Funding Opportunity Title: Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) Inviting Applications for the FY 2009 Funding Round of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program, 48011-48021 [E8-18960]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 159 / Friday, August 15, 2008 / Notices
By the Board, David M. Konschnik,
Director, Office of Proceedings.
Anne K. Quinlan,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8–18923 Filed 8–14–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[STB Finance Docket No. 35170]
Landisville Railroad, LLC—Acquisition
and Operation Exemption—The
Landisville Railroad Inc. and
Landisville Terminal & Transfer
Company
Landisville Railroad, LLC (LRR), a
noncarrier, has filed a verified notice of
exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to
acquire from Landisville Railroad, Inc.
(LRI), and operate approximately 1.92
miles of rail line between milepost
30.77± at the connection to Norfolk
Southern Railway (NSR) on National
Railroad Passenger Corporation’s
(Amtrak’s) Harrisburg Line and milepost
32.69± at the end of track south of Nolt
Road and north of Stony Battery Road,
in West Hempfield, Lancaster County,
PA.1
The line is currently operated by
Landisville Terminal & Transfer
Company (LT&T). LLR states that, as a
result of this transaction, LT&T will
terminate its current lease of the line
and assign all of its rights to the line to
LRR.2 LRR states that, after
consummation, it will be the owner and
operator of the rail line.3
According to LRR, it will interchange
with NSR at Landisville, PA, and that
there are no existing interchange
commitments with NSR as the thirdparty connecting carrier, and none are
contemplated by this transaction.
The effective date of the exemption is
August 30, 2008. The transaction is
scheduled to be consummated on or
after August 31, 2008 (more than 30
days after the notice of exemption was
filed).4
LRR certifies that its projected annual
revenues as a result of this transaction
will not exceed those that qualify it as
a Class III rail carrier.
Pursuant to the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2008, Pub. L. No.
110–161, § 193, 121 Stat. 1844 (2007),
nothing in this decision authorizes the
following activities at any solid waste
rail transfer facility: collecting, storing
or transferring solid waste outside of its
original shipping container; or
separating or processing solid waste
(including baling, crushing, compacting
and shredding). The term ‘‘solid waste’’
is defined in section 1004 of the Solid
Waste Disposal Act, 42 U.S.C. 6903.
If the verified notice contains false or
misleading information, the exemption
is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the
exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)
may be filed at any time. The filing of
a petition to revoke will not
automatically stay the effectiveness of
the exemption. Petitions to stay must be
filed no later than August 22, 2008 (at
least 7 days before the exemption
becomes effective).
An original and 10 copies of all
pleadings, referring to STB Finance
Docket No. 35170 must be filed with the
Surface Transportation Board, 395 E
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423–
0001. In addition, a copy must be served
on Eric M. Hocky, Thorp Reed &
48011
Armstrong, LLP, One Commerce Square,
2005 Market Street, Suite 1910,
Philadelphia, PA 19103.
Board decisions and notices are
available on our Web site at https://
www.stb.dot.gov.
Decided: August 8, 2008.
By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting
Director, Office of Proceedings.
Anne K. Quinlan,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8–18867 Filed 8–14–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund
Funding Opportunity Title: Notice of
Funds Availability (NOFA) Inviting
Applications for the FY 2009 Funding
Round of the Community Development
Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program
Announcement Type: Initial
announcement of funding opportunity.
Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) Number: 21.020.
DATES: Application deadlines for the FY
2009 funding round of the CDFI
Program (hereafter, the FY 2009
Funding Round) are as follows: (i) If you
wish to apply for Financial Assistance
(FA) and/or Technical Assistance (TA)
funding, your funding application must
be received by midnight, ET,
Wednesday, October 29, 2008; and (ii) if
you wish to apply for CDFI certification,
your certification application must be
received by midnight, ET, Wednesday,
October 1, 2008.
TABLE 1—FY 2009 CDFI PROGRAM DEADLINES
[All midnight, ET deadlines]
Application type
Application deadline
Last date to contact fund staff
CDFI Certification Application ........................................
CDFI Program Funding Application (FA and/or TA)
(Core/SECA).
Wednesday, October 1, 2008 .......................................
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 .....................................
Friday, September 26, 2008.
Monday, October 27, 2008.
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Executive Summary: Subject to
funding availability, this NOFA is
issued in connection with the FY 2009
funding round of the CDFI Program.
I. Funding Opportunity Description
A. Through the CDFI Program, the
Fund provides: (i) FA awards to CDFIs
that have Comprehensive Business
Plans for creating demonstrable
community development impact
through the deployment of credit,
capital, and financial services within
their respective Target Markets or the
expansion into new Investment Areas,
Low-Income Targeted Populations, or
Other Targeted Populations, and (ii) TA
grants to CDFIs and entities proposing
to become CDFIs in order to build their
1 On August 4, 2008, LRR filed a correction to its
verified notice of exemption filed on July 31, 2008,
amending the description of the line to reflect that
the acquired line ends at milepost 32.69± instead
of milepost 33.75±.
2 LRR clarified, in its correction, that LT&T is not
being acquired by LRR.
3 LRR states that it is also acquiring an adjacent
rail yard that is owned by Amherst Industries of
Pennsylvania, Inc., a corporate affiliate of LRI, and
operated by LT&T, but further states that, pursuant
to 49 U.S.C. 10906, this acquisition of yard track
does not require authorization of the Board.
4 LRR states that the terms of the agreement
between LRRR, LRI and LT&T are being finalized
and that it expects to enter into an agreement on
or after August 31, 2008.
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capacity to better address the
community development and capital
access needs of their existing or
proposed Target Markets and/or to
become certified CDFIs.
B. The regulations governing the CDFI
Program are found at 12 CFR Part 1805
(the Regulations) and provide guidance
on evaluation criteria and other
requirements of the CDFI Program. The
Fund encourages Applicants to review
the Regulations. Detailed application
content requirements are found in the
applicable funding application and
related guidance materials. Each
capitalized term in this NOFA is more
fully defined in the Regulations, the
application or the guidance materials.
C. The 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 Fund
reserves the right to re-allocate funds
from the amount that is anticipated to
be available under this NOFA to other
Fund programs, particularly if the Fund
determines that the number of awards
made under this NOFA is fewer than
projected.
II. Award Information
A. Funding Availability:
1. FY 2009 Funding Round: Through
this NOFA, and subject to funding
availability, the Fund expects that it
may award approximately $54 million
in appropriated funds, of which: (i)
Approximately $9 million in
appropriated funds may be awarded to
Category I/SECA Applicants in the form
of FA awards and TA grants; (ii)
approximately $43 million in
appropriated funds may be awarded to
Category II/Core Applicants in the form
of FA awards and TA grants; and (iii)
approximately $2 million in
appropriated funds may be awarded to
Applicants in the form of TA grants
only. The Fund reserves the right to
award in excess of $54 million in
appropriated funds to Applicants (and/
or more or less than $9 million to
Category I/SECA Applicants, and/or
more or less than $43 million to
Category II/Core Applicants, and/or
more or less than $2 million to TA-only
Applicants) in the FY 2009 Funding
Round, provided that the funds are
available and the Fund deems it
appropriate.
2. Availability of Funds for the FY
2009 Funding Round of the CDFI
Program: Funds for the FY 2009
Funding Round have not yet been
appropriated. If funds are not
appropriated for the FY 2009 Funding
Round, there will not be an FY 2009
Funding Round. Further, it is possible
that if funds are appropriated for the FY
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2009 Funding Round, the amount of
such funds may be greater than or less
than the amounts set forth above.
Further, if funds for the FY 2009
funding round of the Native American
CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program are
not appropriated, entities that are
eligible to apply for CDFI Program funds
and that might otherwise have applied
for NACA Program funds, are
encouraged to apply for CDFI Program
funds through the FY 2009 Funding
Round.
B. Types of Awards: An Applicant
may submit an application either for: (i)
An FA-only award; (ii) an FA award and
a TA grant; or (iii) a TA-only grant.
1. FA Awards: FA is intended to
provide flexible financial support to
CDFIs so that they may achieve the
strategies outlined in their
Comprehensive Business Plans. FA
awards can be used in the following
four categories: (i) Financial Products,
(ii) Loan Loss Reserves, (iii) Capital
Reserves, and/or (iv) Operations. For
purposes of this NOFA, Financial
Products means loans, grants, equity
investments and similar financing
activities, including the purchase of
loans originated by certified CDFIs and
the provision of loan guarantees, in the
Applicant’s Target Market, or for related
purposes that the Fund deems
appropriate. Loan Loss Reserves means
funds that the Applicant will set aside
in the form of cash, or through
accounting-based accrual, reserves to
cover losses on loans, accounts and
notes receivable made in its Target
Market, or for related purposes that the
Fund deems appropriate. Capital
Reserves means funds that the
Applicant will set aside in the form of
reserves to support the Applicant’s
ability to leverage other capital, for such
purposes as increasing its net assets or
serving the financing needs of its Target
Market, or for related purposes that the
Fund deems appropriate. Operations
means: funds that the Applicant will
use to undertake Development Services,
Financial Services, and/or for related
purposes that the Fund deems
appropriate. FA awards are most
commonly used for an Applicant’s
Financial Products since FA funds can
be used to support the Applicant’s
community development lending
activities.
