[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 61 (Tuesday, March 31, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17025-17026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07373]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 61 / Tuesday, March 31, 2015 / 
Notices  

[[Page 17025]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

National Institute of Food and Agriculture


Notice of Intent To Request Approval To Establish a New 
Information Collection

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, that implement the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the National 
Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) intention to request 
approval to establish a new information collection for the Small 
Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by June 4, 
2015, to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by any of the following 
methods: Email: [email protected]; Fax: 202-720-0857; Mail: Office 
of Information Technology (OIT), NIFA, USDA, STOP 2216, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-2216.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Martin, Records Officer; Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.
    OMB Number: 0524--New.
    Type of Request: Intent to request approval to establish a new 
information collection for three years.
    Abstract: The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program at 
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) makes competitively 
awarded grants to qualified small businesses to support high quality, 
advanced concepts research related to important scientific problems and 
opportunities in agriculture that could lead to significant public 
benefit if successful.
    The USDA SBIR Program Office proposes to contact Phase II awardees 
to determine their success in achieving commercial application of a 
market ready technology that was funded under the USDA SBIR Program. 
The survey would collect information from Phase II companies that 
received funding during the years of 1994 to 2014.
    Data from the survey will be used to provide information that 
currently does not exist. The data will be used internally by the USDA 
SBIR Office to identify past and current activities of Phase II 
grantees in the areas of technology development, commercialization 
success, product development or services, and factors that may have 
prevented the technology from entering into the market place. Depending 
on the results of the survey, information from the survey will be used 
to highlight commercialization successes within the small business 
community; improve and refine program interactions with, and 
responsiveness to, the small business community; potentially refocus 
the strategies that are used to accomplish SBIR objectives for 
commercialization; and identify areas in need of improvement and 
enhancement. This survey will not be used to formulate or change 
policies. Rather, it will be used to enable the USDA SBIR Office to be 
responsive to its constituents and document successes within the USDA 
SBIR Program.
    The objectives of the SBIR Program are to: Stimulate technological 
innovations in the private sector; strengthen the role of small 
businesses in meeting Federal research and development needs; increase 
private sector commercialization of innovations derived from USDA-
supported research and development efforts; and foster and encourage 
participation by women-owned and socially and economically 
disadvantaged small business firms in technological innovations.
    The USDA SBIR program is carried out in three separate phases:
    1. Phase I awards to determine, insofar as possible, the scientific 
and technical merit and feasibility of ideas that appear to have 
commercial potential.
    2. Phase II awards to further develop work from Phase I that meets 
particular program needs and exhibits potential for commercial 
application.
    3. Phase III awards where commercial applications of SBIR-funded 
Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) are funded by non-Federal 
sources of capital; or where products, services or further research 
intended for use by the Federal Government are funded by follow-on non-
SBIR Federal Funding Agreements.
    The USDA SBIR Program is administered by NIFA of the USDA. NIFA 
exercises overall oversight for the policies and procedures governing 
SBIR grants awarded to the U.S. small business community, representing 
approximately 2.5% to 2.8% of the USDA extramural R/R&D budget. This 
represents approximately $201M in Phase II grants awarded to the U.S. 
small business community from 1994 to 2014.

Plan

    A total of 499 USDA SBIR Phase II grants were awarded to small 
businesses between 1994 and 2014, and the USDA SBIR Program plans to 
contact past Phase II awardees to determine their success in achieving 
commercial application of a market ready technology under Phase III.
    The survey will be administered through a USDA led contract where a 
contractor will perform an initial web based survey administered 
through a secure Internet link with a telephone interview and/or in 
person interview as a follow-up with SBIR Phase II grantees. Both the 
web based survey and telephone/in person interviews will consist of a 
series of questions that relate to the commercial status of the 
technology developed with USDA SBIR Phase II funding as well as general 
questions regarding the USDA SBIR Program. The USDA SBIR Program office 
will coordinate the initial contact with the Phase II companies in an 
effort to introduce the scope of the survey, provide straightforward 
instructions and facilitate the survey work that the contractor will 
initiate and complete. Phase II companies that do not respond within 
two weeks to the initial contact from the USDA SBIR Program Office will 
be sent a second request by email

[[Page 17026]]

or by phone to respond. It is envisioned that the contractor would then 
conduct the web based survey and interviews thereafter.
    Estimate of Burden: NIFA used burden estimates administered through 
contractor led web based survey to estimate the burden for SBIR, but 
anticipates the transactions for project initiation may be reduced 
because grant application information will be used to prepopulate many 
fields. The total annual burden for the SBIR Program collection is 2500 
hours.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                  Average time
            Types of respondents                 Number of       Frequency of     per response    Annual burden
                                                respondents        response          hours       hours requested
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
USDA SBIR Phase II Grantees.................             500                1                5             2500
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Comments: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Agency, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of 
the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request to OMB for approval. All comments will become a matter of 
public record.
    Obtaining a Copy of the Information Collection: A copy of the 
information collection and related instructions may be obtained free of 
charge by contacting Robert Martin as directed above.

    Done at Washington, DC, this 23rd day of March, 2015.
Catherine E. Woteki,
Under Secretary, Research, Education, and Economics.
[FR Doc. 2015-07373 Filed 3-30-15; 8:45 am]
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