[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 243 (Friday, December 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79076-79079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31884]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5774-N-04]


Promise Zones Initiative: Third Round Selection Process

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Through this notice, HUD provides notice on the selection 
process, criteria, and application submission for the third round of 
the Promise Zone initiative.

DATES: Application due date is 5:00 p.m. EST on February 23, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Interested eligible organizations are invited to submit 
applications for a Promise Zone designation. Questions or comments 
regarding the application process should be directed by email to 
[email protected]. Questions or comments may also be directed by 
postal mail to the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Economic Development, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 
451 Seventh Street SW., Room 7136, Washington, DC 20410 ATTN: Promise 
Zone Selections.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryan Herdliska, U.S. Department of 
Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Rm 7136, Washington, 
DC, 20410; telephone number 202-402-6758. This is not a toll-free 
number. Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access this 
number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at 
(800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama announced 
the establishment of the Promise Zones initiative to partner with high-
poverty communities across the country to create jobs, increase 
economic security, expand educational opportunities, increase access to 
quality, affordable housing, and improve public safety.\1\ On January 
8, 2014, the President

[[Page 79077]]

announced the first five Promise Zones, which are located in: San 
Antonio, TX; Philadelphia, PA; Los Angeles, CA; Southeastern Kentucky, 
KY; and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, OK. On April 28, 2015, eight 
more Promise Zones were designated as part of the second round Promise 
Zone selection process. They are located in: Camden, NJ; Hartford, CT; 
Indianapolis, IN; Minneapolis, MN; Sacramento, CA; St. Louis, MO; South 
Carolina Low Country; and Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of the Oglala 
Sioux Tribe, SD. Each of these communities (nine urban, two rural, and 
two tribal) submitted a plan on how it will partner with local business 
and community leaders to make investments that reward hard work and 
expand opportunity. In exchange, the Federal government is helping 
these Promise Zone designees secure the resources and flexibility they 
need to achieve their goals.\2\ The urban designations were conferred 
by HUD, while the rural and tribal designations were conferred by U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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    \1\ See http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/15/fact-sheet-president-s-plan-ensure-hard-work-leads-decent-living.
    \2\ See http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/08/fact-sheet-president-obama-s-promise-zones-initiative.
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Promise Zones Benefits

    The Promise Zone designation partners the Federal government with 
local leaders who are addressing multiple community revitalization 
challenges in a collaborative way and have demonstrated a commitment to 
results. Further, Promise Zones will be assigned Federal staff to help 
navigate the array of Federal assistance and programs already available 
to them. In addition, eligible applicants in Promise Zones will receive 
any available (a) preference for certain competitive Federal programs 
and (b) technical assistance. Subject to enactment by Congress, 
businesses investing in Promise Zones or hiring residents of Promise 
Zones will be eligible to receive tax incentives. Altogether, this 
package of assistance will help local leaders accelerate efforts to 
revitalize their communities.
    The Promise Zone designation will be for a term of 10 years and may 
be extended as necessary to capture the full term of availability of 
the Promise Zone tax incentives, if the tax incentives are enacted. 
During this term, the specific benefits made available to Promise Zones 
may vary from year to year, and sometimes more often than annually, due 
to changes in Federal agency policies and changes in appropriations and 
authorizations for relevant programs. All assistance provided to 
Promise Zones is subject to applicable regulations, statutes, and 
changes in federal agency policies, appropriations, and authorizations 
for relevant programs. Subject to these limitations, the Promise Zone 
designation commits the Federal government to partner with local 
leaders who are addressing multiple community revitalization challenges 
in a collaborative way and have demonstrated a commitment to results.

Response to Public Comment

    On July 29, 2015, HUD published a notice in the Federal Register at 
80 FR 45227 to solicit comments from first and second round applicants, 
interested parties, and the general public on the Promise Zones 
initiative and the proposed selection process for the of Promise Zone 
designations. The public comment period closed on September 28, 2015. 
HUD received 21 communications containing public comments. HUD and 
USDA, in consultation with federal interagency partners of the Promise 
Zone initiative, provided responses to public comments on the 
application process which have been included in the updated Frequently 
Asked Questions (FAQs). The FAQs can be found at www.hud.gov/promisezones.