The Fund may provide FA awards in
the form of equity investments
(including, in the case of certain Insured
Credit Unions, secondary capital
accounts), grants, loans, deposits, credit
union shares, or any combination
thereof. The Fund reserves the right, in
its sole discretion, to provide an FA
award in a form and amount other than
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that which the Applicant requests;
however, the award amount will not
exceed the Applicant’s award request as
stated in its application. The Fund
reserves the right, in its sole discretion,
to provide an FA award to a Category I/
SECA Applicant on the condition that
the Applicant agrees to use a TA grant
for specified capacity building
purposes, even if the Applicant has not
requested a TA grant.
2. TA Grants:
(a) The Fund provides TA awards in
the form of grants. The Fund reserves
the right, in its sole discretion, to
provide a TA grant for uses and
amounts other than that which the
Applicant requests; however, the award
amount will not exceed the Applicant’s
award request as stated in its
application and the applicable budget
chart.
(b) TA grants may be used to address
a variety of needs including, but not
limited to, development of strategic
planning documents (such as strategic
or capitalization plans), market analyses
or product feasibility analyses,
operational policies and procedures,
curricula for Development Services
(such as entrepreneurial training, home
buyer education, financial education or
training, borrower credit repair
training), improvement of underwriting
and portfolio management, development
of outreach and training strategies to
enhance product delivery, operating
support to expand into a new eligible
market, and tools that allow the
Applicant to assess the impact of its
activities in its community.
(c) Eligible TA grant uses include, but
are not limited to: (i) Procuring
professional services; (ii) acquiring/
enhancing technology items, including
computer hardware, software and
Internet connectivity and related MIS;
(iii) acquiring training for staff,
management and/or board members;
and (iv) paying recurring expenses,
including staff salary and other key
operating expenses, that will enhance
the capacity of the Applicant to serve its
Target Market and/or to become
certified as a CDFI. TA funds must be
used to support the Applicant’s
activities; TA funds cannot be used to
support the creation of a new entity or
activities of a sponsored entity.
C. Notice of Award; Assistance
Agreement: Each Awardee under this
NOFA must sign a Notice of Award and
an Assistance Agreement in order to
receive a disbursement of award
proceeds by the Fund. The Notice of
Award and the Assistance Agreement
contain the terms and conditions of the
award. For further information, see
Sections VI.A and VI.B of this NOFA.
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III. Eligibility Information
A. Eligible Applicants: The
Regulations specify the eligibility
requirements that each Applicant must
meet in order to be eligible to apply for
assistance under this NOFA. The
following sets forth additional detail
and dates that relate to the submission
of applications under this NOFA:
48013
1. FA Applicant Categories: All
Applicants for FA awards through this
NOFA must meet the criteria for one of
the following two categories:
TABLE 2—FA APPLICANT CRITERIA
FA applicant category
Applicant criteria
Applicant may apply for:
Application deadline
Category I/Small and/or Emerging
CDFI Assistance (SECA).
(1) Is a Certified/Certifiable CDFI; ...............
(2) Has total assets, as of the end of the
Applicant’s most recent fiscal year end or
September 30, 2008, as follows:
• Insured Depository Institutions and
Depository Institution Holding Companies: up to $250 million
• Insured Credit Unions: up to $10
million
• Venture capital funds: up to $10 million
• Other CDFIs: up to $5 million; or
(3) Began operations on or after January 1,
2005; and
(4) Prior to the application deadline, has
not been selected to receive in excess of
$500,000 in FA award(s) in the aggregate from the CDFI Program or Native
Initiatives Funding Programs
A Certified/Certifiable CDFI that meets all
other eligibility requirements described in
this NOFA.
Up to and including $500,000 in
FA funds, and up to $100,000
in TA funds.
Midnight, ET, Wednesday,
October 29, 2008.
Up to and including $2 million in
FA funds, and up to $100,000
in TA funds.
Midnight, ET, Wednesday,
October 29, 2008.
Category II/Core ...........................
Please note: (1) The Fund reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to award
amounts in excess of or less than the
anticipated maximum award amounts
permitted in this NOFA, if the Fund
deems it appropriate. (2) Any Applicant
that requests FA funding in excess of
$500,000 is classified as a Category II/
Core Applicant, regardless of its total
assets, years in operation, or prior Fund
awards. (3) The term ‘‘began operations’’
is defined as the financing activity start
date indicated in the Applicant’s
myCDFIFund account. (4) The term
‘‘Native Initiatives Funding Programs’’
refers to the Native American CDFI
Assistance (NACA) Program and all
prior funding programs, through which
funds are no longer available, including
the Native American CDFI Technical
Assistance (NACTA) Component of the
CDFI Program, the Native American
CDFI Development (NACD) Program,
and the Native American Technical
Assistance (NATA) Component of the
CDFI Program.
2. TA Applicants: All Applicants for
TA grants through this NOFA must meet
the following criteria:
TABLE 3—TA APPLICANT CRITERIA
Criteria of applicant
Applicant can apply for:
Application due date
TA-Only .....................................
A Certified CDFI, a Certifiable CDFI, or an
Emerging CDFI.
Up to $100,000 for capacitybuilding activities.
FA/TA (Core/SECA) ..................
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Applicant type
A Certified CDFI, a Certifiable CDFI ................
Up to $100,000 for capacitybuilding activities.
TA-only: Midnight, ET,
Wednesday, October 29,
2008.
FA/TA: Midnight, ET,
Wednesday, October 29,
2008.
The Fund, in its sole discretion,
reserves the right to award amounts less
than the anticipated maximum award
amounts permitted in this NOFA, if the
Fund deems it appropriate.
3. CDFI Certification Requirements:
For purposes of this NOFA, eligible FA
Applicants include Certified CDFIs and
Certifiable CDFIs; eligible TA
Applicants include Certified CDFIs,
Certifiable CDFIs and Emerging CDFIs,
defined as follows:
(a) Certified CDFIs: A certified CDFI
whose certification has not expired and
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that has not been notified by the Fund
that its certification has been
terminated. Each such Applicant must
submit a ‘‘Certification of Material Event
Form’’ to the Fund not later than the
Certification Application deadline
stated in Table 1 of this NOFA, or such
other dates as the Fund may proscribe,
in accordance with the instructions on
the Fund’s Web site at
www.cdfifund.gov. Please note: the
Fund provided some CDFIs with written
notification that their certifications had
been extended. The Fund will consider
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the extended certification date (the later
date) to determine whether those CDFIs
meet this eligibility requirement.
(b) Certifiable CDFIs: For purposes of
this NOFA, a Certifiable CDFI is an
entity from which the Fund receives a
complete CDFI Certification Application
no later than the Certification
Application deadline stated in Table 1
of this NOFA, or such other dates as the
Fund may proscribe, evidencing that the
Applicant meets the requirements to be
certified as a CDFI. Applicants may
obtain the CDFI Certification
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Application through the Fund’s Web
site at www.cdfifund.gov. Applications
for certification must be submitted as
instructed in the application form.
Please note: FA Applicants that are
Certifiable CDFIs: while your
organization may be conditionally
selected for funding (as evidenced
through the Notice of Award), the Fund
will not enter into an Assistance
Agreement or disburse award funds
unless and until the Fund has certified
your organization as a CDFI. If the Fund
is unable to certify your organization as
a CDFI based on the CDFI certification
application that your organization
submits to the Fund, the Notice of
Award may be terminated and the
award commitment may be cancelled, in
the sole discretion of the Fund.
(c) Emerging CDFIs: For purposes of
this NOFA, an Emerging CDFI is an
entity that demonstrates to the Fund’s
satisfaction that it has a reasonable plan
to be certified as a CDFI by December
31, 2011 or such other date selected by
the Fund. Emerging CDFIs may only
apply for TA grants; they are not eligible
to apply for FA awards. Each Emerging
CDFI that is selected to receive a TA
grant will be required, pursuant to its
Assistance Agreement with the Fund, to
become certified as a CDFI by a certain
date.
4. Limitation on Awards: An
Applicant may receive only one award
through the CDFI Program in the FY
2009 Funding Round. No Applicant
may receive a BEA Program award if it
has a CDFI Program and a BEA Program
application pending in the same
funding round (subject to certain
limitations; refer to the Regulations at
12 CFR 1805.102). A CDFI Program
Applicant, its Subsidiaries or Affiliates
also may apply for and receive a tax
credit allocation through the NMTC
Program, but only to the extent that the
activities approved for CDFI Program
awards are different from those
activities for which the Applicant
receives a NMTC Program allocation.
