (c)(3) 

14 not later than 2 years after the date of 

15 enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 409. NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL SBIR STUDY. 

17 Section 108(d) of the Small Business Reau18 thorization Act of 2000 (15 U.S.C. 638 note), 

19 enacted into law by reference under section 

20 1(a)(9) of the Consolidated Appropriations 

21 Act, 2001 (Public Law 106–554), is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘of the Senate’’ and all 

23 that follows through ‘‘not later than 3’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘of the Senate, not later 

25 than 3’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and all that fol2 lows through ‘‘update of such report’’. 

3 SEC. 410. EXPRESS AUTHORITY TO ‘‘FAST-TRACK’’ PHASE 

4 TWO AWARDS FOR PROMISING PHASE ONE 

5 RESEARCH. 

6 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is further amended 

8 by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(ii) AUTHORITY TO ‘FAST-TRACK’ PHASE

10 TWO AWARDS FOR PROMISING PHASE ONE RE11 SEARCH.—To address the delay between an 

12 award for the first phase of an SBIR program 

13 and the application for and extension of an 

14 award for the second phase of such program, 

15 each Federal agency with an SBIR program 

16 may develop ‘fast-track’ programs to elimi17 nate such delay by issuing second phase SBIR 

18 awards as soon as practicable, including in 

19 appropriate cases simultaneously with the 

20 issuance of the first phase SBIR award. The 

21 Administrator shall encourage the develop22 ment of such ‘fast-track’ programs.’’. 

23 SEC. 411. INCREASED SBIR AND STTR AWARD LEVELS. 

24 (a) SBIR AWARD LEVEL AND ANNUAL AD25 JUSTMENTS.—Section 9(j) of the Small Business 


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1 Act (15 U.S.C. 638(j)) is amended by adding at 

2 the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(4) FURTHER ADDITIONAL MODIFICA4 TIONS.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

5 of enactment of this paragraph and notwith6 standing paragraph (2)(D), the Administrator 

7 shall modify the policy directives issued pur8 suant to this subsection to provide for an in9 crease to $250,000 in the amount of funds 

10 which an agency may award in the first phase 

11 of an SBIR program, and to $2,000,000 in the 

12 second phase of an SBIR program, and a man13 datory annual adjustment of such amounts to 

14 reflect economic adjustments and pro15 grammatic considerations.’’. 

16 (b) STTR AWARD LEVEL AND ANNUAL AD17 JUSTMENTS.—Section 9(p)(2)(B)(ix) of the 

18 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(p)(2)(B)(ix)) 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and 

21 ‘‘$750,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$250,000’’ and 

22 ‘‘$2,000,000’’, respectively; and 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘greater or lesser 

24 amounts’’ and inserting ‘‘with a manda25 tory annual adjustment of such amounts 


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1 to reflect economic adjustments and pro2 grammatic considerations, and with less3 er amounts’’. 

4 (c) LIMITATION ON CERTAIN AWARDS.—Sec5 tion 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 638), as amended, is further amended by add7 ing at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(jj) LIMITATION ON PHASE I AND II 

9 AWARDS.—No Federal agency shall issue an 

10 award under the SBIR program or the STTR 

11 program if the size of the award exceeds the 

12 amounts established under subsections (j)(4) 

13 and (p)(2)(B)(ix).’’. 

14 SEC. 412. EXPRESS AUTHORITY FOR AN AGENCY TO AWARD 

15 SEQUENTIAL PHASE TWO AWARDS FOR SBIR16 FUNDED PROJECTS. 

17 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is further amended 

19 by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(kk) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO ADDI21 TIONAL SECOND PHASE SBIR AWARDS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A small business 

23 concern that receives a second phase 

24 SBIR award for a project remains eligible 


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1 to receive additional second phase SBIR 

2 awards for such project. 

3 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL OR WEAPONS SYSTEMS.— 

4 Agencies are expressly authorized to pro5 vide additional second phase SBIR 

6 awards for testing and evaluation assist7 ance for the insertion of SBIR tech8 nologies into technical or weapons sys9 tems.’’. 

10 SEC. 413. FIRST PHASE REQUIRED. 

11 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 638), as amended, is further amended 

13 by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(ll) FIRST PHASE REQUIRED.—Under this 

15 section, a Federal agency shall provide to a 

16 small business concern an award for the sec17 ond phase of an SBIR program with respect 

18 to a project only if such agency finds that the 

19 small business concern has been provided an 

20 award for the first phase of an SBIR program 

21 with respect to such project or has completed 

22 the determinations described in subsection 

23 (e)(4)(A) with respect to such project despite 

24 not having been provided an award for the 

25 first phase.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 102 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2965 

[Report No. 111–190, Parts I and II] 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act with respect to 

fer Program, and for other purposes. gram and the Small Business Technology Transthe Small Business Innovation Research ProJULY 7, 2009 

Reported from the Committee on Science and Technology 

with an amendment 


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