SIZE APPEAL OF: KEMRON ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, INC., APPELLANT RE: ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION, L...

*1 On May 7, 2015, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Government Contracting - Area IV (Area Office) issued Size Determination No. 04-2015-039, dismissing a size protest filed by KEMRON Environmental Services, Inc. (Appellant) against Environmental Restoration, LLC (ER). The Area Office explained that “[n]othing in the protest alleges a sufficiently specific basis to show that [ER] may be other than small.” (Size Determination, at 1.) Appellant received the size determination on May 11, 2015.

*1 On May 27, 2015, SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) received the instant appeal by certified mail. Because the appeal appeared to have been filed more than fifteen days after Appellant's receipt of the size determination, OHA ordered Appellant to show cause why the appeal should not be dismissed as untimely.

*1 On May 29, 2015, Appellant responded to OHA's order. Appellant argues that it reasonably chose to transmit its appeal to OHA via U.S. Postal Service (USPS). (Response to Order, at 1.) Appellant asserts that USPS attempted delivery on Sunday, May 24, 2015, but “there was no one available to sign and receive delivery.” (Id.) Monday, May 25, 2015 was a Federal holiday. Thereafter, USPS successfully delivered the appeal to the SBA headquarters building on Tuesday, May 26, 2015. (Id.) Appellant urges OHA to “use its discretion and reconsider the timeliness of delivery as sufficient and within the 15 day time frame, considering the closure of Government and public office buildings during the Memorial Day Holiday, and 13 C.F.R. § 134.202(d)(1)(ii) as part of the equation.” (Id. at 2.) Appellant states that it also served a copy of the appeal on ER by email, which ER received on May 19, 2015. (Id. at 1.)

*1 The instant appeal is untimely and must be dismissed. In accordance with 13 C.F.R. § 134.304(a), a size appeal must be filed at OHA within fifteen days of receipt of the size determination. Here, Appellant received the size determination on May 11, 2015. Appellant's appeal thus was due at OHA no later than May 26, 2015. The appeal was not received at OHA until May 27, 2015, one day after the deadline, and is therefore untimely. Size Appeal of Outdoor Venture Corporation, SBA No. SIZ-5232 (2011).

*1 Delivery of the appeal to the SBA headquarters building does not constitute filing with OHA, because “[t]he regulations are clear that an appeal petition is not ‘filed’ until it is actually received at OHA.” Size Appeal of A-Top Security Company, SBA No. SIZ-5227, at 2 (2011) (citing 13 C.F.R. § 134.204(b) (emphasis in original)). Likewise, “service of other parties — including other offices within SBA — does not satisfy the requirement for filing.” Size Appeal of NiSUS Technologies Corporation, SBA No. SIZ-5513, at 2 (2013). Contrary to Appellant's suggestions, OHA has no discretion to extend, or waive, the deadline for filing an appeal. 13 C.F.R. §§ 134.202(d)(2)(i)(A), 134.304(c); Size Appeal of Supplies Now, Inc., SBA No. SIZ- 5655 (2015).

*2 It is worth noting that Appellant could have utilized different means of transmitting the appeal, such as e-mail or facsimile. 13 C.F.R. § 134.204(a). Instead, Appellant elected to submit the appeal to OHA solely by certified mail. OHA's regulations caution that “[m]ail (except ‘Express Mail’) is not recommended for time-sensitive filings.” Id. Thus, having chosen to submit its appeal by mail, Appellant was responsible for ensuring that the appeal timely reached OHA.

*2 Lastly, Appellant's reliance on 13 C.F.R. § 134.202(d)(1)(ii), which extends the filing deadline to the next business day if the deadline falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, is misplaced. Appellant's filing deadline here was Tuesday, May 26, 2015, neither a weekend nor Federal holiday.

*2 For the above reasons, I DISMISS the instant appeal as untimely.

*2 This is the final decision of the Small Business Administration. See 13 C.F.R. § 134.316(d).