Promise Zones Selection Process

    This notice announces the opening of the application period for the 
third round of Promise Zone designations. HUD and USDA have reorganized 
and revised the Application Guide to clarify elements that applicants 
found particularly difficult and incorporated some comments. The MAX 
Survey online survey system, which is used for submitting certain 
components of the application, has also been reorganized. Applications 
are due by 5:00 p.m. EST on February 23, 2016 with announcements 
expected in 2016. As a result of this competition, HUD intends to 
designate five urban communities and USDA intends to designate one 
rural and one tribal community. A total of 20 Promise Zone designations 
will be made by the end of calendar year 2016.
    Due to the cross-disciplinary nature of the initiative, the list of 
eligible Lead Applicants has been updated to reflect that Promise Zone 
activities are likely to be carried out by a variety of organizations 
and organization types, including organizations that have specific 
roles in the delivery of programs funded by different Federal agencies. 
Most such organizations are eligible under the categories of 
governmental and nonprofit organizations that were previously listed as 
eligible Lead Applicants. HUD and USDA included examples might 
encourage communities to engage organizations that are the most 
appropriate to respond to their needs and lead revitalization efforts. 
Eligible Lead Applicants for Urban Promise Zone designations are: Units 
of General Local Government (UGLG); \3\ An office/department of a local 
government submitting on behalf of the local government under a local 
delegation of authority; Nonprofit organizations applying with the 
support of the UGLG; and Public Housing Agencies, Community Colleges, 
Local Education Agencies (LEAs), or Metropolitan Planning Organizations 
(MPOs) applying with the support of the UGLG.
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    \3\ Unit of general local government as defined in section 
102(a)(1) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 
U.S.C. 5302(a)(1)). See definition (a) (1) Unit of General Local 
Government.
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    Eligible Lead Applicants for Rural and Tribal Promise Zone 
designations are: Local governments (which includes county, city, town, 
township, parish, village, governmental authority or other general-
purpose political subdivision of a state or combination thereof) and 
Federally-recognized tribes; \4\ Nonprofit organizations applying in 
partnership with local government or tribal government; Housing 
authorities applying in partnership with local government, or Tribally 
Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs) applying in partnership with tribal 
government; or Local Education Agencies (LEAs) applying in partnership 
with local or tribal government; or community colleges applying in 
partnership with local or tribal government.
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    \4\ ``Tribal applicants'' are: Federally-recognized tribes as 
well as duly established political subdivisions of a Federally-
recognized tribe. A ``Federally-recognized tribe'' is any Indian 
tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of 
Indians, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village 
corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act [43 USCS Sec. Sec.  1601 et seq.], that 
is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services 
provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as 
Indians pursuant to the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.) A Nonprofit organization 
applying in partnership with a Federally-recognized tribal 
government may apply as a tribal applicant.
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    Any Lead Applicant whose proposed Promise Zone boundaries meet the 
qualifying criteria set forth in the Third Round Application Guide is 
eligible to apply for a Promise Zone designation. All of the following 
must be present in an application for a proposed Urban Promise Zone to 
be eligible for a designation: (1) Proposed Promise Zone must have one 
contiguous boundary and

[[Page 79078]]

