EPA today announced the award of more than $2.6 million to 34 small
companies under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program
for work
in six key environmental areas: 1) nanotechnology - the development
of new technologies which use atomic or molecular-scale materials
and devices to remove environmental contaminants or to create clean
manufacturing
processes that use less hazardous chemicals; 2) hazardous wastes
- improved methods for managing hazardous wastes or finding substitutes
for hazardous materials; 3) air pollution - new technologies that
aid
in the prevention and control of air pollution; 4) water quality
- advanced technologies to keep U.S. waters cleaner; 5) homeland security
- projects on safe buildings and water security;
and 6) sustainability - development of sustainable technologies that
benefit the environment, are not prohibitively expensive, and protect
the ecosystems that supply a company's future materials. EPA is one
of 12 federal agencies that participate in the SBIR program, enacted
in
1982 to strengthen the role of small businesses in federal Research
and Development, create jobs, and promote U.S. technical innovation.
There
are approximately 22 million small businesses in the United States
that employ more than 50 percent of the private work force and develop
most
of the country's new technologies. To participate in SBIR, a small
business must have fewer than 500 employees, and at least 51 percent
of the business
must be owned by U.S. citizens. The SBIR's next solicitation for developing
environmental technologies will open on March 24, 2005 and close on
May 25, 2005. A list of all awards and more information on each project
is
available at: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/events/news/2005/03_08_05_feature.html.
To learn more about EPA's SBIR program, visit: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir.