5. Contacting the Fund. The Fund will
respond to questions and provide
support concerning CDFI certification
related to the FY 2009 Funding Round
between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
ET, through the date that is three
business days before the certification
application deadline. The CDFI
Certification Application and other
information regarding CDFI certification
may be obtained from the Fund’s Web
site at https://www.cdfifund.gov.
B. Prior Awardees: Applicants must
be aware that success in a prior round
of any of the Fund’s programs is not
indicative of success under this NOFA.
For purposes of this section, the Fund
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will consider an Affiliate to be any
entity that meets the definition of
Affiliate in the Regulations or any entity
otherwise identified as an affiliate by
the Applicant in its funding Application
under this NOFA. Prior awardees are
eligible to apply under this NOFA,
except as follows:
1. $5 Million funding cap: The Fund
is generally prohibited from obligating
more than $5 million in assistance, in
the aggregate, to any one organization
and its Subsidiaries and Affiliates
during any three-year period. In general,
the three-year period extends back three
years from the date that the Fund signs
a Notice of Award; for purposes of this
NOFA, and for ease of administration,
the Fund will consider any assistance
documented with a Notice of Award
dated between July 31, 2006 and July
31, 2009 (which is the anticipated date
that the Fund will issue Notices of
Award for the FY 2009 Funding Round).
2. Failure to meet reporting
requirements: The Fund will not
consider an application submitted by an
Applicant if the Applicant, or an
Affiliate of the Applicant is a prior Fund
Awardee or allocatee under any Fund
program and is not current on the
reporting requirements set forth in a
previously executed assistance,
allocation or award agreement(s), as of
the applicable application deadline of
this NOFA. Please note that the Fund
only acknowledges the receipt of reports
that are complete. As such, incomplete
reports or reports that are deficient of
required elements will not be
recognized as having been received.
3. Pending resolution of
noncompliance: If an Applicant is a
prior Awardee or allocatee under any
Fund program and if: (i) It has
submitted complete and timely reports
to the Fund that demonstrate
noncompliance with a previous
assistance, allocation or award
agreement; and (ii) the Fund has yet to
make a final determination as to
whether the entity is in default of its
previous assistance, allocation or award
agreement, the Fund will consider the
Applicant’s application under this
NOFA pending full resolution, in the
sole determination of the Fund, of the
noncompliance. Further, if an Affiliate
of the Applicant is a prior Fund
Awardee or allocatee and if such entity:
(i) Has submitted complete and timely
reports to the Fund that demonstrate
noncompliance with a previous
assistance, allocation or award
agreement; and (ii) the Fund has yet to
make a final determination as to
whether the entity is in default of its
previous assistance, allocation, or award
agreement, the Fund will consider the
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Applicant’s application under this
NOFA pending full resolution, in the
sole determination of the Fund, of the
noncompliance.
4. Default status: The Fund will not
consider an application submitted by an
Applicant that is a prior Fund Awardee
or allocatee under any Fund program if,
as of the applicable application deadline
of this NOFA, the Fund has made a final
determination that such Applicant is in
default of a previously executed
assistance, allocation or award
agreement(s). Further, an entity is not
eligible to apply for an award pursuant
to this NOFA if, as of the applicable
application deadline of this NOFA, the
Fund has made a final determination
that an Affiliate of the Applicant is a
prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under
any Fund program and has been
determined by the Fund to be in default
of a previously executed assistance,
allocation or award agreement(s). Such
entities will be ineligible to apply for an
award pursuant to this NOFA so long as
the Applicant’s, or its Affiliate’s, prior
award or allocation remains in default
status or such other time period as
specified by the Fund in writing.
5. Termination in default: The Fund
will not consider an application
submitted by an Applicant that is a
prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under
any Fund program if: (i) Within the 12month period prior to the applicable
application deadline of this NOFA, the
Fund has made a final determination
that such Applicant’s prior award or
allocation terminated in default of a
previously executed assistance,
allocation or award agreement(s); and
(ii) the final reporting period end date
for the applicable terminated assistance,
allocation or award agreement(s) falls
within the 12-month period prior to the
application deadline of this NOFA.
Further, an entity is not eligible to apply
for an award pursuant to this NOFA if:
(i) Within the 12-month period prior to
the applicable application deadline, the
Fund has made a final determination
that an Affiliate of the Applicant is a
prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under
any Fund program whose award or
allocation terminated in default of a
previously executed assistance,
allocation or award agreement(s); and
(ii) the final reporting period end date
for the applicable terminated assistance,
allocation or award agreement(s) falls
within the 12-month period prior to the
application deadline of this NOFA.
6. Undisbursed award funds: The
Fund will not consider an application
submitted by an Applicant that is a
prior Fund Awardee under any Fund
program if the Applicant has a balance
of undisbursed award funds (defined
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below) under said prior award(s), as of
the applicable 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 Fund Awardee
under any Fund program, and has a
balance of undisbursed award funds
under said prior award(s), as of the
applicable application deadline of this
NOFA. In a case where another entity
that Controls the Applicant, is
Controlled by the Applicant or shares
common management officials with the
Applicant (as determined by the Fund),
is a prior Fund Awardee under any
Fund program, and has a balance of
undisbursed award funds under said
prior award(s), as of the applicable
application deadline of this NOFA, the
Fund will include the combined awards
of the Applicant and such Affiliated
entities when calculating the amount of
undisbursed award funds.
For purposes of the calculation of
undisbursed award funds for the BEA
Program, only awards made to the
Applicant (and any Affiliates) three to
five calendar years prior to the end of
the calendar year of the application
deadline of this NOFA are included
(‘‘includable BEA awards’’). Thus, for
purposes of this NOFA, undisbursed
BEA Program award funds are the
amount of FYs 2003, 2004 and 2005
awards that remain undisbursed as of
the application deadline of this NOFA.
For purposes of the calculation of
undisbursed award funds for the CDFI
Program and the Native Initiatives
Funding Programs, only awards made to
the Applicant (and any Affiliates) two to
five calendar years prior to the end of
the calendar year of this NOFA are
included (‘‘includable CDFI/NI
awards’’). Thus, for purposes of this
NOFA, undisbursed CDFI Program and
NI awards are the amount of FYs 2003,
2004, 2005 and 2006 awards that remain
undisbursed as of the application
deadline of this NOFA.
To calculate total includable BEA/
CDFI/NI awards: Amounts that are
undisbursed as of the application
deadline of this NOFA cannot exceed
five percent (5%) of the total includable
awards. Please refer to an example of
this calculation on the Fund’s Web site,
found in the Q&A document for the FY
2009 Funding Round.
The ‘‘undisbursed award funds’’
calculation does not include: (i) Tax
credit allocation authority made
available through the New Markets Tax
Credit (NMTC) Program; (ii) any award
funds for which the Fund received a full
and complete disbursement request
from the Awardee by the applicable
application deadline of this NOFA; (iii)
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any award funds for an award that has
been terminated in writing by the Fund
or deobligated by the Fund; or (iv) any
award funds for an award that does not
have a fully executed assistance or
award agreement. The Fund strongly
encourages Applicants requesting
disbursements of ‘‘undisbursed funds’’
from prior awards to provide the Fund
with a complete disbursement request at
least 10 business days prior to the
application deadline of this NOFA. An
Applicant that is unsure about the
disbursement status of any prior award
should contact the Fund’s Financial
Manager via e-mail at
CDFI.disburseinquiries@cdfi.treas.gov
for more information, no less than thirty
(30) calendar days prior to the
application deadline of this NOFA.
Requests submitted less than thirty
calendar days prior to the application
deadline may not receive a response
before the application deadline.
7. Contact the Fund. Applicants that
are prior Fund Awardees are advised to:
(i) Comply with requirements specified
in assistance, allocation and/or award
agreement(s), and (ii) contact the Fund
to ensure that all necessary actions are
underway for the disbursement or
deobligation of any outstanding balance
of said prior award(s). Disbursement
questions should be directed to Grants
Management via e-mail to
grantsmanagement@cdfi.treas.gov.
Reporting and compliance questions
should be directed to Compliance,
Monitoring and Evaluation (CME) at
(202) 622–6330 or by e-mail to
cme@cdfi.treas.gov. Telephone calls to
Grants Management and Financial
Management should be directed to (202)
622–8226; facsimiles to (202) 622–7754;
and mail to CDFI Fund, 601 13th Street,
NW., Suite 200 South, Washington, DC
20005. The Fund will respond to
Applicants’ reporting, disbursement or
compliance questions between the
hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, starting
the date of the publication of this NOFA
through the date that is two business
days before the applicable application
deadline. The Fund will not respond to
Applicants’ reporting, disbursement or
compliance phone calls or e-mail
inquiries that are received after 5 p.m.
ET on said date, until after the funding
application deadline.