cannot include separate geographic areas; \5\ (2) The rate of overall 
poverty or
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    \5\ Applicants are required to use the Promise Zone mapping tool 
to show both the boundary and the poverty levels. The mapping tool 
emails this information as a PDF to the applicant. This PDF, in its 
entirety, must be included in the application. See page 33 of the 
Application Guide for more information on the mapping tool.
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    Extremely Low Income rate (whichever is greater) of residents 
within the Promise Zone must be at or above 32.5%; \6\ (3) Promise Zone 
boundaries must encompass a population of at least 10,000 but no more 
than 200,000 residents; (4) The Promise Zone application must 
affirmatively demonstrate support from all mayors or chief executives 
of UGLGs that include any geographical area within the proposed Promise 
Zone boundary, subject to the following conditions:
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    \6\ The reported poverty rate or Extremely Low Income rate will 
be rounded to the nearest .1%.
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     Counties and county equivalents (collectively 
``counties'').\7\ The chief executive of a county must demonstrate 
support for any Promise Zone Plan (Plan) that includes an area within 
the unincorporated boundaries of the county. The chief executive of a 
county may support as many Plans as he or she wishes in incorporated 
areas within the county, but may only support one Plan that includes an 
area within the unincorporated boundaries of the county. If the chief 
executive of a county supports multiple Plans, the chief executive must 
include an explanation of how the county intends to work with multiple 
designees at the same time and sustain the necessary level of effort, 
resources, and support for each designee for the full term of each 
designation.
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    \7\ Note the reference to county includes all county 
equivalents, such as parishes.
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     UGLGs other than counties. For UGLGs other than counties, 
the chief executive of an UGLG must demonstrate support for a Plan that 
includes any area within the geographic boundaries of the UGLG. The 
chief executive of UGLGs that are not counties may support only one 
Plan. If the chief executive of an UGLG that is not a county supports 
more than one Plan, HUD will disqualify all Promise Zone applications 
supported by that chief executive.
     Crossing Jurisdictions. The Promise Zone application must 
demonstrate support for the Plan from all chief executives of UGLGs 
included within the proposed Promise Zone boundary. The chief executive 
of a county must demonstrate support for any Plan that includes area 
within the unincorporated boundaries of the county. For UGLGs other 
than counties, the chief executive of an UGLG must demonstrate support 
for a Plan that includes any area within the geographic boundaries of 
the UGLG. For example, a Plan that includes areas in two cities 
requires the support of the chief executives from both cities. A Plan 
that includes area within the boundaries of a city and the 
unincorporated boundaries of the county requires support from the chief 
executive of the city and the chief executive of the county.
     UGLGs with Designated Promise Zones. If a Promise Zone 
designated in Round 1 or 2 is located within a UGLG in which a new 
application is being submitted, the applicant must include an 
explanation of how, if a second Promise Zone designation is made, the 
UGLG plans to work with both of the Promise Zone designees at the same 
time and sustain the level of effort, resources and support committed 
to each Promise Zone under its respective Promise Zone Plan for the 
full term of each Promise Zone designation. This explanation must be 
evidenced by commitments from the UGLG in materials submitted by the 
chief executive in support of the application.

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                                                          Is support from   Is support of the  Is support of the
                                                             the chief        chief executive    chief executive
                                                            executive of        of  City Y        of County  Z
                                                          City X required?      required?          required?
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The PZ Plan is for an area entirely within the                       Yes.*                No.              No.**
 boundaries of City X..................................
The PZ Plan is for an area entirely within the                         No.              Yes.*              No.**
 boundaries of City Y..................................
The PZ Plan is for an area entirely within the                         No.                No.            Yes.***
 boundaries of unincorporated area of County Z.........
The PZ Plan consists of area within City X and City Y..               Yes*              Yes.*              No.**
The PZ Plan consists of area within City Y and an area                 No.              Yes.*            Yes.***
 within the unincorporated boundaries of County Z......
The PZ Plan consists of area within City X, area within              Yes.*              Yes.*            Yes.***
 City Y, and area within the unincorporated boundaries
 of County Z...........................................
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* For UGLGs other than counties, the chief executive of an UGLG must demonstrate support for a Plan that
  includes any area within the geographic boundaries of the UGLG.
** However, the chief executive of a county may support as many Plans as he or she wishes in incorporated areas
  within the county.
*** The chief executive of a county must demonstrate support for any Promise Zone Plan that includes area within
  the unincorporated boundaries of the county.

Rural and Tribal Promise Zone Designations

    All the following must be present to be eligible for a Rural or 
Tribal Promise Zone designation: (1) Rural and Tribal Promise Zones 
must encompass one or more census tract(s) across a contiguous 
geography.\8\ Rural applicants can define their boundaries by either 
census tracts or by county, where multiple counties are included. 
Tribal applicants can define boundaries which may encompass: one or 
more census tracts and nearby tribally-controlled areas; or 
reservations; or consortia of tribal and non-tribal jurisdictions; (2) 
Promise Zone boundaries must encompass a population of no more than 
200,000 residents.\9\ The population limit of 200,000 may not include 
any incorporated municipalities or unincorporated areas with individual 
populations greater than 50,000. Rural and tribal Promise Zones may 
fall in non-metro and metro counties; (3) The rate of overall poverty 
or Extremely Low Income rate (whichever is greater) \10\ of

