Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 45 / Friday, March 7, 1997 / Notices 10679

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Community Development Financial

Institutions Fund

Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA)

Inviting Applications for the Bank

Enterprise Awards (BEA) Program

AGENCY: Community Development

Financial Institutions Fund, Department

of the Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of Funds Availability

(NOFA) inviting applications.

SUMMARY: The Community Development

Banking and Financial Institutions Act

of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.)

authorizes the Community Development

Financial Institutions Fund (hereafter

referred to as ‘‘the Fund’’) to provide a

reward to insured depository

institutions for the purpose of

promoting investments in or other

support to Community Development

Financial Institutions (‘‘CDFIs’’) and

facilitating increased lending and

provision of financial and other services

in economically distressed

communities. Insured depository

institutions and CDFIs are defined terms

in an interim rule (12 CFR part 1806)

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register. The Fund reserves the

right to award funds under this Notice

up to the maximum amount authorized

by law. As of the date of this Notice and

subject to funding availability, the Fund

intends to award up to $16.25 million

in Bank Enterprise Award (BEA)

Program funds. The Fund reserves the

right to award in excess of $16.25

million if it deems it appropriate. The

BEA Program shall be subject to the

revised interim rule. The revised

interim rule establishes the Program

requirements.

DATES: Applications may be submitted

at any time after March 7, 1997. The

deadline for receipt of an application is

6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday,

April 25, 1997. Applications received

after that date and time will not be

accepted and will be returned to the

sender. Any entity seeking certification

as a Community Development Financial

Institution (as defined in 12 CFR

1805.200) for the purposes of 12 CFR

part 1806 are strongly encouraged to

submit the materials described in 12

CFR 1805.701(b) by Friday, April 25,

1997. If such an entity fails to submit

such materials by this deadline, the

Fund cannot guarantee that it will have

sufficient time to complete a

certification review for the purposes of

the current funding round of the BEA

Program. In addition, with respect to all

requests for certification, the Fund

reserves the right to request clarifying or

technical information after reviewing

materials submitted as described in 12

CFR 1805.701(b). If the entity seeking

certification does not respond to such

requests in a timely manner, the Fund

cannot guarantee that it will have

sufficient time to complete a

certification review for the purposes of

the current funding round of the BEA

program.

ADDRESSES: Applications must be sent

to: The Community Development

Financial Institutions Fund, U.S.

Department of the Treasury, 1500

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington

DC 20220. Applications sent by FAX

will not be accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

Community Development Financial

Institutions Fund, U.S. Department of

the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania

Avenue, NW., Washington DC 20220,

(202) 622–8662. (This is not a toll free

number.) To request an application

packet, please send by facsimile a

written request to (202) 622–2599. Such

request must include the name of the

requester, organization, mailing address,

phone number, and facsimile number.

Questions about the BEA regulation,

this Notice and the application can also

be sent by facsimile to (202) 622–2599.

(Please note that this facsimile number

has been established for the purpose of

accepting application requests and

questions.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

As part of a national strategy to

facilitate revitalization and increased

availability of credit and investment

capital in distressed communities, the

Community Development Banking and

Financial Institutions Act of 1994

authorizes a portion of funds

appropriated to the Fund to be made

available for distribution through the

BEA Program. The BEA Program is

largely based on the Bank Enterprise Act

of 1991 although Congress significantly

amended the program to facilitate

greater coordination with other

activities of the Fund. The BEA Program

and the Community Development

Financial Institutions Program (12 CFR

part 1805) are intended to be

complementary initiatives that support

a wide range of community

development activities and facilitate

partnerships between traditional lenders

and CDFIs. This Notice invites

applications from insured depository

institutions for the purpose of

promoting community development

activities and revitalization.

II. Eligibility

The Act specifies that eligible

applicants must be insured depository

institutions as defined under section

(3)(c)(2) of the Federal Deposit

Insurance Act.