8. Other Targeted Populations as
Target Markets: Other Targeted
Populations are defined as identifiable
groups of individuals in the Applicant’s
service area for which there exists a
strong basis of evidence that they lack
access to loans, Equity Investments and/
or Financial Services. The Fund has
determined that there is strong basis of
evidence that the following groups of
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Sfmt 4703
48015
individuals lack access to loans, Equity
Investments and/or Financial Services
on a national level: Blacks or African
Americans, Native Americans or
American Indians, and Hispanics or
Latinos. In addition, for purposes of this
NOFA, the Fund has determined that
there is a strong basis of evidence that
Alaska Natives residing in Alaska,
Native Hawaiians residing in Hawaii,
and Other Pacific Islanders residing in
other Pacific Islands, lack adequate
access to loans, Equity Investments or
Financial Services. An Applicant
designating any of the above-cited Other
Targeted Populations is not required to
provide additional narrative explaining
the Other Targeted Population’s lack of
adequate access to loans, Equity
Investments or Financial Services. For
purposes of this NOFA, the Fund will
use the following definitions, set forth
in the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) Notice, Revisions to the
Standards for the Classification of
Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
(October 30, 1997), as amended and
supplemented:
(a) American Indian, Native American
or Alaska Native: A person having
origins in any of the original peoples of
North and South America (including
Central America) and who maintains
tribal affiliation or community
attachment;
(b) Black or African American: A
person having origins in any of the
black racial groups of Africa (terms such
as ‘‘Haitian’’ or ‘‘Negro’’ can be used in
addition to ‘‘Black or African
American’’);
(c) Hispanic or Latino: A person of
Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican, South
or Central American or other Spanish
culture or origin, regardless of race (the
term ‘‘Spanish origin’’ can be used in
addition to ‘‘Hispanic or Latino’’); and
(d) Native Hawaiian: A person having
origins in any of the original peoples of
Hawaii; and
(e) Other Pacific Islander: A person
having origins in any of the original
peoples of Guam, Samoa or other Pacific
Islands.
C. Matching Funds
1. Matching Funds Requirements in
General: Applicants responding to this
NOFA must obtain non-Federal
matching funds from sources other than
the Federal government on the basis of
not less than one dollar for each dollar
of FA funds provided by the Fund
(matching funds are not required for TA
grants). Matching funds must be at least
comparable in form and value to the FA
award provided by the Fund (for
example, if an Applicant is requesting a
FA grant from the Fund, the Applicant
must have evidence that it has obtained
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matching funds through grant(s) from
non-Federal sources that are at least
equal to the amount requested from the
Fund). Funds used by an Applicant as
matching funds for a prior FA award
under the CDFI Program or under
another Federal grant or award program
cannot be used to satisfy the matching
funds requirement of this NOFA. If an
Applicant seeks to use as matching
funds monies received from an
organization that was a prior Awardee
under the CDFI Program, the Fund will
deem such funds to be Federal funds,
unless the funding entity establishes to
the reasonable satisfaction of the Fund
that such funds do not consist, in whole
or in part, of CDFI Program funds or
other Federal funds. For the purposes of
this NOFA, BEA Program awards are not
deemed to be Federal funds and are
eligible as matching funds. The Fund
encourages Applicants to review the
Regulations at 12 CFR 1805.500 et seq.
and matching funds guidance materials
on the Fund’s Web site for further
information.
2. Matching Funds Requirements Per
Applicant Category: Due to funding
constraints and the desire to quickly
deploy Fund dollars, the Fund will not
consider for a FA award any Applicant
that has no matching funds in-hand or
firmly committed as of the application
deadline of this NOFA. Specifically, FA
Applicants must meet the following
matching funds requirements:
(a) Category I/SECA Applicants: A
Category I/SECA Applicant must
demonstrate that it has eligible
matching funds equal to no less than 25
percent of the amount of the FA award
requested in-hand or firmly committed,
on or after January 1, 2007, and on or
before the application deadline. The
Fund reserves the right to rescind all or
a portion of a FA award and re-allocate
the rescinded award amount to other
qualified Applicant(s), if an Applicant
fails to obtain in-hand 100 percent of
the required matching funds by March
14, 2010 (with required documentation
of such receipt received by the Fund not
later than March 31, 2010), or to grant
an extension of such matching funds
deadline for specific Applicants
selected to receive FA, if the Fund
deems it appropriate. For any Applicant
that demonstrates that it has less than
100 percent of matching funds in-hand
or firmly committed as of the
application deadline, the Fund will
evaluate the Applicant’s ability to raise
the remaining matching funds by March
14, 2010.
(b) Category II/Core Applicants: A
Category II/Core Applicant must
demonstrate that it has eligible
matching funds equal to no less than
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19:03 Aug 14, 2008
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100 percent of the amount of the FA
award requested in-hand or firmly
committed, on or after January 1, 2007,
and on or before the application
deadline. The Fund reserves the right to
rescind all or a portion of a FA award
and re-allocate the rescinded award
amount to other qualified Applicant(s),
if an Applicant fails to obtain in-hand
100 percent of the required matching
funds by March 14, 2010 (with required
documentation of such receipt received
by the Fund not later than March 31,
2010), or to grant an extension of such
matching funds deadline for specific
Applicants selected to receive FA, if the
Fund deems it appropriate.
3. Matching Funds Terms Defined;
Required Documentation.
(a) ‘‘Matching funds in-hand’’ means
that the Applicant has actually received
the matching funds. If the matching
funds are ‘‘in-hand,’’ the Applicant
must provide the Fund with acceptable
written documentation of the source,
form and amount of the Matching Funds
(i.e., grant, loan, deposit, and equity
investment). For a loan, the Applicant
must provide the Fund with a copy of
the loan agreement and promissory
note. For a grant, the Applicant must
provide the Fund with a copy of the
grant letter or agreement for all grants of
$50,000 or more. For an equity
investment, the Applicant must provide
the Fund with a copy of the stock
certificate and any related shareholder
agreement. Further, if the matching
funds are ‘‘in-hand,’’ the Applicant
must provide the Fund with acceptable
documentation that evidences its receipt
of the matching funds proceeds, such as
a copy of a check or a wire transfer
statement.
(b) ‘‘Firmly committed matching
funds’’ means that the Applicant has
entered into or received a legally
binding commitment from the matching
funds source that the matching funds
will be disbursed to the Applicant. If the
matching funds are ‘‘firmly committed,’’
the Applicant must provide the Fund
with acceptable written documentation
to evidence the source, form, and
amount of the firm commitment (and, in
the case of a loan, the terms thereof), as
well as the anticipated date of
disbursement of the committed funds.
(c) The Fund may contact the
matching funds source to discuss the
matching funds and the documentation
provided by the Awardee. If the Fund
determines that any portion of the
Applicant’s matching funds is ineligible
under this NOFA, the Fund, in its sole
discretion, may permit the Applicant to
offer alternative matching funds as
substitute for the ineligible matching
funds; provided, however, that (i) the
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Sfmt 4703
Applicant must provide acceptable
alternative matching funds
documentation within 2 business days
of the Fund’s request and (ii) the
alternative matching funds
documentation cannot increase the total
amount of Financial Assistance
requested by the Applicant.
4. Special Rule for Insured Credit
Unions. Please note that the Regulations
allow an Insured Credit Union to use
retained earnings to serve as matching
funds for a FA grant in an amount equal
to: (i) The increase in retained earnings
that have occurred over the Applicant’s
most recent fiscal year; (ii) the annual
average of such increases that have
occurred over the Applicant’s three
most recent fiscal years; or (iii) the
entire retained earnings that have been
accumulated since the inception of the
Applicant or such other financial
measure as may be specified by the
Fund. For purposes of this NOFA, if
option (iii) is used, the Applicant must
increase its member and/or non-member
shares or total loans outstanding by an
amount that is equal to the amount of
retained earnings that is committed as
matching funds. This amount must be
raised by the end of the Awardee’s
second performance period, as set forth
in its Assistance Agreement, and will be
based on amounts reported in the
Applicant’s Audited or Reviewed
Financial Statements or NCUA Form
5300 Call Report. The Fund will assess
the likelihood of this increase during
the application review process. An
award will not be made to any
Applicant that has not demonstrated
that it has increased shares or loans by
at least 25 percent of the requested FA
award amount between December 31,
2007 and December 31, 2008, as
demonstrated by the corresponding
NCUA report.
IV. Application And Submission
Information
A. Form of Application Submission:
Applicants may submit applications
under this NOFA only electronically,
through Grants.gov. Applications sent
by mail, facsimile or other form will not
be accepted, except in circumstances
that the Fund, in its sole discretion,
deems acceptable.
B. Grants.gov: For the FY 2009
Funding Round, in compliance with
Public Law 106–107 and Section 5(a) of
the Federal Financial Assistance
Management Improvement Act of 1999,
the Fund is accepting applications
submitted through the Grants.gov
electronic system. The Fund will post to
its Web site at www.cdfifund.gov
instructions for accessing and
submitting an application through
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Grants.gov. The application instructions
will be posted as soon as they are
available and once the application
materials are accessible through
Grants.gov. The anticipated release date
for the application instructions is
Friday, August 8, 2008. Applicants are
encouraged to start the registration
process now at www.Grants.gov as the
process may take several weeks to fully
complete. See the following link for
information on getting started on
Grants.gov: https://grants.gov/assets/
GrantsgovCoBrandBrochure8X11.pdf.