[[Page 79079]]

residents within the Promise Zone must be at or above 20 percent and 
the Promise Zone must contain at least one census tract with a poverty 
rate at or above 30 percent; \11\ and (4) Local leadership must 
demonstrate commitment to the Promise Zone effort. Tribal applications 
must include commitment of tribal jurisdiction(s) represented. Proposed 
Promise Zone boundaries may cross UGLG or tribal area lines, but one 
Lead Applicant must be identified, and for cross-jurisdictional 
applications, commitment must be demonstrated by the leadership of all 
UGLGs or tribal areas involved.
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    \8\ For rural and tribal applications, Promise Zone boundaries 
that cross state lines and water borders can be considered 
contiguous.
    \9\ The population limit of 200,000 is intended to allow for 
regional collaboration among multiple communities of varying sizes 
and capacities. The rural eligibility criteria ensure, by 
definition, that rural Promise Zone applications cannot include 
communities over 50,000.
    \10\ The estimated concentration of Extremely Low Income (ELI) 
households represents an approximation of the percent of households 
within the specified area whose household combined income is below 
30% of the HUD defined Area Median Income (AMI). This ELI indicator 
is calculated with data from the block group level from 
Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) 2010. The final 
number included in this report for ``poverty rate'' is the greater 
of these two indicators.
    \11\ Applicants are required to use the Promise Zones mapping 
tool to determine the overall poverty rate. The mapping tool 
determines the overall poverty rate in two ways and uses the higher 
percentage.
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Application Review

    Applications for Promise Zone designations will be reviewed by 
representatives from USDA, HUD, the Department of Education, the 
Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the 
Department of Labor, and the Department of Transportation. Additional 
Federal agencies and outside entities may contribute reviewers, 
depending upon the anticipated volume of applications.
    Reviewers will first verify that the application is submitted by an 
applicant eligible for selection, by verifying that the proposed 
Promise Zone meets the qualifying criteria and that the Lead Applicant 
meets the eligibility criteria for the third round selection process. 
For urban applications, reviewers will confirm the subcategory in which 
each application should be considered (large Metropolitan Core Based 
Statistical Area (Metro CBSA) or small/medium Metro CBSA).\12\
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    \12\ Urban application subcategories are defined as: Large Metro 
CBSA: The proposed Promise Zone community is located in a 
Metropolitan Core Based Statistical Area (Metro CBSA) with a total 
population of 500,000 or more. Small/medium Metro CBSA: The proposed 
Promise Zone community is located within the geographic boundaries 
of a Metro CBSA with a population of 499,999 or less. Additional 
information regarding Metropolitan Core Based Statistical Areas and 
Principal City can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/bulletins/2013/b13-01.pdf.
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    Rural applications will be ranked against other rural applications, 
tribal applications will be ranked against other tribal applications, 
and urban applications will be ranked against other urban applications. 
An application must score a total of 75 points or more out of 100 
points, to be considered for a designation (scoring 75 points or more 
means that applications fall within the ``competitive range''). Once 
scored, applications will be ranked competitively within each of the 
three Promise Zones categories and within the urban subcategories, as 
applicable.
    HUD intends to designate at least one applicant from the small/
medium Metro CBSA sub-category if the highest scoring small/medium 
Metro CBSA application is comparable in quality to other urban 
designees (within 10 points of the lowest scoring designee and not 
otherwise disqualified in accordance with all other requirements 
contained within this application guide). If the number of eligible 
applications determined to be eligible for the small/medium Metro CBSA 
subcategory is fewer than the greater of 1) five total applications, or 
2) ten percent of the total number of urban applications received, then 
the applications in the small/medium Metro CBSA subcategory will be 
included in the large Metro CBSA subcategory and ranked against those 
applications.

Application Submission

    Applications must provide a clear description of how the Promise 
Zone designation would accelerate and strengthen the community's 
efforts at comprehensive community revitalization. No substantive or 
technical corrections will be accepted or reviewed after the 
application deadline. The Application Guide can be found at 
www.hud.gov/promisezones. Applications are due via the Promise Zone 
online application portal on MAX Survey by 5:00 p.m. EST on February 
23, 2016. Directions on how to access and use the application portal 
are available at www.hud.gov/promisezones.
    If the Lead Applicant requests to use alternative data sources to 
meet the eligibility criteria or for the Need application section, a 
one-page explanation noting the alternative data source must be 
submitted to [email protected] with the subject line ``Alternative 
data source request'' by February 2, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. EST to be 
approved by the relevant designating agency (HUD or USDA).

    Dated: December 14, 2015.
Nani A. Coloretti,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-31884 Filed 12-17-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4210-67-P