Definitions

For the purposes of this chapter, a small-business concern, including but not limited to enterprises that are engaged in the business of production of food and fiber, ranching and raising of livestock, aquaculture, and all other farming and agricultural related industries, shall be deemed to be one which is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation. In addition to the criteria specified in paragraph (1) and subject to the requirements specified under subparagraph (C), the Administrator may specify detailed definitions or standards by which a business concern may be determined to be a small business concern for the purposes of this chapter or any other Act. The standards described in paragraph (1) may utilize number of employees, dollar volume of business, net worth, net income, a combination thereof, or other appropriate factors. Unless specifically authorized by statute, no Federal department (including the Administration when acting pursuant to subparagraph (A)) or agency may prescribe a size standard for categorizing a business concern as a small business concern, unless such proposed size standard— provides for determining— When establishing or approving any size standard pursuant to paragraph (2), the Administrator shall ensure that the size standard varies from industry to industry to the extent necessary to reflect the differing characteristics of the various industries and consider other factors deemed to be relevant by the Administrator. Not later than 30 days after January 6, 2006, the Administrator shall review the application of size standards established pursuant to paragraph (2) to small business concerns that are performing contracts in qualified areas and determine whether it would be fair and appropriate to exclude from consideration in the average annual gross receipts of such small business concerns any payments made to such small business concerns by Federal agencies to reimburse such small business concerns for the cost of subcontracts entered for the sole purpose of providing security services in a qualified area. Not later than 60 days after January 6, 2006, the Administrator shall either— In this paragraph, the term “qualified area” means— The Administrator shall establish an alternative size standard for applicants for business loans under section 636(a) of this title and applicants for development company loans under title V of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 695 et seq.), that uses maximum tangible net worth and average net income as an alternative to the use of industry standards. Until the date on which the alternative size standard established under subparagraph (A) is in effect, an applicant for a business loan under section 636(a) of this title or an applicant for a development company loan under title V of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 may be eligible for such a loan if— In conducting rulemaking to revise, modify or establish size standards pursuant to this section, the Administrator shall consider, and address, and make publicly available as part of the notice of proposed rulemaking and notice of final rule each of the following: In carrying out this subsection, the Administrator may establish or approve a single size standard for a grouping of 4-digit North American Industry Classification System codes only if the Administrator makes publicly available, not later than the date on which such size standard is established or approved, a justification demonstrating that such size standard is appropriate for each individual industry classification included in the grouping. The Administrator shall not limit the number of size standards established pursuant to paragraph (2), and shall assign the appropriate size standard to each North American Industry Classification System Code. A person may file a petition for reconsideration with the Office of Hearings and Appeals (as established under section 634(i) of this title) of a size standard revised, modified, or established by the Administrator pursuant to this subsection. A person filing a petition for reconsideration described in subparagraph (A) shall file such petition not later than 30 days after the publication in the Federal Register of the notice of final rule to revise, modify, or establish size standards described in paragraph (6). The Office of Hearings and Appeals shall use the same process it uses to decide challenges to the size of a small business concern to decide a petition for review pursuant to this paragraph. The publication of a final rule in the Federal Register described in subparagraph (B) shall be considered final agency action for purposes of seeking judicial review. Filing a petition for reconsideration under subparagraph (A) shall not be a condition precedent to judicial review of any such size standard. The Office of Hearings and Appeals shall begin accepting petitions for reconsideration described in subparagraph (A) after the date on which the Administration issues a rule or other guidance implementing this paragraph. Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (B), petitions for reconsideration of size standards revised, modified, or established in a Federal Register final rule published between November 25, 2015, and the effective date of such rule or other guidance shall be considered timely if filed within 30 days of such effective date. For purposes of this chapter, any reference to an agency or department of the United States, and the term “Federal agency”, shall have the meaning given the term “agency” by section 551(1) of title 5, but does not include the United States Postal Service or the Government Accountability Office. For purposes of this chapter, the term “qualified employee trust” means, with respect to a small business concern, a trust— which forms part of an employee stock ownership plan (as defined in section 4975(e)(7) of title 26)— in the case of any loan guarantee under section 636(a) of this title, the trustee of which enters into an agreement with the Administrator which is binding on the trust and on such small business concern and which provides that— Under regulations which may be prescribed by the Administrator, a trust may be treated as a qualified employee trust with respect to a small business concern if— such concern maintains a plan— For purposes of section 636 of this title, the term “qualified Indian tribe” means an Indian tribe as defined in section 5304(a) 11 So in original. Probably should be a reference to subsec. “(e)” of section 5304, which defines Indian tribe. of title 25, which owns and controls 100 per centum of a small business concern. For purposes of section 636 of this title, the term “public or private organization for the handicapped” means one— For purposes of section 636 of this title, the term “handicapped individual” means an individual— For purposes of section 636 of this title, the term “energy measures” includes— The term “credit elsewhere” means— for the purposes of this chapter (except as used in section 636(b) of this title), the availability of credit on reasonable terms and conditions to the individual loan applicant from non-Federal, non-State, or non-local government sources, considering factors associated with conventional lending practices, including— For purposes of section 636 of this title, the term “homeowners” includes owners and lessees of residential property and also includes personal property. For the purposes of this chapter, the term “small agricultural cooperative” means an association (corporate or otherwise) acting pursuant to the provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Act (12 U.S.C. 1141j), whose size does not exceed the size standard established by the Administration for other similar agricultural small business concerns. In determining such size, the Administration shall regard the association as a business concern and shall not include the income or employees of any member shareholder of such cooperative. For purposes of section 636(b)(2) of this title, the term “disaster” includes— For purposes of this chapter— 22 So in original. No par. (2) has been enacted. the term “computer crime” means— In