C. Application Content Requirements:
Detailed application content
requirements are found in the
application and guidance. Please note
that, pursuant to OMB guidance (68 FR
38402), each Applicant must provide, as
part of its application submission, a Dun
and Bradstreet Data Universal
Numbering System (DUNS) number. In
addition, each application must include
a valid and current Employer
Identification Number (EIN), with a
letter or other documentation from the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
confirming the Applicant’s EIN. An
electronic application that does not
include an EIN is incomplete and
cannot be transmitted to the Fund.
Applicants should allow sufficient time
for the IRS and/or Dun and Bradstreet
to respond to inquiries and/or requests
for identification numbers. Once an
application is submitted, the Applicant
will not be allowed to change any
element of the application. The
preceding sentence does not limit the
Fund’s ability to contact an Applicant
for the purpose of obtaining clarifying or
confirming application information
(such as a DUNS number or EIN
information).
D. MyCDFIFund Accounts: All
Applicants must register User and
Organization accounts in myCDFIFund,
the Fund’s Internet-based interface. An
Applicant must be registered as both a
48017
User and an Organization in
myCDFIFund as of the applicable
application deadline in order to be
considered to have submitted a
complete application. As myCDFIFund
is the Fund’s primary means of
communication with Applicants and
Awardees, organizations must make
sure that they update the contact
information in their myCDFIFund
accounts before the applicable
application deadline. For more
information on myCDFIFund, please see
the ‘‘Frequently Asked Questions’’ link
posted at https://www.cdfifund.gov/
myCDFI/Help/Help.asp.
E. Application Deadlines: Applicants
must submit all materials described in
and required by the application by the
applicable deadline.
1. Application Deadlines:
Applications must be received in
accordance with this NOFA by the
following deadlines:
TABLE 4—FY 2009 CDFI PROGRAM DEADLINES
[All midnight, ET deadlines]
Application type
Application deadline
CDFI Certification Application ........................................
CDFI Program Funding Application (FA and/or TA)
(Core/SECA).
Wednesday, October 1, 2008 .......................................
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 .....................................
the Fund will read only information
requested in the Application and will
not read attachments that have not been
specifically requested in this NOFA or
the Application, such as the Applicant’s
five-year strategic or marketing plans.
B. Criteria: The Fund will evaluate
each application on a 100-point scale
using numeric scores with respect to the
five sections required in the
Application. The Fund will score each
section as follows:
V. Application Review Information
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All funding applications must be
electronic and submitted through
Grants.gov: no paper submittals or
attachments will be accepted (please see
the CDFI Certification Application for
requirements specific to that
application).
2. Late Delivery: The Fund will
neither accept a late application nor any
portion of an application that is late; an
application that is late, or for which any
portion is late, will be rejected. The
Fund will not grant exceptions or
waivers. Any application that is deemed
ineligible will not be returned to the
Applicant.
F. Intergovernmental Review: Not
applicable.
G. Funding Restrictions: For allowable
uses of FA proceeds, please see the
Regulations at 12 CFR 1805.301.
Business Strategy ...............
A. Format: Funding applications must
be single-spaced and use a 12-point font
with 1-inch margins. Each section in the
Application that is scored has page
limitations. Applicants are encouraged
to read each section carefully and to
remain within the page limitations for
each section. The Fund will not
consider responses beyond the specified
page limitation in each section. Also,
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19:03 Aug 14, 2008
Jkt 214001
TABLE 5—APPLICATION SCORING
CRITERIA
Application sections
Scoring points
Market Analysis ...................
Community Development
Performance & Effective
Use.
Management ........................
Financial Health & Viability
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Fmt 4703
TA-only—25.
SECA—25.
Core—20.
TA-only—25.
SECA—25.
Core—20.
TA-only—20.
SECA—20.
Core—20.
TA-only—20.
SECA—20.
Core—20.
TA-only—10.
SECA—10.
Core—20.
Sfmt 4703
Last date to contact fund staff
Friday, September 26, 2008.
Monday, October 27, 2008.
C. Technical Assistance Proposal:
Any Applicant applying for a TA grant,
either alone or in conjunction with a
request for a FA award, must complete
a Technical Assistance Proposal (TAP)
as part of its application. The TAP
consists of a summary of the
organizational improvements needed to
achieve the objectives of the
Comprehensive Business Plan, a budget,
and a description of the requested goods
and/or services comprising the TA
award request. The budget and
accompanying narrative will be
evaluated for the eligibility and
appropriateness of the proposed uses of
the TA award (described above). In
addition, if the Applicant identifies a
capacity-building need related to any of
the evaluation criteria above (for
example, if the Applicant requires a
market need analysis or a community
development impact tracking/reporting
system), the Fund will assess its plan to
use the TA grant to address said needs.
1. Non-Certified Applicants: An
Applicant that is not a Certified CDFI
and that requests TA to address
certification requirements must explain
how the requested TA grant will assist
the Applicant in meeting the
certification requirements. The Fund
will assess the reasonableness of the
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plan to become certified (as specified
above in Section III, Eligibility
Requirements; A.3. CDFI Certification
Requirements), taking into account the
requested TA. For example, if the
Applicant does not currently make
loans and therefore does not meet the
Financing Entity requirement, it might
describe how the TA funds will be used
to hire a consultant to develop
underwriting policies and procedures to
support the Applicant’s ability to start
its lending activity.
2. Recurring Activities: An Applicant
that requests a TA grant for recurring
activities must clearly describe the
benefit that would accrue to its capacity
or to its Target Market(s) (such as plans
for expansion of staff, market, or
products) as a result of the TA award.
If the Applicant is a prior Fund
Awardee, it must describe how it has
used the prior assistance and explain
the need for additional Fund dollars
over and above such prior assistance.
The Fund will not provide funding for
the same activities funded in prior
awards.
D. Review and Selection Process
1. Eligibility and Completeness
Review: The Fund will review each
application to determine whether it is
complete and the Applicant meets the
eligibility requirements set forth above.
An incomplete application does not
meet eligibility requirements and will
be rejected. Any application that does
not meet eligibility requirements will
not be returned to the Applicant.
2. Substantive Review: If an
application is determined to be
complete and the Applicant is
determined to be eligible, the Fund will
conduct the substantive review of the
application in accordance with the
criteria and procedures described in the
Regulations, this NOFA and the
application and guidance. As part of the
review process, the Fund may contact
the Applicant by telephone, e-mail,
mail, or through an on-site visit for the
sole purpose of obtaining clarifying or
confirming application information
(such as statements of work, matching
funds documentation, EINs, DUNS
numbers, for example). After submitting
its application, the Applicant will not
be permitted to revise or modify its
application in any way nor attempt to
negotiate the terms of an award. If
contacted for clarifying or confirming
information, the Applicant must
respond within the time parameters set
by the Fund.
3. Application Scoring; Ranking:
(a) Application Scoring: The Fund
will evaluate each application on a 100point scale, comprising the five criteria
categories described above, and assign
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numeric scores. An Applicant must
receive a minimum score in each
evaluation criteria in order to be
considered for an award.
(i) Evaluating Prior Award
Performance: In the case of an
Applicant that has previously received
funding from the Fund through any
Fund program, the Fund will consider
and will deduct points for: (i) The
Applicant’s noncompliance with any
active award or award that terminated
in Calendar Year 2008 in meeting its
performance goals and measures,
reporting deadlines and other
requirements set forth in the assistance
or award agreement(s) with the Fund
during the Applicant’s two complete
fiscal years prior to the application
deadline of this NOFA; (ii) the
Applicant’s failure to make timely loan
payments to the Fund during the
Applicant’s two complete fiscal years
prior to the application deadline of this
NOFA (if applicable); (iii) performance
on any prior Assistance Agreement as
part of the overall assessment of the
Applicant’s ability to carry out its
Comprehensive Business Plan; and (iv)
funds deobligated from a FY 2005, FY
2006 or FY 2007 FA award (if the
Applicant is applying for a FA award
under this NOFA) if (A) the amount of
deobligated funds is at least $200,000
and (B) the deobligation occurred
subsequent to the expiration of the
period of award funds availability
(generally, any funds deobligated after
the September 30th following the year
in which the award was made). Any
award deobligations that result in a
point deduction under an application
submitted pursuant to either funding
round of this NOFA will not be counted
against any future application for FA
through the CDFI Program. Furthermore,
in the case of an Applicant that has
previously received funding through
any Fund program, the Fund will
consider and may, in its discretion,
deduct points for those Applicants that
have in any proceeding instituted
against the Applicant in, by or before
any court, governmental or
administrative body or agency received
a final determination within the last
three (3) years indicating that the
Applicant has discriminated on the
basis on the basis of race, color, national
origin, disability, age, marital status,
receipt of income from public
assistance, religion, or sex.
