16460 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 65 / Friday, April 4, 1997 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Community Development Financial

Institutions Fund

Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA)

Inviting Applications for the

Community Development Financial

Institutions (CDFI) Program—Core

Component

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.)

(hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Act’’)

provides authority for the Community

Development Financial Institutions

Fund (hereafter referred to as ‘‘the

Fund’’) to select and provide financial

and technical assistance to eligible

applicants under the Community

Development Financial Institutions

(‘‘CDFI’’) Program. The revised interim

rule (12 CFR part 1805), published

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal

Register, provides guidance on the

contents of the necessary application

materials and program requirements. As

of the date of this Notice and subject to

funding availability, the Fund intends to

award up to $32.5 million in

appropriated funds pursuant to this

Notice. The Fund reserves the right to

award in excess of $32.5 million in

appropriated funds pursuant to this

Notice provided that the funds are

available and the Fund deems it

appropriate to do so. This Notice is in

connection with the core component of

the CDFI Program. The core component

provides direct assistance to CDFIs that

serve their target markets through loans,

investments and other activities, rather

than primarily through the financing of

other CDFIs. Also being published

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal

Register is a separate Notice in

connection with an intermediary

component of the CDFI Program. The

intermediary component provides

financial assistance to CDFIs that

provide financing primarily to other

CDFIs and/or to support the formation

of CDFIs. The Fund currently

anticipates making available up to $7.5

million of appropriated funds for the

intermediary component, making up to

$40 million the estimated aggregate

amount of appropriated funds available

under the CDFI Program pursuant to the

Notices being published in this issue of

the Federal Register. (Since only the

subsidy cost, and not the face amount,

of loans must be charged against

appropriated funds, the actual aggregate

amount of awards is likely to be

somewhat higher than the amount of

appropriated funds that are obligated.)

DATES: Applications may be submitted

at any time following April 4, 1997. The

deadline for receipt of an application is

6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday,

June 20, 1997. Applications received

after that date and time will not be

accepted and will be returned to the

sender. Applications sent by facsimile

will not be accepted.

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.

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.) If you have any questions

about the regulations, this Notice or the

application packet, you may call or

write to the Fund at the above telephone

number or address, or you may send

questions by facsimile to (202) 622–

7754. To request an application packet,

please send by facsimile a written

request which includes the name of the

requester, organization, mailing address,

telephone number and facsimile

number. Requests for an application

packet should be sent by facsimile to

(202) 622–2599, which is the facsimile

number being used to received requests

for an application packet.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Credit and investment capital are

essential ingredients in creating and

retaining jobs, developing affordable

housing, starting or expanding

businesses, revitalizing neighborhoods,

and empowering people. As a key urban

and rural policy initiative, the CDFI

Program is facilitating the creation of a

national network of financial

institutions that are specifically

dedicated to community development.

This strategy will build strong

institutions that make loans and

investments and provide services to

economically distressed investment

areas and disadvantaged targeted

populations. The Act, enacted to

implement this vision, authorizes the

Fund to select entities to receive

financial and technical assistance. New

institutions are eligible to receive startup assistance. Institutions in operation

at the time of application are eligible to

receive assistance to expand their

activities. This Notice invites

applications from eligible applicants for

the purpose of promoting community

development activities and

revitalization.

The Fund has determined that it can

best address the needs of the diverse

and growing CDFI industry by

expanding the tools it utilizes to assist

CDFIs. The program connected with this

Notice constitutes the core component

of the CDFI Program, involving direct

assistance to CDFIs that serve their

target markets through loans,

investments and other activities, rather

than primarily through the financing of

other CDFIs. For the foreseeable future,

this core component will receive the

great bulk of the Fund’s resources

devoted to the CDFI Program. However,

the Fund recognizes that many CDFIs

may have specialized needs which the

Fund can most effectively address by

supporting intermediary CDFIs that, in

turn, address such specialized needs.

Thus, to expand its reach, and better

address the varied needs of the CDFI

industry, the Fund is also having

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register a separate Notice

containing an intermediary component

of the CDFI Program. This intermediary

component is also being published

pursuant to the revised interim rule (12

CFR part 1805). An applicant under the

intermediary component Notice shall

meet the eligibility requirements under

§ 1805.200. An additional requirement

imposed upon each intermediary

component applicant pursuant to

§ 1805.200(a)(3) is that it must primarily

focus on financing CDFIs or CDFIs in

formation. To illustrate the concept, an

intermediary CDFI may have a

specialized niche or niches focusing on

financing a specific type or types of

CDFIs, providing small amounts of

capital per CDFI, financing CDFIs with

specialized risk levels, or financing

CDFIs being formed or organized but

which are not yet CDFIs. By providing

financial assistance to specialized

intermediaries, the Fund believes it can

leverage the expertise of such

intermediaries and strengthen the

Fund’s capacity to support the

development and enhancement of the

CDFI industry.

