Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) Inviting Applications for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Funding Round of the Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program), 11693-11704 [2017-03684]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 36 / Friday, February 24, 2017 / Notices
employment tests using hair analysis
only, rather than hair analysis in
addition to urine testing, and
individuals with negative test results
would be permitted to perform safetysensitive functions for the employer
Applicants. Individuals testing positive
would not be allowed to perform safetysensitive functions until the driver
completes the return-to-duty process
under Subpart O of 49 CFR part 40. In
addition, the Applicants would share
the positive hair testing results with
prospective employers in response to
safety performance inquiries required by
49 CFR 391.23.
The Applicant carriers that would be
covered by the exemption, if granted,
already use hair analysis as a method for
pre-employment controlled substances
testing of drivers on a voluntary basis.
However, they also conduct urine
testing for drugs because it is the only
screening method accepted under the
Department’s regulations. The
Applicants view their use of multiple
screening methods as an unnecessary
and redundant financial burden. Also,
the Applicants consider urine testing to
be less effective in pre-employment
screening for drugs than hair analysis.
A copy of the exemption application
and all supporting documents submitted
by the Applicants is available for review
in the docket referenced at the
beginning of this notice.
11693
interested parties additional time to
respond to the notice of application for
exemption.
Issued on: February 21, 2017.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2017–03720 Filed 2–23–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P
Requests for Extension of the Comment
Period
On January 23, 2017, the AFL–CIO’s
Transportation Trades Department
requested that the Agency provide a 60day extension of the comment period.
The International Brotherhood of
Teamsters requested a 60-day extension
of the comment period on February 7,
2017. A copy of each request is in the
docket identified at the beginning of this
notice.
FMCSA acknowledges the
Transportation Trades Department’s and
the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters’ concerns. After reviewing
the requests, FMCSA hereby grants a 60day re-opening of the comment period
to April 25, 2017, to provide all
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund
Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA)
Inviting Applications for the Fiscal
Year (FY) 2016 Funding Round of the
Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA
Program)
Announcement Type: Announcement
of funding opportunity.
Funding Opportunity Number: CDFI–
2016–BEA.
Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) Number: 21.021.
Key Dates:
TABLE 1—FY 2016 BEA PROGRAM FUNDING ROUND—KEY DATES FOR APPLICANTS
Description
Deadline
Time
(Eastern time—ET)
SF–424 Mandatory (Application for Federal
Assistance).
Last day to contact BEA Program Staff ...........
April 5, 2017 ...............
11:59 p.m. ET ............
Electronically via Grants.gov.
April 17, 2017 .............
5:00 p.m. ET ..............
Last day to contact Certification, Compliance
Monitoring and Evaluation (CCME) staff.
April 17, 2017 .............
5:00 p.m. ET ..............
Last day to contact IT Help Desk ....................
April 19, 2017 .............
5:00 p.m. ET ..............
FY 2016 BEA Program Application ..................
April 19, 2017 .............
5:00 pm ET ................
CDFI Fund Helpdesk: 202–653–0421 or BEA
AMIS Service Request.1
CCME Helpdesk: 202–653–0423 or Compliance and Reporting AMIS Service Request.2
CDFI Fund Helpdesk: 202–653–0421 or IT
AMIS Service Request.3
Electronically via Awards Management Information System (AMIS).
Contact information & submission method
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1 For questions regarding completion of the BEA Application materials, the preferred electronic method of contact with the BEA Program Office
is to submit a Service Request (SR) within AMIS. For the SR, select ‘‘BEA Application’’ for the record type.
2 For Compliance & Reporting related questions, the preferred electronic method of contact is to submit a Service Request (SR) within AMIS.
For the SR, select ‘‘General Inquiry’’ for the record type, and select ‘‘BEA-Compliance & Reporting’’ for the type.
3 For Information Technology support, the preferred method of contact is to submit a Service Request (SR) within AMIS. For the SR, select
‘‘General Inquiry’’ for the record type, and select ‘‘Cross Program-AMIS technical problem’’ for the type.
Executive Summary: This NOFA is
issued in connection with the fiscal year
(FY) 2016 funding round of the Bank
Enterprise Award Program (BEA
Program). The BEA Program is
administered by the U.S. Department of
the Treasury’s Community Development
Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI
Fund). Through the BEA Program, the
CDFI Fund awards formula-based grants
to depository institutions that are
insured by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for
increasing their levels of loans,
investments, service activities, and
technical assistance within Distressed
Communities, and financial assistance
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to Community Development Financial
Institutions (CDFIs) through equity
investments, equity-like loans, grants,
stock purchases, loans, deposits, and
other forms of financial and technical
assistance, during a specified period.
I. Program Description
A. History: The CDFI Fund was
established by the Riegle Community
Development Banking and Financial
Institutions Act of 1994 to promote
economic revitalization and community
development through investment in and
assistance to CDFIs. Since its creation in
1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded over
$2 billion to CDFIs, community
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development organizations, and
financial institutions through the
Community Development Financial
Institutions Program (CDFI Program),
the Native American CDFI Assistance
Program (NACA Program), the BEA
Program, and the Capital Magnet Fund.
In addition, the CDFI Fund has
allocated $43 billion in tax credit
allocation authority through the New
Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC
Program) and has issued $1.1 billion in
bond guarantees through the CDFI Bond
Guarantee Program.
The BEA Program complements the
community development activities of
banks and thrifts (collectively referred
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to as banks for purposes of this Notice)
by providing financial incentives to
expand investments in CDFIs and to
increase lending, investment, and
service activities within Distressed
Communities. Providing monetary
awards to banks for increasing their
community development activities
leverages the CDFI Fund’s dollars and
puts more capital to work in Distressed
Communities throughout the nation.
B. Authorizing Statutes and
Regulations: The BEA Program was
authorized by the Bank Enterprise
Award Act of 1991, as amended. The
regulations governing the BEA Program
can be found at 12 CFR part 1806
(Interim Rule). The Interim Rule
provides the evaluation criteria and
other requirements of the BEA Program.
Detailed BEA Program requirements are
also found in the application materials
associated with this NOFA (the
Application). The CDFI Fund
encourages interested parties and
Applicants to review the Interim Rule,
this NOFA, the Application, and the
Uniform Administrative Requirements,
Cost Principles, and Audit
Requirements for Federal Awards
(Uniform Requirements) for a complete
understanding of the program.
Capitalized terms in this NOFA are
defined in the authorizing statute, the
Interim Rule, this NOFA, the
Application, and the Uniform
Requirements. Details regarding
Application content requirements are
found in the Application and related
materials. Application materials can be
found on Grants.gov and the CDFI
Fund’s Web site at www.cdfifund.gov/
bea.
C. Uniform Administrative
Requirements, Cost Principles, and
Audit Requirements for Federal Awards
(2 CFR 200): The Uniform
Administrative Requirements codify
financial, administrative, procurement,
and program management standards
that Federal award-making agencies and
Recipients must follow. When
evaluating award applications, awarding
agencies must evaluate the risks to the
program posed by each applicant, and
each applicant’s merits and eligibility.
These requirements are designed to
ensure that applicants for Federal
assistance receive a fair and consistent
review prior to an award decision. This
review will assess items such as the
Applicant’s financial stability, quality of
management systems, history of
performance, and audit findings. In
addition, the Uniform Requirements
include guidance on audit requirements
and other award requirements with
which Recipients must comply.
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D. Priorities: Through the BEA
Program, the CDFI Fund specifies the
following priorities:
1. Estimated Award Amounts: The
award percentage used to derive the
estimated award amount for Applicants
that are CDFIs is three times greater than
the award percentage used to derive the
estimated award amount for Applicants
that are not CDFIs;
2. Priority Factors: Priority Factors
will be assigned based on Applicant’s
asset size, as described in Section V of
this NOFA (‘‘Application Review
Information: Priority Factors’’); and
3. Priority of Awards: The CDFI Fund
will rank Applicants in each category of
Qualified Activity according to the
priorities described in Section V of this
NOFA (‘‘Application Review
Information: Award Percentages, Award
Amounts, Application Review Process,
Selection Process, Programmatic
Financial Risk, and Application
Rejection: Selection Process’’).
E. Baseline Period and Assessment
Period Dates: A BEA Program Award is
based on an Applicant’s increase in
Qualified Activities from the Baseline
Period to the Assessment Period, as
reported on an individual transaction
basis in the Application. For the FY
2016 funding round, the Baseline Period
is calendar year 2014 (January 1, 2014
through December 31, 2014), and the
Assessment Period is calendar year 2015
(January 1, 2015 through December 31,
2015).
F. Funding Limitations: The CDFI
Fund reserves the right to fund, in
whole or in part, any, all, or none of the
Applications submitted in response to
this NOFA. The CDFI Fund also
reserves the right to reallocate funds
from the amount that is anticipated to
be available through this NOFA to other
CDFI Fund programs, or reallocate
remaining funds to a future BEA
Program funding round, particularly if
the CDFI Fund determines that the
number of awards made through this
NOFA is fewer than projected.
II. Federal Award Information
A. Funding Availability: The CDFI
Fund expects to award up to $19
million in FY 2016 BEA Program
Awards in appropriated funds under
this NOFA. The CDFI Fund reserves the
right to award in excess of said funds
under this NOFA, provided that the
appropriated funds are available. The
CDFI Fund reserves the right to impose
a minimum or maximum award amount;
however, under no circumstances will
an award be higher than $1 million for
any Recipient.
B. Types of Awards: BEA Program
Awards are made in the form of grants.
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C. Anticipated Start Date and Period
of Performance: The CDFI Fund
anticipates the period of performance
for the FY 2016 Funding Round will
begin in the Summer of calendar year
2017. Specifically, the period of
performance begins with the Federal
Award Date and will conclude at least
one (1) full year after the Federal Award
Date as further specified in the Award
Agreement, during which the Recipient
must meet the performance goals set
forth in the Award Agreement.
D. Eligible Activities: Eligible
Activities for the BEA Program are
referred to as Qualified Activities and
are defined in the Interim Rule to
include CDFI Related Activities,
Distressed Community Financing
Activities, and Service Activities (12
CFR 1806.103). It is the explicit policy
of the CDFI Fund that BEA Program
Awards may not be used by Recipients
to recover overhead or indirect costs.
Each of the Qualified Activities will be
eligible for an associated direct cost rate
of up to 15 percent of the BEA Program
Award.
CDFI Related Activities (12 CFR
1806.103) include Equity Investments,
Equity-Like Loans, and CDFI Support
Activities.
Distressed Community Financing
Activities (12 CFR 1806.103) include
Affordable Housing Loans, Affordable
Housing Development Loans and related
Project Investments; Education Loans;
Commercial Real Estate Loans and
related Project Investments; Home
Improvement Loans; Small Business
Loans and related Project Investments,
and Small Dollar Consumer Loans.
Service Activities (12 CFR 1806.103)
include Deposit Liabilities, Financial
Services, Community Services, Targeted
Financial Services, and Targeted Retail
Savings/Investment Products.
When calculating BEA Program
Award amounts, the CDFI Fund will
only consider the amount of a Qualified
Activity that has been fully disbursed
or, in the case of a partially disbursed
Qualified Activity, will only consider
the amount that an Applicant
reasonably expects to disburse for a
Qualified Activity within 12 months
from the end of the Assessment Period.
Subject to the requirements outlined in
Section VI of this NOFA, in the case of
Commercial Real Estate Loans and
related Project Investments, the total
principal amount of the transaction
must be $10 million or less to be
considered a Qualified Activity.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the CDFI
Fund, in its sole discretion, may
consider transactions with a total
principal value of over $10 million,
subject to review.
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An activity funded with prior BEA
Program Award dollars, or funded to
satisfy requirements of an Award
Agreement from a prior award, shall not
constitute a Qualified Activity for the
purposes of calculating or receiving an
award.
A Distressed Community must meet
certain minimum geographic area and
eligibility requirements, which are
defined in the Interim Rule at 12 CFR
1806.103 and more fully described in 12
CFR 1806.401. Applicants should use
the CDFI Fund’s Information Mapping
System (CIMS Mapping Tool) to
determine whether a Baseline Period
activity or Assessment Period activity is
located in a qualified Distressed
Community. The CIMS Mapping Tool
can be accessed through AMIS or the
CDFI Funds Web site at https://
www.cdfifund.gov/Pages/mappingsystem.aspx. The CIMS Mapping Tool
contains step-by-step instructions on
how to determine whether an activity is
located in a qualified BEA Distressed
Community. If you have any questions
or problems with registering, please
contact the CDFI Fund IT Help Desk by
telephone at (202) 653–0300, by IT
AMIS Service Request, or by email to
AMIS@cdfi.treas.gov. Please note that a
Distressed Community as defined by the
BEA Program is not the same as an
Investment Area as defined by the CDFI
Program or a Low-Income Community
as defined by the NMTC Program.
1. Designation of Distressed
Community by a CDFI Partner: CDFI
Partners that receive CDFI Support
Activities from an Applicant must be
integrally involved in a Distressed
Community. CDFI Support Activities
include loans, Technical Assistance, or
deposits provided to a CDFI Partner.
Applicants must provide evidence that
each CDFI Partner that is the recipient
of CDFI Support Activities is integrally
involved in a Distressed Community, as
noted in the Application. CDFI Partners
that receive Equity Investments, EquityLike Loans or grants are not required to
demonstrate Integral Involvement.
Additional information on Integral
Involvement can be found in Section V
of this NOFA.
2. Distressed Community
Determination by a BEA Applicant:
Applicants applying for a BEA Program
Award for performing Distressed
Community Financing Activities or
Service Activities must verify that
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addresses of both Baseline Period and
Assessment Period activities are in
Distressed Communities when
completing their Application.
A BEA Applicant shall determine an
area is a Distressed Community by:
a. Selecting a census tract where the
Qualified Activity occurred that meets
the minimum area and eligibility
requirements; or
b. selecting the census tract where the
Qualified Activity occurred, plus one or
more census tracts directly contiguous
to where the Qualified Activity occurred
that when considered in the aggregate,
meet the minimum area and eligibility
requirements set forth in this section.
E. Award Agreement: Each Recipient
under this NOFA must sign an Award
Agreement prior to disbursement by the
CDFI Fund of the award proceeds. The
Award Agreement contains the terms
and conditions of the award. For further
information, see Section VI of this
NOFA.
III. Eligibility Information
A. Eligible Applicants: For the
purposes of this NOFA, the following
table sets forth the eligibility criteria to
receive an award from the CDFI Fund.
TABLE 2—ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS
Criteria
Description
Eligible Applicants ...........................
Eligible Applicants for the BEA Program must be Insured Depository Institutions, as defined in the Interim
Rule. For the FY 2016 funding round, an Applicant must be FDIC-insured as of December 31, 2015 to
be eligible for consideration for a BEA Program Award under this NOFA. The depository institution holding company of an Insured Depository Institution may not apply on behalf of an Insured Depository Institution. Applications received from depository institution holding companies will be disqualified.
For the FY 2016 funding round, an eligible certified-CDFI Applicant is an Insured Depository Institution that
was certified as a CDFI as of December 31, 2015 and that maintains its status as a certified CDFI at the
time BEA Program Awards are announced under this NOFA. No CDFI Applicant may receive a FY 2016
BEA Program Award if it has: (1) An application pending for assistance under the FY 2016 round of the
CDFI Program; (2) been awarded assistance from the CDFI Fund under the CDFI Program within the
12-month period prior to the Federal Award Date of the FY 2016 Award Agreement issued by the CDFI
Program; or (3) ever received assistance under the CDFI Program for the same activities for which it is
seeking a FY 2016 BEA Program Award. Please note that Applicants may apply for both a CDFI Program award and a BEA Program Award in FY 2016; however, receiving a FY 2016 CDFI Program
award removes an Applicant from eligibility for a FY 2016 BEA Program Award.