this chapter: The term “prime contract” has the meaning given such term in section 8701(4) of title 41. The term “prime contractor” has the meaning given such term in section 8701(5) of title 41. The term “simplified acquisition threshold” has the meaning given such term in section 134 of title 41. The term “micro-purchase threshold” has the meaning given such term in section 1902 of title 41. The term “total purchases and contracts for property and services” shall mean total number and total dollar amount of contracts and orders for property and services. For the purposes of this chapter, a small business concern is a small business concern owned and controlled by women if— In this chapter: The term “bundled contract” means a contract that is entered into to meet requirements that are consolidated in a bundling of contract requirements. The term “bundling of contract requirements” means consolidating 2 or more procurement requirements for goods or services previously provided or performed under separate smaller contracts into a solicitation of offers for a single contract that is likely to be unsuitable for award to a small-business concern due to— The term “separate smaller contract”, with respect to a bundling of contract requirements, means a contract that has been performed by 1 or more small business concerns or was suitable for award to 1 or more small business concerns. In this chapter, the term “qualified HUBZone small business concern” has the meaning given such term in section 657a(b) of this title. In this chapter, the following definitions apply: The term “service-disabled veteran” means a veteran with a disability that is service-connected (as defined in section 101(16) of title 38). The term “small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans” means any of the following: A small business concern— A small business concern— During the time period described in clause (ii), a small business concern that was a small business concern described in subparagraph (A) or (B) immediately prior to the death of a service-disabled veteran who was the owner of the concern, the death of whom causes the concern to be less than 51 percent owned by one or more service-disabled veterans, if— The time period described in this clause is the time period beginning on the date of the veteran’s death and ending on the earlier of— the date that— The term “small business concern owned and controlled by veterans” means a small business concern— The term “veteran” has the meaning given the term in section 101(2) of title 38. Any time limitation on any qualification, certification, or period of participation imposed under this chapter on any program that is available to small business concerns shall be extended for a small business concern that— is owned and controlled by— Upon submission of proper documentation to the Administrator, the extension of a time limitation under subparagraph (A) shall be equal to the period of time that such veteran who owned or controlled such a concern was on active duty as described in that subparagraph. The provisions of subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall not apply to any programs subject to the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.). The term “ESOP” has the meaning given the term “employee stock ownership plan” in section 4975(e)(7) of title 26. The term “surviving spouse” has the meaning given such term in section 101(3) of title 38. As used in section 650 of this title: The term “small business lending company” means a business concern that is authorized by the Administrator to make loans pursuant to section 636(a) of this title and whose lending activities are not subject to regulation by any Federal or State regulatory agency. The term “non-Federally regulated lender” means a business concern if— In this chapter, the term “major disaster” has the meaning given that term in section 5122 of title 42. In this chapter, the term “small business development center” means a small business development center described in section 648 of this title. In this chapter, the term “region of the Administration” means the geographic area served by a regional office of the Administration established under section 633(a) of this title. In this chapter, the term “multiple award contract” means— In every contract, subcontract, cooperative agreement, cooperative research and development agreement, or grant which is set aside, reserved, or otherwise classified as intended for award to small business concerns, there shall be a presumption of loss to the United States based on the total amount expended on the contract, subcontract, cooperative agreement, cooperative research and development agreement, or grant whenever it is established that a business concern other than a small business concern willfully sought and received the award by misrepresentation. The following actions shall be deemed affirmative, willful, and intentional certifications of small business size and status: Each solicitation, bid, or application for a Federal contract, subcontract, or grant shall contain a certification concerning the small business size and status of a business concern seeking the Federal contract, subcontract, or grant. A certification that a business concern qualifies as a small business concern of the exact size and status claimed by the business concern for purposes of bidding on a Federal contract or subcontract, or applying for a Federal grant, shall contain the signature of an authorized official on the same page on which the certification is contained. The Administrator shall promulgate regulations to provide adequate protections to individuals and business concerns from liability under this subsection in cases of unintentional errors, technical malfunctions, and other similar situations. Each business certified as a small business concern under this chapter shall annually certify its small business size and, if appropriate, its small business status, by means of a confirming entry on the Online Representations and Certifications Application database of the Administration, or any successor thereto. Not later than 1 year after September 27, 2010, the Administrator, in consultation with the Inspector General and the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Administration, shall promulgate regulations to ensure that— Not later than 1 year after September 27, 2010, the Administrator, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall issue a Government-wide policy on prosecution of small business size and status fraud, which shall direct Federal agencies to appropriately publicize the policy. Subject to section 647(a) of this title and notwithstanding section 647(b)(1) of this title, the Administrator may provide disaster assistance under section 636(b)(2) of this title to aquaculture enterprises that are small businesses. In this chapter, the term “venture capital operating company” means an entity described in clause (i), (v), or (vi) of section 121.103(b)(5) of title 13, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor thereto). In this chapter, the term “hedge fund” has the meaning given that term in section 1851(h)(2) of title 12. In this chapter, the term “private equity firm” has the meaning given the term “private equity fund” in section 1851(h)(2) of title 12. In this chapter: The term “subcontract” means a legally binding agreement between a contractor that is already under contract to another party to perform work, and a third party, hereinafter referred to as the subcontractor, for the subcontractor to perform a part, or all, of the work that the contractor has undertaken. The term “first tier subcontractor” means a subcontractor who has a subcontract directly with the prime contractor. The term “at any tier” means any subcontractor other than a subcontractor who is a first tier subcontractor. In this chapter, the term “Puerto Rico business” means a small business concern that has its principal office located in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In this chapter, the term “covered territory business” means a small business concern that has its principal office located in one of the following: