81 FR 35815 - Information Collection: Capital Magnet Fund Application; Capital Magnet Fund Annual Report

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 107 (June 3, 2016)

The U.S. 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 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 (CDFI) Fund, Department of the Treasury, is soliciting comments concerning the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) Application (hereafter, the Application) and comments concerning reporting and record retention requirements of the Capital Magnet Fund Annual Report (hereafter, Annual Report).

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35815-35817]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-13122]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Community Development Financial Institutions Fund


Information Collection: Capital Magnet Fund Application; Capital 
Magnet Fund Annual Report

ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. 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 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 (CDFI) 
Fund, Department of the Treasury, is soliciting comments concerning the 
Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) Application (hereafter, the Application) and 
comments concerning reporting and record retention requirements of the 
Capital Magnet Fund Annual Report (hereafter, Annual Report).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before August 2, 2016 to 
be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments via email to Marcia Sigal, CMF Program 
Manager, CDFI Fund, at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marcia Sigal, CMF Program Manager, 
CDFI Fund, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20220 (202) 653-0375 (not a toll free number). 
Other information regarding the CDFI Fund and its programs may be 
obtained through the CDFI Fund's Web site at http://www.cdfifund.gov.
    The Application may be obtained from the CMF program page of the 
CDFI Fund's Web site at https://www.cdfifund.gov/Documents/FY2016%20CMF%20Application%20Instructions_Final_Updated%203.23.2016.pdf.
 The Capital Magnet Fund Awardee Annual Report can be found at https://www.cdfifund.gov/programs-training/Programs/cmf/Pages/compliance-step.aspx#step5.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Capital Magnet Fund Application; Capital Magnet Fund Annual 
Report.
    OMB Numbers: 1559-0036; 1559-0043.
    Abstract: The Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) was established through the 
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-289) or HERA, as 
a trust fund to be used to carry out a competitive grant program 
administered by the CDFI Fund. Through the CMF, the CDFI Fund is 
authorized to administer a competitive application process to make 
financial assistance grants to Certified Community Development 
Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and qualified Nonprofit Organizations 
that have the development or management of affordable housing as one of 
their principal purposes. CMF Awards must be used to attract private 
financing for and increase investment in (i) the Development, 
Preservation, Rehabilitation, and Purchase of Affordable Housing for 
primarily Extremely Low-, Very Low-, and Low-Income Families; and (ii) 
Economic Development Activities which, In Conjunction With Affordable 
Housing Activities will implement a Concerted Strategy to stabilize or 
revitalize a Low-Income area or an Underserved Rural Area.
    CMF Award Recipients will be competitively selected after a careful 
review of their applications for program funding. The Application 
requires the submission of information about the Applicant's track 
record, proposed pipeline, as well as data and narrative strategies for 
four main sections:

[[Page 35816]]