II. Eligibility

The Act specifies the requirements

that each applicant must meet in order

to be considered a CDFI. Entities that

meet, or propose to meet, these

requirements are eligible to apply for

assistance. In general, a CDFI must have

a primary mission of promoting

community development, provide
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 65 / Friday, April 4, 1997 / Notices 16461

lending or investments, serve an

investment area or a targeted

population, provide development

services, maintain community

accountability, and be a nongovernment

entity. The details of these requirements

and other program requirements are

described in the revised interim rule

governing the CDFI Program (12 CFR

part 1805) which is published elsewhere

in this issue of the Federal Register. A

CDFI, or proposed CDFI, whose primary

focus is financing other CDFIs and/or

providing financing to support the

formation of CDFIs shall not be eligible

to apply pursuant to this Notice, but

instead may be eligible to apply

pursuant to the Notice on the

intermediary component published

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal

Register.

III. Types of Assistance

An applicant may submit an

application for financial assistance,

technical assistance, or both. Financial

assistance may be provided through an

equity investment, a grant, a loan,

deposits, credit union shares, or some

combination thereof. Applicants for

financial assistance shall indicate the

dollar amount, form, terms, and

conditions of assistance requested.

Applicants for technical assistance shall

describe the types of technical

assistance requested, estimate the cost

to obtain such assistance, and provide a

narrative justification of its needs for

such assistance.

IV. Application Packet

Except as described hereafter, an

applicant, whether applying for

financial assistance, technical

assistance, or both, shall submit the

materials described in § 1805.701 and

the application packet. To facilitate

coherence and avoid duplication, an

applicant may present its application in

an order and format that it believes to

be the most appropriate, provided that

the requested information is included

and that an index is provided to assist

the Fund in locating the items requested

by § 1805.701.

If an applicant is currently certified as

a CDFI, it may, at its option, submit a

copy of the letter of certification in lieu

of the information requested in Part III,

A through H, of the application packet.

However, an applicant should include

in its application information that it

believes is relevant to the substantive

review of the application specified in

§ 1805.802(b).

V. Matching Funds

Applicants pursuant to this Notice

may use for matching funds monies

obtained or legally committed on or

after January 1, 1996. Applicants

selected to receive assistance under this

Notice must have firm commitments for

the matching funds required pursuant to

§ 1805.600 by no later than August 31,

1997. The Fund may recapture and

reprogram funds if an applicant fails to

raise the required match by such date.

The Fund reserves the right to grant an

extension of such matching funds

deadline for specific applicants selected

for assistance if the Fund deems it

appropriate.

VI. Selection Factors

Applications will be selected on a

competitive basis in accordance with

criteria described in §§ 1805.800 to

1805.802. Special emphasis is expected

to be placed on:

(1) The applicant’s track record,

financial strength, and current

operations;

(2) The capacity, skills, and

experience of the management team;

(3) The quality of the applicant’s

comprehensive business plan;

(4) The likelihood that the applicant

will be able to raise the required

matching funds; and

(5) The extent and nature of the

potential community development

impact that would be catalyzed by the

Fund’s assistance, relative to the

amount of such assistance to be

provided.

The applicant’s track record, financial

strength and current operations are

important to the extent they may be

suggestive about the prospects for

success in the future. In the case of a

young or start-up institution with no or

a limited track record, extra emphasis

will be placed on the capacity, skills,

and experience of the applicant’s

management team and the quality of its

comprehensive business plan.

While previous awardees are eligible

to apply pursuant to this Notice, it is the

current expectation of the Fund that a

substantial majority of the funds

awarded pursuant to this Notice will be

to applicants that are not previous

awardees. Therefore, the Fund may give

additional consideration to applicants

that are not previous awardees.

The Fund has sole discretion in the

selection of applications for assistance.

The anticipated maximum award per

applicant under this Notice is $2

million. However, the Fund, in its sole

discretion, reserves the right to award

amounts in excess of $2 million for an

applicant(s) if it deems it appropriate.

VII. Workshops

The CDFI Fund expects to host

workshops to disseminate information

to organizations interested in applying

for assistance pursuant to this Notice. If

you wish to be on a mailing list to

receive information about the

scheduling of such workshops, please

contact the Fund.

VIII. Other Matters

(a) Paperwork Reduction Act. The

reader should refer to the revised

interim rule (12 CFR part 1805)

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register for details on the

information collection requirements of

the rule and this Notice.

(b) Environmental Impact. Pursuant to

Treasury Directive 75–02, the

Department of the Treasury has

determined that implementation of the

CDFI Program under the revised interim

rule is categorically excluded from the

National Environmental Policy Act of

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

require an environmental review. The

determination is available for 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, Stat. 237; 12 CFR

1805.700.

Kirsten S. Moy,

Director, Community Development Financial

Institutions Fund.

[FR Doc. 97–8785 Filed 4–2–97; 1:09 pm]

BILLING CODE 4810–70–P

Community Development Financial

Institutions Fund

Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA)

Inviting Applications for the

Community Development Financial

Institutions (CDFI) Program—

Intermediary Component

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.)

(hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Act’’)

provides authority for the Community

Development Financial Institutions

Fund (hereafter referred to as ‘‘the

Fund’’) to select and provide assistance

to eligible applicants under the

Community Development Financial

Institutions (‘‘CDFI’’) Program. The

revised interim rule (12 CFR part 1805),

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register, provides guidance on

the contents of necessary application

materials and program requirements.

This Notice is in connection with two