III. Designation Factors

The revised interim rule published

separately in this issue of the Federal

Register (12 CFR part 1806) describes

the process for selecting applicants to

receive assistance and for determining

award amounts. The rating and

selection process will give priority to

applicants in the following order: Equity

Investments in CDFIs in Distressed

Communities, Equity Investment in

CDFIs not serving Distressed

Communities, CDFI Support Activities,

and Development and Services

Activities (as such activities are defined

in the revised interim rule). Assistance

amounts will be calculated based on

increases in Qualified Activities that

occur during a 6-month Assessment

Period in excess of activities that

occurred during a 6-month Baseline

Period. In general, estimated award

amounts for applicants making equity

investments in CDFIs will be equal to 15

percent of the anticipated increase in

such activities. An applicant may

choose to accept less than the maximum

amount of assistance in order to

increase the ranking of its application.

Estimated award amounts for CDFI

applicants for carrying out CDFI

Support Activities will be equal to 33

percent of the anticipated increase in

such activities. Estimated award

amounts for non-CDFI applicants for

carrying out CDFI Support Activities

will be equal to 11 percent of the

anticipated increase in such activities.

The revised interim rule establishes the

ranking and selection process. For an

applicant pursuing Development and

Service Activities, a multi-step

procedure is outlined in the interim rule

that will be used to calculate the

estimated award amount. In general, if

an applicant is a CDFI, such estimated

award amount will be equal to 15

percent of the total score calculated in

the multi-step procedure. If an applicant

is not a CDFI, such estimated award

amount will be equal to 5 percent of the

total score calculated in the multi-step

procedure. In ranking and funding such

applicants, the Fund will take into

consideration the total score, the asset

size of the applicant, and other relevant

factors. The Fund, in its sole discretion,

may adjust the estimated award amount

that an applicant may receive prior to

the end of the Assessment Period. The

Fund may, in its sole discretion,
10680 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 45 / Friday, March 7, 1997 / Notices

establish any limitations on the

maximum amount that may be awarded

to an applicant. The Fund reserves the

right to limit the amount of an award to

any Awardee if deemed appropriate.

IV. Baseline Period and Assessment

Period Dates

As part of its application, an applicant

shall report the Qualified Activities that

it actually carried out during a 6-month

Baseline Period. Such Baseline Period

will begin on January 1, 1996, and end

on June 30, 1996. An applicant shall

also project the Qualified Activities that

it expects to carry out during a 6-month

Assessment Period. Such Assessment

Period will begin on March 1, 1997, and

end on August 31, 1997. Applicants

selected to participate in the program

during the Assessment Period will be

required to report the Qualified

Activities that it actually carried out

during the Assessment Period.

Applicants will be required to submit

their end of the Assessment Period

report by Monday, September 8, 1997. If

applicants do not have final activity

numbers for the month ending August

31, 1997, by the reporting deadline, they

may submit an estimate for the month

of August with actual activity data for

the months of March through July 1997.

In such a circumstance, the applicant

must submit its actual activities for the

month of August 1997, not later than

September 15, 1997. The Fund will

evaluate the performance of applicants

in carrying out projected activities to

determine actual award amounts.

Because the Fund had not certified any

organizations as CDFIs during the

Baseline Period for this funding round,

the Fund will consider all Applicants

that propose to engage in CDFI Related

Activities to have engaged in no such

activities during the Baseline Period for

the purpose of calculating awards.

V. Other Matters

(a) Paperwork Reduction Act. For

details on the information collection

requirements of the rule and this Notice,

the reader should refer to the interim

rule (12 CFR part 1806) published

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal

Register.

(b) Environmental Impact. Pursuant to

Treasury Directive 75–02, the

Department of the Treasury has

determined that implementation of the

BEA Program under the interim rule is

categorically excluded from the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) and does not

require environmental review. The

determination is available to public

inspection between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30

p.m. weekdays at the office of the Fund.

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 4703, 4717; Chapter

X, Pub. L. 104–19, 108 Stat. 237; 12 CFR

1806.206(a).

Dated: March 4, 1997.

Kirsten S. Moy,

Director, Community Development Financial

Institutions Fund.

[FR Doc. 97–5677 Filed 3–6–97; 8:45 am]

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