News Releases from Headquarters›Research and Development (ORD)
EPA Awards $1.6 Million to Small Businesses to Support the Development of Environmental Technologies
(WASHINGTON, September 19, 2017) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $1.6 million in funding for 15 small businesses to develop technologies that will help protect human health and the environment by detecting chemicals in the air, ensuring cleaner water, and creating greener materials.
“EPA’s Small Business Innovation Research program is awarding funding to these small businesses because they have demonstrated the potential to create technologies that will improve our environment and our economy,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “These technologies are focused on creating cutting-edge products that can help solve today’s complex environmental problems and enhance economic growth.”
These fifteen companies are receiving Phase I contracts from EPA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which awards contracts annually through a two-phase competition. Companies compete for a Phase I award of $100,000 by submitting research that addresses key environmental issues. After receiving a Phase I award, companies are eligible to compete for a Phase II award of $300,000 to further develop and commercialize the technology.
SBIR Phase I recipients are:
• Giner, Inc., Newton, Mass., for an inexpensive chemical sensor for indoor air quality application
• Vuronyx Technologies, Woburn, Mass., for a robust, energy efficient, and cost effective technology for water desalination
• Reactive Innovations, LLC, Westford, Mass., for an inexpensive hand-held monitor for measuring fugitive methane emissions
• Ecovative Design, LLC, Green Island, N.Y., to grow fungal resin for a novel approach to manufacturing wood particleboard
• NanoSafe, Inc., Blacksburg, Va., for a mobile analytical platform for lead detection in drinking water
• Metna Co., Lansing, Mich., for zero emission reconstituted wood panels for building interiors
• TDA Research, Inc., Wheat Ridge, Colo., for an innovative water desalination system for small communities
• Vaporsens, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, for indoor chemical detection by a low-cost chemical sensor based on organic nanofibers
• iSense, LLC, Mountain View, Calif., to develop an inexpensive, portable optical sensor to monitor indoor chemical levels
• KWJ Engineering, Inc., Newark, Calif., to create a simple lead test for drinking water safety & to create an inexpensive low-power, nano-sensor-based measurement of fugitive methane emissions
• Instrumental Polymer Technologies, LLC, Westlake Village, Calif., to develop a completely sustainable plastic that is uniquely a recyclable thermoset resin
• BioInspira, Inc., Berkeley, Calif., to develop a film that binds to natural gas to provide an accurate, small, power-efficient, and low-cost gas sensor for surveyors and leak inspection crews from the gas and oil industry
• SPEC Sensors, LLC, Newark, Calif., to create a low cost sensor to reduce chemical exposure in the home
• Oceanit Laboratories, Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii, to develop a corrosion resistant, non-toxic, multifunctional coating to protect the interior of aging pipelines that can be applied via a process that allows for heavily corroded pipes to be retrofitted and refurbished in place
• ZILA Works, Renton, Wash., to use an oil derived from hempseed to create an eco-friendly epoxy resin for use in manufacturing sporting goods
EPA’s SBIR funding boosts local economies by creating jobs and promoting collaborations among small businesses through product testing and research. This funding also supports technologies aimed at creating cleaner manufacturing materials and better infrastructure in communities. One former SBIR recipient, PittMoss, created a peat moss alternative that is a mix of patented additives and recycled paper from landfills. This substitute to traditional peat moss is cheaper, and reduces water usage as well as harm to the environment. Another former SBIR company, GreenTechnologies, developed a filter, for use in water treatment systems, that can remove phosphorus from drinking water without chemical additives.
EPA is one of 11 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. To be eligible, a company must be an organized, for-profit U.S. business and have fewer than 500 employees.
For more information on EPA’s SBIR Phase I recipients, visit https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipients.display/rfa_id/626/records_per_page/ALL%20on%209/8/17
Learn more about EPA’s SBIR program at www.epa.gov/sbir.