[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 164 (Wednesday, August 25, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52393-52394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21181]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Community Development Financial Institutions Fund


Proposed Data Collection; Comment Request: New Markets Tax Credit 
(NMTC) Program--Allocation Application

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing 
effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general 
public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment 
on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). 
Currently, the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) 
Fund, Department of the Treasury, is soliciting comments concerning the 
New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program--Allocation Application 
(hereafter, the Application).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 25, 2010 
to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all comments to Rosa Martinez, Acting NMTC Program 
Manager, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, U.S. 
Department of the Treasury, 601 13th Street, NW., Suite 200 South, 
Washington, DC 20005, by e-mail to [email protected], or by 
facsimile to (202) 622-7754. Please note this is not a toll free 
number.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Application and the NMTC Program 
Notice of Allocation Availability (NOAA) for the FY 2010 allocation 
round (75 FR 4077, April 8, 2010) may be obtained from the NMTC Program 
page of the CDFI Fund's Web site at http://www.cdfifund.gov. Requests 
for additional information should be directed to Rosa Martinez, Acting 
NMTC Program Manager, Community Development Financial Institutions 
Fund, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 601 13th Street, NW., Suite 200 
South, Washington, DC 20005, by e-mail to [email protected], or 
by facsimile to (202) 622-7754. Please note this is not a toll free 
number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program--Allocation 
Application.
    OMB Number: 1559-0016.
    Abstract: Title I, subtitle C, section 121 of the Community Renewal 
Tax Relief Act of 2000 (the Act), as enacted in the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2001 (Pub. L. 106-554, December 21, 2000), amended 
the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) by adding IRC Sec.  45D and created the 
NMTC Program. The Department of the Treasury, through the CDFI Fund, 
administers the NMTC Program, which provides an incentive to investors 
in the form of tax credits over seven years that stimulates private 
investment capital that, in turn, facilitates economic and community 
development in low-income communities. In order to receive the tax 
credit, taxpayers make Qualified Equity Investments (QEIs) in Community 
Development Entities (CDEs): substantially all of the QEI proceeds must 
in turn be used by the CDE to provide investments in businesses and 
real estate developments in low-income communities.
    The tax credit provided to the investor totals 39 percent of the 
amount of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year period. In 
each of the first three years, the investor receives a credit equal to 
five percent of the total amount paid for the stock or capital interest 
at the time of purchase. For the final four years, the value of the 
credit is six percent annually. Investors may not redeem their 
investments in CDEs prior to the conclusion of the seven-year period 
without forfeiting any credit amounts they have received.

[[Page 52394]]

    The CDFI Fund is responsible for certifying organizations as CDEs, 
and administering the competitive allocation of tax credit authority to 
CDEs, which it does through annual allocation rounds. As part of the 
award selection process, all CDEs are required to prepare and submit 
the Application, which includes four key sections (Business Strategy; 
Community Impact; Management Capacity; and Capitalization Strategy). 
During the first phase of the review process, each Application is rated 
and scored independently by three different readers.
    In scoring each Application, reviewers rate each of the four 
evaluation sections as follows: Weak (0-5 points); Limited (6-10 
points); Average (11-15 points); Good (16-20 points); and Excellent 
(21-25 points). Applications can be awarded up to ten additional 
``priority'' points for demonstrating a track record of serving 
disadvantaged business and communities and/or for committing to make 
investments in projects owned by unrelated parties. If one or more of 
the three readers provides an anomalous score, and it is determined 
that such an anomaly would affect the outcome of the final awardee 
pool, then a fourth reviewer will score the Application, and the 
anomalous score would likely be dropped.
    Once all of the scores have been finalized, including anomaly score 
adjustments, those Applications that meet minimum aggregate scoring 
thresholds in each of the four major review sections (as well as a 
minimum overall scoring threshold) are eligible to be considered for an 
allocation. They are reviewed by an internal CDFI Fund panel, with a 
Lead Panelist making an award recommendation to a Panel Manager, and 
the Panel Manager making an award recommendation to the Selecting 
Official. If the Selecting Official's award recommendation varies 
significantly from the recommendation of the Panel Manager, then a 
Reviewing Official makes the final award determination. Awards are 
made, in descending order of the final rank score, until the available 
allocation authority for a given round is fully expended.
    Current Actions: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Type of review: Regular review.
    Affected public: CDEs seeking NMTC Program allocation authority.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 249.
    Estimated Annual Time per Respondent: 249 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 62,155 hours.
    Requests for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this 
notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for Office of 
Management and Budget approval. All comments will become a matter of 
public record and may be published on the Fund Web site at http://www.cdfifund.gov. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions 
of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
through the use of technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up 
costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services 
required to provide information.

    Authority: 26 U.S.C. 45D; 26 CFR 1.45D-1.

    Dated: August 20, 2010.
Donna J. Gambrell,
Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. 2010-21181 Filed 8-24-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-70-P