13 CFR - Business Credit and Assistance

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is granting a class waiver of the Nonmanufacturer Rule (NMR) for Positive Airway Pressure Devices and Supplies Manufacturing. This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices, Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) devices, and other products intended to treat sleep apnea by keeping a person's airways open during sleep.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announces that it is holding tribal consultation meetings in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma concerning the regulations governing the 8(a) Business Development (BD) program and the HUBZone program. SBA seeks to reduce unnecessary or excessive regulatory burdens in those programs and to make them more attractive to procuring agencies and small businesses. Testimony presented at these tribal consultations will become part of the administrative record for SBA's consideration when the Agency deliberates on approaches to changes in the regulations pertaining to these programs.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) advises the public that it has revised its white paper explaining how it establishes, reviews and modifies small business size standards. The revised white paper, entitled “SBA's Size Standards Methodology (April, 2018),” (Revised Methodology) is available for review and comments. This notification discusses the comments SBA received on the methodology that was applied to the recent review of size standards under the Jobs Act and Agency's responses, followed by a description of major changes to the methodology and their impacts on size standards.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announces that it is holding a tribal consultation meeting in Anchorage, Alaska concerning the regulations governing the 8(a) Business Development (BD) program and the HUBZone program. SBA seeks to reduce unnecessary or excessive regulatory burdens in those programs and to make them more attractive to procuring agencies and small businesses. Testimony presented at this tribal consultation will become part of the administrative record for SBA's consideration when the Agency deliberates on approaches to changes in the regulations pertaining to these programs.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is amending the rules of practice of its Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) to implement procedures for protests of eligibility for inclusion in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) database, and procedures for appeals of denials and cancellations of inclusion in the CVE database. These amendments are issued in accordance with sections 1832 and 1833 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA 2017).

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) is amending its regulations to incorporate a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2018 (NDAA 2018) and to update and provide several technical corrections to SBA's regulations. Specifically, the NDAA 2018 amended the Small Business Act by replacing fixed dollar amount thresholds with references to the micro-purchase and simplified acquisition thresholds. SBA is updating its regulations to conform to this new statutory language. SBA is also updating the sole source dollar amounts for the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVO) small business and the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small business regulations. The thresholds for sole source contracting are contained in the Small Business Act, SBA's regulations, and the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). These thresholds are updated in the FAR for inflation periodically, and therefore, over time, SBA's regulations and the FAR's numbers diverge. SBA is making this change to conform the thresholds contained in SBA's regulations to those in the FAR. This rule also allows indirect ownership by United States citizens in the HUBZone program to more accurately align with the underlying statutory authority. Finally, SBA is making several technical changes to address mistakes and typos made in previous rulemakings. For example, this final rule will update some cross-references that were not updated when a previous rulemaking changed numbering. Other changes made are for errors, grammar, syntax, and clarity.

SBA is seeking public input to assist in establishing a permanent alternative size standard for its 7(a) and 504 Loan Programs. SBA also invites suggestions on sources of relevant data and information that SBA should evaluate in developing a permanent alternative size standard and assessing its impact. Finally, SBA also seeks input from interested parties on a potential proposal to apply the permanent alternative size standard as an alternative to using industry based size standards for small business applicants under its Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) Program.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is amending its regulations to adjust for inflation the amount of certain civil monetary penalties that are within the jurisdiction of the agency. These adjustments comply with the requirement in the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, to make annual adjustments to the penalties.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) proposes to amend its regulations to implement provisions of The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA 2017). The NDAA 2017 placed the responsibility for issuing regulations relating to ownership and control for the Department of Veterans Affairs verification of Veteran-Owned (VO) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVO) Small Business Concern (SBC) with the SBA. Pursuant to NDAA 2017, there will be one definition of ownership and control for these concerns, which will apply to the Department of Veterans Affairs in its verification and Vets First Contracting Program procurements, and all other government acquisitions which require self-certification. The legislation also provides that in certain circumstances a firm can qualify as VO or SDVO when there is a surviving spouse or an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

The Economic Development Administration (“EDA”), U.S. Department of Commerce (“DOC”), is issuing this final rule amending the agency's regulations implementing the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended (“PWEDA”). The changes incorporate current best practices and strengthen EDA's efforts to evaluate, monitor, and improve performance within the agency's Revolving Loan Fund (“RLF”) program by establishing the Risk Analysis System, a risk-based management framework, to evaluate and manage the RLF program. To make RLF awards more efficient for Recipients to administer and EDA to monitor, EDA is also reorganizing the RLF regulations and making changes to improve readability and clarify those requirements that apply to the distinct phases of an RLF award. In addition, EDA is updating other parts of its regulations, including revising definitions, replacing references to superseded regulations to reflect the promulgation of the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (“Uniform Guidance”), streamlining the provisions that outline EDA's application process, and clarifying EDA's property management regulations.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is revising its regulations to increase the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) licensing and examination fees. The Small Business Investment Act of 1958, as amended, allows SBA to collect licensing and examination fees to offset SBA's costs associated with the administration of these two activities. SBA last increased fees for SBICs in 1996. Current fees offset less than 40% of SBA's administrative expenses related to these activities. This final rule increases SBIC licensing and examination fees in annual steps through October 2020, at which time SBA estimates that the annual fees will recoup approximately 80% of SBA's annual expenses directly related to these activities. Beginning in October 2021, this rule increases licensing and examination fees annually based on inflation.

This direct final rule amends the definition of “qualified census tract” in the HUBZone program regulations. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is making this change to its regulations to implement section 412(a) of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). Section 412(a) of PROMESA amended the definition of “qualified census tract” contained in section 3(p)(4)(A) of the Small Business Act.

Through this final rule, the Economic Development Administration (“EDA”), U.S. Department of Commerce, eliminates the regulations implementing the Community Trade Adjustment Assistance (“CTAA”) Program. Established in 2009 under the Trade Act of 1974, the CTAA Program was subsequently eliminated by Congress in 2011. Implementing regulations for this now-defunct Program are thus unnecessary. This final rule is a “deregulatory action” pursuant to the April 5, 2017, Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) guidance memorandum implementing Executive Order 13771.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announces SBA's Express Bridge Loan Pilot Program (Express Bridge Pilot), as described in this document, and its impact on an Agency regulation relating to loan underwriting for loans made under the Express Bridge Pilot. This pilot will provide expedited guaranteed bridge loan financing for disaster-related purposes to small businesses located in communities impacted by a Presidentially-declared disaster, while those small businesses apply for and await long-term financing (including through SBA's direct disaster loan program, if eligible). The modification of the lending criteria will minimize the burden on businesses applying for loans through the Express Bridge Pilot and provide an incentive for SBA Express lenders to participate in the pilot.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is issuing this direct final rule to amend its regulations for disclosure and production of information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This rule updates and streamlines the language of several procedural provisions and incorporates changes brought about by amendments to the FOIA under the OPEN Government Act of 2007, the OPEN FOIA Act of 2009, and the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is proposing to amend the rules of practice of its Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) to implement procedures for protests of eligibility for inclusion in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) database, and procedures for appeals of denials and cancellations of inclusion in the CVE database. These amendments would be in accordance with Sections 1832 and 1833 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA 2017).

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is adopting, without change, its proposed revisions to small business size standards. With the adoption of the proposed changes, SBA incorporates the U.S. Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) revision for 2017, identified as NAICS 2017, into its table of small business size standards. NAICS 2017 created 21 new industries by reclassifying, combining, or splitting 29 existing industries under changes made to NAICS in 2012 (NAICS 2012). SBA's size standards for these 21 new industries have resulted in an increase to size standards for six NAICS 2012 industries and part of one industry, a decrease to size standards for two, a change in the size standards measure from average annual receipts to number of employees for one, and no change in size standards for twenty industries and part of one industry.

This final rule amends SBA regulations to update, streamline and clarify rules for the Business Loan Programs (as defined below) and the Surety Bond Guarantee Program (“SBG”). For purposes of this rule, the 7(a) Loan Program, the Microloan Program, the Intermediary Lending Pilot (ILP) Program, and the Development Company Loan Program (“504 Loan Program”) are collectively referred to as the “Business Loan Programs.”

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is withdrawing the final rule concerning Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) investments in passive businesses that was published on December 28, 2016, and is replacing it with this final rule. This final rule expands SBIC permitted investments in passive businesses and includes new reporting and other requirements for passive investments. This rule also makes a few minor technical amendments.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is amending the rules of practice of its Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) to implement section 869 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 and section 1833 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. This legislation authorizes OHA to decide Petitions for Reconsideration of Size Standards (Size Standard Petitions or Petitions). This rule also revises the rules of practice for OHA appeals of agency employee disputes.

On December 28, 2016, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule to expand permitted investments in passive businesses and provide further clarification with regard to investments in such businesses for the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program, with an effective date of January 27, 2017. On January 26, 2017, SBA published a notification delaying the effective date until March 21, 2017 and re-opened the rule for additional public comment. On March 21, 2017, SBA published another notification to delay the effective date of this rule until May 20, 2017, to give the new administration time to further consider the rule. After reviewing the final rule, SBA is considering removing the provision that would allow SBICs to use a blocker corporation under its regulations if an investor of an SBIC has elected to be taxed as a regulated investment company (RIC) and a direct investment into the operating company would cause the investor to receive or be deemed to receive income that would jeopardize its RIC status. SBA is seeking additional comments regarding the removal of this provision. In order to give the public time to provide comments and for SBA to review those comments, the effective date of the final rule is delayed until August 18, 2017.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) proposes to amend its small business size regulations to incorporate the U.S. Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) revision for 2017, identified as NAICS 2017, into its table of small business size standards. NAICS 2017 created 21 new industries by reclassifying, combining, or splitting 29 existing industries under changes made to NAICS in 2012 (NAICS 2012). SBA's proposed size standards for these 21 new industries have resulted in an increase to size standards for six NAICS 2012 industries and part of one industry, a decrease to size standards for two, a change in the size standards measure from average annual receipts to number of employees for one, and no change in size standards for twenty industries and part of one industry. SBA proposes to adopt the updated table of size standards, effective October 1, 2017

On December 28, 2016, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule to expand permitted investments in passive businesses and provide further clarification with regard to investments in such businesses for the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program, with an effective date of January 27, 2017. On January 26, 2017, SBA published a delay of effective date until March 21, 2017 and re-opened the rule for additional public comment in response to the memorandum dated January 20, 2017 from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review.” SBA requires additional time to consider this final rule and determine whether any further changes are required; therefore, the effective date for this final rule is delayed until May 20, 2017. Any changes to the final rule based on this redetermination will be published in the Federal Register .