EPA SBIR Phase I

EPA SBIR Phase I is the environmental-technology entry point in the EPA SBIR line. It funds U.S. small businesses with a six-month contract to prove a concept in areas such as clean and safe water, air quality, land revitalization, sustainable materials management, safer chemicals, and risk assessment. The program is one of the federal SBIR tracks, but EPA uses a contract vehicle rather than a grant, so the relationship is procurement-based from the start. The Phase I ceiling is $100,000, and the eligible work sits in the low-TRL proof-of-concept band. The record places the annual cycle in the spring-to-summer window, with the historical solicitation opening in mid-to-late June and the most recent cycle having closed in August 2024. The program is open to for-profit U.S. small businesses, not to nonprofits, universities, individuals, or research organizations. EPA evaluates proposals for technical merit, commercialization potential, and relevance to the topic, so the winning pattern is straightforward: a specific environmental problem, a workable technical concept, and a believable route to use in the market or in public systems. Teams that do well tend to show that the technology can survive both regulatory scrutiny and practical deployment, not just lab validation.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.