SBIR E-Learning for HAZMAT and Emergency Response (R43/R44 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA ES 20 012

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA ES 20 012

The SBIR E-Learning for HAZMAT and Emergency Response opportunity (RFA-ES-20-012) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding announcement, led through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), that supports small businesses developing advanced, technology-driven training products for hazardous materials and emergency response workforces. The focus is on improving health and safety training for people who face high-risk exposures in the field, including hazardous materials (HAZMAT) workers, waste treatment personnel, skilled support staff tied to emergency and disaster operations, and emergency responders dealing with biosafety incidents, infectious disease response and cleanup, and broader disaster response and resiliency operations. A related emphasis is on tools that can support research into both immediate and long-term health impacts associated with environmental disasters, recognizing that training, data collection, and evaluation technologies can play a role in understanding exposures and outcomes over time.

At the center of the announcement is the concept of Advanced Technology Training (ATT) as used by the NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP). ATT is defined broadly and can include online and distance learning, virtual reality and simulation-based training, and serious gaming approaches, among other emerging methods. The intent is not simply to create content, but to develop tools that strengthen the full training lifecycle: designing and delivering training, improving learner engagement and retention, supporting realistic practice in safe environments, and enabling better evaluation of training effectiveness. In practical terms, applicants are being encouraged to build products that enhance or supplement existing worker safety education in ways that are difficult to achieve with traditional classroom-only approaches, especially for complex, hazardous, or rapidly changing emergency scenarios.

This funding is specifically structured as an SBIR grant mechanism using the NIH R43/R44 pathway, with clinical trials not allowed under this solicitation. That framing signals that NIH is looking for innovation from small businesses that can move from early-stage feasibility and prototype development (commonly aligned with Phase I objectives) into further development, refinement, and potential commercialization readiness (commonly aligned with Phase II objectives). The underlying program goal is closely tied to the mission of the NIEHS Worker Training Program: preventing work-related injury, illness, and harm by helping workers learn how to protect themselves and their communities from hazardous material exposures. Projects proposed under this FOA are expected to complement the WTP goals and objectives, and applicants are directed to align their ideas with WTP priorities as described on the NIEHS WTP site.

Eligibility is limited to small business concerns, consistent with SBIR rules. Foreign institutions and other non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible. However, the announcement notes that foreign components, as defined by the NIH Grants Policy Statement, may be allowable in some circumstances, which typically means discrete elements of the work could potentially occur outside the U.S. if well-justified and compliant with NIH policy, even though the applicant organization itself must be domestic and eligible.

From a funding details standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant within the environment and health activity area (CFDA 93.142). The financial support is explicitly coming from NIEHS Worker Education and Training Branch SBIR funds, reinforcing that this is a targeted investment meant to generate practical training technology outputs rather than general research. The original closing date listed for the opportunity was August 10, 2020, and the posted award ceiling in the source data is $100,000, indicating a capped funding level as presented in the notice.

• The National Institutes of Health in the environment, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "SBIR E-Learning for HAZMAT and Emergency Response (R43/R44 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.142.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-05-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-08-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Small businesses.

Apply for RFA ES 20 012

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