EPA announces phase II grant winners from Small Business Innovation Research Program

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded eight $300,000 grants to small businesses throughout the country through phase II of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which the recipients will use to develop innovative environmental protection technologies.

The funding will allow the businesses to further develop the projects they began with phase I SBIR funding, which included grants of up to $100,000. The phase II winners are working on technologies such as a portable air pollution monitor, a filtration device to protect drinking water supplies from contaminants and systems to convert grease trap waste and municipal solid waste into fuels.

“The green technologies that these SBIR companies are developing will help us address some of today’s most pressing environmental and public health issues,” EPA Science Advisor and Office of Research and Development Deputy Assistant Administrator Dr. Thomas A. Burke said.

The SBIR program includes 11 federal agencies and is designed to help small businesses better contribute to federal research and development. Past winners have created innovative technologies including an energy-efficient seawater desalination system and a monitor for industrial facility flaring activities that helps reduce air toxics emissions. The SBIR program is open to for-profit American businesses with fewer than 500 employees.