[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 189 (Monday, October 4, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54787-54789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21433]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Community Development Financial Institutions Fund


Notice of Information Collection and Request for Public Comment

ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Treasury, as part of a 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 (PRA) of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). 
Currently, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI 
Fund), Department of the Treasury, is soliciting comments concerning 
the Small Dollar Loan Program (SDL Program) Application (Application). 
The Application is an online form submitted through the CDFI Fund's 
Award Management Information System (AMIS).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before December 3, 2021, 
to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments via email to Tanya McInnis, Program 
Manager for the Depository Institutions Initiatives, CDFI Fund at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tanya McInnis, SDL Program, Program 
Manager, CDFI Fund, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20220, (202) 653-0241 (not a toll-free 
number). Other information regarding the CDFI Fund and its programs may 
be obtained on the CDFI Fund website at https://www.cdfifund.gov. The 
SDL Program Application Template, which presents the questions that 
will comprise the online Application, may be obtained from the SDL 
Program page of the CDFI Fund website at https://www.cdfifund.gov/sdlp.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Small Dollar Loan Program Application.
    OMB Number: 1559-0051.
    Abstract: The Small Dollar Loan Program (SDL Program) is a new 
program, authorized by Title XII--Improving Access to Mainstream 
Financial Institutions Act of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 
Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-203), which amended The 
Community Development Banking and Financial

[[Page 54788]]

