[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 190 (Monday, October 3, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59770-59772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21343]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

National Institute of Food and Agriculture


Notice of Intent To Reinstate and Revise a Previously Approved 
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 this notice announces 
the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) intention to 
reinstate and revise a previously approved information collection, 
entitled Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Survey. This 
information collection replaces an expired information collection, 
entitled

[[Page 59771]]

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by December 2, 
2022 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments.
    Instructions: All comments received will be posted without change 
to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Martin, 202-445-5388, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title of Collection: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) 
Program Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0524-0049.
    Expiration Date of Current Approval: 7/31/2019.
    Type of Request: Notice of intent to reinstate and revise a 
previously approved information collection. The total annual burden for 
this collection has been reduced from approximately 2500 hours to 121 
hours.
    NIFA is requesting approval to reinstate a previously approved, but 
expired, information collection.
    NIFA is also proposing to update the collection by reducing the 
number of questions, in order to eliminate redundant or repetitive 
questions and reduce the burden on respondents. NIFA is also proposing 
to update the wording of certain questions to improve clarity, and also 
adding additional qualitative questions in order to improve the quality 
and usefulness of the data collected.
    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 2016-2019.
    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 3.2% of the USDA extramural R/R&D 
budget. This represents approximately $72,886,724 in Phase II grants 
awarded to the U.S. small business community from 2016-2019.

Plan

    A total of 121 USDA SBIR Phase II grants were awarded to small 
businesses between 2016-2019, 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 SBIR Phase II grantees. The web-
based survey 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 or by 
phone to respond.
    Estimate of Burden: NIFA estimates that the survey will be sent to 
121 respondents, and that it will take respondents approximately one 
hour to complete the survey. The total annual burden for the SBIR 
Program collection is 121 hours.

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                                                                                  Average time
            Types of respondents                 Number of       Frequency of     per response    Annual burden
                                                respondents        response         (hours)      hours requested
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USDA SBIR Phase II Grantees.................             121                1                1              121
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[[Page 59772]]

    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 day of September 9, 2022.
Dionne Toombs,
Acting Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2022-21343 Filed 9-30-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-22-P