14244 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 52 / Wednesday, March 18, 2015 / Notices 

otherwise stated, any statement made 

during the meetings by a panel member 

should not be construed as an official 

position of the U.S. government. 

The meeting will be open to all 

persons, subject to the capacity of the 

meeting room and phone lines available 

for those participating via conference 

call. Every effort will be made to 

accommodate all persons wishing to 

attend. The FAA and PHMSA will try to 

accommodate all speakers, subject to 

time constraints. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on March 10, 

2015. 

Christopher Glasow, 

Director, Office of Hazardous Materials 

Safety. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06158 Filed 3–17–15; 4:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Community Development Financial 

Institutions Fund 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposals, Submissions, 

and Approvals 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The 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 comment on 

proposed information collections, as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995, Public Law 104–13 (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 an evaluation of 

the CDFI Fund’s Bank Enterprise Award 

(BEA) Program. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

received on or before May 18, 2015 to 

be assured of consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Direct all comments to Greg 

Bischak, Program Manager, Financial 

Strategies and Research, at the 

Community Development Financial 

Institutions Fund, U.S. Department of 

the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20020, by 

email to cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov or by 

facsimile to (202) 508–0089. Please note 

this is not a toll free number. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to Greg Bischak, 

Program Manager, Financial Strategies 

and Research, at the Community 

Development Financial Institutions 

Fund, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20020, by email to 

cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov or by facsimile 

to (202) 508–0089. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Evaluation of the Community 

Development Financial Institution Fund 

(CDFI Fund) Bank Enterprise Award 

(BEA) Program. 

OMB Number: 1559–NEW. 

Type of Review: Regular Review. 

Abstract: The BEA Program 

Evaluation is designed to support the 

CDFI Fund’s overall mission to increase 

economic opportunity and provide 

community development investments in 

underserved populations and distressed 

communities within the United States. 

Specifically, the evaluation will assist 

the CDFI Fund in its assessment of a 

program administered to complement 

community development activities of 

insured depository institutions. The 

BEA Program provides financial 

assistance to FDIC-insured depository 

institutions for expanding investments 

in CDFIs, and increasing lending, 

investment, and service activities within 

economically distressed communities 

with at least 30 percent of residents 

having incomes less than the national 

poverty level, and at least 1.5 times the 

national unemployment rate. 

The program evaluation is designed to 

assess: 

• The effectiveness of the BEA 

Program as a mechanism for providing 

performance-based awards; 

• The influence of the BEA Program 

and BEA Program awards on bank 

behavior and investment patterns; 

• The impact of the BEA Program 

awards on award recipients and 

distressed communities; and 

• The impact of BEA Program-eligible 

investments in CDFIs and in distressed 

communities. 

The primary audience for the BEA 

Program evaluation will include key 

leadership from the population of 

approximately 156 FDIC-insured 

financial institutions that applied for 

BEA Program awards during calendar 

years 2012, 2013, or 2014. In addition, 

the evaluation audience will include a 

sample of CDFI Partners (CDFIs that 

were recipients of loans or investments 

from BEA Program applicants or 

awardees). 

An online survey will be 

administered to address the study 

objectives and related research 

questions. The survey instrument will 

be organized into the following major 

categories and related topics: 

• Organizational Profile 

Æ Assessment Area 

Æ Service Area 

Æ Community Reinvestment Act 

(CRA) Asset Size (Used to Determine 

Bank Size) 

Æ Number of Awards and Dollar 

Amount 

Æ Activity Category 

Æ Institution type (e.g., CDFI, 

Community Bank) 

• Effectiveness of the BEA Program as 

a mechanism for providing performance 

based awards. 

Æ Extent to which banks’ decisions to 

apply for a BEA Program award was 

driven by economic or financial rewards 

(e.g., increase profitability, improve 

capital ratios, risk mitigation, etc.). 

Æ Extent to which the Qualified 

Activities that formed the basis for the 

bank’s application were driven by 

regulatory factors (e.g., CRA, CAMELS 

ratings, etc.). 

Æ Degree to which the Qualified 

Activities that formed the basis for 

banks’ applications needed support 

(e.g., financial assistance) from a BEA 

Program award. 

• Influence of the BEA Program on 

Bank Behavior and Investment Patterns. 

Æ Extent to which FDIC-insured 

financial institutions have provided 

loans, investments, or assistance to 

CDFI’s in BEA qualified distressed 

communities during the assessment 

period. 

Æ Types of support provided. 

Æ Types of CDFIs most frequently 

receiving support from FDIC-insured 

financial institutions (e.g., banks, loan 

funds, venture capital funds, or credit 

unions). 

Æ Primary reason(s) why FDICinsured financial institutions have 

provided loans, investments, or 

assistance to various types of CDFIs in 

BEA qualified distressed communities. 

Æ Extent to which banks had 

provided financial products and/or 

services in the distressed community 

before the applicable assessment period. 

Æ Level of effort, cost, and risk 

associated with carrying out the 

Qualified Activities that formed the 

basis for the bank’s application (and 

variation by type of activity). 

Æ Estimated ratio of the dollar 

amount of the Qualified Activities that 

formed the basis for a bank’s application 

to the amount of the BEA Program 

award calculated for the Qualified 

Activities. 

Æ Estimate on the extent to which the 

bank’s actual Qualified Activities 

exceed the amount included in their 

BEA applications. 

• Impact of the BEA Program awards 

on Recipient Banks and Distressed 

Communities. 

Æ Perceived impact of BEA Program 

awards on recipient banks. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 52 / Wednesday, March 18, 2015 / Notices 14245 

Æ Perceived impact of BEA Program 

awards on residents and businesses in 

Distressed Communities. 

• Impact of BEA Program-eligible 

investments in CDFIs and in distressed 

communities. 

Æ Perceived extent to which the 

Qualified Activities that formed the 

basis for banks’ applications have 

benefited CDFIs and residents and 

businesses in distressed communities. 

The survey instrument will include 

15–20 closed-ended questions (e.g., 

Likert scale, rating scale, rank order, or 

multiple response items), 3–5 ‘‘other 

(specify)’’ items, and a maximum of 

three open-ended questions. 

Questions regarding the survey 

instrument should be directed to Greg 

Bischak, Program Manager, Financial 

Strategies and Research, at the 

Community Development Financial 

Institutions Fund, U.S. Department of 

the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20020, by 

email to cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov or by 

facsimile to (202) 508–0089. 

Type of Information Collection 

Request: New Collection. 

Affected Public: Private Sector: 

Businesses or other for-profits, Not-forprofit institutions. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

109 (based on an expected response rate 

of 70 percent). 

Estimated Annual Time per 

Respondent: 30 minutes. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 55 hours. 

Requests For Comments: Comments 

submitted in response to this notice will 

be summarized and/or included in the 

request for OMB approval. All 

comments will become a matter of 

public record and may be published on 

the CDFI Fund Web site at http://

www.cdfifund.gov. This notice solicits 

comments from the public and affected 

parties concerning the forthcoming 

online survey of FDIC-insured financial 

institutions that applied for BEA 

Program awards during calendar years 

2012, 2013, or 2014 with respect to: (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 collections; and (d) 

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. 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1834a, 4703, 4703 

note, 4713; 12 CFR part 1806. 

Dated: March 10, 2015. 

Annie Donovan, 

Director, Community Development Financial 

Institutions Fund. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06233 Filed 3–17–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–70–P 

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