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 Innova-
tion 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 consider-
ation 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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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘En-
hancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act of 
2009’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents 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 re-
search topics as deserving ‘‘special consideration’’ as SBIR re-
search 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 commer-
cialization. 
Sec. 403. Federal agency engagement with SBIR awardees that have been award-
ed 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. 
TITLE I—PROGRAM EXTENSION 
AND VENTURE CAPITAL OP-
ERATING COMPANY INVOLVE-
MENT 
SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF TERMINATION DATES. 
(a) SBIR.—Section 9(m) of the Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 638(m)) is amended by striking ‘‘2008’’ and in-
serting ‘‘2011’’. 
(b) STTR.—Section 9(n)(1)(A) of the Small Business 
Act (15 U.S.C. 638(n)(1)(A)) is amended by striking 
‘‘2009’’ and inserting ‘‘2011’’. 
SEC. 102. ENSURING THAT INNOVATIVE SMALL BUSINESSES 
WITH SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT FROM VEN-
TURE CAPITAL OPERATING COMPANIES ARE 
ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SBIR AND 
STTR PROGRAMS. 
Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(i) is a Venture Capital Operating 
Company, as that term is defined in regula-
tions promulgated by the Secretary of 
Labor; or 
‘‘(ii) is an entity that— 
‘‘(I) is registered under the Invest-
ment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 
80a–51 et seq.); or 
‘‘(II) is an investment company, 
as defined in section 3(c)(1) of such 
Act (15 U.S.C. 80a–3(c)(1)), which is 
not registered under such Act because 
it is beneficially owned by less than 
100 persons; and 
‘‘(B) that is itself organized or incorporated 
and domiciled in the United States, or is con-
trolled by a business concern that is incorporated 
and domiciled in the United States.’’. 
TITLE II—COMMERCIALIZATION 
ACTIVITIES AND RESEARCH 
TOPICS DESERVING SPECIAL 
CONSIDERATION 
SEC. 201. FOCUS ON COMMERCIALIZATION. 
Section 9(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘It 
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is further the policy of Congress that the programs estab-
lished in this section should focus on promoting research 
and development of projects governed by commercial busi-
ness plans, which have significant potential to produce 
products or services for the marketplace or for acquisition 
by Federal agencies.’’. 
SEC. 202. INCLUSION OF ENERGY-RELATED RESEARCH TOP-
ICS AND RARE DISEASE-RELATED RESEARCH 
TOPICS AS DESERVING ‘‘SPECIAL CONSIDER-
ATION’’ AS SBIR RESEARCH TOPICS. 
Section 9(g)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638(g)(3)) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by 
inserting after ‘‘critical technologies’’ the following: 
‘‘or pressing research priorities’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
end; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) the National Academy of Sciences, in 
the final report issued by the ‘America’s Energy 
Future: Technology Opportunities, Risks, and 
Tradeoffs’ project, and in subsequent reports 
issued by the National Academy of Sciences on 
sustainability, energy, and alternative fuels; 
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‘‘(D) the National Institutes of Health, in 
the annual report on the rare diseases research 
activities of the National Institutes of Health for 
fiscal year 2005, and in subsequent reports 
issued by the National Institutes of Health on 
rare diseases research activities; or 
‘‘(E) the National Academy of Sciences, in 
the final report issued by the ‘Transit Research 
and Development: Federal Role in the National 
Program’ project and the ‘Transportation Re-
search, Development and Technology Strategic 
Plan (2006–2010)’ issued by the United States 
Department of Transportation Research and In-
novative Technology Administration, and in sub-
sequent reports issued by the National Academy 
of Sciences and United States Department of 
Transportation on transportation and infra-
structure;’’. 
SEC. 203. NANOTECHNOLOGY-RELATED RESEARCH TOPICS. 
(a) SBIR.—Section 9(g)(3) of the Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 638(g)(3)), as amended, is further amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in subparagraph (E) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 
end; and 
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(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(F) the national nanotechnology strategic 
plan required under section 2(c)(4) of the 21st 
Century Nanotechnology Research and Develop-
ment Act (15 U.S.C. 7501(c)(4)) and in subse-
quent reports issued by the National Science and 
Technology Council Committee on Technology, 
focusing on areas of nanotechnology identified in 
such plan;’’. 
(b) STTR.—Section 9(o)(3) of the Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 638(o)(3)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in subparagraph (B) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 
end; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) by the national nanotechnology stra-
tegic plan required under section 2(c)(4) of the 
21st Century Nanotechnology Research and De-
velopment Act (15 U.S.C. 7501(c)(4)) and in 
subsequent reports issued by the National Science 
and Technology Council Committee on Tech-
nology, focusing on areas of nanotechnology 
identified in such plan;’’. 
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SEC. 204. CLARIFYING THE DEFINITION OF ‘‘PHASE THREE’’. 
Section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638(e)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (4)(C) in the matter preceding 
clause (i) by inserting after ‘‘a third phase’’ the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, which shall consist of work that derives 
from, extends, or logically concludes efforts performed 
under prior SBIR funding agreements (which may be 
referred to as ‘Phase III’)’’; 
(2) in paragraph (8) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(3) in paragraph (9) by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(10) the term ‘commercialization’ means the 
process of developing marketable products or services 
and producing and delivering products or services for 
sale (whether by the originating party or by others) 
to government or commercial markets.’’. 
SEC. 205. AGENCY RESEARCH GOALS. 
Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 
as amended, is further amended by striking subsection (h) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(h) AGENCY RESEARCH GOALS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the require-
ments of subsection (f), each Federal agency that is 
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required by this section to have an SBIR program 
and that awards annually $5,000,000,000 or more in 
procurement contracts shall, effective for fiscal year 
2010 and each fiscal year thereafter, establish annual 
goals for commercialization of projects funded by 
SBIR awards. 
‘‘(2) SPECIFIC GOALS.—The goals required by 
paragraph (1) shall include specific goals for each of 
the following: 
‘‘(A) The percentage of SBIR projects that 
receive funding for the third phase (as defined in 
subsection (e)(4)(C)). 
‘‘(B) The percentage of SBIR projects that 
are successfully integrated into a program of 
record. 
‘‘(C) The amount of Federal dollars received 
by SBIR projects through Federal contracts, not 
including dollars received through the SBIR pro-
gram. 
‘‘(3) SUBMISSION
TO
COMMITTEES.—For each 
fiscal year for which goals are required by paragraph 
(1), the agency shall submit to the Committee on 
Small Business and the Committee on Science and 
Technology of the House of Representatives and the 
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Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 
of the Senate— 
‘‘(A) not later than 60 days after the begin-
ning of the fiscal year, the goals; and 
‘‘(B) not later than 90 days after the end of 
the fiscal year, data on the extent to which the 
goals were met and a description of the method-
ology used to collect such data.’’. 
SEC. 206. COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAMS. 
Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 
as amended, is further amended, by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(bb) COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each agency required by 
this section to conduct an SBIR program shall estab-
lish a commercialization program that supports the 
progress of SBIR awardees to the third phase. The 
commercialization program may include activities 
such as partnership databases, partnership con-
ferences, multiple second phases, mentoring between 
prime contractors and SBIR awardees, multiple sec-
ond phases with matching private investment require-
ments, jumbo awards, SBIR helpdesks, and transition 
assistance programs. The agency shall include in its 
annual report an analysis of the various activities 
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considered for inclusion in the commercialization pro-
gram and a statement of the reasons why each activ-
ity considered was included or not included, as the 
case may be. 
‘‘(2) FUNDING
FOR
COMMERCIALIZATION
PRO-
GRAMS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—From amounts made 
available to carry out this paragraph, the Ad-
ministrator may, on petition by agencies re-
quired by this section to conduct an SBIR pro-
gram, transfer funds to such agencies to support 
the commercialization programs of such agencies. 
‘‘(B) PETITIONS.—The Administrator shall 
establish rules for making transfers under sub-
paragraph (A). The initial set of rules shall be 
promulgated not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this paragraph. 
‘‘(C) 
AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIA-
TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 
to the Administrator to carry out this paragraph 
$27,500,000 for fiscal year 2010 and each fiscal 
year thereafter. 
‘‘(3) FUNDING LIMITATION.—For payment of ex-
penses incurred to administer the commercialization 
programs described in paragraphs (1) and (2), the 
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head of an agency may use not more than an amount 
equal to 1 percent of the funds set aside for the agen-
cy’s Small Business Innovation Research program. 
Such funds— 
‘‘(A) shall not be subject to the limitations 
on the use of funds in subsection (f)(2); and 
‘‘(B) shall not be used for the purpose of 
funding costs associated with salaries and ex-
penses of employees of the Federal Government.’’. 
TITLE III—RURAL 
DEVELOPMENT AND OUTREACH 
SEC. 301. OUTREACH AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES. 
Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 
as amended, is further amended by inserting after sub-
section (r) the following: 
‘‘(s) OUTREACH AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the other provi-
sions of this subsection, the Administrator shall make 
grants on a competitive basis to organizations, to be 
used by the organizations to do one or both of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) To conduct outreach efforts to increase 
participation in the programs under this section. 
‘‘(B) To provide application support and 
entrepreneurial and business skills support to 
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prospective participants in the programs under 
this section. 
‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin-
istrator $10,000,000 to carry out paragraph (1) for 
each of fiscal years 2010 and 2011. 
‘‘(3) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—For each of sub-
paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1), the 
amount of assistance provided to an organization 
under that subparagraph in any fiscal year— 
‘‘(A) shall be equal to the total amount of 
matching funds from non-Federal sources pro-
vided by the organization; and 
‘‘(B) shall not exceed $250,000. 
‘‘(4) DIRECTION.—An organization receiving 
funds under paragraph (1) shall, in using those 
funds, direct its activities at one or both of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) Small business concerns located in geo-
graphic areas that are underrepresented in the 
programs under this section. 
‘‘(B) Small business concerns owned and 
controlled by women, small business concerns 
owned and controlled by service-disabled vet-
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erans, and small business concerns owned and 
controlled by minorities. 
‘‘(5) ADVISORY BOARD.— 
‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of this sub-
section, the Administrator shall establish an ad-
visory board for the activities carried out under 
this subsection. 
‘‘(B) NON-APPLICABILITY
OF
FACA.—The 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 
shall not apply to the advisory board. 
‘‘(C) MEMBERS.—The members of the advi-
sory board shall include the following: 
‘‘(i) The Administrator (or the Admin-
istrator’s designee). 
‘‘(ii) For each Federal agency required 
by this section to conduct an SBIR pro-
gram, the head of the agency (or the des-
ignee of the head of the agency). 
‘‘(iii) Representatives of small business 
concerns that are current or former recipi-
ents of SBIR awards, or representatives of 
organizations of such concerns. 
‘‘(iv) Representatives of service pro-
viders of SBIR outreach and assistance, or 
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