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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle G—Small Business Matters

P. L. 116-92

House Conference Report 116-333

(a) Types of Awards; Award Size; Limitation on Certain Awards.--Section 2359a of title 10, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ``phase II Small Business Technology Transfer Program projects,'' after ``projects,'';

(2) in subsection (b)--

(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``$3,000,000'' and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting ``$6,000,000.''; and

(B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(7) A preference under the program for funding small business concerns.''; and

(3) in subsection (d)--

(A) by striking ``Subject to'' and inserting ``(1) Subject to'';

(B) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by inserting ``and to the limitation under paragraph (2)'' after ``for such purpose''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) During any fiscal year, the total amount of awards in an
amount greater than $3,000,000 made under the program established under subsection (a) may not exceed 25 percent of the amount made available to carry out such program during such fiscal year.''.

(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the program established under section 2359a(a) of title 10, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Defense Research and Development Rapid Innovation Program''), which shall include--

(1) with respect to the two fiscal years preceding the submission of the report--

(A) a description of the total number of proposals funded under the program;

(B) the percent of funds made available under the program for phase II Small Business Innovation Research Program projects (as defined under section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638)); and

(C) a list of phase II Small Business Innovation Research Program projects that received funding under the program that were included in major defense acquisition programs (as defined in section 2430 of title 10, United States Code) and other defense acquisition programs that meet critical national security needs; and

(2) an assessment on the effectiveness of the program in stimulating innovative technologies, reducing acquisition or lifecycle costs, addressing technical risk, and improving the timeliness and thoroughness of test and evaluation outcomes.

The House amendment contained a provision (sec. 878(e)) that would amend section 2359a(b)(3) of title 10, United States Code, to increase the maximum per award threshold for projects participating in the Defense Research and Development Rapid Innovation Program from $3.0 million per award to $6.0 million per award, and would direct the Secretary of Defense to report on activities under the program, to include summarizing the proposals received, and associated Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program activities, and overall program effectiveness.

The Senate bill contained no similar provision.

The Senate recedes with amendments that would reemphasize the preference under the program for awarding to small business concerns overall, as well as the prioritization of such small business concerns; and would limit the total amount of awards under the program within a fiscal year to no more than 25 percent of the total available for that fiscal year.

House Report 116-120

 Section 878--Improvements to Certain Defense Innovation Programs

This section would create a pilot program within the Department of Defense to encourage engagement with commercial technology companies through the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, and would modify other elements of the innovation architecture within the Department.