Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 206 / Thursday, October 26, 2017 / Notices 49653 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5815–N–03] 

Statutorily Mandated Designation of 

Difficult Development Areas and 

Qualified Census Tracts: Revision of 

Effective Date for 2015 Designations 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Policy Development and 

Research, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This document revises the 

effective date for designations of 

‘‘Difficult Development Areas’’ (DDAs) 

and ‘‘Qualified Census Tracts’’ (QCTs) 

for purposes of the Low-Income 

Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) under 

Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 42 

published on October 3, 2014 at 79 FR 

59855 and amended December 17, 2015 

at 80 FR 78749 in areas approved for 

Federal disaster-related individual 

assistance under the Stafford Act. This 

Notice extends from 730 days to 850 

days the period for which the 2015 lists 

of QCTs and DDAs are effective for 

projects located in an area that was 

approved for individual assistance 

under the Stafford Act in 2017, not on 

subsequent lists of DDAs or QCTs; and 

submitted applications while the area 

was a 2015 QCT or DDA. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions on how areas are designated 

and on geographic definitions, contact 

Michael K. Hollar, Senior Economist, 

Economic Development and Public 

Finance Division, Office of Policy 

Development and Research, Department 

of Housing and Urban Development, 

451 Seventh Street SW., Room 8234, 

Washington, DC 20410–6000; telephone 

number (202) 402–5878, or send an 

email to Michael.K.Hollar@hud.gov. For 

specific legal questions, contact Branch 

5, Office of the Associate Chief Counsel, 

Passthroughs and Special Industries, 

Internal Revenue Service, 1111 

Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20224; telephone number (202) 317– 

4137, fax number (855) 591–7867. 

(These are not toll-free telephone 

numbers.) Additional copies of this 

notice are available through HUD User 

at (800) 245–2691 for a small fee to 

cover duplication and mailing costs. 

COPIES AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY: This 

notice and additional information about 

DDAs and QCTs are available 

electronically on the Internet at http:// 

www.huduser.org/datasets/qct.html. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

This Notice 

This notice extends from 730 days to 

850 days the period for which the 2015 

lists of QCTs and DDAs are effective for 

projects located in areas approved for 

federal individual assistance under the 

Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) 

(42 U.S.C. 5170, et al.) due to a 

Presidentially-declared natural disaster 

in 2017 (hereafter, ‘‘declared counties’’) 

and were not in areas on subsequent 

lists of DDAs or QCTs but submitted 

applications while the area was a 2015 

QCT or DDA. DDAs and QCTs for 2016 

were published on November 24, 2015 

at 80 FR 73201. DDAs and QCTs for 

2017 were published on October 17, 

2016 at 81 FR 71523. DDAs and QCTs 

for 2018 were published on September 

11, 2017 at 82 FR 42694. This applies 

to declared counties in each of the 50 

states, the District of Columbia, Puerto 

Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the 

Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. 

Virgin Islands. The actual designations 

of 2015 QCTs and DDAs are not affected 

by this notice. HUD is revising the 

effective date of the 2015 QCTs and 

DDAs in declared counties at this time 

to aid the ability of areas affected by 

natural disasters to place in service 

affordable housing. 

For LIHTC and bond-financed 

projects located in declared counties, 

the sections entitled ‘‘Effective Date’’ 

and ‘‘Interpretive Examples of Effective 

Date’’ of the 2015 DDA and QCT 

designations as published October 3, 

2014 at 79 FR 59855 and December 17, 

2015 at 80 FR78749 are hereby revised 

to read as follows: 

Effective Date 

The 2015 lists of QCTs and DDAs are 

effective: 

(1) For allocations of credit after 

December 31, 2014; or 

(2) For purposes of IRC section 

42(h)(4), if the bonds are issued and the 

building is placed in service after 

December 31, 2014. 

If an area is not on a subsequent list 

of DDAs, the 2015 lists are effective for 

the area if: 

(1) The allocation of credit to an 

applicant is made no later than the end 

of the 850-day period after the applicant 

submits a complete application to the 

LIHTC-allocating agency, and the 

submission is made before the effective 

date of the subsequent lists; or 

(2) For purposes of IRC section 

42(h)(4), if: 

(a) The bonds are issued or the 

building is placed in service no later 

than the end of the 850-day period after 

the applicant submits a complete 

application to the bond-issuing agency, 

and 

(b) The submission is made before the 

effective date of the subsequent lists, 

provided that both the issuance of the 

bonds and the placement in service of 

the building occur after the application 

is submitted. 

