SBA Offers Clarifying Changes to Final Policy Directive for SBIR/STTR

In response to public comments on SBIR/STTR rule changes resulting from the National Defense Authorization Act for FY12, the Small Business Administration (SBA) amended its policy directives for the programs, including changes to eligibility and the award process. The amendments also involve minor clarifying changes to ensure participants better understand certain program requirements.

SBA published a final SBIR policy directive on Aug. 6, 2012, implementing provisions of the Defense Reauthorization Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in December 2011. At that time, SBA asked for public input on the final directives, which made several key changes to eligibility, the award process, program administration, and fraud, waste and abuse. Outlined below are some of the resulting amendments for the SBIR program, which became effective Jan. 8, 2014.

·SBA revised and reorganized certain sections to clarify several procedural elements about the time periods used to calculate the transition rate and commercialization rate benchmark requirements. SBA also addressed questions about how agencies determine which firms must comply with the transition rate and commercialization rate benchmarks. The amendment clarifies the time periods used to calculate awardee rates of transition from Phase I to Phase II and provides two examples of the calculation.

·SBA revised procedural elements of the Phase II transition benchmark requirement by changing the start date for the one-year ineligibility period for firms that do not meet the benchmarks. The date was changed from the date of application submission to June 1 of each year. In addition, a procedure was added to notify awardee firms if they are on the ineligible list and to enable firms to provide feedback directly to SBA if they believe their rate was calculated using incomplete award information.

·To clarify SBA’s policy on supplemental Phase II awards, language was relocated to certain sections and a new section was added. The section now clarifies how Phase II awards are calculated when supplemental awards are issued. Furthermore, the section specifies that all supplementary awards must be linked to either an initial Phase II or a sequential Phase II award and are added to the amount of that award for the purpose of determining the size of the Phase II award.

·In response to comments that agency efforts to increase transitions to Phase II of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Commercialization Readiness program could reduce the innovative nature of SBIR awards, SBA added that when DoD reports on its Phase II insertion incentives, it should note efforts to ensure that such incentives do not act to shift the focus of SBIR Phase II awards away from relatively high-risk innovation projects. Additionally, the provisions relating to the use of SBIR funds for the Commercialization Readiness program were amended.

For full details, including several miscellaneous changes, visit: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-01-08/pdf/2013-31374.pdf.

Amendments to the STTR program are available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-01-08/pdf/2013-31376.pdf.