(b) Ranking: The Fund then will rank
the applications by their scores, from
highest to lowest.
4. Award Selection: The Fund will
make its final award selections based on
the rank order of Applicants by their
scores and the amount of funds
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available. TA-only Applicants, Category
I/ SECA and Category II/Core
Applicants will be ranked separately. In
addition, the Fund may consider the
institutional and geographic diversity of
Applicants when making its funding
decisions.
5. Insured CDFIs: In the case of
Insured Depository Institutions and
Insured Credit Unions, the Fund will
take into consideration the views of the
Appropriate Federal Banking Agencies;
in the case of State-Insured Credit
Unions, the Fund may consult with the
appropriate State banking agencies (or
comparable entity). The Fund will not
approve a FA award or a TA grant to
any Insured Credit Union (other than a
State-Insured Credit Union) or Insured
Depository Institution Applicant for
which its Appropriate Federal Banking
Agency indicates it has safety and
soundness concerns, unless the
Appropriate Federal Banking Agency
asserts, in writing, that improvement in
status is imminent and such
improvement is expected to occur not
later than September 30, 2009 or within
such other time frame deemed
acceptable by the Fund, or (ii) the safety
and soundness condition of the
Applicant is adequate to undertake the
activities for which the Applicant has
requested a FA award and the
obligations of an Assistance Agreement
related to such a FA award.
6. Award Notification: Each Applicant
will be informed of the Fund’s award
decision either through a Notice of
Award if selected for an award (see
Notice of Award section, below) or
written declination if not selected for an
award. Each Applicant that is not
selected for an award based on reasons
other than completeness or eligibility
issues will be provided a written
debriefing on the strengths and
weaknesses of its application. This
feedback will be provided in a format
and within a timeframe to be
determined by the Fund, based on
available resources. The Fund will
notify Awardees by e-mail using the
addresses maintained in the Awardee’s
myCDFIFund account (postal mailings
will be used only in rare cases).
7. The Fund reserves the right to
reject an application if information
(including administrative errors) comes
to the attention of the Fund that either
adversely affects an applicant’s
eligibility for an award, or adversely
affects the Fund’s evaluation or scoring
of an application, or indicates fraud or
mismanagement on the part of an
Applicant. If the Fund determines that
any portion of the application is
incorrect in any material respect, the
Fund reserves the right, in its sole
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discretion, to reject the application. The
Fund reserves the right to change its
eligibility and evaluation criteria and
procedures, if the Fund deems it
appropriate; if said changes materially
affect the Fund’s award decisions, the
Fund will provide information
regarding the changes through the
Fund’s Web site. There is no right to
appeal the Fund’s award decisions. The
Fund’s award decisions are final.
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VI. Award Administration Information
A. Notice of Award: The Fund will
signify its conditional selection of an
Applicant as an Awardee by delivering
a signed Notice of Award to the
Applicant through its myCDFIFund
account. The Notice of Award will
contain the general terms and
conditions underlying the Fund’s
provision of assistance including, but
not limited to, the requirement that the
Awardee and the Fund enter into an
Assistance Agreement. The Applicant
must execute the Notice of Award and
return it to the Fund. By executing a
Notice of Award, the Awardee agrees,
among other things, that, if prior to
entering into an Assistance Agreement
with the Fund, information (including
administrative error) comes to the
attention of the Fund that either
adversely affects the Awardee’s
eligibility for an award, or adversely
affects the Fund’s evaluation of the
Awardee’s application, or indicates
fraud or mismanagement on the part of
the Awardee, the Fund may, in its
discretion and without advance notice
to the Awardee, terminate the Notice of
Award or take such other actions as it
deems appropriate. Moreover, by
executing a Notice of Award, the
Awardee agrees that, if prior to entering
into an Assistance Agreement with the
Fund, the Fund determines that the
Awardee or an Affiliate of the Awardee,
is in default of any Assistance
Agreement previously entered into with
the Fund, the Fund may, in its
discretion and without advance notice
to the Awardee, either terminate the
Notice of Award or take such other
actions as it deems appropriate. The
Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to rescind its award if the
Awardee fails to return the Notice of
Award, signed by the authorized
representative of the Awardee, along
with any other requested
documentation, within the deadline set
by the Fund. For purposes of this
section, the Fund will consider an
Affiliate to mean any entity that meets
the definition of Affiliate in the
Regulations or any entity otherwise
identified as an Affiliate by the
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19:03 Aug 14, 2008
Jkt 214001
Applicant in its funding Application
under this NOFA.
1. Failure to meet reporting
requirements: If an Awardee, or an
Affiliate of the Awardee is a prior Fund
Awardee or allocatee under any Fund
program and is not current on the
reporting requirements set forth in the
previously executed assistance,
allocation or award agreement(s), as of
the date of the Notice of Award, the
Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to delay entering into an
Assistance Agreement until said prior
Awardee or allocatee is current on the
reporting requirements in any
previously executed assistance,
allocation or award agreement(s). Please
note that the Fund only acknowledges
the receipt of reports that are complete.
As such, incomplete reports or reports
that are deficient of required elements
will not be recognized as having been
received. If said prior Awardee or
allocatee is unable to meet this
requirement within the timeframe set by
the Fund, the Fund reserves the right, in
its sole discretion, to terminate and
rescind the Notice of Award and the
award made under this NOFA.
2. Pending resolution of
noncompliance: If an Applicant is a
prior Awardee or allocatee under any
Fund program and if: (i) It has
submitted complete and timely reports
to the Fund that demonstrate
noncompliance with a previous
assistance, award or allocation
agreement; and (ii) the Fund has yet to
make a final determination as to
whether the entity is in default of its
previous assistance, award or allocation
agreement, the Fund reserves the right,
in its sole discretion, to delay entering
into an Assistance Agreement, pending
full resolution, in the sole determination
of the Fund, of the noncompliance.
Further, if an Affiliate of the Awardee
is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee
and if such entity: (i) Has submitted
complete and timely reports to the Fund
that demonstrate noncompliance with a
previous assistance, award or allocation
agreement; and (ii) the Fund has yet to
make a final determination as to
whether the entity is in default of its
previous assistance, award or allocation
agreement, the Fund reserves the right,
in its sole discretion, to delay entering
into an Assistance Agreement, pending
full resolution, in the sole determination
of the Fund, of the noncompliance. If
the prior Awardee or allocatee in
question is unable to satisfactorily
resolve the issues of noncompliance, in
the sole determination of the Fund, the
Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to terminate and rescind the
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Sfmt 4703
48019
Notice of Award and the award made
under this NOFA.
3. Default status: If, at any time prior
to entering into an Assistance
Agreement through this NOFA, the
Fund has made a final determination
that an Awardee that is a prior Fund
Awardee or allocatee under any Fund
program is in default of a previously
executed assistance, allocation or award
agreement(s), the Fund reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to delay
entering into an Assistance Agreement,
until said prior Awardee or allocatee
has submitted a complete and timely
report demonstrating full compliance
with said agreement within a timeframe
set by the Fund. Further, if at any time
prior to entering into an Assistance
Agreement through this NOFA, the
Fund has made a final determination
that an Affiliate of the Awardee is a
prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under
any Fund program and is in default of
a previously executed assistance,
allocation or award agreement(s), the
Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to delay entering into an
Assistance Agreement, until said prior
Awardee or allocatee has submitted a
complete and timely report
demonstrating full compliance with said
agreement within a timeframe set by the
Fund. If said prior Awardee or allocatee
is unable to meet this requirement and
the Fund has not specified in writing
that the prior Awardee or allocatee is
otherwise eligible to receive an Award
under this NOFA, the Fund reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to terminate
and rescind the Notice of Award and the
award made under this NOFA.
4. Termination in default: If (i) within
the 12-month period prior to entering
into an Assistance Agreement through
this NOFA, the Fund has made a final
determination that an Awardee that is a
prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under
any Fund program whose award or
allocation was terminated in default of
such prior agreement; and (ii) the final
reporting period end date for the
applicable terminated agreement falls
within the 12-month period prior to the
application deadline of this NOFA, the
Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to delay entering into an
Assistance Agreement. Further, if (i)
within the 12-month period prior to
entering into an Assistance Agreement
through this NOFA, the Fund has made
a final determination that an Affiliate of
the Awardee is a prior Fund Awardee or
allocatee under any Fund program
whose award or allocation was
terminated in default of such prior
agreement; and (ii) the final reporting
period end date for the applicable
terminated agreement falls within the
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mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
48020
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12-month period prior to the application
deadline of this NOFA, the Fund
reserves the right, in its sole discretion,
to delay entering into an Assistance
Agreement.
5. Deobligated awards: An Awardee
that receives an FA award pursuant to
this NOFA for which an amount over
$200,000 is deobligated by the Fund
subsequent to the expiration of the
period of award funds availability
(generally, any funds deobligated after
the September 30th following the year
in which the award was made) but
within the 12 months prior to the
application deadline, may not apply for
a new award through the NOFA for
another CDFI Fund program funding
round after the date of said deobligation.
