[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 150 (Friday, August 3, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46436-46437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19011]


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FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY

[No. 2012-N-08]


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance Agency.

ACTION: 60-day Notice of Submission of Information Collection for 
Approval from the Office of Management and Budget.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is seeking 
public comments concerning a currently approved information collection 
known as ``Community Support Requirements,'' which has been assigned 
control number 2590-0005 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 
FHFA intends to submit the information collection to OMB for review and 
approval of a three year extension of the control number, which is due 
to expire on October 31, 2012.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 2, 2012.
    Comments: You may submit your comments to FHFA using any of the 
following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Please include Proposed 
Collection; Comment Request: Community Support Requirements (No. 2012-
N-08) in the subject line of the message.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     U.S. Mail/Hand Delivery: Federal Housing Finance Agency, 
Eighth Floor, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20024, Attention: 
Public Comments/Proposed Collection; Comment Request: ``Community 
Support Requirements,'' (No. 2012-N-08).
    We will post all public comments we receive without change, 
including any personal information you provide, such as your name, 
telephone number, and address, on the FHFA Web site at http://www.fhfa.gov. In addition, copies of all comments received will be 
available for examination by the public on business days between the 
hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, 
Eighth Floor, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20024. To make an 
appointment to inspect comments, please call the Office of General 
Counsel at 202-649-3804.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sylvia C. Martinez, Management 
Advisor, Division of Bank Regulation (DBR), Federal Housing Finance 
Agency, by telephone at 202-649-3301 (not a toll-free number), or by 
electronic mail at [email protected]. The telephone number for 
the Telecommunications Device for the Hearing Impaired is 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Need For and Use of the Information Collection

    Section 10(g)(1) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (Bank Act) 
requires FHFA to promulgate regulations establishing standards of 
community investment or service that Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank) 
member institutions must meet in order to maintain access to long-term 
advances.\1\ Section 10(g)(2) of the Bank Act requires that, in 
establishing these community support requirements for Bank members, 
FHFA take into account factors such as the Bank member's performance 
under the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) \2\ and record of 
lending to first-time homebuyers.\3\
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    \1\ See 12 U.S.C. 1430(g)(1).
    \2\ 12 U.S.C. 2901, et seq.
    \3\ See 12 U.S.C. 1430(g)(2).
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    Part 1290 of FHFA's regulations implements the statutory 
requirements by providing uniform community support standards that all 
Bank members must meet, as well as review criteria that FHFA staff must 
apply to determine compliance with section 10(g) of the Bank Act.\4\ 
Section 1290.2 of the regulations requires that each Bank member submit 
to FHFA biennially a completed Community Support Statement (Form 60), 
which contains several short questions the answers to which are used by 
FHFA to assess the responding member's compliance with the CRA and 
first time homebuyer performance standards. In section I of the form, a 
member that is subject to the CRA must record its current CRA rating 
and the date of its most recent CRA evaluation. Section II of the form 
addresses a member's efforts to assist first time homebuyers--a member 
may either record the amount of loans made to first time homebuyers (in 
dollars and as a percentage of total mortgage loans) in the previous 
year, indicate the types of programs it has undertaken to assist first 
time home buyers (by checking selections from a

[[Page 46437]]

list) or do both. If a member has received a CRA rating of 
``outstanding,'' it need not complete section II of the form. A copy of 
Form 60 is available at http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/2924/FHFAForm060.pdf.
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    \4\ See 12 CFR part 1290.
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    Section 1290.5 describes the circumstances under which FHFA will 
restrict a member's access to long-term Bank advances for failure to 
meet the community support requirements. It also permits Bank members 
whose access to long-term advances has been restricted to apply 
directly to FHFA to remove the restriction under certain circumstances.
    The information collection contained in Form 60 and part 1290 are 
necessary to enable and are used by FHFA to determine whether Bank 
members satisfy the statutory and regulatory community support 
requirements. Only Bank members that meet these requirements may 
maintain continued access to long-term Bank advances. See 12 U.S.C. 
1430(g).
    The OMB number for the information collection is 2590-0005. The OMB 
clearance for the information collection expires on October 31, 2012. 
The likely respondents are institutions that are Bank members.

B. Burden Estimate

    The FHFA estimates the total annual average number of respondents 
that must complete Form 60 at 3,900 Bank members (half of all Bank 
members each year), with one response per member and an average burden 
per response of one hour. In addition, FHFA estimates the total annual 
average number of Bank members whose access to long-term advances has 
been restricted that will apply to FHFA to remove the restriction at 14 
Bank members, with one response per member and an average burden per 
response of one hour. Thus, the estimate for the total annual hour 
burden is 3,914 hours.

C. Comment Request

    Written comments are requested on the following: (1) Whether the 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
FHFA functions, including whether the information has practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of the FHFA estimates of the burdens of the 
collection of information; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and 
clarity of the information collected; and (4) ways to minimize the 
burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

    Dated: July 27, 2012.
Kevin Winkler,
Chief Information Officer, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2012-19011 Filed 8-2-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070-01-P