The CDFI Fund will conduct a debarment check and will not consider an Application submitted by an Applicant if the Applicant is delinquent on any Federal debt. The Do Not Pay Business Center was developed to support Federal agencies in their efforts to reduce the number of improper payments made
through programs funded by the Federal government. The Do Not Pay Business Center provides delinquency information to the CDFI Fund to assist with the debarment check.
CDFI Applicant ................................
Debarment/Do Not Pay Verification
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B. Prior Award Recipients: The
previous success of an Applicant in any
of the CDFI Fund’s programs will not be
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considered under this NOFA. Prior BEA
Program Award Recipients and prior
award recipients of other CDFI Fund
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programs are eligible to apply under this
NOFA, except as noted in the following
table:
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TABLE 3—ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS WHICH ARE PRIOR RECIPIENTS
Criteria
Description
Pending resolution of noncompliance.
If an Applicant that is a prior recipient or allocatee under any CDFI Fund program: (i) Has submitted reports to the CDFI Fund that demonstrate noncompliance with a previous assistance agreement, award
agreement, allocation agreement, bond loan agreement, or agreement to guarantee and (ii) the CDFI
Fund has yet to make a final determination as to whether the entity is in default of its previous agreement, the CDFI Fund will consider the Applicant’s Application under this NOFA pending full resolution, in
the sole determination of the CDFI Fund, of the noncompliance.
The CDFI Fund will not consider an Application submitted by an Applicant that is a prior CDFI Fund award
recipient or allocatee under any CDFI Fund program if, as of the applicable Application deadline of this
NOFA, the CDFI Fund has made a final determination that such Applicant is in default of a previously
executed assistance agreement, award agreement, allocation agreement, bond loan agreement, or
agreement to guarantee.
Such entities will be ineligible to apply for an Award pursuant to this NOFA so long as the Applicant’s prior
award or allocation remains in default status or such other time period as specified by the CDFI Fund in
writing.
For the purposes of this section, the term ‘‘undisbursed funds’’ is defined as: (i) In the case of prior BEA
Program Award(s), any balance of award funds equal to or greater than five percent of the total prior
BEA Program Award(s) that remains undisbursed more than three years after the end of the calendar
year in which the CDFI Fund signed an Award Agreement with the Recipient, or (ii) in the case of prior
CDFI Program or other CDFI Fund program award(s), any balance of award funds equal to or greater
than five percent of the total prior award(s) that remains undisbursed more than two years after the end
of the calendar year in which the CDFI Fund signed the applicable assistance agreement with the Recipient.
The term ‘‘undisbursed funds’’ does not include (i) tax credit allocation authority allocated through the
NMTC Program; (ii) any award funds for which the CDFI Fund received a full and complete disbursement request from the Recipient as of the Application deadline of this NOFA; (iii) an award that does not
have a fully executed award agreement; or (iv) any award funds for an award that has been terminated,
expired, rescinded, or de-obligated by the CDFI Fund.
The CDFI Fund will not consider an Application submitted by an Applicant that is a prior CDFI Fund award
recipient under any CDFI Fund program if the Applicant has a balance of undisbursed funds under said
prior award(s), as of the Application deadline of this NOFA. Further, an entity is not eligible to apply for
an Award pursuant to this NOFA if an affiliate of the Applicant is a prior CDFI Fund award recipient
under any CDFI Fund program, and has a balance of undisbursed funds under said prior award(s), as of
the Application deadline of this NOFA. In the case where an affiliate of the Applicant is a prior CDFI
Fund award recipient under any CDFI Fund program, and has a balance of undisbursed funds under
said prior award(s), as of the Application deadline of this NOFA, the CDFI Fund will include the combined awards of the Applicant and such affiliate when calculating the amount of undisbursed funds.
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Undisbursed funds ..........................
C. Contact the CDFI Fund:
Accordingly, Applicants that are prior
recipients and/or allocatees under any
CDFI Fund program are advised to: (i)
Comply with requirements specified in
an assistance agreement, award
agreement, allocation agreement, bond
loan agreement, or agreement to
guarantee; and (ii) contact the CDFI
Fund to ensure that all necessary
actions are underway for the
disbursement of any outstanding
balance of a prior award(s). An
Applicant that is unsure about the
disbursement status of any prior award
should contact the CDFI Fund by
sending an email to cdfihelp@
cdfi.treas.gov. All outstanding reports
and compliance questions should be
directed to the Certification,
Compliance Monitoring, and Evaluation
helpdesk by submitting a Compliance
and Reporting AMIS Service Request or
by telephone at (202) 653–0423. The
CDFI Fund will respond to Applicants’
reporting, compliance, or disbursement
questions between the hours of 9:00
a.m. and 5:00 p.m. EST, starting on the
date of the publication of this NOFA.
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The CDFI Fund will not respond to
Applicants’ reporting, compliance, or
disbursement telephone calls or email
inquiries that are received after 5:00
p.m. EST on April 17, 2017 until after
the Application deadline. The CDFI
Fund will respond to technical issues
related to AMIS Accounts through 5:00
p.m. EST on April 19, 2017 via an IT
AMIS Service Request, email at AMIS@
cdfi.treas.gov or by telephone at (202)
653–0422.
D. Cost sharing or matching fund
requirements: Not applicable.
IV. Application and Submission
Information
A. Address to Request an Application
Package: Application materials can be
found on Grants.gov and the CDFI
Fund’s Web site at www.cdfifund.gov/
bea. Applicants may request a paper
version of any Application material by
contacting the CDFI Fund Help Desk at
cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov.
B. Content and Form of Application
Submission: All Application materials
must be prepared using the English
language and calculations must be made
in U.S. dollars. Applicants must submit
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all materials described in and required
by the Application by the applicable
deadlines. Detailed Application content
requirements including instructions
related to the submission of the Grant
Application Package in Grants.gov and
the FY 2016 BEA Program Application
in AMIS, the CDFI Fund’s web-based
portal, are provided in detail in the
Application Instructions. Once an
Application is submitted, the Applicant
will not be allowed to change any
element of the Application. The CDFI
Fund reserves the right to request and
review other pertinent or public
information that has not been
specifically requested in this NOFA or
the Application.
C. Application Submission: The CDFI
Fund has a two-step submission process
for BEA Applications that requires the
submission of application documents in
separate systems on different deadlines.
The first step is the submission of the
Grant Application Package which
includes the SF–424 Mandatory Form,
Application for Federal Assistance, in
Grants.gov. The second step is to
complete an FY 2016 BEA Program
Application in AMIS. The deadline for
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submitting the Grant Application
Package in Grants.gov is 40 days after
the publication of this NOFA.
Applicants are encouraged to submit the
Grant Application Package as early as
possible to allow for sufficient time to
resolve any submission issues. The
CDFI Fund retrieves validated Grant
Application Packages from Grants.gov
on a daily basis and uses the DUNS
number to match the SF–424 Mandatory
with the correct AMIS account.
Therefore, Applicants should make sure
that the DUNS number included on the
SF–424 Mandatory in the Grant
Application Package matches the DUNS
number in their AMIS account.
Applicants are also highly encouraged
to provide EIN, Authorized
Representative and/or Contact Person
information on the SF–424 Mandatory
in the Grant Application Package that
matches the information included in
AMIS. Applicants are advised that it can
take up to 48 hours for Grants.gov to
validate a submitted Grant Application
Package. The CDFI Fund will only
retrieve validated Grant Application
Packages from Grants.gov and it will
take at least 24 hours from when CDFI
Fund retrieves the validated Grant
Application Package for it to appear in
an Applicants AMIS account.
Applicants can work on their FY 2016
BEA Program Application in AMIS at
any time, however, they will not be able
to submit the FY 2016 BEA Program
Application in AMIS until the SF–424
Mandatory is available in AMIS, and
associated, by the Applicant, with the
FY 2016 BEA Program Application.
Therefore, the CDFI Fund recommends
that Applicants allow for at least 24
hours from the time that the Grant
Application Package has been validated
by Grants.gov before attempting to
submit their FY 2016 BEA Program
Application in AMIS. This will ensure
that the required SF–424 Mandatory is
available in AMIS.
D. Dun & Bradstreet Universal
Numbering System (DUNS): Pursuant to
the Uniform Administrative
Requirements, each Applicant must
provide, as part of its Application
submission, a Dun and Bradstreet
Universal Numbering System (DUNS)
number. Applicants without a DUNS
number will not be able to submit a
Grant Application Package in
Grants.gov. Applicants should allow
sufficient time for Dun & Bradstreet to
respond to inquiries and/or requests for
DUNS numbers.
E. System for Award Management
(SAM): An active SAM account is
required to submit the required Grant
Application Package in Grants.gov. Any
entity applying for Federal grants or
other forms of Federal financial
assistance through Grants.gov must be
registered in SAM in order to submit an
Application. The SAM registration
process can take several weeks to
complete. Applicants that have
previously completed the SAM
registration process must verify that
their SAM accounts are current and
active. Applicants are required to
maintain a current and active SAM
account at all times during which it has
an active Federal award or an
Application under consideration for an
award by a Federal awarding agency.
The CDFI Fund will not consider any
Applicant that fails to properly register
or activate its SAM account and, as a
result, is unable to submit its
Application by the deadline. Applicants
must contact SAM directly with
questions related to SAM registration or
account changes as the CDFI Fund does
not administer or maintain this system.
For more information about SAM,
please visit https://www.sam.gov.
F. Grants.gov: Applicants must
register with Grants.gov to submit a
Grant Application Package. In order to
register with Grants.gov, Applicants
must have a DUNS number and be
registered with SAM.gov. The CDFI
Fund strongly encourages Applicants to
start the Grants.gov registration process
as soon as possible (refer to the
following link: https://www.grants.gov/
web/grants/register.html) as it may take
several weeks to complete. An
Applicant that has previously registered
with Grants.gov must verify that its
registration is current and active.
Applicants should contact Grants.gov
directly with questions related to the
registration or submission process as the
CDFI Fund does not administer or
maintain this system.
G. AMIS: All Applicants must
complete a FY 2016 BEA Program
Application in AMIS, the CDFI Fund’s
web-based portal. All Applicants must
register User and Organization accounts
11697
in AMIS by the applicable Application
deadline. Failure to register and
complete a FY 2016 BEA Program
Application in AMIS will result in the
CDFI Fund being unable to accept the
Application. As AMIS is the CDFI
Fund’s primary means of
communication with Applicants and
Recipients, institutions must make sure
that they update their contact
information in their AMIS accounts. In
addition, the Applicant should ensure
that the institution information (name,
EIN, DUNS number, Authorized
Representative, contact information,
etc.) on the SF–424 Mandatory
submitted as part of the Grant
Application Package in Grants.gov
matches the information in AMIS. EINs
and DUNS numbers in the Applicant’s
SAM account must match those listed in
AMIS. For more information on AMIS,
please see the information available
through the AMIS Home page at https://
amis.cdfifund.gov/s/AMISHome.
Qualified Activity documentation and
other attachments as specified in the
applicable BEA Program Application
must also be submitted electronically
via AMIS. Detailed instructions
regarding submission of Qualified
Activity documentation is provided in
the Application Instructions. Applicants
will not be allowed to submit missing
Qualified Activity documentation after
the Application deadline and Qualified
Activity missing the required
documentation will be disqualified.
Qualified Activity documentation
delivered by hard copy to the CDFI
Fund’s Washington, DC office address
will be rejected, unless the Applicant
previously requested a paper version of
the Application as described in Section
IV.A.
H. Submission Dates and Times: The
following table provides the critical
deadlines for the FY 2016 BEA Funding
Round. Applications and any other
required documents or attachments
received after an applicable deadline
will be rejected. The document
submission deadlines in this NOFA and
the Application are strictly enforced.
The CDFI Fund will not grant
exceptions or waivers for late
submissions except where the
submission delay was a direct result of
a Federal government administrative or
technological error.
TABLE 4—FY 2016 BEA PROGRAM FUNDING ROUND CRITICAL DEADLINES FOR APPLICANTS
Description
Deadline
Time
(Eastern time)
SF–424 Mandatory ........................
FY 2016 BEA Program Application
April 5, 2017 .................................
April 19, 2017 ...............................
11:59 p.m. EST ............................
5:00 p.m. EST ..............................
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Submission method
Electronically via Grants.gov.
Electronically via AMIS.
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1. Confirmation of Application
Submission: Applicants may verify that
their Grant Application Package was
successfully submitted in Grants.gov
and that their FY 2016 BEA Program
Application was successfully submitted
in AMIS. Applicants should note that
the Grant Application Package has a
different deadline than the FY 2016
BEA Program Application. These
deadlines are provided above in Table 4.
FY 2016 BEA Program Funding Round
Critical Deadlines for Applicants. If the
Grant Application Package is not
successfully submitted and
subsequently validated by Grants.gov by
the deadline, the CDFI Fund will not
review the FY 2016 BEA Program
Application or any of the application
related material submitted in AMIS and
the Application will be deemed
ineligible.
a. Grants.gov: Each Applicant will
receive an email from Grants.gov
immediately after the Grant Application
Package is submitted confirming that
the submission has entered the
Grants.gov system. This email will
contain a tracking number. Within 48
hours, the Applicant will receive a
second email which will indicate if the
submitted Grant Application Package
was successfully validated or rejected
with errors. However, Applicants
should not rely on the second email
notification from Grants.gov to confirm
that the Grant Application Package was
validated. Applicants are strongly
encouraged to use the tracking number
provided in the first email to closely
monitor the status of their Grant
Application Package. The Grant
Application Package cannot be accepted
by the CDFI Fund until Grants.gov has
validated it.
b. AMIS: Applicants will not receive
an email confirming that their FY 2016
BEA Program Application was
successfully submitted in AMIS.
Instead, Applicants should check their
AMIS account to ensure that the status
of the FY 2016 BEA Program
Application is ‘‘Under Review.’’ Stepby-step instructions for submitting an
FY 2016 BEA Program Application in
AMIS are provided in the Application
Instructions and Supplemental
Guidance materials.
2. Multiple Application Submissions:
If an Applicant submits multiple
versions of its Grant Application
Package in Grants.gov, the Applicant
can only associate one with its FY 2016
BEA Program Application in AMIS.
3. Late Submission: The CDFI Fund
will not accept an Application
submitted after the Application
deadline except where the submission
delay was a direct result of a Federal
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government administrative or
technological error. In such case, the
Applicant must submit a request for
acceptance of late Application
submission and include documentation
of the error no later than two business
days after the applicable Application
deadline. The CDFI Fund will not
respond to request for acceptance of late
Application submissions after that time
period. Applicants must submit late
Application submission requests to the
CDFI Helpdesk at cdfihelp@
cdfi.treas.gov with a subject line of
‘‘Late Application Submission Request.’’
I. Funding Restrictions: BEA Program
Awards are limited by the following:
1. The Recipient shall use BEA
Program Award funds only for the
eligible activities described in Section
II.D. of this NOFA and its Award
Agreement.
2. The Recipient may not distribute
BEA Program Award funds to an
affiliate, Subsidiary, or any other entity,
without the CDFI Fund’s prior written
approval.
3. BEA Program Award funds shall
only be disbursed to the Recipient.
4. The CDFI Fund, in its sole
discretion, may disburse BEA Program
Award funds in amounts, or under
terms and conditions, which are
different from those requested by an
Applicant.
J. Other Submission Requirements:
None.
V. Application Review Information
A. Criteria: If the Applicant submitted
a complete and eligible Application, the
CDFI Fund will conduct a substantive
review in accordance with the criteria
and procedures described in the
Regulations, this NOFA, the Application
guidance, and the Uniform
Requirements. The CDFI Fund reserves
the right to contact the Applicant by
telephone, email, or mail for the sole
purpose of clarifying or confirming
Application information. If contacted,
the Applicant must respond within the
time period communicated by the CDFI
Fund or run the risk that its Application
will be rejected.
1. CDFI Related Activities: CDFI
Related Activities include Equity
Investments, Equity-Like Loans, and
CDFI Support Activities provided to
eligible CDFI Partners.
