Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “SBIR/STTR Oversight Act”.
SBIR/STTR Oversight Act
A BILL
To amend the reporting requirements for the SBIR and STTR programs, and for other purpose.
Sec. 2 Annual reports to Congress
Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended—
in subsection (g)(9)—
by inserting “the House Committee on Small Business, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship,” after “SBIR program to”;
by inserting a comma after “Administration”; and
by inserting after “Technology Policy” the following: “and publish such report on the website of such Federal agency as soon as practicable”;
in subsection (o)(10)—
by inserting “House Committee on Small Business, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship,” after “STTR program to”;
by inserting a comma after “Administration”; and
by inserting after “Technology Policy” the following: “and publish such report on the website of such Federal agency as soon as practicable”; and
in subsection (gg)(6), by inserting “Congress and” after “agency to”.
Sec. 3 Comptroller General report on diversification and commercialization
In general— Not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a report on the effectiveness of the SBIR and STTR programs with respect to diversification of participants and commercialization.
Contents— The report shall include, to the extent practicable, an assessment of—
the demographics of small business concerns receiving SBIR or STTR awards, including new entrants and underrepresented groups;
the efforts of participating agencies to broaden representation and participation of new entrants and underrepresented groups in the SBIR and STTR programs;
how participating agencies develop solicitation topics and attract applicants;
the efforts of participating agencies to support technology commercialization;
the extent to which the SBIR and STTR awards made by each participating agency align with the research priorities and technology needs of that participating agency; and
such other matters as the Comptroller General, in consultation with the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives, determines appropriate.
Definitions— In this section:
Federal agency; sbir; sttr— The terms Federal agency, SBIR, and STTR have the meanings given such terms in section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e)).
New entrant— The term new entrant means a small business concern that has not previously received an SBIR or STTR award.
Underrepresented groups— The term underrepresented groups means small business concerns located in States with respect to which a low level of SBIR and STTR awards have historically been awarded, small business concerns owned and controlled by women, and small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
Participating agency— The term participating agency means a Federal agency carrying out an SBIR or STTR program under section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638).
Small business concern— The term small business concern has the meaning given such term under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
Small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals; small business concern owned and controlled by women— The terms small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and small business concern owned and controlled by women have the meanings given such terms in section 8(d) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)).
Sec. 4 Extend the report on award timeliness
Section 9(ii)(2)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(ii)(2)(A)) is amended—
in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “3 years” and inserting “11 years”;
in clause (i), by striking “and” at the end;
by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); and
by inserting after clause (i) the following new clause:
“(ii) provides the average and median amount of time that each Federal agency with an SBIR or STTR program takes to review and make a final decision on proposals submitted under the program; and”
Sec. 5 Pilot program to accelerate National Institutes of Health evaluation process
In general— Section 9(hh) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(hh)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(3) Pilot program to accelerate the national institutes of health sbir and sttr awards
“(A) In general—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Director of the National Institutes of Health shall establish a pilot program to reduce the time for awards under the SBIR and STTR programs of the National Institutes of Health.
“(B) Award procedures—In carrying out the pilot program under subparagraph (A), the Director shall develop simplified and standardized procedures across all relevant awarding offices at the National Institutes of Health and reduce the amount of time between the provision of notice of such awards and the subsequent release of funding with respect to the awards to be as close to 90 days as possible.
“(C) Merit review
“(i) In general—Under the pilot program under subparagraph (A), the Director of the National Institutes of Health may, with respect to awards under the SBIR and STTR programs of the National Institute of Health, use such peer review procedures (including consultation with appropriate scientific experts) as the Director determines to be appropriate to obtain assessments of scientific and technical merit and potential for commercialization.
“(ii) Deemed—The use of peer review procedures under clause (i) shall be deemed to fulfill any requirements applicable to the award under the SBIR or STTR program of the National Institute of Health under sections 406(a)(3)(A) and 492 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284a(a)(3)(A); 289a).
“(D) Termination—The pilot program under subparagraph (A) shall terminate on September 30, 2030.”
Evaluation report— Not later than three years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institutes of Health shall submit to the Committees on Small Business and Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate an evaluation of the pilot program established under paragraph (3) of section 9(hh) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(hh)), as added by subsection (a), including an analysis of the peer review procedures used under subparagraph (C) of such paragraph and the effects on award times.