An application is deemed to be 

submitted on the date it is filed if the 

application is determined to be 

complete by the credit-allocating or 

bond-issuing agency. A ‘‘complete 

application’’ means that no more than 

de minimis clarification of the 

application is required for the agency to 

make a decision about the allocation of 

tax credits or issuance of bonds 

requested in the application. 

In the case of a ‘‘multiphase project,’’ 

the DDA or QCT status of the site of the 

project that applies for all phases of the 

project is that which applied when the 

project received its first allocation of 

LIHTC. For purposes of IRC section 

42(h)(4), the DDA or QCT status of the 

site of the project that applies for all 

phases of the project is that which 

applied when the first of the following 

occurred: (a) The building(s) in the first 

phase were placed in service, or (b) the 

bonds were issued. 

For purposes of this notice, a 

‘‘multiphase project’’ is defined as a set 

of buildings to be constructed or 

rehabilitated under the rules of the 

LIHTC and meeting the following 

criteria: 

(1) The multiphase composition of the 

project (i.e., total number of buildings 

and phases in project, with a 

description of how many buildings are 

to be built in each phase and when each 

phase is to be completed, and any other 

information required by the agency) is 

made known by the applicant in the 

first application of credit for any 

building in the project, and that 

applicant identifies the buildings in the 

project for which credit is (or will be) 

sought; 

(2) The aggregate amount of LIHTC 

applied for on behalf of, or that would 

eventually be allocated to, the buildings 

on the site exceeds the one-year 

limitation on credits per applicant, as 

defined in the Qualified Allocation Plan 

(QAP) of the LIHTC-allocating agency, 

or the annual per-capita credit authority 

of the LIHTC allocating agency, and is 

the reason the applicant must request 

multiple allocations over two or more 

years; and 

(3) All applications for LIHTC for 

buildings on the site are made in 

immediately consecutive years. 

Members of the public are hereby 

reminded that the Secretary of Housing 

and Urban Development, or the 


ethrower on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
49654 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 206 / Thursday, October 26, 2017 / Notices 

Secretary’s designee, has legal authority 

to designate DDAs and QCTs, in 

accordance with 26 U.S.C. 42(d)(5), by 

publishing lists of geographic entities as 

defined by, in the case of DDAs, the 

Census Bureau, the several states and 

the governments of the insular areas of 

the United States and, in the case of 

QCTs, by the Census Bureau; and to 

establish the effective dates of such lists. 

The Secretary of the Treasury, through 

the IRS thereof, has sole legal authority 

to interpret, and to determine and 

enforce compliance with the IRC and 

associated regulations, including 

Federal Register notices published by 

HUD for purposes of designating DDAs 

and QCTs. Representations made by any 

other entity as to the content of HUD 

notices designating DDAs and QCTs that 

do not precisely match the language 

published by HUD should not be relied 

upon by taxpayers in determining what 

actions are necessary to comply with 

HUD notices. 

Interpretive Examples of Effective Date 

For the convenience of readers of this 

notice, interpretive examples are 

provided below to illustrate the 

consequences of the effective date in 

areas that gain or lose DDA status. The 

examples covering DDAs are equally 

applicable to QCT designations. 

(Case A) Project A is located in a 2015 

DDA that is NOT a designated DDA in 

2016, 2017, or 2018 and is in a declared 

county. A complete application for tax 

credits for Project A is filed with the 

allocating agency on November 15, 

2015. Credits are allocated to Project A 

on January 30, 2018. Project A is eligible 

for the increase in basis accorded a 

project in a 2015 DDA because the 

application was filed BEFORE January 

1, 2016 (the effective date for the 2016 

DDA lists), and because tax credits were 

allocated no later than the end of the 

850-day period after the filing of the 

complete application for an allocation of 

tax credits. 

(Case B) Project B is located in a 2015 

DDA that is NOT a designated DDA in 

2016, 2017, or 2018 and is in a declared 

county. A complete application for tax 

credits for Project B is filed with the 

allocating agency on December 1, 2015. 

