SBA has released its proposed rule allowing for HUBZone appeals to go to the Office of Hearings and Appeals. Below are the key items from this proposed rule, and how it will affect potential and current HUBZone companies.
SBA issued the final rule on April 10 and it will become effective on May 10. As we wrote about a few months back, the HUBZone appeals rule will allow appeals from adverse status determination protests for certified HUBZone small business concerns. The inclusion of HUBZone appeals was written into the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022…
- Standard: Whether the protest “determination was based on clear error of fact or law.” This is the same standard as used in other OHA appeals, and can be tough to meet in some circumstances.
- Who decides the appeals? The judges at SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals will decide HUBZone appeals, rather than the Associate Administrator for Government Contracting and Business Development. OHA appeals for HUBZone status determinations will still not include an avenue for appealing a denial of a HUBZone certification application…