2. Eligible CDFI Partner: CDFI Partner
is defined as a certified CDFI that has
been provided assistance in the form of
CDFI Related Activities by an
unaffiliated Applicant (12 CFR
1806.103). For the purposes of this
NOFA, an eligible CDFI Partner must
have been certified as a CDFI as of the
end of the applicable Assessment Period
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and be Integrally Involved in a
Distressed Community.
3. Integrally Involved: Integrally
Involved is defined at 12 CFR 1806.103.
For purposes of this NOFA, for a CDFI
Partner to be deemed to be Integrally
Involved, it must have: (i) Provided at
least 10 percent of financial transactions
or dollars transacted (e.g., loans or
Equity Investments), or 10 percent of
Development Service Activities (as
defined in 12 CFR 1805.104), in one or
more Distressed Communities identified
by the Applicant or the CDFI Partner, as
applicable, in each of the three calendar
years preceding the date of this NOFA;
(ii) transacted at least 25 percent of
financial transactions (e.g., loans or
equity investments) in one or more
Distressed Communities in at least one
of the three calendar years preceding the
date of this NOFA; or (iii) demonstrated
that it has attained at least 10 percent of
market share for a particular financial
product in one or more Distressed
Communities (such as home mortgages
originated in one or more Distressed
Communities) in at least one of the three
calendar years preceding the date of this
NOFA.
4. Limitations on eligible Qualified
Activities provided to certain CDFI
Partners: A CDFI Applicant cannot
receive credit for any financial
assistance or Qualified Activities
provided to a CDFI Partner that is also
an FDIC-insured depository institution
or depository institution holding
company.
5. Certificates of Deposit: Section
1806.103 of the Interim Rule states that
any certificate of deposit (CD) placed by
an Applicant or its Subsidiary in a CDFI
Partner that is a bank, thrift, or credit
union must be: (i) Uninsured and
committed for at least three years; or (ii)
insured, committed for a term of at least
three years, and provided at an interest
rate that is materially below market
rates, in the determination of the CDFI
Fund.
a. For purposes of this NOFA,
‘‘materially below market interest rate’’
is defined as an annual percentage rate
that does not exceed 100 percent of
yields on Treasury securities at constant
maturity as interpolated by Treasury
from the daily yield curve and available
on the Treasury Web site at
www.treas.gov/offices/domesticfinance/debt-management/interest-rate/
yield.shtml. For example, for a threeyear CD, Applicants should use the
three-year rate U.S. Government
securities, Treasury Yield Curve Rate
posted for that business day. The
Treasury updates the Web site daily at
approximately 5:30 p.m. ET. CDs placed
prior to that time may use the rate
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posted for the previous business day.
The annual percentage rate on a CD
should be compounded daily, quarterly,
semi-annually, or annually. If a variable
interest rate is used, the CD must also
have an interest rate that is materially
below the market interest rate over the
life of the CD, in the determination of
the CDFI Fund.
b. For purposes of this NOFA, a
deposit placed by an Applicant directly
with a CDFI Partner that participates in
a deposit network or service may be
treated as eligible under this NOFA if it
otherwise meets the criteria for deposits
in 1806.103 and the CDFI Partner
retains the full amount of the initial
deposit or an amount equivalent to the
full amount of the initial deposit
through a deposit network exchange
transaction.
6. Equity Investment: An Equity
Investment means financial assistance
provided by an Applicant or its
Subsidiary to a CDFI, which CDFI meets
such criteria as set forth in this
applicable NOFA, in the form of a grant,
a stock purchase, a purchase of a
partnership interest, a purchase of a
limited liability company membership
interest, or any other investment
deemed to be an Equity Investment by
the CDFI Fund;
7. Equity-Like Loan: An Equity-Like
Loan is a loan provided by an Applicant
or its Subsidiary to a CDFI, and made
on such terms that it has characteristics
of an Equity Investment, as such
characteristics may be specified by the
CDFI Fund (12 CFR 1806.103). For
purposes of this NOFA, an Equity-Like
Loan must meet the following
characteristics:
a. At the end of the initial term, the
loan must have a definite rolling
maturity date that is automatically
extended on an annual basis if the CDFI
borrower continues to be financially
sound and carry out a community
development mission;
b. Periodic payments of interest and/
or principal may only be made out of
the CDFI borrower’s available cash flow
after satisfying all other obligations;
c. Failure to pay principal or interest
(except at maturity) will not
automatically result in a default of the
loan agreement; and
d. The loan must be subordinated to
all other debt except for other EquityLike Loans.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the
CDFI Fund reserves the right to
determine, in its sole discretion and on
a case-by-case basis, whether an
instrument meets the above-stated
characteristics of an Equity-Like Loan.
8. CDFI Support Activity: A CDFI
Support Activity is defined as assistance
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provided by an Applicant or its
Subsidiary to a CDFI that is Integrally
Involved in a Distressed Community, in
the form of a loan, Technical Assistance,
or deposits.
9. CDFI Program Matching Funds:
Equity Investments, Equity-Like Loans,
and CDFI Support Activities (except
Technical Assistance) provided by a
BEA Applicant to a CDFI and used by
the CDFI for matching funds under the
CDFI Program are eligible as a Qualified
Activity under the CDFI Related
Activity category.
10. Commercial Loans and
Investments: Commercial Loans and
Investments is a sub-category of
Distressed Community Financing
Activities and is defined as the
following lending activity types:
Affordable Housing Development Loans
and related Project Investments; Small
Business Loans and related Project
Investments; and Commercial Real
Estate Loans and related Project
Investments.
11. Consumer Loans: Consumer Loans
is a sub-category of Distressed
Community Financing Activities and is
defined as the following lending activity
types: Affordable Housing Loans;
Education Loans; Home Improvement
Loans; and Small Dollar Consumer
Loans.
12. Distressed Community Financing
Activities and Service Activities:
Distressed Community Financing
Activities comply with consumer
protection laws and are defined as (1)
Consumer Loans; or (2) Commercial
Loans and Investments. In addition to
the requirements set forth in the Interim
Rule, this NOFA provides the following
additional requirements:
a. Commercial Real Estate Loans and
related Project Investments: For
purposes of this NOFA, eligible
Commercial Real Estate Loans (12 CFR
1806.103) and related Project
Investments (12 CFR 1806.103) are
generally limited to transactions with a
total principal value of $10 million or
less. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the
CDFI Fund, in its sole discretion, may
consider transactions with a total
principal value of over $10 million,
subject to review. For such transactions,
Applicants must provide a separate
narrative, or other information, to
demonstrate that the proposed project
offers, or significantly enhances the
quality of, a facility or service not
currently provided to the Distressed
Community.
b. Small Dollar Consumer Loan: For
purposes of this NOFA, eligible Small
Dollar Consumer Loans are affordable
loans that serve as available alternatives
to the marketplace for individuals who
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11699
are Eligible Residents with a total
principal value between $500 and
$5,000 and have a term of ninety (90)
days or more.
c. Low- and Moderate-Income
residents: For the purposes of this
NOFA, Low- income means borrower
income that does not exceed 80 percent
of the area median income, and
Moderate-Income means borrower
income may be 81 percent to no more
than 120 percent of the area median
income, according to the U.S. Census
Bureau data.
13. Reporting Certain Financial
Services: The CDFI Fund will value the
administrative cost of providing certain
Financial Services using the following
per unit values:
a. $100.00 per account for Targeted
Financial Services including safe
transaction accounts, youth transaction
accounts, Electronic Transfer Accounts
and Individual Development Accounts;
b. $50.00 per account for checking
and savings accounts that do not meet
the definition of Targeted Financial
Services;
c. $5.00 per check cashing
transaction;
d. $50,000 per new ATM installed at
a location in a Distressed Community;
e. $500,000 per new retail bank
branch office opened in a Distressed
Community, including school-based
bank branches approved by the
Applicant’s Federal bank regulator; and
f. In the case of Applicants engaging
in Financial Services activities not
described above, the CDFI Fund will
determine the unit value of such
services.
g. When reporting the opening of a
new retail bank branch office, the
Applicant must certify that such new
branch will remain in operation for at
least the next five years.
h. Financial Service Activities must
be provided by the Applicant to Eligible
Residents or enterprises that are located
in a Distressed Community. An
Applicant may determine the number of
Eligible Residents who are recipients of
Financial Services by either: (i)
Collecting the addresses of its Financial
Services customers, or (ii) certifying that
the Applicant reasonably believes that
such customers are Eligible Residents or
enterprises located in a Distressed
Community and providing a brief
analytical narrative with information
describing how the Applicant made this
determination. Citations must be
provided for external sources. In
addition, if external sources are
referenced in the narrative, the
Applicant must explain how it reached
the conclusion that the cited references
are directly related to the Eligible
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Residents or enterprises to whom it is
claiming to have provided the Financial
Services.
i. When reporting changes in the
dollar amount of deposit accounts, only
calculate the net change in the total
dollar amount of eligible Deposit
Liabilities between the Baseline Period
and the Assessment Period. Do not
report each individual deposit. If the net
change between the Baseline Period and
Assessment Period is a negative dollar
amount, then a negative dollar amount
may be recorded for Deposit Liabilities
only. Instructions for determining the
net change is available in the
Supplemental Guidance to the FY 2016
BEA Program Application.
14. Priority Factors: Priority Factors
are the numeric values assigned to
individual types of activity within: (i)
The Distressed Community Financing,
and (ii) Services categories of Qualified
Activities. For the purposes of this
NOFA, Priority Factors will be based on
the Applicant’s asset size as of the end
of the Assessment Period (December 31,
2015) as reported by the Applicant in
the Application. Asset size classes (i.e.,
small institutions, intermediate-small
institutions, and large institutions) will
correspond to the Community
Reinvestment Act (CRA) asset size
classes set by the three Federal bank
regulatory agencies and that were
effective as of the end of the Assessment
Period. The Priority Factor works by
multiplying the change in a Qualified
Activity by the assigned Priority Factor
to achieve a ‘‘weighted value.’’ This
weighted value of the change would be
multiplied by the applicable Award
percentage to yield the Award amount
for that particular activity. For purposes
of this NOFA, the CDFI Fund is
establishing Priority Factors based on
Applicant asset size to be applied to all
activity within the Distressed
Community Financing Activities and
Service Activities categories only, as
follows:
TABLE 5—CRA ASSET SIZE CLASSIFICATION
Priority factor
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Small institutions (assets of less than $305 million as of 12/31/2015) ...............................................................................................
Intermediate—small institutions (assets of at least $305 million but less than $1.221 billion as of 12/31/2015) ..............................
Large institutions (assets of $1.221 billion or greater as of 12/31/2015) ...........................................................................................
15. Certain Limitations on Qualified
Activities:
a. Low-Income Housing Tax Credits:
Financial assistance provided by an
Applicant for which the Applicant
receives benefits through Low-Income
Housing Tax Credits, authorized
pursuant to Section 42 of the Internal
Revenue Code, as amended (26 U.S.C.
42), shall not constitute an Equity
Investment, Project Investment, or other
Qualified Activity, for the purposes of
calculating or receiving a BEA Program
Award.
b. New Markets Tax Credits: Financial
assistance provided by an Applicant for
which the Applicant receives benefits as
an investor in a Community
Development Entity that has received an
allocation of New Markets Tax Credits,
authorized pursuant to Section 45D of
the Internal Revenue Code, as amended
(26 U.S.C. 45D), shall not constitute an
Equity Investment, Project Investment,
or other Qualified Activity, for the
purposes of calculating or receiving a
BEA Program Award. Leverage loans
used in New Markets Tax Credit
structured transactions that meet the
requirements outlined in this NOFA are
considered Distressed Community
Financing Activities.
c. Loan Renewals and Refinances:
Financial assistance provided by an
Applicant shall not constitute a
Qualified Activity, as defined in this
part, for the purposes of calculating or
receiving a BEA Program Award if such
financial assistance consists of a loan to
a borrower that has matured and is then
renewed by the Applicant, or consists of
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a loan to a borrower that is retired or
restructured using the proceeds of a new
commitment by the Applicant. Payoff of
a separate third party obligation will
only be considered a Qualified Activity
if the payoff of a transaction is part of
the sale of property or business to an
unaffiliated party to the borrower.
Applicants should include a narrative
statement to describe any such
transactions. Otherwise the transaction
will be disqualified.
d. Certain Business Types: Financial
assistance provided by an Applicant
shall not constitute a Qualified Activity,
as defined in this part, for the purposes
of financing the following business
types: Golf courses, race tracks,
gambling facilities, country clubs,
massage parlors, hot tub facilities,
suntan facilities, or stores where the
principal business is the sale of
alcoholic beverages for consumption off
premises.
e. Prior BEA Program Awards:
Qualified Activities funded with prior
funding round BEA Program Award
dollars or funded to satisfy requirements
of the BEA Program Award Agreement
shall not constitute a Qualified Activity
for the purposes of calculating or
receiving a BEA Program Award.
f. Prior CDFI Program Awards: No
CDFI Applicant may receive a BEA
Program Award for activities funded by
another CDFI Fund program or Federal
program.
16. Award Percentages, Award
Amounts, Application Review Process,
Selection Process, Programmatic and
Financial Risk, and Application
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5.0
3.0
1.0
Rejection: The Interim Rule and this
NOFA describe the process for selecting
Applicants to receive a BEA Program
Award and determining Award
amounts.
a. Award percentages: In the CDFI
Related Activities category (except for
an Equity Investment or Equity-Like
Loan), for CDFI Applicants, the
estimated award amount will be equal
to 18 percent of the increase in
Qualified Activity for the category. If an
Applicant is not a CDFI Applicant, the
estimated award amount will be equal
to 6 percent of the increase in Qualified
Activity for the category.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, for a
CDFI Applicant and for an Applicant
that is not a CDFI Applicant, the award
percentage applicable to an Equity
Investment, Equity-Like Loan, or grant
in a CDFI shall be 15 percent of the
increase in Qualified Activity for the
category.
In Distressed Community Financing
Activities’ subcategory of Consumer
Lending, for a CDFI Applicant, the
estimated award amount will be 18
percent of the weighted value of the
increase in this subcategory of Qualified
Activity. If an Applicant is not a CDFI
Applicant, the estimated award amount
will be equal to 6 percent of the
weighted value of the increase in
Qualified Activity for this subcategory.
In Distressed Community Financing
Activities’ subcategory of Commercial
Lending and Investments, for a CDFI
Applicant, the estimated award amount
will be 9 percent of the weighted value
of the increase in this subcategory of
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Qualified Activity. If an Applicant is not
a CDFI Applicant, the estimated award
amount will be equal to 3 percent of the
weighted value of the increase in
Qualified Activity for this subcategory.
In Service Activities category, for a
CDFI Applicant, the estimated award
amount will be equal to 9 percent of the
weighted value of the increase in
Qualified Activity for the category. If an
Applicant is not a CDFI Applicant, the
estimated award amount will be equal
to 3 percent of the weighted value of the
increase in Qualified Activity for the
category.
b. Award Amounts: An Applicant’s
estimated award amount will be
calculated in accordance with a multistep procedure that is outlined in the
Interim Rule (at 12 CFR 1806.403). As
outlined in the Interim Rule at 12 CFR
1806.404, the CDFI Fund will determine
actual Award amounts based on the
availability of funds, increases in
Qualified Activities from the Baseline
Period to the Assessment Period, and
the priority ranking of each Applicant.
In calculating the increase in Qualified
Activities, the CDFI Fund will
determine the eligibility of each
transaction for which an Applicant has
applied for a BEA Program Award. In
some cases, the actual award amount
calculated by the CDFI Fund may not be
the same as the estimated award amount
requested by the Applicant.
For purposes of calculating award
disbursement amounts, the CDFI Fund
will treat Qualified Activities with a
total principal amount less than or equal
to $250,000 as fully disbursed. For all
other Qualified Activities, Recipients
will have 12 months from the end of the
Assessment Period to make
disbursements and 18 months from the
end of the Assessment Period to submit
to the CDFI Fund disbursement requests
for the corresponding portion of their
awards, after which the CDFI Fund will
rescind and de-obligate any outstanding
award balance and said outstanding
award balance will no longer be
available to the Recipient.