Credits are allocated to Project B on 

June 30, 2018. Project B is NOT eligible 

for the increase in basis accorded a 

project in a 2015 DDA because, although 

the application for an allocation of tax 

credits was filed BEFORE January 1, 

2016 (the effective date of the 2016 DDA 

lists), the tax credits were allocated later 

than the end of the 850-day period after 

the filing of the complete application. 

(Case C) Project C is located in a 2015 

DDA that was not a DDA in 2014. 

Project C was placed in service on 

November 15, 2014. A complete 

application for tax-exempt bond 

financing for Project C is filed with the 

bond-issuing agency on January 15, 

2015. The bonds that will support the 

permanent financing of Project C are 

issued on September 30, 2015. Project C 

is NOT eligible for the increase in basis 

otherwise accorded a project in a 2015 

DDA, because the project was placed in 

service BEFORE January 1, 2015. 

(Case D) Project D is located in an area 

that is a DDA in 2015, but is NOT a DDA 

in 2016, 2017, or 2018 and is in a 

declared county. A complete 

application for tax-exempt bond 

financing for Project D is filed with the 

bond-issuing agency on October 30, 

2015. Bonds are issued for Project D on 

January 30, 2018, but Project D is not 

placed in service until July 30, 2018. 

Project D is eligible for the increase in 

basis available to projects located in 

2015 DDAs because: (1) One of the two 

events necessary for triggering the 

effective date for buildings described in 

Section 42(h)(4)(B) of the IRC (the two 

events being bonds issued and buildings 

placed in service) took place on January 

30, 2018, within the 850-day period 

after a complete application for taxexempt bond financing was filed, (2) the 

application was filed during a time 

when the location of Project D was in a 

DDA, and (3) both the issuance of the 

bonds and placement in service of 

Project D occurred after the application 

was submitted. 

Findings and Certifications 

A. Environmental Impact 

This notice involves the 

establishment of fiscal requirements or 

procedures that are related to rate and 

cost determinations and do not 

constitute a development decision 

affecting the physical condition of 

specific project areas or building sites. 

Accordingly, under 40 CFR 1508.4 of 

the regulations of the Council on 

Environmental Quality and 24 CFR 

50.19(c)(6) of HUD’s regulations, this 

notice is categorically excluded from 

environmental review under the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321). 

B. Federalism Impact 

Executive Order 13132 (entitled 

‘‘Federalism’’) prohibits an agency from 

publishing any policy document that 

has federalism implications if the 

document either imposes substantial 

direct compliance costs on state and 

local governments and is not required 

by statute, or the document preempts 

state law, unless the agency meets the 

consultation and funding requirements 

of section 6 of the executive order. This 

notice merely designates DDAs as 

required under IRC Section 42, as 

amended, for the use by political 

subdivisions of the states in allocating 

the LIHTC. As a result, this notice is not 

subject to review under the order. 

Dated: October 19, 2017. 

Kurt G. Usowski, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic 

Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23306 Filed 10–25–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

[189A2100DD/AAKC001030/ 

A0A501010.999900 253G] 

Indian Gaming; Tribal-State Class III 

Gaming Compact Taking Effect in the 

State of New Mexico 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The notice announces that the 

Tribal-State Class III Gaming Compact 

between the Pueblo of Pojoaque and 

State of New Mexico is taking effect. 

DATES: This notice is applicable as of 

October 26, 2017. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Paula L. Hart, Director, Office of Indian 

Gaming, Office of the Deputy Assistant 

Secretary—Policy and Economic 

Development, Washington, DC 20240, 

(202) 219–4066. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 

section 11 of the Indian Gaming 

Regulatory Act (IGRA) Public Law 100– 

497, 25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq., the 

Secretary of the Interior shall publish in 

the Federal Register notice of approved 

Tribal-State compacts for the purpose of 

engaging in Class III gaming activities 

on Indian lands. As required by IGRA 

and 25 CFR 293.4, all compacts are 

subject to review and approval by the 

Secretary. The Secretary took no action 

on the compact between the Pueblo of 

Pojoaque and the State of New Mexico 

within 45 days of its submission. 

Therefore, the Compact is considered to 

have been approved, but only to the 

extent the Compact is consistent with 

IGRA. See 25 U.S.C. 2710(d)(8)(C). 

Dated: October 23, 2017. 

Gavin Clarkson, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Policy and 

Economic Development—Indian Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23343 Filed 10–25–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4337–15–P 


ethrower on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES