SBA Overhauls Size Standards Methodology; CDC, USDA Post Comment Deadlines

SBA Revises Size Standards Methodology

The U.S. Small Business Administration has published a revised white paper explaining how it establishes, reviews, and modifies small business size standards, inviting public comment on or before September 21, 2026. The document — which the agency calls the 2026 Revised Size Standards Methodology — has been applied concurrently to a proposed review of size standards filed separately in the Federal Register, and it updates the agency's 2024 Revised Size Standards Methodology.

The notice explains that from their inception, small business size standards were intended as the mechanism to allow small firms to compete for government contracts, obtain small business loans, obtain relief from regulatory burdens, and participate in other agency small business programs. The document states, however, that over the years the SBA methodology "turned into a ceiling in which firms forewent business growth to remain small under a seemingly unresponsive size cap." The agency states that its proposed methodology adjusts prior standards that restricted such economic growth and that the new standards are intended to ensure firms "are not punished for their success, resulting in lost access to capital or contracting opportunities."

The methodology examines industry structure by analyzing average market size, which the document breaks into three components: the total size of all participants in an industry group or industry (referred to as the national industry size); the number of distinct geographic markets in which competition takes place; and an adjustment for imports and exports to account for international competition faced by domestic firms. Under this framework, industries with smaller average market sizes receive smaller size standards, and industries with larger average market sizes receive larger size standards, on the rationale that greater scale is required in those industries for a firm to be dominant.

The agency uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to group similar firms, treating a 5- or 6-digit NAICS code as an "industry" and a 4-digit NAICS code as an "industry group." The document also states that SBA reviews all size standards and adjusts them every five years pursuant to the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, and that it adjusts receipt-based size standards for inflation on the same cycle — most recently on November 17, 2022. The 2026 methodology additionally proposes adjusting receipt-based size standards for productivity growth, and states the agency may do so between five-year reviews as necessary. The affected regulation is 13 CFR 121.

CDC: National Health Interview Survey Seeks Renewal and Redesign

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published a 60-day notice under the Paperwork Reduction Act seeking public comment by October 19, 2026, on the continuation and redesign of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which carries OMB Control No. 0920-0214 with an expiration of 12/31/2026.

According to the notice, the NHIS is a voluntary and confidential household-based survey that has been in the field continuously since 1957 and serves as a major source of general statistics on the health of the U.S. population. It collects demographic and health-related information from a nationally representative sample of households and noninstitutionalized, civilian persons. The notice states NHIS data have been used by government, academic, and private researchers to evaluate both general health and specific issues such as smoking, diabetes, health care coverage, and access to health care, and that it is the single most important source of statistics to track progress toward HHS health objectives.

The proposed extension covers the continuation of current questionnaire content and data collection operations in 2027, as well as a systemic redesign of the NHIS to be implemented in 2028. For 2027, the notice describes a rotation of content: items on service utilization, physical activity, sleep, alcohol use, fatigue, smoking history and cessation, height and weight, neighborhood characteristics, and screen time will rotate off, while content on chronic conditions, allergies, hearing and communication, preventative screening, aspirin use, chronic pain, and injuries will rotate on. Sponsored content on complementary and integrative health — using questions similar to those previously fielded in 2022 — will be included on both the 2027 Sample Adult and Sample Child Questionnaires.

CDC: Cancer Control Training Program Evaluation Under PRA Review

Also from CDC, the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has submitted to OMB for review a reinstatement of the information collection titled "Evaluating the Impact of Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Programs for NCCCP Efforts" (OMB No. 0920-1193). The notice opens an additional 30-day comment window, following a prior notice published January 13, 2026, which received no comments.

The notice describes the National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (NCCCP) as a primary funder for state and community-based cancer control interventions since its inception in the late 1990s, with 66 recipients including programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, a number of tribes, tribal organizations, and U.S. Associated Pacific Islands/territories, as well as cancer coalitions. The TTA program — referred to as DP23-0017 — is designed to build capacity among funded NCCCPs to plan for and implement evidence-based interventions through multisectoral partnerships, policy and environmental change approaches, and approaches to addressing non-medical factors that influence health. The notice states that a comprehensive evaluation is critical to ensure the provision of high-quality and effective TTA.

USDA Codex Office: Two International Food Standards Meetings

The U.S. Codex Office is sponsoring two separate public meetings ahead of upcoming sessions of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which was established in 1963 and seeks to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in food trade through adoption of food standards, codes of practice, and guidelines.

The first public meeting, scheduled for September 17, 2026, from 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET, will cover agenda items and draft U.S. positions for the 11th Session of the Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products (CCMMP11), hosted by New Zealand and to be held by correspondence from September 29–October 29, 2026. The primary agenda item is a proposed draft standard for pasteurized liquid camel milk at Step 4.

The second public meeting is scheduled for September 29, 2026, from 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET, and will cover the 19th Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF19), hosted by the Netherlands and co-hosted with Egypt, to be held in Cairo, Egypt from October 19–23, 2026. The CCCF meeting agenda includes topics such as codes of practice for cadmium and tropane alkaloids contamination, a revision of the code of practice for aflatoxin B1 in raw materials for milk-producing animals, a review of maximum levels for methylmercury in tuna, development of guidelines on the safe use of recycled plastics in food packaging, and consideration of T-2, HT-2, DAS, and ergot alkaloids, among others.

What to Watch

• September 17, 2026: U.S. Codex Office public meeting on CCMMP11 (milk and milk products), 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET.
• September 21, 2026: Deadline for public comments on SBA's 2026 Revised Size Standards Methodology (13 CFR 121).
• September 29, 2026: U.S. Codex Office public meeting on CCCF19 (contaminants in foods), 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET.
• September 29–October 29, 2026: CCMMP11 session held by correspondence.
• October 19–23, 2026: CCCF19 session in Cairo, Egypt.
• October 19, 2026: Deadline for public comments on the NHIS Paperwork Reduction Act extension and redesign notice (OMB Control No. 0920-0214).
• 30 days from publication: Deadline for public comments on the CDC TTA Programs for NCCCP Efforts reinstatement (OMB No. 0920-1193).

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