B. Review and Selection Process:
1. Application Review Process: All
Applications will be initially evaluated
by external non-Federal reviewers.
Reviewers are selected based on their
experience in understanding various
financial transactions, reading and
interpreting financial documentation,
strong written communication skills,
and strong mathematical skills.
Reviewers must complete the CDFI
Fund’s conflict of interest process and
be approved by the CDFI Fund. The
CDFI Fund’s Application reader conflict
of interest policy is located on the CDFI
Fund’s Web site.
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17:20 Feb 23, 2017
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2. Selection Process: If the amount of
funds available during the funding
round is insufficient for all estimated
Award amounts, Recipients will be
selected based on the process described
in the Interim Rule at 12 CFR 1806.404.
This process gives funding priority to
Applicants that undertake activities in
the following order: (i) CDFI Related
Activities, (ii) Distressed Community
Financing Activities, and (iii) Service
Activities, as described in the Interim
Rule at 12 CFR 1806.404(c).
Within each category, CDFI
Applicants will be ranked first
according to the ratio of the actual
award amount calculated by the CDFI
Fund for the category to the total assets
of the Applicant, followed by
Applicants that are not CDFI Applicants
according to the ratio of the actual
award amount calculated by the CDFI
Fund for the category to the total assets
of the Applicant. Selections within each
priority category will be based on the
Applicants’ relative rankings within
each such category, subject to the
availability of funds and any established
maximum dollar amount of total awards
that may be awarded for the Distressed
Community Financing Activities
category of Qualified Activities, as
determined by the CDFI Fund.
The CDFI Fund, in its sole discretion:
(i) May adjust the estimated award
amount that an Applicant may receive;
(ii) may establish a maximum amount
that may be awarded to an Applicant;
and (iii) reserves the right to limit the
amount of an award to any Applicant if
the CDFI Fund deems it appropriate.
The CDFI Fund reserves the right to
contact the Applicant to confirm or
clarify information. If contacted, the
Applicant must respond within the
CDFI Fund’s time parameters or run the
risk of having its Application rejected.
The CDFI Fund reserves the right to
change its eligibility and evaluation
criteria and procedures. If those changes
materially affect the CDFI Fund’s award
decisions, the CDFI Fund will provide
information regarding the changes
through the CDFI Fund’s Web site.
3. Programmatic and Financial Risk:
The CDFI Fund will consider safety and
soundness information from the
appropriate Federal bank regulatory
agency as defined in Section 3 of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12
U.S.C. 1813(q)). If the appropriate
Federal bank regulatory agency
identifies safety and soundness
concerns, the CDFI Fund will assess
whether the concerns cause or will
cause the Applicant to be incapable of
completing the activities for which
funding has been requested. The CDFI
Fund will not approve a BEA Program
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11701
Award under any circumstances for an
Applicant if the appropriate Federal
bank regulatory agency indicates that
the Applicant received a composite
rating of ‘‘5’’ on its most recent
examination, performed in accordance
with the Uniform Financial Institutions
Rating System.
Furthermore, the CDFI Fund will not
approve a BEA Program Award for the
following reasons if at the time of
application, or during the CDFI Fund’s
evaluation of the application, the
Applicant received any of the following:
a. A CRA assessment rating of below
‘‘Satisfactory’’ on its most recent
examination;
b. a going concern opinion on its most
recent audit;
c. a Prompt Corrective Action
directive from its regulator.
Applicants and/or their appropriate
Federal bank regulator agency may be
contacted by the CDFI Fund to provide
additional information related to
Federal bank regulatory or CRA
information. The CDFI Fund will
consider this information and may
choose to disapprove a BEA Program
Award for an Applicant if the
information indicates that the Applicant
may be unable to responsibly manage,
re-invest, and/or report on a BEA
Program Award during the performance
period.
4. Application Rejection: The CDFI
Fund reserves the right to reject an
Application if information (including
administrative error) comes to the CDFI
Fund’s attention that either: Adversely
affects an Applicant’s eligibility for an
award; adversely affects the CDFI
Fund’s evaluation or scoring of an
Application; or indicates fraud or
mismanagement on the Applicant’s part.
If the CDFI Fund determines any
portion of the Application is incorrect
in a material respect, the CDFI Fund
reserves the right, in its sole discretion,
to reject the Application. There is no
right to appeal the CDFI Fund’s award
decisions. The CDFI Fund’s award
decisions are final. The CDFI Fund will
not discuss the specifics of an
Applicant’s FY 2016 BEA Program
Application or provide reasons why an
Applicant was not selected to receive a
BEA Program Award. The CDFI Fund
will only respond to general questions
regarding the FY 2016 BEA Program
Application and award decision process
until 30 days after the award
announcement date.
C. Anticipated Announcement and
Federal Award Dates: The CDFI Fund
anticipates making its FY 2016 BEA
Program award announcement in the
Summer of 2017. The Federal Award
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Date shall be the date that the CDFI
Fund executes the Award Agreement.
VI. Federal Award Administration
Information
A. Federal Award Notices: The CDFI
Fund will notify an Applicant of its
selection as a Recipient by delivering a
notification or letter. The Award
Agreement will contain the general
terms and conditions governing the
CDFI Fund’s provision of an Award.
The Award Recipient will receive a
copy of the Award Agreement via AMIS.
The Recipient is required to sign the
Award Agreement via an electronic
signature in AMIS. The CDFI Fund will
subsequently execute the Award
Agreement. Each Recipient must also
ensure that complete and accurate
banking information is reflected in its
SAM account at www.sam.gov in order
to receive its award disbursement.
B. Administrative and National Policy
Requirements: If, prior to entering into
an Award Agreement, information
(including an administrative error)
comes to the CDFI Fund’s attention that
adversely affects: The Recipient’s
eligibility for an award; the CDFI Fund’s
evaluation of the Application; the
Recipient’s compliance with any
requirement listed in the Uniform
Requirements; or indicates fraud or
mismanagement on the Recipient’s part,
the CDFI Fund may, in its discretion
and without advance notice to the
Recipient, terminate the award or take
other actions as it deems appropriate.
If the Recipient’s certification status
as a CDFI changes, the CDFI Fund
reserves the right, in its sole discretion,
to re-calculate the award, and modify
the Award Agreement based on the
Recipient’s non-CDFI status.
By executing an Award Agreement,
the Recipient agrees that, if the CDFI
Fund becomes aware of any information
(including an administrative error) prior
to the effective date of the Award
Agreement that either adversely affects
the Recipient’s eligibility for an award,
or adversely affects the CDFI Fund’s
evaluation of the Recipient’s
Application, or indicates fraud or
mismanagement on the part of the
Recipient, the CDFI Fund may, in its
discretion and without advance notice
to the Recipient, terminate the Award
Agreement or take other actions as it
deems appropriate.
The CDFI Fund reserves the right, in
its sole discretion, to rescind an award
if the Recipient fails to return the Award
Agreement, signed by the authorized
representative of the Recipient, and/or
provide the CDFI Fund with any other
requested documentation, within the
CDFI Fund’s deadlines.
In addition, the CDFI Fund reserves
the right, in its sole discretion, to
terminate and rescind the Award
Agreement and the award made under
this NOFA for any criteria described in
the following table:
TABLE 6—CRITERIA THAT MAY RESULT IN AWARD TERMINATION PRIOR TO THE EXECUTION OF AN AWARD AGREEMENT
Criteria
Description
Failure to meet reporting requirements.
If an Applicant, is a prior CDFI Fund Recipient or allocatee under any CDFI Fund program and is not current on the reporting requirements set forth in the previously executed assistance, award, allocation,
bond loan agreement(s), or agreement to guaranty, the CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to delay entering into an Award Agreement and/or to delay making a disbursement of Award proceeds, until said prior Recipient or allocatee is current on the reporting requirements in the previously
executed assistance, award, allocation, bond loan agreement(s), or agreement to guaranty. Please note
that automated systems employed by the CDFI Fund for receipt of reports submitted electronically typically acknowledge only a report’s receipt; such acknowledgment does not warrant that the report received was complete and therefore met reporting requirements. If said prior Recipient or allocatee is unable to meet this requirement within the timeframe set by the CDFI Fund, the CDFI Fund reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to terminate and rescind the award made under this NOFA.
If, at any time prior to entering into an Award Agreement under this NOFA, an Applicant that is a prior
CDFI Fund Recipient or allocatee under any CDFI Fund program: (i) Has submitted reports to the CDFI
Fund that demonstrate noncompliance with a previous assistance, award, or allocation agreement, but
(ii) the CDFI Fund has yet to make a final determination regarding whether or not the entity is in default
of its previous assistance, award, allocation, bond loan agreement, or agreement to guarantee, the CDFI
Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to delay entering into an Award Agreement and/or to delay
making a disbursement of award proceeds, pending full resolution, in the sole determination of the CDFI
Fund, of the noncompliance. If said prior Recipient or allocatee is unable to meet this requirement, in the
sole determination of the CDFI Fund, the CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate and rescind the award made under this NOFA.
If prior to entering into an Award Agreement under this NOFA: (i) The CDFI Fund has made a final determination that an Applicant that is a prior CDFI Fund Recipient or allocatee under any CDFI Fund program whose award or allocation terminated in default of such prior agreement; (ii) the CDFI Fund has
provided written notification of such determination to such organization; and (iii) the anticipated date for
entering into the Award Agreement under this NOFA is within a period of time specified in such notification throughout which any new award, allocation, assistance, bond loan agreement(s), or agreement to
guarantee is prohibited, the CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate and rescind
the Award Agreement and the award made under this NOFA.
If prior to entering into an Award Agreement under this NOFA, the Recipient receives a final determination,
made within the last three years, in any proceeding instituted against the Recipient in, by, or before any
court, governmental, or administrative body or agency, declaring that the Recipient has violated the following laws: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2000d); Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, (42 U.S.C. 6101–6107),
and Executive Order 13166, Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency,
the CDFI Fund will terminate and rescind the Assistance Agreement and the award made under this
NOFA.
The Do Not Pay Business Center was developed to support Federal agencies in their efforts to reduce the
number of improper payments made through programs funded by the Federal government.
The CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to rescind an award if the Recipient is identified as
ineligible to be a Recipient per the Do Not Pay database.
Pending resolution of noncompliance.
Default status ..................................
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Compliance with Federal civil rights
requirements.
Do Not Pay .....................................
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11703
TABLE 6—CRITERIA THAT MAY RESULT IN AWARD TERMINATION PRIOR TO THE EXECUTION OF AN AWARD AGREEMENT—
Continued
Criteria
Description
Safety and Soundness ....................
If it is determined the Recipient is or will be incapable of meeting its award obligations, the CDFI Fund will
deem the Recipient to be ineligible or require it to improve safety and soundness conditions prior to entering into an Award Agreement.
C. Award Agreement: After the CDFI
Fund selects a Recipient, unless an
exception detailed in this NOFA
applies, the CDFI Fund and the
Recipient will enter into an Award
Agreement. The Award Agreement will
set forth certain required terms and
conditions of the award, which will
include, but not be limited to: (i) The
amount of the award; (ii) the type of the
award; (iii) the approved uses of the
award; (iv) the performance goals and
measures; (v) the performance periods;
and (vi) the reporting requirements. The
Award Agreement shall provide that a
Recipient shall: (i) Carry out its
Qualified Activities in accordance with
applicable law, the approved
Application, and all other applicable
requirements; (ii) not receive any
disbursement of award dollars until the
CDFI Fund has determined that the
Recipient has fulfilled all applicable
requirements; and (iii) use the BEA
Program Award amount for Qualified
Activities.
D. Reporting: Through this NOFA, the
CDFI Fund will require each Recipient
to account for and report to the CDFI
Fund on the use of the award. This will
require Recipients to establish
administrative controls, subject to
applicable OMB Circulars. The CDFI
Fund will collect information from each
such Recipient on its use of the award
at least once following the award and
more often if deemed appropriate by the
CDFI Fund in its sole discretion. The
CDFI Fund will provide guidance to
Recipients outlining the format and
content of the information required to
be provided to describe how the funds
were used.
The CDFI Fund may collect
information from each Recipient
including, but not limited to, an Annual
Report with the following components:
TABLE 7—REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Criteria
Description
Single Audit Narrative Report (or
like report).
Single Audit (if applicable) (or similar report).
For each year of its performance period, the Recipient, must answer in the Financial Report section in
AMIS, as to whether it is required to have a single audit pursuant to OMB Single Audit requirements.
A Recipient that is a non-profit entity that expends $750,000 or more in Federal awards during its fiscal
year must have a single audit conducted for that year.
If a Recipient is required to complete a Single Audit Report, it should be submitted to the Federal Audit
Clearinghouse see 2 CFR subpart F—Audit Requirements in the Uniform Federal Award Requirements.
For-profit Recipients will be required to complete and submit a similar report directly to the CDFI Fund.
Recipients must submit the Use of Award report to the CDFI Fund via AMIS.
If the Recipient fails to meet a Performance Goal or reporting requirement, it must submit the Explanation
of Noncompliance via AMIS.
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Use of BEA Program Award Report
Explanation of Noncompliance (as
applicable) or successor report.
Each Recipient is responsible for the
timely and complete submission of the
reporting requirements. The CDFI Fund
reserves the right to contact the
Recipient to request additional
information and documentation. The
CDFI Fund will use such information to
monitor each Recipient’s compliance
with the requirements in the Award
Agreement and to assess the impact of
the BEA Program. The CDFI Fund
reserves the right, in its sole discretion,
to modify these reporting requirements
if it determines it to be appropriate and
necessary; however, such reporting
requirements will be modified only after
notice has been provided to Recipients.
E. Financial Management and
Accounting: The CDFI Fund will require
Recipients to maintain financial
management and accounting systems
that comply with Federal statutes,
regulations, and the terms and
conditions of the award. These systems
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17:20 Feb 23, 2017
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must be sufficient to permit the
preparation of reports required by
general and program specific terms and
conditions, including the tracing of
funds to a level of expenditures
adequate to establish that such funds
have been used according to the Federal
statutes, regulations, and the terms and
conditions of the award. Each of the
Qualified Activities categories will be
ineligible for indirect costs and an
associated indirect cost rate. The cost
principles used by Recipients must be
consistent with Federal cost principles
and support the accumulation of costs
as required by the principles, and must
provide for adequate documentation to
support costs charged to the BEA
Program Award. In addition, the CDFI
Fund will require Recipients to:
Maintain effective internal controls;
comply with applicable statutes,
regulations, and the Award Agreement;
evaluate and monitor compliance; take
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Frm 00181
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
action when not in compliance; and
safeguard personally identifiable
information.
VII. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts
A. Questions Related to Application
and Prior Recipient Reporting,
Compliance and Disbursements: The
CDFI Fund will respond to questions
concerning this NOFA, the Application
and reporting, compliance, or
disbursements between the hours of
9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time,
starting on the date that this NOFA is
published through the date listed in
Table 1. The CDFI Fund will post
responses to frequently asked questions
in a separate document on its Web site.
Other information regarding the CDFI
Fund and its programs may be obtained
from the CDFI Fund’s Web site at https://
www.cdfifund.gov.
The following table lists CDFI Fund
contact information:
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TABLE 8—CONTACT INFORMATION
Telephone
number
(not toll free)
Type of question
BEA Program .........................................................................................
Certification, Compliance Monitoring, and Evaluation ...........................
AMIS—IT Help Desk ..............................................................................
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B. Information Technology Support:
People who have visual or mobility
impairments that prevent them from
using the CDFI Fund’s Web site should
call (202) 653–0422 for assistance (this
is not a toll free number).
C. Communication with the CDFI
Fund: The CDFI Fund will use its AMIS
Internet interface to communicate with
Applicants and Recipients under this
NOFA. Recipients must use AMIS to
submit required reports. The CDFI Fund
will notify Recipients by email using the
addresses maintained in each
Recipient’s AMIS account. Therefore, a
Recipient and any Subsidiaries,
signatories, and Affiliates must maintain
accurate contact information (including
contact person and authorized
representative, email addresses, fax
numbers, phone numbers, and office
addresses) in their AMIS account(s).
D. Civil Rights and Diversity: Any
person who is eligible to receive
benefits or services from CDFI Fund or
Recipients under any of its programs is
entitled to those benefits or services
without being subject to prohibited
discrimination. The Department of the
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17:20 Feb 23, 2017
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202–653–0421
202–653–0423
202–653–0422
Electronic contact method
BEA AMIS Service Request.
Compliance and Reporting AMIS Service Request.
IT AMIS Service Request.
Treasury’s Office of Civil Rights and
Diversity enforces various Federal
statutes and regulations that prohibit
discrimination in financially assisted
and conducted programs and activities
of the CDFI Fund. If a person believes
that s/he has been subjected to
discrimination and/or reprisal because
of membership in a protected group,
s/he may file a complaint with:
Associate Chief Human Capital Officer,
Office of Civil Rights, and Diversity,
1500 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.,
Washington, DC 20220 or (202) 622–
1160 (not a toll-free number).
VIII. Other Information
A. Reasonable Accommodations:
Requests for reasonable
accommodations under section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act should be
directed to Mr. Michael Jones,
Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund, U.S. Department of
the Treasury, at JonesM@cdfi.treas.gov
no later than 72 hours in advance of the
application deadline.
B. Paperwork Reduction Act: Under
the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
chapter 35), an agency may not conduct
or sponsor a collection of information,
and an individual is not required to
respond to a collection of information,
unless it displays a valid OMB control
number. Pursuant to the Paperwork
Reduction Act, the BEA Program
funding Application has been assigned
the following control number: 1559–
0005.
C. Application Information Sessions:
The CDFI Fund may conduct webinars
or host information sessions for
organizations that are considering
applying to, or are interested in learning
about, the CDFI Fund’s programs. For
further information, please visit the
CDFI Fund’s Web site at https://
www.cdfifund.gov.
Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1834a, 4703, 4703
note, 4713; 12 CFR part 1806.
Mary Ann Donovan,
Director, Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. 2017–03684 Filed 2–23–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–70–P
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 36 (Friday, February 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11693-11704]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03684]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) Inviting Applications for the
Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Funding Round of the Bank Enterprise Award
Program (BEA Program)
Announcement Type: Announcement of funding opportunity.
Funding Opportunity Number: CDFI-2016-BEA.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 21.021.
Key Dates:
Table 1--FY 2016 BEA Program Funding Round--Key Dates for Applicants
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time (Eastern time-- Contact information &
Description Deadline ET) submission method
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SF-424 Mandatory (Application for April 5, 2017......... 11:59 p.m. ET......... Electronically via
Federal Assistance). Grants.gov.
Last day to contact BEA Program April 17, 2017........ 5:00 p.m. ET.......... CDFI Fund Helpdesk: 202-653-
Staff. 0421 or BEA AMIS Service
Request.\1\
Last day to contact Certification, April 17, 2017........ 5:00 p.m. ET.......... CCME Helpdesk: 202-653-0423
Compliance Monitoring and or Compliance and
Evaluation (CCME) staff. Reporting AMIS Service
Request.\2\
Last day to contact IT Help Desk... April 19, 2017........ 5:00 p.m. ET.......... CDFI Fund Helpdesk: 202-653-
0421 or IT AMIS Service
Request.\3\
FY 2016 BEA Program Application.... April 19, 2017........ 5:00 pm ET............ Electronically via Awards
Management Information
System (AMIS).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ For questions regarding completion of the BEA Application materials, the preferred electronic method of
contact with the BEA Program Office is to submit a Service Request (SR) within AMIS. For the SR, select ``BEA
Application'' for the record type.
\2\ For Compliance & Reporting related questions, the preferred electronic method of contact is to submit a
Service Request (SR) within AMIS. For the SR, select ``General Inquiry'' for the record type, and select ``BEA-
Compliance & Reporting'' for the type.
\3\ For Information Technology support, the preferred method of contact is to submit a Service Request (SR)
within AMIS. For the SR, select ``General Inquiry'' for the record type, and select ``Cross Program-AMIS
technical problem'' for the type.
Executive Summary: This NOFA is issued in connection with the
fiscal year (FY) 2016 funding round of the Bank Enterprise Award
Program (BEA Program). The BEA Program is administered by the U.S.
Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). Through the BEA Program, the CDFI Fund
awards formula-based grants to depository institutions that are insured
by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for increasing
their levels of loans, investments, service activities, and technical
assistance within Distressed Communities, and financial assistance to
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) through equity
investments, equity-like loans, grants, stock purchases, loans,
deposits, and other forms of financial and technical assistance, during
a specified period.
I. Program Description
A. History: The CDFI Fund was established by the Riegle Community
Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 to promote
economic revitalization and community development through investment in
and assistance to CDFIs. Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has
awarded over $2 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations,
and financial institutions through the Community Development Financial
Institutions Program (CDFI Program), the Native American CDFI
Assistance Program (NACA Program), the BEA Program, and the Capital
Magnet Fund. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $43 billion in
tax credit allocation authority through the New Markets Tax Credit
Program (NMTC Program) and has issued $1.1 billion in bond guarantees
through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.
The BEA Program complements the community development activities of
banks and thrifts (collectively referred
[[Page 11694]]
to as banks for purposes of this Notice) by providing financial
incentives to expand investments in CDFIs and to increase lending,
investment, and service activities within Distressed Communities.
Providing monetary awards to banks for increasing their community
development activities leverages the CDFI Fund's dollars and puts more
capital to work in Distressed Communities throughout the nation.
B. Authorizing Statutes and Regulations: The BEA Program was
authorized by the Bank Enterprise Award Act of 1991, as amended. The
regulations governing the BEA Program can be found at 12 CFR part 1806
(Interim Rule). The Interim Rule provides the evaluation criteria and
other requirements of the BEA Program. Detailed BEA Program
requirements are also found in the application materials associated
with this NOFA (the Application). The CDFI Fund encourages interested
parties and Applicants to review the Interim Rule, this NOFA, the
Application, and the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost
Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform
Requirements) for a complete understanding of the program. Capitalized
terms in this NOFA are defined in the authorizing statute, the Interim
Rule, this NOFA, the Application, and the Uniform Requirements. Details
regarding Application content requirements are found in the Application
and related materials. Application materials can be found on Grants.gov
and the CDFI Fund's Web site at www.cdfifund.gov/bea.
C. Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit
Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR 200): The Uniform Administrative
Requirements codify financial, administrative, procurement, and program
management standards that Federal award-making agencies and Recipients
must follow. When evaluating award applications, awarding agencies must
evaluate the risks to the program posed by each applicant, and each
applicant's merits and eligibility. These requirements are designed to
ensure that applicants for Federal assistance receive a fair and
consistent review prior to an award decision. This review will assess
items such as the Applicant's financial stability, quality of
management systems, history of performance, and audit findings. In
addition, the Uniform Requirements include guidance on audit
requirements and other award requirements with which Recipients must
comply.
D. Priorities: Through the BEA Program, the CDFI Fund specifies the
following priorities:
1. Estimated Award Amounts: The award percentage used to derive the
estimated award amount for Applicants that are CDFIs is three times
greater than the award percentage used to derive the estimated award
amount for Applicants that are not CDFIs;
2. Priority Factors: Priority Factors will be assigned based on
Applicant's asset size, as described in Section V of this NOFA
(``Application Review Information: Priority Factors''); and
3. Priority of Awards: The CDFI Fund will rank Applicants in each
category of Qualified Activity according to the priorities described in
Section V of this NOFA (``Application Review Information: Award
Percentages, Award Amounts, Application Review Process, Selection
Process, Programmatic Financial Risk, and Application Rejection:
Selection Process'').
E. Baseline Period and Assessment Period Dates: A BEA Program Award
is based on an Applicant's increase in Qualified Activities from the
Baseline Period to the Assessment Period, as reported on an individual
transaction basis in the Application. For the FY 2016 funding round,
the Baseline Period is calendar year 2014 (January 1, 2014 through
December 31, 2014), and the Assessment Period is calendar year 2015
(January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015).
F. Funding Limitations: The CDFI Fund reserves the right to fund,
in whole or in part, any, all, or none of the Applications submitted in
response to this NOFA. The CDFI Fund also reserves the right to
reallocate funds from the amount that is anticipated to be available
through this NOFA to other CDFI Fund programs, or reallocate remaining
funds to a future BEA Program funding round, particularly if the CDFI
Fund determines that the number of awards made through this NOFA is
fewer than projected.
II. Federal Award Information
A. Funding Availability: The CDFI Fund expects to award up to $19
million in FY 2016 BEA Program Awards in appropriated funds under this
NOFA. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to award in excess of said funds
under this NOFA, provided that the appropriated funds are available.
The CDFI Fund reserves the right to impose a minimum or maximum award
amount; however, under no circumstances will an award be higher than $1
million for any Recipient.
B. Types of Awards: BEA Program Awards are made in the form of
grants.
C. Anticipated Start Date and Period of Performance: The CDFI Fund
anticipates the period of performance for the FY 2016 Funding Round
will begin in the Summer of calendar year 2017. Specifically, the
period of performance begins with the Federal Award Date and will
conclude at least one (1) full year after the Federal Award Date as
further specified in the Award Agreement, during which the Recipient
must meet the performance goals set forth in the Award Agreement.
D. Eligible Activities: Eligible Activities for the BEA Program are
referred to as Qualified Activities and are defined in the Interim Rule
to include CDFI Related Activities, Distressed Community Financing
Activities, and Service Activities (12 CFR 1806.103). It is the
explicit policy of the CDFI Fund that BEA Program Awards may not be
used by Recipients to recover overhead or indirect costs. Each of the
Qualified Activities will be eligible for an associated direct cost
rate of up to 15 percent of the BEA Program Award.
CDFI Related Activities (12 CFR 1806.103) include Equity
Investments, Equity-Like Loans, and CDFI Support Activities.
Distressed Community Financing Activities (12 CFR 1806.103) include
Affordable Housing Loans, Affordable Housing Development Loans and
related Project Investments; Education Loans; Commercial Real Estate
Loans and related Project Investments; Home Improvement Loans; Small
Business Loans and related Project Investments, and Small Dollar
Consumer Loans.
Service Activities (12 CFR 1806.103) include Deposit Liabilities,
Financial Services, Community Services, Targeted Financial Services,
and Targeted Retail Savings/Investment Products.
When calculating BEA Program Award amounts, the CDFI Fund will only
consider the amount of a Qualified Activity that has been fully
disbursed or, in the case of a partially disbursed Qualified Activity,
will only consider the amount that an Applicant reasonably expects to
disburse for a Qualified Activity within 12 months from the end of the
Assessment Period. Subject to the requirements outlined in Section VI
of this NOFA, in the case of Commercial Real Estate Loans and related
Project Investments, the total principal amount of the transaction must
be $10 million or less to be considered a Qualified Activity.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the CDFI Fund, in its sole discretion,
may consider transactions with a total principal value of over $10
million, subject to review.
[[Page 11695]]
An activity funded with prior BEA Program Award dollars, or funded
to satisfy requirements of an Award Agreement from a prior award, shall
not constitute a Qualified Activity for the purposes of calculating or
receiving an award.
A Distressed Community must meet certain minimum geographic area
and eligibility requirements, which are defined in the Interim Rule at
12 CFR 1806.103 and more fully described in 12 CFR 1806.401. Applicants
should use the CDFI Fund's Information Mapping System (CIMS Mapping
Tool) to determine whether a Baseline Period activity or Assessment
Period activity is located in a qualified Distressed Community. The
CIMS Mapping Tool can be accessed through AMIS or the CDFI Funds Web
site at https://www.cdfifund.gov/Pages/mapping-system.aspx. The CIMS
Mapping Tool contains step-by-step instructions on how to determine
whether an activity is located in a qualified BEA Distressed Community.
If you have any questions or problems with registering, please contact
the CDFI Fund IT Help Desk by telephone at (202) 653-0300, by IT AMIS
Service Request, or by email to AMIS@cdfi.treas.gov. Please note that a
Distressed Community as defined by the BEA Program is not the same as
an Investment Area as defined by the CDFI Program or a Low-Income
Community as defined by the NMTC Program.
1. Designation of Distressed Community by a CDFI Partner: CDFI
Partners that receive CDFI Support Activities from an Applicant must be
integrally involved in a Distressed Community. CDFI Support Activities
include loans, Technical Assistance, or deposits provided to a CDFI
Partner. Applicants must provide evidence that each CDFI Partner that
is the recipient of CDFI Support Activities is integrally involved in a
Distressed Community, as noted in the Application. CDFI Partners that
receive Equity Investments, Equity-Like Loans or grants are not
required to demonstrate Integral Involvement. Additional information on
Integral Involvement can be found in Section V of this NOFA.
2. Distressed Community Determination by a BEA Applicant:
Applicants applying for a BEA Program Award for performing Distressed
Community Financing Activities or Service Activities must verify that
addresses of both Baseline Period and Assessment Period activities are
in Distressed Communities when completing their Application.
A BEA Applicant shall determine an area is a Distressed Community
by:
a. Selecting a census tract where the Qualified Activity occurred
that meets the minimum area and eligibility requirements; or
b. selecting the census tract where the Qualified Activity
occurred, plus one or more census tracts directly contiguous to where
the Qualified Activity occurred that when considered in the aggregate,
meet the minimum area and eligibility requirements set forth in this
section.
E. Award Agreement: Each Recipient under this NOFA must sign an
Award Agreement prior to disbursement by the CDFI Fund of the award
proceeds. The Award Agreement contains the terms and conditions of the
award. For further information, see Section VI of this NOFA.
III. Eligibility Information
A. Eligible Applicants: For the purposes of this NOFA, the
following table sets forth the eligibility criteria to receive an award
from the CDFI Fund.
Table 2--Eligibility Requirements for Applicants
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Criteria Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eligible Applicants............... Eligible Applicants for the BEA
Program must be Insured Depository
Institutions, as defined in the
Interim Rule. For the FY 2016
funding round, an Applicant must be
FDIC-insured as of December 31,
2015 to be eligible for
consideration for a BEA Program
Award under this NOFA. The
depository institution holding
company of an Insured Depository
Institution may not apply on behalf
of an Insured Depository
Institution. Applications received
from depository institution holding
companies will be disqualified.
CDFI Applicant.................... For the FY 2016 funding round, an
eligible certified-CDFI Applicant
is an Insured Depository
Institution that was certified as a
CDFI as of December 31, 2015 and
that maintains its status as a
certified CDFI at the time BEA
Program Awards are announced under
this NOFA. No CDFI Applicant may
receive a FY 2016 BEA Program Award
if it has: (1) An application
pending for assistance under the FY
2016 round of the CDFI Program; (2)
been awarded assistance from the
CDFI Fund under the CDFI Program
within the 12-month period prior to
the Federal Award Date of the FY
2016 Award Agreement issued by the
CDFI Program; or (3) ever received
assistance under the CDFI Program
for the same activities for which
it is seeking a FY 2016 BEA Program
Award. Please note that Applicants
may apply for both a CDFI Program
award and a BEA Program Award in FY
2016; however, receiving a FY 2016
CDFI Program award removes an
Applicant from eligibility for a FY
2016 BEA Program Award.
Debarment/Do Not Pay Verification. The CDFI Fund will conduct a
debarment check and will not
consider an Application submitted
by an Applicant if the Applicant is
delinquent on any Federal debt. The
Do Not Pay Business Center was
developed to support Federal
agencies in their efforts to reduce
the number of improper payments
made through programs funded by the
Federal government. The Do Not Pay
Business Center provides
delinquency information to the CDFI
Fund to assist with the debarment
check.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Prior Award Recipients: The previous success of an Applicant in
any of the CDFI Fund's programs will not be considered under this NOFA.
