I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2769 
To amend the Small Business Act to promote the commercialization of certain 
small business research and development projects, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 9, 2009 
Mr. BRIGHT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on Science 
and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Small Business Act to promote the commer-
cialization of certain small business research and develop-
ment projects, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercializing Small 
Business Research and Development Act’’. 
SEC. 2. 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: 
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‘‘It is further the policy of Congress that the programs 
established in this section should focus on promoting re-
search and development of projects governed by commer-
cial business plans, which have significant potential to 
produce products or services for the marketplace or for 
acquisition by Federal agencies.’’. 
SEC. 3. 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 fol-
lowing: ‘‘or pressing research priorities’’; 
(2) at the end of subparagraph (A) by striking 
‘‘or’’; 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 
Innovative Technology Administration, and in 
subsequent reports issued by the National 
Academy of Sciences and United States Depart-
ment of Transportation on transportation and 
infrastructure;’’. 
SEC. 4. 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 amend-
ed— 
(1) at the end of subparagraph (D) by striking 
‘‘or’’; 
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(2) at the end of subparagraph (E) by adding 
‘‘or’’; and 
(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 Tech-
nology, 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) at the end of subparagraph (A) by striking 
‘‘or’’; 
(2) at the end of subparagraph (B) by adding 
‘‘or’’; 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 
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Technology, focusing on areas of nanotechnol-
ogy identified in such plan;’’. 
SEC. 5. 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 per-
formed 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 serv-
ices and producing and delivering products or serv-
ices for sale (whether by the originating party or by 
others) to government or commercial markets.’’. 
SEC. 6. AGENCY RESEARCH GOALS. 
Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 
is amended by striking subsection (h) and inserting the 
following: 
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‘‘(h) AGENCY RESEARCH GOALS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the require-
ments of subsection (f), each Federal agency that is 
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 fund-
ed 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 re-
ceived by SBIR projects through Federal con-
tracts, not including dollars received through 
the SBIR program. 
‘‘(3) SUBMISSION TO COMMITTEES.—For each 
fiscal year for which goals are required by paragraph 
(1), the agency shall submit to the Committee on 
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Small Business of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre-
neurship of the Senate— 
‘‘(A) not later than 60 days after the be-
ginning 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 
methodology used to collect such data.’’. 
SEC. 7. 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: 
‘‘(aa) COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each agency required by 
this section to conduct an SBIR program shall es-
tablish a commercialization program that supports 
the progress of SBIR awardees to the third phase. 
The commercialization program may include activi-
ties 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 re-
quirements, jumbo awards, SBIR helpdesks, and 
transition assistance programs. The agency shall in-
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clude in its annual report an analysis of the various 
activities considered for inclusion in the commer-
cialization program and a statement of the reasons 
why each activity considered was included or not in-
cluded, 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 sup-
port 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 para-
graph $27,500,000 for fiscal year 2010 and 
each fiscal year thereafter. 
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‘‘(3) FUNDING LIMITATION.—For payment of 
expenses incurred to administer the commercializa-
tion programs described in paragraphs (1) and (2), 
the head of an agency may use not more than an 
amount equal to 1 percent of the funds set aside for 
the agency’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 Govern-
ment.’’. 
Æ 
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