SBA, DoD-NISP Release Notice On Security Clearance Requirements For Joint Ventures

The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) released a joint notice on Oct. 5, 2023, providing clarifying guidance to agencies on facility security clearances for joint ventures in the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), including those established under the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) procurement programs. ISOO released the guidance to address how the SBA's regulations governing facility security clearances interact with the NISP requirements with the intent of providing federal agencies with clarity and resolving any "confusion" created by a Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision on Aug. 27, 2021. The guidance also serves to resolve other longstanding and underlying conflicting approaches between SBA and NISP as they relate to joint venture facility security clearances.