[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 201 (Thursday, October 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55678-55679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22574]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Community Development Financial Institutions Fund


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection: 
Comment Request; Uses of Awards Report Form

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 information collections, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. Currently, the Community Development Financial 
Institutions Fund (the CDFI Fund), the Department of the Treasury, is 
soliciting comments concerning the Uses of Awards Report Form, which is 
completed by the Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program) Recipients 
and the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI 
Program) and Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program) 
Recipients.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before December 16, 
2019 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all comments in writing to Mia Sowell, Associate 
Program Manager, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, 
U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20220, by email to [email protected], or by 
facsimile to (202) 508-0083. Please note that this is not a toll free 
number.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Mia Sowell, Associate Program Manager, Community 
Development Financial Institutions Fund, U.S. Department of the 
Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20220, by email 
to [email protected], or by phone to (202) 653-0421. Please note 
that these are not toll free numbers.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Uses of Award Report Form.
    OMB Number: 1559-0032.
    There is no significant content change to the form, however the 
format will be revised to: (1) Include a system-generated validation 
data point to capture Persistent Poverty County investments made by BEA 
Program Recipients; and (2) display a table that describes and easily 
identifies which data points are collected for each program (BEA, CDFI, 
NACA Programs). The revised form is also consistent with the format of 
the CDFI Fund's Annual Compliance report.
    The Uses of Award Report Form may be obtained from the CDFI Fund's 
website at http://www.cdfifund.gov/bea under How to Apply Step 4: 
Compliance and Reporting or http://www.cdfifund.gov/cdfi under How to 
Apply Step 5: Compliance and Reporting.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Description: The CDFI Fund is seeking to revise its Uses of Award 
Report Form to validate investments made in Persistent Poverty Counties 
(PPCs) by BEA Program award Recipients in compliance with the PPC 
Congressional Mandate. The CDFI Fund's appropriation in the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (Pub. L. 116-6), enacted February 
15, 2019, requires that at least 10 percent of BEA Program funds be 
used for Awards that support investments that serve populations living 
in PPCs. In order to meet this requirement, Applicants are required to 
indicate the minimum and maximum percentage of the Estimated BEA 
Program Award the Applicant will commit to deploying in PPCs.
    A Persistent Poverty County is any county that has had 20 percent 
or more of its population living in poverty over the past 30 years, as 
measured by the 1990 and 2000 decennial census, and the 2011-2015 5-
year data series available from the American Community Survey from the 
Census Bureau. A Recipient that made commitments to serve Persistent 
Poverty Counties is required to identify the portion of the total award 
amount used for BEA Qualified Activities in Persistent Poverty 
Counties.
    The purpose of the BEA Program is to provide an incentive to 
insured depository institutions to increase their activities in the 
form of loans, investments, services, and technical assistance within 
distressed communities and provide financial assistance to certified 
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) through grants, 
stock purchases, loans, deposits, and other forms of financial and 
technical assistance. Applicants submit applications and are evaluated 
in accordance with statutory and regulatory requirements (12 CFR 1806), 
and requirements that are set forth in the annual Notice of Funds 
Availability. The CDFI Fund requires BEA Program Award Recipients to 
use BEA Program Awards for BEA Program Qualified Activities, as defined 
in the BEA Program regulations. Recipients are

[[Page 55679]]

required to report to the CDFI Fund on their Qualified Activities per 
their Award Agreements.
    The CDFI Program was established by the Community Development and 
Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 to use federal resources to invest 
in and build the capacity of CDFIs to serve low-income people and 
communities lacking adequate access to affordable financial products 
and services. The CDFI Fund created the Native Initiatives, which 
includes the NACA Program, to further support the creation and 
expansion of Native CDFIs. Through the CDFI Program and NACA Program, 
the CDFI Fund provides: (1) Financial Assistance (FA) awards to CDFIs 
and Native CDFIs that have Comprehensive Business Plans for creating 
demonstrable community development impact through the deployment of 
credit, capital, and financial services within Target Markets and/or 
Eligible Markets; \1\ and (ii) Technical Assistance (TA) grants to 
CDFIs and Native CDFIs and entities proposing to become CDFIs or Native 
CDFIs in order to build their capacity to better address the community 
development and capital access needs of their existing or proposed 
Target Markets and/or to become certified CDFIs. CDFI Program 
applicants submit applications and are evaluated in accordance with 
statutory and regulatory requirements (12 CFR 1805), and requirements 
that are set forth in an annual Notice of Funds Availability. NACA 
Program applicants submit applications and are evaluated in accordance 
with requirements that are set forth in an annual Notice of Funds 
Availability. Recipients with FA or TA awards are required to report to 
the CDFI Fund on the uses of those funds per their Assistance 
Agreements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Eligible Market is defined as (i) a geographic area meeting 
the requirements set forth in 12 CFR 1805.201(b)(3)(ii), or (ii) 
individuals that are Low-Income, African American, Hispanic, Native 
American, Native Hawaiians residing in Hawaii, Alaska Natives 
residing in Alaska, or Other Pacific Islanders residing in American 
Samoa, Guam or the Northern Mariana Islands.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Affected Public: Recipients of BEA Program awards.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 120.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 120.
    Estimated Annual Time per Respondent: 1 hour.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 120 hours.
    Affected Public: Recipients of CDFI or NACA Program awards.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 700.
    Frequency of Response: Annually.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 700.
    Estimated Annual Time per Respondent: 30 min.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 350 hours.
    Requests for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this 
notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. All comments will become a 
matter of public record and will be published on the CDFI Fund website 
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 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 to provide information.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of 
information displays a valid OMB control number.

    Authority: 12 U.S.C. 4704, 4713; 12 CFR parts 1805 and 1806.

    Dated: October 10, 2019.
Jodie L. Harris,
Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. 2019-22574 Filed 10-16-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-70-P