6. Compliance with Federal AntiDiscrimination Laws: If the Awardee has
previously received funding through
any Fund program, and if at any time
prior to entering into an Assistance
Agreement through this NOFA, the
Fund is made aware of a final
determination, made within the last
three (3) years, in any proceeding
instituted against the Awardee in, by or
before any court, governmental or
administrative body or agency,
declaring that the Awardee has
discriminated on the basis of race, color,
national origin, disability, age, marital
status, receipt of income from public
assistance, religion, or sex, the Fund
reserves the right, in its sole discretion,
to terminate and rescind the Notice of
Award and the award made under this
NOFA.
B. Assistance Agreement: Each
Applicant that is selected to receive an
award under this NOFA must enter into
an Assistance Agreement with the Fund
in order to receive disbursement of
award proceeds. The Assistance
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 award; (iii) the approved
uses of the award; (iv) the approved
eligible market to which the funded
activity must be targeted; (v)
performance goals and measures; and
(vi) reporting requirements for all
Awardees. FA-only and FA/TA
Assistance Agreements under this
NOFA generally will have three-year
performance periods; TA-only
Assistance Agreements generally will
have two-year performance periods.
The Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to terminate the Notice of
Award and rescind an award if the
Awardee fails to return the Assistance
Agreement, signed by the authorized
representative of the Awardee, and/or
provide the Fund with any other
VerDate Aug<31>2005
19:03 Aug 14, 2008
Jkt 214001
requested documentation, within the
deadlines set by the Fund.
In addition to entering into an
Assistance Agreement, each Awardee
that receives an award either (i) in the
form of a loan, equity investment, credit
union shares/deposits, or secondary
capital, in any amount, or (ii) a FA grant
in an amount greater than $500,000,
must furnish to the Fund an opinion
from its legal counsel, the content of
which will be specified in the
Assistance Agreement, to include,
among other matters, an opinion that
the Awardee: (A) Is duly formed and in
good standing in the jurisdiction in
which it was formed and/or operates;
(B) has the authority to enter into the
Assistance Agreement and undertake
the activities that are specified therein;
and (C) has no pending or threatened
litigation that would materially affect its
ability to enter into and carry out the
activities specified in the Assistance
Agreement. Each other Awardee must
provide the Fund with a good standing
certificate (or equivalent
documentation) from its state (or
jurisdiction) of incorporation.
C. Reporting
1. Reporting requirements: The Fund
will collect information, on at least an
annual basis, from each Awardee
including, but not limited to, an Annual
Report that comprises the following
components: (i) Financial Reports
(including an OMB A–133 audit, as
applicable); (ii) Institution Level Report;
(iii) Transaction Level Report (for
Awardees receiving FA awards); (iv)
Financial Status Report (for Awardees
receiving TA grants); (v) Uses of
Financial Assistance and Matching
Funds Report (for Awardees receiving
FA awards); (vi) Uses of Technical
Assistance (for Awardees receiving TA
grants); (vii) Explanation of
Noncompliance (as applicable); and
(viii) such other information as the
Fund may require. Each Awardee is
responsible for the timely and complete
submission of the Annual Report, even
if all or a portion of the documents
actually is completed by another entity
or signatory to the Assistance
Agreement. If such other entities or
signatories are required to provide
Institution Level Reports, Transaction
Level Reports, Financial Reports, or
other documentation that the Fund may
require, the Awardee is responsible for
ensuring that the information is
submitted timely and complete. The
Fund reserves the right to contact such
additional signatories to the Assistance
Agreement and require that additional
information and documentation be
provided. The Fund will use such
information to monitor each Awardee’s
PO 00000
Frm 00145
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
compliance with the requirements set
forth in the Assistance Agreement and
to assess the impact of the CDFI
Program. All reports must be
electronically submitted to the Fund via
the Awardee’s myCDFIFund account.
The Institution Level Report and the
Transaction Level Report must be
submitted through the Fund’s webbased data collection system, the
Community Investment Impact System
(CIIS). The Financial Report may be
submitted through CIIS. All other
components of the Annual Report may
be submitted electronically, as directed,
by the Fund. The 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 to Awardees.
2. Accounting: The Fund will require
each Awardee that receives FA and TA
awards through this NOFA to account
for and track the use of said FA and TA
awards. This means that for every dollar
of FA and TA awards received from the
Fund, the Awardee will be required to
inform the Fund of its uses. This will
require Awardees to establish separate
administrative and accounting controls,
subject to the applicable OMB Circulars.
The Fund will provide guidance to
Awardees outlining the format and
content of the information to be
provided on an annual basis, outlining
and describing how the funds were
used. Each Awardee that receives an
award must provide the Fund with the
required complete and accurate
Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) form
for its bank account prior to award
closing and disbursement.
VII. Agency Contacts
A. The Fund will respond to
questions and provide support
concerning this NOFA and the funding
application between the hours of 9 a.m.
and 5 p.m. ET, starting the date of the
publication of this NOFA through the
date that is two business days prior to
the applicable application deadline. The
Fund will not respond to questions or
provide support concerning the
application that are received after 5 p.m.
ET on said dates, until after the
respective funding application deadline.
Applications and other information
regarding the Fund and its programs
may be obtained from the Fund’s Web
site at https://www.cdfifund.gov. The
Fund will post on its Web site responses
to questions of general applicability
regarding the CDFI Program.
B. The Fund’s contact information is
as follows:
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48021
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TABLE 6—CONTACT INFORMATION
[Fax number for all offices: 202–622–7754]
Type of question
Telephone number (not toll free)
Information Technology/Technical Support .......................................
CDFI Program ...................................................................................
CDFI Certification ..............................................................................
Grants Management ..........................................................................
Compliance, Monitoring and Evaluation ............................................
C. Information Technology Support:
People who have visual or mobility
impairments that prevent them from
creating a Target Market map using the
Fund’s Web site should call (202) 622–
2455 for assistance (this is not a toll free
number).
D. Legal Counsel Support: If you have
any questions or matters that you
believe require response by the Fund’s
Office of Legal Counsel, please refer to
the document titled ‘‘How to Request a
Legal Review,’’ found on the Fund’s
Web site at www.cdfifund.gov. Further,
if you wish to review the Assistance
Agreement form document from a prior
funding round, you may find it posted
on the Fund’s Web site (please note that
there may be revisions to the Assistance
Agreement that will be used for
Awardees under this NOFA and thus
the sample document on the Fund’s
Web site is provided for illustrative
purposes only and should not be relied
on for purposes of this NOFA).
E. Communication with the CDFI
Fund: The Fund will use the
myCDFIFund Internet interface to
correspond with Applicants and
Awardees, using the contact information
maintained in their respective
myCDFIFund accounts. Therefore, the
Applicant and any Subsidiaries,
signatories, and Affiliates must maintain
accurate contact information (including
contact person and authorized
representative, e-mail addresses, fax
numbers, phone numbers, and office
addresses) in its myCDFIFund
account(s). For more information about
myCDFIFund (which includes
information about the Fund’s
Community Investment Impact System),
please see the Help documents posted at
https://www.cdfifund.gov/ciis/
accessing_ciis.pdf.
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
VIII. Information Sessions and
Outreach
The Fund may conduct webcasts or
host information sessions for
organizations that are considering
applying to, or are interested in learning
about, the Fund’s programs. For further
information, please visit the Fund’s Web
site at https://www.cdfifund.gov.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
19:03 Aug 14, 2008
Jkt 214001
202–622–2455
202–622–6355
202–622–6355
202–622–8226
202–622–6330
E-mail addresses
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
Authority: 12 U.S.C. 4703, 4703 note, 4704,
4706, 4707, 4717; 12 CFR part 1805.
Dated: August 12, 2008.
Donna J. Gambrell,
Director, Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. E8–18960 Filed 8–14–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–70–P
ithelpdesk@cdfi.treas.gov.
cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov.
cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov.
grantsmanagement@cdfi.treas.gov.
cme@cdfi.treas.gov.
certain federally assisted benefit
programs while protecting the privacy
interest of the subjects of the match.
Information is disclosed by the Internal
Revenue Service only for the purpose of,
and to the extent necessary in,
determining eligibility for, and/or the
correct amount of, benefits for
individuals applying for or receiving
certain benefit payments.
