WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot (R-OH) today sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt regarding the agency’s management of small business contracts. EPA is one of two federal agencies that is not in compliance with requirements of the Small Business Act, which requires EPA to spend a certain amount of its outside R&D obligations on small business funding.
“According to a May 2017 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), EPA failed to submit obligations data to SBA [Small Business Administration] establishing whether the agency provided small businesses an adequate level of research and development (R&D) funding, as required by the Small Business Act," wrote Walden and Chabot. “GAO found that EPA did not report this information to SBA as required by the Small Business Act, raising concerns about whether the agency provides the required amount of R&D funding to small businesses."
The committee leaders continued, “As such, GAO recommended that EPA either establish procedures to collect and submit the required obligations data or propose to Congress an alternative methodology for calculating spending requirements. EPA reportedly intends to implement GAO’s recommendation by working with SBA to develop an alternative methodology for calculating spending requirements that aligns with EPA’s financial management systems. While working to develop an alternative methodology is a positive step in complying with the Small Business Act, it appears that EPA may not provide the required data to SBA for the foreseeable future."
To assist both committees in understanding the steps EPA has taken to comply with SBA reporting requirements, Walden and Chabot requested that EPA answer a series of four questions by no later than December 6, 2017.