Business Strategy, Leveraging Strategy, Community Impact, and 
Organizational Capacity. As part of the Award selection process, the 
CDFI Fund will conduct a quantitative review and a subsequent external 
substantive review of each Application in two parts (Phase 1 and Phase 
2) as defined in a Notice of Funds Availability for each round.
    The CMF Award Recipients will enter into Assistance Agreements with 
the CDFI Fund that set forth certain required terms and conditions of 
the award, including reporting and data collection requirements. The 
Assistance Agreement requires the collection of annual reports that are 
used to collect information for compliance monitoring and program 
evaluation purposes. This information is reviewed to ensure the 
Awardee's compliance with its performance goals and contractual 
obligations as well as the overall performance of the program.
    The CDFI Fund published a Notice of Funds Availability for the 
Capital Magnet Fund on February 8, 2016 (81 Federal Register 6585). The 
NOFA provides application guidance for the FY 2016 CMF funding round. 
The CDFI Fund sought and received emergency PRA approval from Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for the CMF Application that is currently 
being used for the FY 2016 CMF funding round.
    This request for public comment seeks to consolidate all CMF-
related forms under OMB control number 1559-0036. Therefore, 1559-0036 
will include both the CMF Application, currently 1559-0036, and 1559-
0043 the Capital Magnet Fund Awardee Annual Report.
    Title: Capital Magnet Fund Application.
    OMB Number: 1559-0036.
    Current Actions: Renewal of existing Information Collection.
    Type of Review: Regular Review.
    Affected Public: Certified CDFIs and qualified Nonprofit 
Organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 150.
    Estimated Annual Time per Respondent: 100.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 15,000.
    Title: Capital Magnet Fund Annual Report.
    OMB Number: 1559-0043.
    Current Actions: Reinstatement.
    Type of Review: Regular Review.
    Affected Public: Eligible Certified CDFIs and Nonprofit 
Organizations participating in CMF.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 60.
    Estimated Annual Time per Respondent: 40 hours per year.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,400 hours per year.
    Requests 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's Web site at 
http://www.cdfifund.gov.
    The CDFI Fund is seeking input on the content of the CMF 
Application with regards to the following: (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 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) Is the information that is currently collected by the 
Application necessary and appropriate for the CDFI Fund to consider for 
the purpose of making award decisions?
    (2) Are there questions or tables that are redundant or 
unnecessary?
    (3) Are there questions or tables that should be added to ensure 
collection of relevant information?
    (4) CMF Awards may be used to finance Affordable Housing Activities 
(both rental and Homeownership), as well as certain Economic 
Development Activities. Is the data and information requested in the 
Application about proposed Affordable Housing Activities and Economic 
Development Activities appropriate to these different activities or 
housing tenure types?
    (5) What, if any, additional data and information should be 
collected on any of these different activities or housing tenure types?
    (6) Question 5 asks Applicants to provide the Service Areas that 
they propose to serve through CMF Awards. Do the answer options in 
Question 5 allow for sufficient flexibility to encompass the Service 
Areas in which Certified CDFIs and Non-Profit Organizations operate?
    (7) Per HERA, the CDFI Fund is required to fund CMF activities in 
geographically diverse areas of economic distress. The CDFI Fund 
publishes a list of areas of ``High Housing Need'' based on data from 
the U.S. Census as a way for Applicants to identify their intent to 
fund activities in areas of economic distress. In the FY 2016 CMF 
funding round, areas of High Housing Need are defined as census tracts 
where: (i) At least 20 percent of households are Very Low-Income 
renters paying more than half their income for rent; or (ii) are high 
poverty neighborhoods (where greater than 20 percent of households have 
incomes below the poverty rate) with a rental vacancy rate of at least 
10 percent; or (iii) are Underserved Rural Areas. What other sources of 
data or indicators could the CDFI Fund use to identify areas of high 
housing need or areas of economic distress?
    (8) How, if at all, should the CDFI Fund consider the energy 
efficiency and/or environmental impacts of properties as part of the 
Application process?
    (9) Tables A1, A2, and C1 ask for certain data that will be used to 
assess an Applicant's track record. Is the data collected in these 
three tables appropriate to assess an Applicant's track record? Is 
there other information not requested in the Application that could 
demonstrate an Applicant's track record?
    (10) Tables B2, B3, and C2 ask for certain data and information 
that will be used to assess an Applicant's projected deployment and 
production. Is the data collected in these three tables appropriate to 
assess an Applicant's projected deployment of its CMF Award and 
production? Is there other information not requested in the Application 
that would demonstrate an Applicant's projected deployment of its CMF 
Award and production?
    (11) Are there requests for data in the Application that Applicants 
(either Certified CDFIs or Non-Profit Organizations) do not have 
readily available or that are too overly burdensome to obtain and/or 
calculate (e.g., Exhibit 3 Application Financial Data)?
    (12) What data and information about an Applicant's loan portfolio 
and organizational finances should be requested in the Application in 
order to evaluate whether Applicants are in adequate financial health 
and have the capacity to successfully deploy a CMF Award?
    The CDFI Fund is also seeking input on the content of the Capital 
Magnet Fund Annual Report. The CMF Assistance Agreement requires the 
collection of annual reports that are used to collect information for 
compliance monitoring and program

[[Page 35817]]

evaluation purposes. This information is reviewed to ensure the 
Recipient's compliance with its performance goals and contractual 
obligations and the overall performance of the program. The Annual 
Report represents a revised annual information collection as compared 
to the version posted in December 2012. This information collection 
request incorporates four new fields to report funding from related 
public sources and related private sources, and funding from third-
party public sources and third-party private sources. In addition, this 
version incorporates prior public comments and technical corrections 
from current users to improve validation and reduce reporting burdens 
for program Recipients. The CDFI Fund proposes to add additional fields 
to the posted data collection instrument to show how the Applicant has 
met its Application commitment to leverage a CMF Award with the 
specified pre-investment funds. The reporting template can be viewed on 
the CDFI Fund Web site at https://www.cdfifund.gov/programs-training/Programs/cmf/Pages/compliance-step.aspx#step5. Comments concerning the 
Annual Report are invited on: (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 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.

    Authority:  Pub. L. 110-289, 12 CFR 1807.

Mary Ann Donovan,
Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. 2016-13122 Filed 6-2-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-70-P