Prior BEA Program Award Recipients and prior award recipients of other
CDFI Fund programs are eligible to apply under this NOFA, except as
noted in the following table:
[[Page 11696]]
Table 3--Eligibility Requirements for Applicants Which Are Prior
Recipients
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Criteria Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pending resolution of If an Applicant that is a prior
noncompliance. recipient or allocatee under any
CDFI Fund program: (i) Has
submitted reports to the CDFI Fund
that demonstrate noncompliance with
a previous assistance agreement,
award agreement, allocation
agreement, bond loan agreement, or
agreement to guarantee and (ii) the
CDFI Fund has yet to make a final
determination as to whether the
entity is in default of its
previous agreement, the CDFI Fund
will consider the Applicant's
Application under this NOFA pending
full resolution, in the sole
determination of the CDFI Fund, of
the noncompliance.
Default status.................... The CDFI Fund will not consider an
Application submitted by an
Applicant that is a prior CDFI Fund
award recipient or allocatee under
any CDFI Fund program if, as of the
applicable Application deadline of
this NOFA, the CDFI Fund has made a
final determination that such
Applicant is in default of a
previously executed assistance
agreement, award agreement,
allocation agreement, bond loan
agreement, or agreement to
guarantee.
Such entities will be ineligible to
apply for an Award pursuant to this
NOFA so long as the Applicant's
prior award or allocation remains
in default status or such other
time period as specified by the
CDFI Fund in writing.
Undisbursed funds................. For the purposes of this section,
the term ``undisbursed funds'' is
defined as: (i) In the case of
prior BEA Program Award(s), any
balance of award funds equal to or
greater than five percent of the
total prior BEA Program Award(s)
that remains undisbursed more than
three years after the end of the
calendar year in which the CDFI
Fund signed an Award Agreement with
the Recipient, or (ii) in the case
of prior CDFI Program or other CDFI
Fund program award(s), any balance
of award funds equal to or greater
than five percent of the total
prior award(s) that remains
undisbursed more than two years
after the end of the calendar year
in which the CDFI Fund signed the
applicable assistance agreement
with the Recipient.
The term ``undisbursed funds'' does
not include (i) tax credit
allocation authority allocated
through the NMTC Program; (ii) any
award funds for which the CDFI Fund
received a full and complete
disbursement request from the
Recipient as of the Application
deadline of this NOFA; (iii) an
award that does not have a fully
executed award agreement; or (iv)
any award funds for an award that
has been terminated, expired,
rescinded, or de-obligated by the
CDFI Fund.
The CDFI Fund will not consider an
Application submitted by an
Applicant that is a prior CDFI Fund
award recipient under any CDFI Fund
program if the Applicant has a
balance of undisbursed funds under
said prior award(s), as of the
Application deadline of this NOFA.
Further, an entity is not eligible
to apply for an Award pursuant to
this NOFA if an affiliate of the
Applicant is a prior CDFI Fund
award recipient under any CDFI Fund
program, and has a balance of
undisbursed funds under said prior
award(s), as of the Application
deadline of this NOFA. In the case
where an affiliate of the Applicant
is a prior CDFI Fund award
recipient under any CDFI Fund
program, and has a balance of
undisbursed funds under said prior
award(s), as of the Application
deadline of this NOFA, the CDFI
Fund will include the combined
awards of the Applicant and such
affiliate when calculating the
amount of undisbursed funds.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Contact the CDFI Fund: Accordingly, Applicants that are prior
recipients and/or allocatees under any CDFI Fund program are advised
to: (i) Comply with requirements specified in an assistance agreement,
award agreement, allocation agreement, bond loan agreement, or
agreement to guarantee; and (ii) contact the CDFI Fund to ensure that
all necessary actions are underway for the disbursement of any
outstanding balance of a prior award(s). An Applicant that is unsure
about the disbursement status of any prior award should contact the
CDFI Fund by sending an email to cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov. All
outstanding reports and compliance questions should be directed to the
Certification, Compliance Monitoring, and Evaluation helpdesk by
submitting a Compliance and Reporting AMIS Service Request or by
telephone at (202) 653-0423. The CDFI Fund will respond to Applicants'
reporting, compliance, or disbursement questions between the hours of
9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. EST, starting on the date of the publication of
this NOFA. The CDFI Fund will not respond to Applicants' reporting,
compliance, or disbursement telephone calls or email inquiries that are
received after 5:00 p.m. EST on April 17, 2017 until after the
Application deadline. The CDFI Fund will respond to technical issues
related to AMIS Accounts through 5:00 p.m. EST on April 19, 2017 via an
IT AMIS Service Request, email at AMIS@cdfi.treas.gov or by telephone
at (202) 653-0422.
D. Cost sharing or matching fund requirements: Not applicable.
IV. Application and Submission Information
A. Address to Request an Application Package: Application materials
can be found on Grants.gov and the CDFI Fund's Web site at
www.cdfifund.gov/bea. Applicants may request a paper version of any
Application material by contacting the CDFI Fund Help Desk at
cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov.
B. Content and Form of Application Submission: All Application
materials must be prepared using the English language and calculations
must be made in U.S. dollars. Applicants must submit all materials
described in and required by the Application by the applicable
deadlines. Detailed Application content requirements including
instructions related to the submission of the Grant Application Package
in Grants.gov and the FY 2016 BEA Program Application in AMIS, the CDFI
Fund's web-based portal, are provided in detail in the Application
Instructions. Once an Application is submitted, the Applicant will not
be allowed to change any element of the Application. The CDFI Fund
reserves the right to request and review other pertinent or public
information that has not been specifically requested in this NOFA or
the Application.
C. Application Submission: The CDFI Fund has a two-step submission
process for BEA Applications that requires the submission of
application documents in separate systems on different deadlines. The
first step is the submission of the Grant Application Package which
includes the SF-424 Mandatory Form, Application for Federal Assistance,
in Grants.gov. The second step is to complete an FY 2016 BEA Program
Application in AMIS. The deadline for
[[Page 11697]]
submitting the Grant Application Package in Grants.gov is 40 days after
the publication of this NOFA. Applicants are encouraged to submit the
Grant Application Package as early as possible to allow for sufficient
time to resolve any submission issues. The CDFI Fund retrieves
validated Grant Application Packages from Grants.gov on a daily basis
and uses the DUNS number to match the SF-424 Mandatory with the correct
AMIS account. Therefore, Applicants should make sure that the DUNS
number included on the SF-424 Mandatory in the Grant Application
Package matches the DUNS number in their AMIS account. Applicants are
also highly encouraged to provide EIN, Authorized Representative and/or
Contact Person information on the SF-424 Mandatory in the Grant
Application Package that matches the information included in AMIS.
Applicants are advised that it can take up to 48 hours for Grants.gov
to validate a submitted Grant Application Package. The CDFI Fund will
only retrieve validated Grant Application Packages from Grants.gov and
it will take at least 24 hours from when CDFI Fund retrieves the
validated Grant Application Package for it to appear in an Applicants
AMIS account. Applicants can work on their FY 2016 BEA Program
Application in AMIS at any time, however, they will not be able to
submit the FY 2016 BEA Program Application in AMIS until the SF-424
Mandatory is available in AMIS, and associated, by the Applicant, with
the FY 2016 BEA Program Application. Therefore, the CDFI Fund
recommends that Applicants allow for at least 24 hours from the time
that the Grant Application Package has been validated by Grants.gov
before attempting to submit their FY 2016 BEA Program Application in
AMIS. This will ensure that the required SF-424 Mandatory is available
in AMIS.
D. Dun & Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS): Pursuant to
the Uniform Administrative Requirements, each Applicant must provide,
as part of its Application submission, a Dun and Bradstreet Universal
Numbering System (DUNS) number. Applicants without a DUNS number will
not be able to submit a Grant Application Package in Grants.gov.
Applicants should allow sufficient time for Dun & Bradstreet to respond
to inquiries and/or requests for DUNS numbers.
E. System for Award Management (SAM): An active SAM account is
required to submit the required Grant Application Package in
Grants.gov. Any entity applying for Federal grants or other forms of
Federal financial assistance through Grants.gov must be registered in
SAM in order to submit an Application. The SAM registration process can
take several weeks to complete. Applicants that have previously
completed the SAM registration process must verify that their SAM
accounts are current and active. Applicants are required to maintain a
current and active SAM account at all times during which it has an
active Federal award or an Application under consideration for an award
by a Federal awarding agency. The CDFI Fund will not consider any
Applicant that fails to properly register or activate its SAM account
and, as a result, is unable to submit its Application by the deadline.
Applicants must contact SAM directly with questions related to SAM
registration or account changes as the CDFI Fund does not administer or
maintain this system. For more information about SAM, please visit
https://www.sam.gov.
F. Grants.gov: Applicants must register with Grants.gov to submit a
Grant Application Package. In order to register with Grants.gov,
Applicants must have a DUNS number and be registered with SAM.gov. The
CDFI Fund strongly encourages Applicants to start the Grants.gov
registration process as soon as possible (refer to the following link:
https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html) as it may take several
weeks to complete. An Applicant that has previously registered with
Grants.gov must verify that its registration is current and active.
Applicants should contact Grants.gov directly with questions related to
the registration or submission process as the CDFI Fund does not
administer or maintain this system.
G. AMIS: All Applicants must complete a FY 2016 BEA Program
Application in AMIS, the CDFI Fund's web-based portal. All Applicants
must register User and Organization accounts in AMIS by the applicable
Application deadline. Failure to register and complete a FY 2016 BEA
Program Application in AMIS will result in the CDFI Fund being unable
to accept the Application. As AMIS is the CDFI Fund's primary means of
communication with Applicants and Recipients, institutions must make
sure that they update their contact information in their AMIS accounts.
In addition, the Applicant should ensure that the institution
information (name, EIN, DUNS number, Authorized Representative, contact
information, etc.) on the SF-424 Mandatory submitted as part of the
Grant Application Package in Grants.gov matches the information in
AMIS. EINs and DUNS numbers in the Applicant's SAM account must match
those listed in AMIS. For more information on AMIS, please see the
information available through the AMIS Home page at https://amis.cdfifund.gov/s/AMISHome. Qualified Activity documentation and
other attachments as specified in the applicable BEA Program
Application must also be submitted electronically via AMIS. Detailed
instructions regarding submission of Qualified Activity documentation
is provided in the Application Instructions. Applicants will not be
allowed to submit missing Qualified Activity documentation after the
Application deadline and Qualified Activity missing the required
documentation will be disqualified. Qualified Activity documentation
delivered by hard copy to the CDFI Fund's Washington, DC office address
will be rejected, unless the Applicant previously requested a paper
version of the Application as described in Section IV.A.
H. Submission Dates and Times: The following table provides the
critical deadlines for the FY 2016 BEA Funding Round. Applications and
any other required documents or attachments received after an
applicable deadline will be rejected. The document submission deadlines
in this NOFA and the Application are strictly enforced. The CDFI Fund
will not grant exceptions or waivers for late submissions except where
the submission delay was a direct result of a Federal government
administrative or technological error.
Table 4--FY 2016 BEA Program Funding Round Critical Deadlines for Applicants
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Description Deadline Time (Eastern time) Submission method
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SF-424 Mandatory..................... April 5, 2017.......... 11:59 p.m. EST......... Electronically via
Grants.gov.
FY 2016 BEA Program Application...... April 19, 2017......... 5:00 p.m. EST.......... Electronically via
AMIS.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 11698]]
1. Confirmation of Application Submission: Applicants may verify
that their Grant Application Package was successfully submitted in
Grants.gov and that their FY 2016 BEA Program Application was
successfully submitted in AMIS. Applicants should note that the Grant
Application Package has a different deadline than the FY 2016 BEA
Program Application. These deadlines are provided above in Table 4. FY
2016 BEA Program Funding Round Critical Deadlines for Applicants. If
the Grant Application Package is not successfully submitted and
subsequently validated by Grants.gov by the deadline, the CDFI Fund
will not review the FY 2016 BEA Program Application or any of the
application related material submitted in AMIS and the Application will
be deemed ineligible.
a. Grants.gov: Each Applicant will receive an email from Grants.gov
immediately after the Grant Application Package is submitted confirming
that the submission has entered the Grants.gov system. This email will
contain a tracking number. Within 48 hours, the Applicant will receive
a second email which will indicate if the submitted Grant Application
Package was successfully validated or rejected with errors. However,
Applicants should not rely on the second email notification from
Grants.gov to confirm that the Grant Application Package was validated.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to use the tracking number provided
in the first email to closely monitor the status of their Grant
Application Package. The Grant Application Package cannot be accepted
by the CDFI Fund until Grants.gov has validated it.
b. AMIS: Applicants will not receive an email confirming that their
FY 2016 BEA Program Application was successfully submitted in AMIS.
Instead, Applicants should check their AMIS account to ensure that the
status of the FY 2016 BEA Program Application is ``Under Review.''
Step-by-step instructions for submitting an FY 2016 BEA Program
Application in AMIS are provided in the Application Instructions and
Supplemental Guidance materials.
2. Multiple Application Submissions: If an Applicant submits
multiple versions of its Grant Application Package in Grants.gov, the
Applicant can only associate one with its FY 2016 BEA Program
Application in AMIS.
3. Late Submission: The CDFI Fund will not accept an Application
submitted after the Application deadline except where the submission
delay was a direct result of a Federal government administrative or
technological error. In such case, the Applicant must submit a request
for acceptance of late Application submission and include documentation
of the error no later than two business days after the applicable
Application deadline. The CDFI Fund will not respond to request for
acceptance of late Application submissions after that time period.
Applicants must submit late Application submission requests to the CDFI
Helpdesk at cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov with a subject line of ``Late
Application Submission Request.''
I. Funding Restrictions: BEA Program Awards are limited by the
following:
1. The Recipient shall use BEA Program Award funds only for the
eligible activities described in Section II.D. of this NOFA and its
Award Agreement.
2. The Recipient may not distribute BEA Program Award funds to an
affiliate, Subsidiary, or any other entity, without the CDFI Fund's
prior written approval.
3. BEA Program Award funds shall only be disbursed to the
Recipient.
4. The CDFI Fund, in its sole discretion, may disburse BEA Program
Award funds in amounts, or under terms and conditions, which are
different from those requested by an Applicant.
J. Other Submission Requirements: None.
V. Application Review Information
A. Criteria: If the Applicant submitted a complete and eligible
Application, the CDFI Fund will conduct a substantive review in
accordance with the criteria and procedures described in the
Regulations, this NOFA, the Application guidance, and the Uniform
Requirements. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to contact the Applicant
by telephone, email, or mail for the sole purpose of clarifying or
confirming Application information. If contacted, the Applicant must
respond within the time period communicated by the CDFI Fund or run the
risk that its Application will be rejected.
1. CDFI Related Activities: CDFI Related Activities include Equity
Investments, Equity-Like Loans, and CDFI Support Activities provided to
eligible CDFI Partners.
2. Eligible CDFI Partner: CDFI Partner is defined as a certified
CDFI that has been provided assistance in the form of CDFI Related
Activities by an unaffiliated Applicant (12 CFR 1806.103). For the
purposes of this NOFA, an eligible CDFI Partner must have been
certified as a CDFI as of the end of the applicable Assessment Period
and be Integrally Involved in a Distressed Community.
