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EPA Funds Small Business to Develop Environmental Technologies

Contact Information: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced five Phase II contracts to small businesses to further develop and commercialize innovative technologies to protect the environment through EPA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.

“Innovation and technology are key to solving many of the environmental challenges we face today,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Through EPA’s SBIR program, we are providing small businesses with the financial support they need to develop new groundbreaking technologies, including advanced air quality monitors and mobile platforms to detect lead in drinking water.”

SBIR Phase II recipients include:

Giner, Inc., Newton, Mass., to develop a monitor that is capable of continuously measuring formaldehyde.

Ecovative Design LLC, Green Island, N.Y., to use mushroom-based structures for a novel approach to manufacturing wood particleboard.

NanoSafe, Inc., Blacksburg, Va., to develop an inexpensive mobile platform for lead detection in drinking water.

Vaporsens, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, to produce low-cost chemical sensors to detect indoor formaldehyde.

Instrumental Polymer Technologies, LLC, Westlake Village, Calif., to develop a sustainable and easily biodegradable polycarbonate plastic that is recyclable.

EPA’s SBIR funding boosts local economies by empowering small businesses to create jobs while developing novel technologies in areas such as cleaner manufacturing, greener materials, and improved infrastructure in communities. Phase II funding is specifically aimed at supporting these companies to bring their technologies to the marketplace.

For more information on EPA’s SBIR Phase II recipients, visit https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipients.display/rfa_id/646/records_per_page/ALL.

Background

EPA’s SBIR program is a two-phase competition. In Phase I, these small businesses competed for an award of $100,000 for research that addressed key environmental issues. Companies that received a Phase I award, were then eligible to compete for a Phase II award of $300,000 to further develop and commercialize this environmental technology.

EPA is one of 11 federal agencies that participate in the SBIR program, which was enacted in 1982 to strengthen the role of small businesses in federal research and development, create jobs, and promote U.S. technical innovation. To be eligible, a company must be an organized, for-profit U.S. business and have fewer than 500 employees.

Learn more about EPA’s SBIR program at www.epa.gov/sbir.

Learn more about SBIR across the federal government at www.SBIR.gov.