[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 48, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 48CFR19.306]

[Page 348-350]
 
            TITLE 48--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM
 
                CHAPTER 1--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION
 
PART 19_SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS--Table of Contents
 
 Subpart 19.3_Determination of Small Business Status for Small Business 
                                Programs
 
Sec.  19.306  Protesting a firm's status as a HUBZone small business concern.

    (a) For sole source acquisitions, the SBA or the contracting officer 
may protest the apparently successful offeror's HUBZone small business 
status. For all other acquisitions, an offeror, the contracting officer, 
or the

[[Page 349]]

SBA may protest the apparently successful offeror's HUBZone small 
business concern status.
    (b) Protests relating to whether a HUBZone small business concern is 
a small business for purposes of any Federal program are subject to the 
procedures of subpart 19.3. Protests relating to small business size 
status for the acquisition and the HUBZone qualifying requirements will 
be processed concurrently by SBA.
    (c) All protests must be in writing and must state all specific 
grounds for the protest. Assertions that a protested concern is not a 
qualified HUBZone small business concern, without setting forth specific 
facts or allegations, are insufficient. An offeror must submit its 
protest to the contracting officer. The contracting officer and the SBA 
must submit protests to SBA's Associate Administrator for the HUBZone 
Program (AA/HUB).
    (d) An offeror's protest must be received by close of business on 
the fifth business day after bid opening (in sealed bid acquisitions) or 
by close of business on the fifth business day after notification by the 
contracting officer of the apparently successful offeror (in negotiated 
acquisitions). Any protest received after these time limits is untimely. 
Any protest received prior to bid opening or notification of intended 
award, whichever applies, is premature and shall be returned to the 
protester.
    (e) Except for premature protests, the contracting officer must 
forward any protest received, notwithstanding whether the contracting 
officer believes that the protest is insufficiently specific or 
untimely, to: AA/HUB, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd 
Street, SW, Washington, DC 20416. The AA/HUB will notify the protester 
and the contracting officer of the date the protest was received and 
whether the protest will be processed or dismissed for lack of 
timeliness or specificity.
    (f) SBA will determine the HUBZone status of the protested HUBZone 
small business concern within 15 business days after receipt of a 
protest. If SBA does not contact the contracting officer within 15 
business days, the contracting officer may award the contract to the 
apparently successful offeror, unless the contracting officer has 
granted SBA an extension. The contracting officer may award the contract 
after receipt of a protest if the contracting officer determines in 
writing that an award must be made to protect the public interest.
    (g) SBA will notify the contracting officer, the protester, and the 
protested concern of its determination. The determination is effective 
immediately and is final unless overturned on appeal by SBA's Associate 
Deputy Administrator for Government Contracting and 8(a) Business 
Development (ADA/GC&8(a)BD).
    (h) The protested HUBZone small business concern, the protester, or 
the contracting officer may file appeals of protest determinations with 
SBA's ADA/GC&8(a)BD. The ADA/GC&8(a)BD must receive the appeal no later 
than 5 business days after the date of receipt of the protest 
determination. SBA will dismiss any appeal received after the 5-day 
period.
    (i) The appeal must be in writing. The appeal must identify the 
protest determination being appealed and must set forth a full and 
specific statement as to why the decision is erroneous or what 
significant fact the AA/HUB failed to consider.
    (j) The party appealing the decision must provide notice of the 
appeal to the contracting officer and either the protested HUBZone small 
business concern or the original protester, as appropriate. SBA will not 
consider additional information or changed circumstances that were not 
disclosed at the time of the AA/HUB's decision or that are based on 
disagreement with the findings and conclusions contained in the 
determination.
    (k) The ADA/GC&8(a)BD will make its decision within 5 business days 
of the receipt of the appeal, if practicable, and will base its decision 
only on the information and documentation in the protest record as 
supplemented by the appeal. SBA will provide a copy of the decision to 
the contracting officer, the protester, and the protested HUBZone small 
business concern. The SBA decision, if received before award, will apply 
to the pending acquisition. SBA rulings received after award will not 
apply to that acquisition. The ADA/

[[Page 350]]

GC&8(a)BD's decision is the final decision.

[63 FR 70269, Dec. 18, 1998, as amended at 64 FR 51831, Sept. 24, 1999]