(NSF) --provide over 90 percent of SBIR funds. ^ Each agency manages 

 its own program while the Small Business Administration (SEA) plays 

 a central administrative role, including issuance of policy 

 directives and annual reports for the program. 



The legislation establishing the program required each agency 

 with an extramural (or external) R&D budget in excess of $100 

 million to set aside a certain percentage of this amount for the 

 program. The percentage was increased incrementally until it 

 reached 1.25 percent in 1986. The reauthorization legislation^ 

 increased program funding to not less than 1.5 percent for fiscal 

 years 1993 and 1994, not less than 2 percent for fiscal years 1995 

 and 1996, and not less than 2.5 percent for fiscal year 1997 and 

 thereafter. 



SBIR funding is provided in two phases. Phase I is intended 

 to determine the scientific and technical merit and feasibility of 

 ideas; it generally lasts about 6 months. Phase II further 

 develops the proposed ideas and generally lasts about 2 years. The 

 size of awards in phases I and II was generally limited under an 

 SEA directive to $50,000 and $500,000, respectively. However, the 

 1992 reauthorization directed SEA to raise the general limits on 

 the size of phase I and II awards to $100,000 and $750,000, 

 respectively, although awards may be for less than these amounts. 



The 1992 reauthorization also included a discretionary 

 technical assistance provision that authorized the use of SBIR 

 program money to assist award recipients in achieving the technical 

 and commercial goals of SBIR projects. The provision permits 



^The other 6 agencies include the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of 

 Education, the Department of Transportation, the Environmental 

 Protection Agency, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 



^Public Law 102-564, Oct. 28, 1992 