Institutions Act of 1994 to include the Small Dollar Loan Program (12 
U.S.C. 4719). Through the SDL Program, the CDFI Fund provides grants 
for loan loss reserves and technical assistance to enable award 
recipients to establish and maintain small dollar loan programs to 
address the issues of expanding consumer access to mainstream financial 
institutions and providing alternatives to high-cost small dollar 
loans. The SDL Program is also intended to enable award recipients to 
help unbanked and underbanked populations build credit, access 
affordable capital, and allow greater access into the mainstream 
financial system.
    Through the SDL Program, the CDFI Fund will provide:
    Grants for Loan Loss Reserves (LLR): The awards will enable a 
Certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to 
establish a loan loss reserve fund in order to defray the costs of 
establishing or maintaining a small dollar loan program.
    Grants for Technical Assistance (TA): The awards will support 
technology, staff support, and other eligible activities to enable a 
Certified CDFI to establish and maintain a small dollar loan program.
    SDL Program Award Recipients are selected through a competitive 
process involving a careful review of their Application for program 
funding. The Application requires the submission of numeric data and 
narrative responses for two parts: Part 1: Business Strategy and 
Community Impact and Part 2: Organization Capacity, including Financial 
Analysis and Compliance Risk Evaluation. The Award selection process is 
described in the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) for each funding 
round.
    This request for public comment relates to the SDL Program 
Application Form under OMB control number 1559-0051. Capitalized terms 
not defined in this Notice (other than titles) have the meaning set 
forth in the fiscal year (FY) 2021 SDL Program NOFA.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 100 (Application).
    Estimated Annual Time per Respondent: 68 hours (Application).
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 5,493 hours (Application).
    Request 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 CDFI Fund website at https://www.cdfifund.gov.
    The CDFI Fund is seeking input on the content of the Application 
with regard to the following: (a) Whether the collection of information 
as proposed is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility in evaluating Applications; (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.
    Additionally, the CDFI Fund specifically requests comments 
concerning the following questions:
    1. What, if any, Application questions and tables are redundant or 
unnecessary?
    2. What, if any, questions or tables should be added to ensure 
collection of relevant information?
    3. Does the data and information requested in the Application allow 
an Applicant to adequately explain its business strategy, community 
impact and ability to meet the program objectives?
    4. In the FY 2021 SDL Program Application, the CDFI Fund stated 
that LLR Awards may be made in amounts up to 20% of the Applicant's 
three-year projected total of Small Dollar Loans closed, not to exceed 
$350,000. Is the 20% cap too high or too low? If so, please describe 
and justify.
    5. The FY 2021 SDL Program Application states that the Awards will 
not be made to organizations that engage in the Prohibited Practices 
listed in the NOFA. Are the Prohibited Practices reasonable? Should any 
of the listed Prohibited Practices be modified or removed? Are there 
Prohibited Practices that should be added to the list? Please describe 
and justify your responses to these sub-questions.
    6. The CDFI Fund will prioritize funding for Applications that 
propose to offer small dollar loan programs that include any of the 
following prioritized lending practices and characteristics: (i) Offer 
small dollar loan terms that are at least ninety (90) days; (ii) use 
ability to repay underwriting that considers the borrower's ability to 
repay a loan based on both the borrower's income and expenses; (iii) 
make loan decisions within one business day (or twenty-four (24) hours) 
after receipt of required documents; (iv) offer a reduction in the 
borrower's loan rate if the borrower elects to use automatic debit 
payments; (v) offer automatic savings features that are built into the 
regularly-scheduled payments on a loan--provided that the resulting 
payment is still affordable--or, at a minimum, loans that can be 
structured so that, subject to the borrower's consent, payments 
continue for a period of time after the loan is repaid with all of the 
payments going into a savings vehicle; and (vi) offer access to 
financial education, including credit counseling. Are the prioritized 
lending practices and characteristics reasonable? Should any of the 
listed prioritized lending practices and characteristics be modified or 
removed? Are there prioritized lending practices and characteristics 
that should be added to the list? Please describe and justify your 
responses to these sub-questions.
    7. Are any of the questions particularly burdensome or difficult to 
answer? If so, please be specific as to the type of CDFI (e.g., 
regulated, non-profit) that finds it difficult.
    8. Are the character limitations for narrative responses 
appropriate? Should certain questions allow additional or fewer 
characters? If so, please specify.
    9. Are there questions that lack clarity as to intent or purpose? 
If so, which questions, and what needs to be clarified in order for 
Applicants to provide a comprehensive response?
    10. The Application includes questions about the intended impact of 
an Applicant's small dollar lending strategy. (a) How should the CDFI 
Fund assess the impact of SDL Program Awards on Low-Income Families and 
communities? (b) The CDFI Fund has identified a set of impacts for 
Applicants to choose in the Application (see FY 2021 SDL Program 
Application Question 7. (c). Are the current impact choices 
sufficiently comprehensive? Are there impacts that should be added or 
modified?
    11. The statute governing the SDL Program states that there are 
three eligible Applicant types. Per the Statute, Applicants can be 
either (a) a Certified CDFI that applies individually for an LLR Award 
or for a TA Award or for a combination of an LLR Award and TA Award; or 
(b) a Certified CDFI that applies as a partnership with a federally 
insured depository institution that has a primary mission to serve 
targeted Investment Areas (FIDI) for an LLR Award or (c) a Certified 
CDFI that applies as a partnership with two or more Certified CDFIs for 
a TA Award. The CDFI Fund has two questions related to these different 
Applicant types: (i) Are additional questions or revisions to existing 
questions needed in the Application to further clarify and 
differentiate the three eligible Applicant

[[Page 54789]]

types? If so, please describe and justify. (ii) The Application 
currently asks Applicants that apply as a partnership with a FIDI for 
an LLR Award to submit an attestation form that is signed by the FIDI 
that the FIDI has a mission to serve targeted Investment Areas. Should 
the CDFI Fund make revisions to the attestation form that the FIDI must 
sign? If yes, what are the revisions? Should the CDFI Fund request any 
other documentation that the FIDI must submit in order to demonstrate 
its primary mission to serve targeted Investment Areas? If so, please 
describe and justify.
    12. In future funding rounds, new priorities may emerge, such as 
disaster response, an economic downturn, or new initiatives. How should 
the CDFI Fund address changing priorities on a round-by-round basis? 
What approaches would be preferred?
    Authority: Pub. L. 110-289, 12 CFR 1807.

Jodie L. Harris,
Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. 2021-21433 Filed 9-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-05-P