Earlier this year, SBA issued a proposed rule to amend the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals rules of practice to grant OHA jurisdiction over protests and appeals of VA’s determinations with respect to businesses’ eligibility for registration in the VA Center for Verification and Evaluation database. The FY2017 NDAA prohibits VA from issuing rules related to the status of SDVOSBs, and instead directs the agency to follow SBA regulations.
Under the proposed rule, procedures for CVE protests and appeals will mirror SBA’s existing rules for protests of SDVOSB status. Protests of an awardee’s eligibility must be filed within 5 days of the announcement of the apparent awardee, and appeals must be filed within 10 days. Contractor officers also may file a protest challenging an awardee’s eligibility for inclusion in the CVE database.