3. Integrally Involved: Integrally Involved is defined at 12 CFR
1806.103. For purposes of this NOFA, for a CDFI Partner to be deemed to
be Integrally Involved, it must have: (i) Provided at least 10 percent
of financial transactions or dollars transacted (e.g., loans or Equity
Investments), or 10 percent of Development Service Activities (as
defined in 12 CFR 1805.104), in one or more Distressed Communities
identified by the Applicant or the CDFI Partner, as applicable, in each
of the three calendar years preceding the date of this NOFA; (ii)
transacted at least 25 percent of financial transactions (e.g., loans
or equity investments) in one or more Distressed Communities in at
least one of the three calendar years preceding the date of this NOFA;
or (iii) demonstrated that it has attained at least 10 percent of
market share for a particular financial product in one or more
Distressed Communities (such as home mortgages originated in one or
more Distressed Communities) in at least one of the three calendar
years preceding the date of this NOFA.
4. Limitations on eligible Qualified Activities provided to certain
CDFI Partners: A CDFI Applicant cannot receive credit for any financial
assistance or Qualified Activities provided to a CDFI Partner that is
also an FDIC-insured depository institution or depository institution
holding company.
5. Certificates of Deposit: Section 1806.103 of the Interim Rule
states that any certificate of deposit (CD) placed by an Applicant or
its Subsidiary in a CDFI Partner that is a bank, thrift, or credit
union must be: (i) Uninsured and committed for at least three years; or
(ii) insured, committed for a term of at least three years, and
provided at an interest rate that is materially below market rates, in
the determination of the CDFI Fund.
a. For purposes of this NOFA, ``materially below market interest
rate'' is defined as an annual percentage rate that does not exceed 100
percent of yields on Treasury securities at constant maturity as
interpolated by Treasury from the daily yield curve and available on
the Treasury Web site at www.treas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/debt-management/interest-rate/yield.shtml. For example, for a three-year CD,
Applicants should use the three-year rate U.S. Government securities,
Treasury Yield Curve Rate posted for that business day. The Treasury
updates the Web site daily at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET. CDs placed
prior to that time may use the rate
[[Page 11699]]
posted for the previous business day. The annual percentage rate on a
CD should be compounded daily, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.
If a variable interest rate is used, the CD must also have an interest
rate that is materially below the market interest rate over the life of
the CD, in the determination of the CDFI Fund.
b. For purposes of this NOFA, a deposit placed by an Applicant
directly with a CDFI Partner that participates in a deposit network or
service may be treated as eligible under this NOFA if it otherwise
meets the criteria for deposits in 1806.103 and the CDFI Partner
retains the full amount of the initial deposit or an amount equivalent
to the full amount of the initial deposit through a deposit network
exchange transaction.
6. Equity Investment: An Equity Investment means financial
assistance provided by an Applicant or its Subsidiary to a CDFI, which
CDFI meets such criteria as set forth in this applicable NOFA, in the
form of a grant, a stock purchase, a purchase of a partnership
interest, a purchase of a limited liability company membership
interest, or any other investment deemed to be an Equity Investment by
the CDFI Fund;
7. Equity-Like Loan: An Equity-Like Loan is a loan provided by an
Applicant or its Subsidiary to a CDFI, and made on such terms that it
has characteristics of an Equity Investment, as such characteristics
may be specified by the CDFI Fund (12 CFR 1806.103). For purposes of
this NOFA, an Equity-Like Loan must meet the following characteristics:
a. At the end of the initial term, the loan must have a definite
rolling maturity date that is automatically extended on an annual basis
if the CDFI borrower continues to be financially sound and carry out a
community development mission;
b. Periodic payments of interest and/or principal may only be made
out of the CDFI borrower's available cash flow after satisfying all
other obligations;
c. Failure to pay principal or interest (except at maturity) will
not automatically result in a default of the loan agreement; and
d. The loan must be subordinated to all other debt except for other
Equity-Like Loans.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the CDFI Fund reserves the right to
determine, in its sole discretion and on a case-by-case basis, whether
an instrument meets the above-stated characteristics of an Equity-Like
Loan.
8. CDFI Support Activity: A CDFI Support Activity is defined as
assistance provided by an Applicant or its Subsidiary to a CDFI that is
Integrally Involved in a Distressed Community, in the form of a loan,
Technical Assistance, or deposits.
9. CDFI Program Matching Funds: Equity Investments, Equity-Like
Loans, and CDFI Support Activities (except Technical Assistance)
provided by a BEA Applicant to a CDFI and used by the CDFI for matching
funds under the CDFI Program are eligible as a Qualified Activity under
the CDFI Related Activity category.
10. Commercial Loans and Investments: Commercial Loans and
Investments is a sub-category of Distressed Community Financing
Activities and is defined as the following lending activity types:
Affordable Housing Development Loans and related Project Investments;
Small Business Loans and related Project Investments; and Commercial
Real Estate Loans and related Project Investments.
11. Consumer Loans: Consumer Loans is a sub-category of Distressed
Community Financing Activities and is defined as the following lending
activity types: Affordable Housing Loans; Education Loans; Home
Improvement Loans; and Small Dollar Consumer Loans.
12. Distressed Community Financing Activities and Service
Activities: Distressed Community Financing Activities comply with
consumer protection laws and are defined as (1) Consumer Loans; or (2)
Commercial Loans and Investments. In addition to the requirements set
forth in the Interim Rule, this NOFA provides the following additional
requirements:
a. Commercial Real Estate Loans and related Project Investments:
For purposes of this NOFA, eligible Commercial Real Estate Loans (12
CFR 1806.103) and related Project Investments (12 CFR 1806.103) are
generally limited to transactions with a total principal value of $10
million or less. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the CDFI Fund, in its
sole discretion, may consider transactions with a total principal value
of over $10 million, subject to review. For such transactions,
Applicants must provide a separate narrative, or other information, to
demonstrate that the proposed project offers, or significantly enhances
the quality of, a facility or service not currently provided to the
Distressed Community.
b. Small Dollar Consumer Loan: For purposes of this NOFA, eligible
Small Dollar Consumer Loans are affordable loans that serve as
available alternatives to the marketplace for individuals who are
Eligible Residents with a total principal value between $500 and $5,000
and have a term of ninety (90) days or more.
c. Low- and Moderate-Income residents: For the purposes of this
NOFA, Low- income means borrower income that does not exceed 80 percent
of the area median income, and Moderate-Income means borrower income
may be 81 percent to no more than 120 percent of the area median
income, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data.
13. Reporting Certain Financial Services: The CDFI Fund will value
the administrative cost of providing certain Financial Services using
the following per unit values:
a. $100.00 per account for Targeted Financial Services including
safe transaction accounts, youth transaction accounts, Electronic
Transfer Accounts and Individual Development Accounts;
b. $50.00 per account for checking and savings accounts that do not
meet the definition of Targeted Financial Services;
c. $5.00 per check cashing transaction;
d. $50,000 per new ATM installed at a location in a Distressed
Community;
e. $500,000 per new retail bank branch office opened in a
Distressed Community, including school-based bank branches approved by
the Applicant's Federal bank regulator; and
f. In the case of Applicants engaging in Financial Services
activities not described above, the CDFI Fund will determine the unit
value of such services.
g. When reporting the opening of a new retail bank branch office,
the Applicant must certify that such new branch will remain in
operation for at least the next five years.
h. Financial Service Activities must be provided by the Applicant
to Eligible Residents or enterprises that are located in a Distressed
Community. An Applicant may determine the number of Eligible Residents
who are recipients of Financial Services by either: (i) Collecting the
addresses of its Financial Services customers, or (ii) certifying that
the Applicant reasonably believes that such customers are Eligible
Residents or enterprises located in a Distressed Community and
providing a brief analytical narrative with information describing how
the Applicant made this determination. Citations must be provided for
external sources. In addition, if external sources are referenced in
the narrative, the Applicant must explain how it reached the conclusion
that the cited references are directly related to the Eligible
[[Page 11700]]
Residents or enterprises to whom it is claiming to have provided the
Financial Services.
i. When reporting changes in the dollar amount of deposit accounts,
only calculate the net change in the total dollar amount of eligible
Deposit Liabilities between the Baseline Period and the Assessment
Period. Do not report each individual deposit. If the net change
between the Baseline Period and Assessment Period is a negative dollar
amount, then a negative dollar amount may be recorded for Deposit
Liabilities only. Instructions for determining the net change is
available in the Supplemental Guidance to the FY 2016 BEA Program
Application.
14. Priority Factors: Priority Factors are the numeric values
assigned to individual types of activity within: (i) The Distressed
Community Financing, and (ii) Services categories of Qualified
Activities. For the purposes of this NOFA, Priority Factors will be
based on the Applicant's asset size as of the end of the Assessment
Period (December 31, 2015) as reported by the Applicant in the
Application. Asset size classes (i.e., small institutions,
intermediate-small institutions, and large institutions) will
correspond to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) asset size classes
set by the three Federal bank regulatory agencies and that were
effective as of the end of the Assessment Period. The Priority Factor
works by multiplying the change in a Qualified Activity by the assigned
Priority Factor to achieve a ``weighted value.'' This weighted value of
the change would be multiplied by the applicable Award percentage to
yield the Award amount for that particular activity. For purposes of
this NOFA, the CDFI Fund is establishing Priority Factors based on
Applicant asset size to be applied to all activity within the
Distressed Community Financing Activities and Service Activities
categories only, as follows:
Table 5--CRA Asset Size Classification
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Priority
factor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small institutions (assets of less than $305 million as 5.0
of 12/31/2015).........................................
Intermediate--small institutions (assets of at least 3.0
$305 million but less than $1.221 billion as of 12/31/
2015)..................................................
Large institutions (assets of $1.221 billion or greater 1.0
as of 12/31/2015)......................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Certain Limitations on Qualified Activities:
a. Low-Income Housing Tax Credits: Financial assistance provided by
an Applicant for which the Applicant receives benefits through Low-
Income Housing Tax Credits, authorized pursuant to Section 42 of the
Internal Revenue Code, as amended (26 U.S.C. 42), shall not constitute
an Equity Investment, Project Investment, or other Qualified Activity,
for the purposes of calculating or receiving a BEA Program Award.
b. New Markets Tax Credits: Financial assistance provided by an
Applicant for which the Applicant receives benefits as an investor in a
Community Development Entity that has received an allocation of New
Markets Tax Credits, authorized pursuant to Section 45D of the Internal
Revenue Code, as amended (26 U.S.C. 45D), shall not constitute an
Equity Investment, Project Investment, or other Qualified Activity, for
the purposes of calculating or receiving a BEA Program Award. Leverage
loans used in New Markets Tax Credit structured transactions that meet
the requirements outlined in this NOFA are considered Distressed
Community Financing Activities.
c. Loan Renewals and Refinances: Financial assistance provided by
an Applicant shall not constitute a Qualified Activity, as defined in
this part, for the purposes of calculating or receiving a BEA Program
Award if such financial assistance consists of a loan to a borrower
that has matured and is then renewed by the Applicant, or consists of a
loan to a borrower that is retired or restructured using the proceeds
of a new commitment by the Applicant. Payoff of a separate third party
obligation will only be considered a Qualified Activity if the payoff
of a transaction is part of the sale of property or business to an
unaffiliated party to the borrower. Applicants should include a
narrative statement to describe any such transactions. Otherwise the
transaction will be disqualified.
d. Certain Business Types: Financial assistance provided by an
Applicant shall not constitute a Qualified Activity, as defined in this
part, for the purposes of financing the following business types: Golf
courses, race tracks, gambling facilities, country clubs, massage
parlors, hot tub facilities, suntan facilities, or stores where the
principal business is the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption
off premises.
e. Prior BEA Program Awards: Qualified Activities funded with prior
funding round BEA Program Award dollars or funded to satisfy
requirements of the BEA Program Award Agreement shall not constitute a
Qualified Activity for the purposes of calculating or receiving a BEA
Program Award.
f. Prior CDFI Program Awards: No CDFI Applicant may receive a BEA
Program Award for activities funded by another CDFI Fund program or
Federal program.
16. Award Percentages, Award Amounts, Application Review Process,
Selection Process, Programmatic and Financial Risk, and Application
Rejection: The Interim Rule and this NOFA describe the process for
selecting Applicants to receive a BEA Program Award and determining
Award amounts.
a. Award percentages: In the CDFI Related Activities category
(except for an Equity Investment or Equity-Like Loan), for CDFI
Applicants, the estimated award amount will be equal to 18 percent of
the increase in Qualified Activity for the category. If an Applicant is
not a CDFI Applicant, the estimated award amount will be equal to 6
percent of the increase in Qualified Activity for the category.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, for a CDFI Applicant and for an
Applicant that is not a CDFI Applicant, the award percentage applicable
to an Equity Investment, Equity-Like Loan, or grant in a CDFI shall be
15 percent of the increase in Qualified Activity for the category.
In Distressed Community Financing Activities' subcategory of
Consumer Lending, for a CDFI Applicant, the estimated award amount will
be 18 percent of the weighted value of the increase in this subcategory
of Qualified Activity. If an Applicant is not a CDFI Applicant, the
estimated award amount will be equal to 6 percent of the weighted value
of the increase in Qualified Activity for this subcategory.
In Distressed Community Financing Activities' subcategory of
Commercial Lending and Investments, for a CDFI Applicant, the estimated
award amount will be 9 percent of the weighted value of the increase in
this subcategory of
[[Page 11701]]
Qualified Activity. If an Applicant is not a CDFI Applicant, the
estimated award amount will be equal to 3 percent of the weighted value
of the increase in Qualified Activity for this subcategory.
In Service Activities category, for a CDFI Applicant, the estimated
award amount will be equal to 9 percent of the weighted value of the
increase in Qualified Activity for the category. If an Applicant is not
a CDFI Applicant, the estimated award amount will be equal to 3 percent
of the weighted value of the increase in Qualified Activity for the
category.
b. Award Amounts: An Applicant's estimated award amount will be
calculated in accordance with a multi-step procedure that is outlined
in the Interim Rule (at 12 CFR 1806.403). As outlined in the Interim
Rule at 12 CFR 1806.404, the CDFI Fund will determine actual Award
amounts based on the availability of funds, increases in Qualified
Activities from the Baseline Period to the Assessment Period, and the
priority ranking of each Applicant. In calculating the increase in
Qualified Activities, the CDFI Fund will determine the eligibility of
each transaction for which an Applicant has applied for a BEA Program
Award. In some cases, the actual award amount calculated by the CDFI
Fund may not be the same as the estimated award amount requested by the
Applicant.
For purposes of calculating award disbursement amounts, the CDFI
Fund will treat Qualified Activities with a total principal amount less
than or equal to $250,000 as fully disbursed. For all other Qualified
Activities, Recipients will have 12 months from the end of the
Assessment Period to make disbursements and 18 months from the end of
the Assessment Period to submit to the CDFI Fund disbursement requests
for the corresponding portion of their awards, after which the CDFI
Fund will rescind and de-obligate any outstanding award balance and
said outstanding award balance will no longer be available to the
Recipient.
B. Review and Selection Process:
1. Application Review Process: All Applications will be initially
evaluated by external non-Federal reviewers. Reviewers are selected
based on their experience in understanding various financial
transactions, reading and interpreting financial documentation, strong
written communication skills, and strong mathematical skills. Reviewers
must complete the CDFI Fund's conflict of interest process and be
approved by the CDFI Fund. The CDFI Fund's Application reader conflict
of interest policy is located on the CDFI Fund's Web site.
2. Selection Process: If the amount of funds available during the
funding round is insufficient for all estimated Award amounts,
Recipients will be selected based on the process described in the
Interim Rule at 12 CFR 1806.404. This process gives funding priority to
Applicants that undertake activities in the following order: (i) CDFI
Related Activities, (ii) Distressed Community Financing Activities, and
(iii) Service Activities, as described in the Interim Rule at 12 CFR
1806.404(c).
Within each category, CDFI Applicants will be ranked first
according to the ratio of the actual award amount calculated by the
CDFI Fund for the category to the total assets of the Applicant,
followed by Applicants that are not CDFI Applicants according to the
ratio of the actual award amount calculated by the CDFI Fund for the
category to the total assets of the Applicant. Selections within each
priority category will be based on the Applicants' relative rankings
within each such category, subject to the availability of funds and any
established maximum dollar amount of total awards that may be awarded
for the Distressed Community Financing Activities category of Qualified
Activities, as determined by the CDFI Fund.
The CDFI Fund, in its sole discretion: (i) May adjust the estimated
award amount that an Applicant may receive; (ii) may establish a
maximum amount that may be awarded to an Applicant; and (iii) reserves
the right to limit the amount of an award to any Applicant if the CDFI
Fund deems it appropriate.
The CDFI Fund reserves the right to contact the Applicant to
confirm or clarify information. If contacted, the Applicant must
respond within the CDFI Fund's time parameters or run the risk of
having its Application rejected.
The CDFI Fund reserves the right to change its eligibility and
evaluation criteria and procedures. If those changes materially affect
the CDFI Fund's award decisions, the CDFI Fund will provide information
regarding the changes through the CDFI Fund's Web site.
3. Programmatic and Financial Risk: The CDFI Fund will consider
safety and soundness information from the appropriate Federal bank
regulatory agency as defined in Section 3 of the Federal Deposit
Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(q)). If the appropriate Federal bank
regulatory agency identifies safety and soundness concerns, the CDFI
Fund will assess whether the concerns cause or will cause the Applicant
to be incapable of completing the activities for which funding has been
requested. The CDFI Fund will not approve a BEA Program Award under any
circumstances for an Applicant if the appropriate Federal bank
regulatory agency indicates that the Applicant received a composite
rating of ``5'' on its most recent examination, performed in accordance
with the Uniform Financial Institutions Rating System.
Furthermore, the CDFI Fund will not approve a BEA Program Award for
the following reasons if at the time of application, or during the CDFI
Fund's evaluation of the application, the Applicant received any of the
following:
a. A CRA assessment rating of below ``Satisfactory'' on its most
recent examination;
b. a going concern opinion on its most recent audit;
c. a Prompt Corrective Action directive from its regulator.
Applicants and/or their appropriate Federal bank regulator agency
may be contacted by the CDFI Fund to provide additional information
related to Federal bank regulatory or CRA information. The CDFI Fund
will consider this information and may choose to disapprove a BEA
Program Award for an Applicant if the information indicates that the
Applicant may be unable to responsibly manage, re-invest, and/or report
on a BEA Program Award during the performance period.
4. Application Rejection: The CDFI Fund reserves the right to
reject an Application if information (including administrative error)
comes to the CDFI Fund's attention that either: Adversely affects an
Applicant's eligibility for an award; adversely affects the CDFI Fund's
evaluation or scoring of an Application; or indicates fraud or
mismanagement on the Applicant's part. If the CDFI Fund determines any
portion of the Application is incorrect in a material respect, the CDFI
Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject the
Application. There is no right to appeal the CDFI Fund's award
decisions. The CDFI Fund's award decisions are final. The CDFI Fund
will not discuss the specifics of an Applicant's FY 2016 BEA Program
Application or provide reasons why an Applicant was not selected to
receive a BEA Program Award. The CDFI Fund will only respond to general
questions regarding the FY 2016 BEA Program Application and award
decision process until 30 days after the award announcement date.
C. Anticipated Announcement and Federal Award Dates: The CDFI Fund
anticipates making its FY 2016 BEA Program award announcement in the
Summer of 2017. The Federal Award
[[Page 11702]]
Date shall be the date that the CDFI Fund executes the Award Agreement.
VI. Federal Award Administration Information
A. Federal Award Notices: The CDFI Fund will notify an Applicant of
its selection as a Recipient by delivering a notification or letter.
The Award Agreement will contain the general terms and conditions
governing the CDFI Fund's provision of an Award. The Award Recipient
will receive a copy of the Award Agreement via AMIS. The Recipient is
required to sign the Award Agreement via an electronic signature in
AMIS. The CDFI Fund will subsequently execute the Award Agreement. Each
Recipient must also ensure that complete and accurate banking
information is reflected in its SAM account at www.sam.gov in order to
receive its award disbursement.
B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: If, prior to
entering into an Award Agreement, information (including an
administrative error) comes to the CDFI Fund's attention that adversely
affects: The Recipient's eligibility for an award; the CDFI Fund's
evaluation of the Application; the Recipient's compliance with any
requirement listed in the Uniform Requirements; or indicates fraud or
mismanagement on the Recipient's part, the CDFI Fund may, in its
discretion and without advance notice to the Recipient, terminate the
award or take other actions as it deems appropriate.
If the Recipient's certification status as a CDFI changes, the CDFI
Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to re-calculate the
award, and modify the Award Agreement based on the Recipient's non-CDFI
status.
By executing an Award Agreement, the Recipient agrees that, if the
CDFI Fund becomes aware of any information (including an administrative
error) prior to the effective date of the Award Agreement that either
adversely affects the Recipient's eligibility for an award, or
adversely affects the CDFI Fund's evaluation of the Recipient's
Application, or indicates fraud or mismanagement on the part of the
Recipient, the CDFI Fund may, in its discretion and without advance
notice to the Recipient, terminate the Award Agreement or take other
actions as it deems appropriate.
The CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to
rescind an award if the Recipient fails to return the Award Agreement,
signed by the authorized representative of the Recipient, and/or
provide the CDFI Fund with any other requested documentation, within
the CDFI Fund's deadlines.
In addition, the CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to terminate and rescind the Award Agreement and the award
made under this NOFA for any criteria described in the following table:
Table 6--Criteria That May Result in Award Termination Prior to the
Execution of an Award Agreement
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Criteria Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Failure to meet reporting If an Applicant, is a prior CDFI
requirements. Fund Recipient or allocatee under
any CDFI Fund program and is not
current on the reporting
requirements set forth in the
previously executed assistance,
award, allocation, bond loan
agreement(s), or agreement to
guaranty, the CDFI Fund reserves
the right, in its sole discretion,
to delay entering into an Award
Agreement and/or to delay making a
disbursement of Award proceeds,
until said prior Recipient or
allocatee is current on the
reporting requirements in the
previously executed assistance,
award, allocation, bond loan
agreement(s), or agreement to
guaranty. Please note that
automated systems employed by the
CDFI Fund for receipt of reports
submitted electronically typically
acknowledge only a report's
receipt; such acknowledgment does
not warrant that the report
received was complete and therefore
met reporting requirements. If said
prior Recipient or allocatee is
unable to meet this requirement
within the timeframe set by the
CDFI Fund, the CDFI Fund reserves
the right, in its sole discretion,
to terminate and rescind the award
made under this NOFA.
Pending resolution of If, at any time prior to entering
noncompliance. into an Award Agreement under this
NOFA, an Applicant that is a prior
CDFI Fund Recipient or allocatee
under any CDFI Fund program: (i)
Has submitted reports to the CDFI
Fund that demonstrate noncompliance
with a previous assistance, award,
or allocation agreement, but (ii)
the CDFI Fund has yet to make a
final determination regarding
whether or not the entity is in
default of its previous assistance,
award, allocation, bond loan
agreement, or agreement to
guarantee, the CDFI Fund reserves
the right, in its sole discretion,
to delay entering into an Award
Agreement and/or to delay making a
disbursement of award proceeds,
pending full resolution, in the
sole determination of the CDFI
Fund, of the noncompliance. If said
prior Recipient or allocatee is
unable to meet this requirement, in
the sole determination of the CDFI
Fund, the CDFI Fund reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to
terminate and rescind the award
made under this NOFA.
Default status.................... If prior to entering into an Award
Agreement under this NOFA: (i) The
CDFI Fund has made a final
determination that an Applicant
that is a prior CDFI Fund Recipient
or allocatee under any CDFI Fund
program whose award or allocation
terminated in default of such prior
agreement; (ii) the CDFI Fund has
provided written notification of
such determination to such
organization; and (iii) the
anticipated date for entering into
the Award Agreement under this NOFA
is within a period of time
specified in such notification
throughout which any new award,
allocation, assistance, bond loan
agreement(s), or agreement to
guarantee is prohibited, the CDFI
Fund reserves the right, in its
sole discretion, to terminate and
rescind the Award Agreement and the
award made under this NOFA.
Compliance with Federal civil If prior to entering into an Award
rights requirements. Agreement under this NOFA, the
Recipient receives a final
determination, made within the last
three years, in any proceeding
instituted against the Recipient
in, by, or before any court,
governmental, or administrative
body or agency, declaring that the
Recipient has violated the
following laws: Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 2000d); Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); the Age
Discrimination Act of 1975, (42
U.S.C. 6101-6107), and Executive
Order 13166, Improving Access to
Services for Persons with Limited
English Proficiency, the CDFI Fund
will terminate and rescind the
Assistance Agreement and the award
made under this NOFA.
Do Not Pay........................ The Do Not Pay Business Center was
developed to support Federal
agencies in their efforts to reduce
the number of improper payments
made through programs funded by the
Federal government.
The CDFI Fund reserves the right, in
its sole discretion, to rescind an
award if the Recipient is
identified as ineligible to be a
Recipient per the Do Not Pay
database.
[[Page 11703]]
Safety and Soundness.............. If it is determined the Recipient is
or will be incapable of meeting its
award obligations, the CDFI Fund
will deem the Recipient to be
ineligible or require it to improve
safety and soundness conditions
prior to entering into an Award
Agreement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Award Agreement: After the CDFI Fund selects a Recipient, unless
an exception detailed in this NOFA applies, the CDFI Fund and the
Recipient will enter into an Award Agreement. The Award Agreement will
set forth certain required terms and conditions of the award, which
will include, but not be limited to: (i) The amount of the award; (ii)
the type of the award; (iii) the approved uses of the award; (iv) the
performance goals and measures; (v) the performance periods; and (vi)
the reporting requirements. The Award Agreement shall provide that a
Recipient shall: (i) Carry out its Qualified Activities in accordance
with applicable law, the approved Application, and all other applicable
requirements; (ii) not receive any disbursement of award dollars until
the CDFI Fund has determined that the Recipient has fulfilled all
applicable requirements; and (iii) use the BEA Program Award amount for
Qualified Activities.
D. Reporting: Through this NOFA, the CDFI Fund will require each
Recipient to account for and report to the CDFI Fund on the use of the
award. This will require Recipients to establish administrative
controls, subject to applicable OMB Circulars. The CDFI Fund will
collect information from each such Recipient on its use of the award at
least once following the award and more often if deemed appropriate by
the CDFI Fund in its sole discretion. The CDFI Fund will provide
guidance to Recipients outlining the format and content of the
information required to be provided to describe how the funds were
used.
The CDFI Fund may collect information from each Recipient
including, but not limited to, an Annual Report with the following
components:
Table 7--Reporting Requirements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Criteria Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Single Audit Narrative Report (or For each year of its performance
like report). period, the Recipient, must answer
in the Financial Report section in
AMIS, as to whether it is required
to have a single audit pursuant to
OMB Single Audit requirements.
Single Audit (if applicable) (or A Recipient that is a non-profit
similar report). entity that expends $750,000 or
more in Federal awards during its
fiscal year must have a single
audit conducted for that year.
If a Recipient is required to
complete a Single Audit Report, it
should be submitted to the Federal
Audit Clearinghouse see 2 CFR
subpart F--Audit Requirements in
the Uniform Federal Award
Requirements.
For-profit Recipients will be
required to complete and submit a
similar report directly to the CDFI
Fund.
Use of BEA Program Award Report... Recipients must submit the Use of
Award report to the CDFI Fund via
AMIS.
Explanation of Noncompliance (as If the Recipient fails to meet a
applicable) or successor report. Performance Goal or reporting
requirement, it must submit the
Explanation of Noncompliance via
AMIS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Each Recipient is responsible for the timely and complete
submission of the reporting requirements. The CDFI Fund reserves the
right to contact the Recipient to request additional information and
documentation. The CDFI Fund will use such information to monitor each
Recipient's compliance with the requirements in the Award Agreement and
to assess the impact of the BEA Program. The CDFI Fund reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to modify these reporting requirements
if it determines it to be appropriate and necessary; however, such
reporting requirements will be modified only after notice has been
provided to Recipients.
E. Financial Management and Accounting: The CDFI Fund will require
Recipients to maintain financial management and accounting systems that
comply with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions
of the award. These systems must be sufficient to permit the
preparation of reports required by general and program specific terms
and conditions, including the tracing of funds to a level of
expenditures adequate to establish that such funds have been used
according to the Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and
conditions of the award. Each of the Qualified Activities categories
will be ineligible for indirect costs and an associated indirect cost
rate. The cost principles used by Recipients must be consistent with
Federal cost principles and support the accumulation of costs as
required by the principles, and must provide for adequate documentation
to support costs charged to the BEA Program Award. In addition, the
CDFI Fund will require Recipients to: Maintain effective internal
controls; comply with applicable statutes, regulations, and the Award
Agreement; evaluate and monitor compliance; take action when not in
compliance; and safeguard personally identifiable information.
VII. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts
A. Questions Related to Application and Prior Recipient Reporting,
Compliance and Disbursements: The CDFI Fund will respond to questions
concerning this NOFA, the Application and reporting, compliance, or
disbursements between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern
Time, starting on the date that this NOFA is published through the date
listed in Table 1. The CDFI Fund will post responses to frequently
asked questions in a separate document on its Web site. Other
information regarding the CDFI Fund and its programs may be obtained
from the CDFI Fund's Web site at https://www.cdfifund.gov.
The following table lists CDFI Fund contact information:
[[Page 11704]]
Table 8--Contact Information
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Telephone number Electronic contact
Type of question (not toll free) method
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BEA Program..................... 202-653-0421 BEA AMIS Service
Request.
Certification, Compliance 202-653-0423 Compliance and
Monitoring, and Evaluation. Reporting AMIS
Service Request.
AMIS--IT Help Desk.............. 202-653-0422 IT AMIS Service
Request.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Information Technology Support: People who have visual or
mobility impairments that prevent them from using the CDFI Fund's Web
site should call (202) 653-0422 for assistance (this is not a toll free
number).
C. Communication with the CDFI Fund: The CDFI Fund will use its
AMIS Internet interface to communicate with Applicants and Recipients
under this NOFA. Recipients must use AMIS to submit required reports.
The CDFI Fund will notify Recipients by email using the addresses
maintained in each Recipient's AMIS account. Therefore, a Recipient and
any Subsidiaries, signatories, and Affiliates must maintain accurate
contact information (including contact person and authorized
representative, email addresses, fax numbers, phone numbers, and office
addresses) in their AMIS account(s).
D. Civil Rights and Diversity: Any person who is eligible to
receive benefits or services from CDFI Fund or Recipients under any of
its programs is entitled to those benefits or services without being
subject to prohibited discrimination. The Department of the Treasury's
Office of Civil Rights and Diversity enforces various Federal statutes
and regulations that prohibit discrimination in financially assisted
and conducted programs and activities of the CDFI Fund. If a person
believes that s/he has been subjected to discrimination and/or reprisal
because of membership in a protected group, s/he may file a complaint
with: Associate Chief Human Capital Officer, Office of Civil Rights,
and Diversity, 1500 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20220 or
(202) 622-1160 (not a toll-free number).
VIII. Other Information
A. Reasonable Accommodations: Requests for reasonable
accommodations under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act should be
directed to Mr. Michael Jones, Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund, U.S. Department of the Treasury, at
JonesM@cdfi.treas.gov no later than 72 hours in advance of the
application deadline.
B. Paperwork Reduction Act: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44
U.S.C. chapter 35), an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection
of information, and an individual is not required to respond to a
collection of information, unless it displays a valid OMB control
number. Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act, the BEA Program
funding Application has been assigned the following control number:
1559-0005.
C. Application Information Sessions: The CDFI Fund may conduct
webinars or host information sessions for organizations that are
considering applying to, or are interested in learning about, the CDFI
Fund's programs. For further information, please visit the CDFI Fund's
Web site at https://www.cdfifund.gov.
Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1834a, 4703, 4703 note, 4713; 12 CFR part
1806.
Mary Ann Donovan,
Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. 2017-03684 Filed 2-23-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-70-P