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Authority
Internal Revenue Service
In accordance with section 6103(l)(7)
of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), the
Secretary shall, upon written request,
disclose current return information from
returns with respect to unearned income
from the Internal Revenue Service files
to any federal, state or local agency
administering a program listed below:
1. A state program funded under part
A of Title IV of the Social Security Act;
2. Medical assistance provided under
a state plan approved under Title XIX of
the Social Security Act;
3. Supplemental security income
benefits under Title XVI of the Social
Security Act, and federally administered
supplementary payments of the type
described in section 1616(a) of such Act
(including payments pursuant to an
agreement entered into under section
212(a) of Pub. L. 93–66);
4. Any benefits provided under a state
plan approved under Title I, X, XIV, or
XVI of the Social Security Act (as those
titles apply to Puerto Rico, Guam, and
the Virgin Islands);
5. Unemployment compensation
provided under a state law described in
section 3304 of the IRC:
6. Assistance provided under the
Food Stamp Act of 1977;
7. State-administered supplementary
payments of the type described in
section 1616(a) of the Social Security
Act (including payments pursuant to an
agreement entered into under section
212(a) of Pub. L. 93–66);
(a) Any needs-based pension provided
under Chapter 15 of Title 38, United
States Code, or under any other law
administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs;
(b) Parents’ dependency and
indemnity compensation provided
Privacy Act of 1974: Computer
Matching Program
Internal Revenue Service,
Treasury.
ACTION: Notice of Matching Program.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: Pursuant to section
552a(e)(12) of the Privacy Act of 1974,
as amended, and the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB)
Guidelines on the Conduct of Matching
Programs, notice is hereby given of the
conduct of the Internal Revenue Service
Disclosure of Information to Federal,
State and Local Agencies (DIFSLA)
Computer Matching Program.
DATES: Effective Date: This notice will
be effective September 15, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Inquiries may be mailed to
the Director, Governmental Liaison and
Disclosure, Internal Revenue Service,
230 S. Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL
60604–1505.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Samuel M. Farrow, Project Manager,
Governmental Liaison and Disclosure,
Internal Revenue Service, 5000 Ellin
Road, Mail Stop C–2–235, Lanham,
Maryland 20706.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The notice
of the matching program was last
published on February 17, 2006, at 71
FR 8658. Members of the public desiring
specific information concerning an
ongoing matching activity may request a
copy of the applicable computer
matching agreement at the address
provided above.
Purpose
The purpose of this program is to
prevent or reduce fraud and abuse in
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E:\FR\FM\15AUN1.SGM
15AUN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 159 (Friday, August 15, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48011-48021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-18960]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
Funding Opportunity Title: Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA)
Inviting Applications for the FY 2009 Funding Round of the Community
Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program
Announcement Type: Initial announcement of funding opportunity.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 21.020.
DATES: Application deadlines for the FY 2009 funding round of the CDFI
Program (hereafter, the FY 2009 Funding Round) are as follows: (i) If
you wish to apply for Financial Assistance (FA) and/or Technical
Assistance (TA) funding, your funding application must be received by
midnight, ET, Wednesday, October 29, 2008; and (ii) if you wish to
apply for CDFI certification, your certification application must be
received by midnight, ET, Wednesday, October 1, 2008.
Table 1--FY 2009 CDFI Program Deadlines
[All midnight, ET deadlines]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application type Application deadline Last date to contact fund staff
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CDFI Certification Application...... Wednesday, October 1, 2008.. Friday, September 26, 2008.
CDFI Program Funding Application (FA Wednesday, October 29, 2008. Monday, October 27, 2008.
and/or TA) (Core/SECA).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Executive Summary: Subject to funding availability, this NOFA is
issued in connection with the FY 2009 funding round of the CDFI
Program.
I. Funding Opportunity Description
A. Through the CDFI Program, the Fund provides: (i) FA awards to
CDFIs that have Comprehensive Business Plans for creating demonstrable
community development impact through the deployment of credit, capital,
and financial services within their respective Target Markets or the
expansion into new Investment Areas, Low-Income Targeted Populations,
or Other Targeted Populations, and (ii) TA grants to CDFIs and entities
proposing to become CDFIs in order to build their
[[Page 48012]]
capacity to better address the community development and capital access
needs of their existing or proposed Target Markets and/or to become
certified CDFIs.
B. The regulations governing the CDFI Program are found at 12 CFR
Part 1805 (the Regulations) and provide guidance on evaluation criteria
and other requirements of the CDFI Program. The Fund encourages
Applicants to review the Regulations. Detailed application content
requirements are found in the applicable funding application and
related guidance materials. Each capitalized term in this NOFA is more
fully defined in the Regulations, the application or the guidance
materials.
C. The 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 Fund reserves the right to re-allocate funds from the amount that
is anticipated to be available under this NOFA to other Fund programs,
particularly if the Fund determines that the number of awards made
under this NOFA is fewer than projected.
II. Award Information
A. Funding Availability:
1. FY 2009 Funding Round: Through this NOFA, and subject to funding
availability, the Fund expects that it may award approximately $54
million in appropriated funds, of which: (i) Approximately $9 million
in appropriated funds may be awarded to Category I/SECA Applicants in
the form of FA awards and TA grants; (ii) approximately $43 million in
appropriated funds may be awarded to Category II/Core Applicants in the
form of FA awards and TA grants; and (iii) approximately $2 million in
appropriated funds may be awarded to Applicants in the form of TA
grants only. The Fund reserves the right to award in excess of $54
million in appropriated funds to Applicants (and/or more or less than
$9 million to Category I/SECA Applicants, and/or more or less than $43
million to Category II/Core Applicants, and/or more or less than $2
million to TA-only Applicants) in the FY 2009 Funding Round, provided
that the funds are available and the Fund deems it appropriate.
2. Availability of Funds for the FY 2009 Funding Round of the CDFI
Program: Funds for the FY 2009 Funding Round have not yet been
appropriated. If funds are not appropriated for the FY 2009 Funding
Round, there will not be an FY 2009 Funding Round. Further, it is
possible that if funds are appropriated for the FY 2009 Funding Round,
the amount of such funds may be greater than or less than the amounts
set forth above. Further, if funds for the FY 2009 funding round of the
Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program are not appropriated,
entities that are eligible to apply for CDFI Program funds and that
might otherwise have applied for NACA Program funds, are encouraged to
apply for CDFI Program funds through the FY 2009 Funding Round.
B. Types of Awards: An Applicant may submit an application either
for: (i) An FA-only award; (ii) an FA award and a TA grant; or (iii) a
TA-only grant.
1. FA Awards: FA is intended to provide flexible financial support
to CDFIs so that they may achieve the strategies outlined in their
Comprehensive Business Plans. FA awards can be used in the following
four categories: (i) Financial Products, (ii) Loan Loss Reserves, (iii)
Capital Reserves, and/or (iv) Operations. For purposes of this NOFA,
Financial Products means loans, grants, equity investments and similar
financing activities, including the purchase of loans originated by
certified CDFIs and the provision of loan guarantees, in the
Applicant's Target Market, or for related purposes that the Fund deems
appropriate. Loan Loss Reserves means funds that the Applicant will set
aside in the form of cash, or through accounting-based accrual,
reserves to cover losses on loans, accounts and notes receivable made
in its Target Market, or for related purposes that the Fund deems
appropriate. Capital Reserves means funds that the Applicant will set
aside in the form of reserves to support the Applicant's ability to
leverage other capital, for such purposes as increasing its net assets
or serving the financing needs of its Target Market, or for related
purposes that the Fund deems appropriate. Operations means: funds that
the Applicant will use to undertake Development Services, Financial
Services, and/or for related purposes that the Fund deems appropriate.
FA awards are most commonly used for an Applicant's Financial Products
since FA funds can be used to support the Applicant's community
development lending activities.
The Fund may provide FA awards in the form of equity investments
(including, in the case of certain Insured Credit Unions, secondary
capital accounts), grants, loans, deposits, credit union shares, or any
combination thereof. The Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to provide an FA award in a form and amount other than that
which the Applicant requests; however, the award amount will not exceed
the Applicant's award request as stated in its application. The Fund
reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to provide an FA award to a
Category I/SECA Applicant on the condition that the Applicant agrees to
use a TA grant for specified capacity building purposes, even if the
Applicant has not requested a TA grant.
2. TA Grants:
(a) The Fund provides TA awards in the form of grants. The Fund
reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to provide a TA grant for
uses and amounts other than that which the Applicant requests; however,
the award amount will not exceed the Applicant's award request as
stated in its application and the applicable budget chart.
(b) TA grants may be used to address a variety of needs including,
but not limited to, development of strategic planning documents (such
as strategic or capitalization plans), market analyses or product
feasibility analyses, operational policies and procedures, curricula
for Development Services (such as entrepreneurial training, home buyer
education, financial education or training, borrower credit repair
training), improvement of underwriting and portfolio management,
development of outreach and training strategies to enhance product
delivery, operating support to expand into a new eligible market, and
tools that allow the Applicant to assess the impact of its activities
in its community.
(c) Eligible TA grant uses include, but are not limited to: (i)
Procuring professional services; (ii) acquiring/enhancing technology
items, including computer hardware, software and Internet connectivity
and related MIS; (iii) acquiring training for staff, management and/or
board members; and (iv) paying recurring expenses, including staff
salary and other key operating expenses, that will enhance the capacity
of the Applicant to serve its Target Market and/or to become certified
as a CDFI. TA funds must be used to support the Applicant's activities;
TA funds cannot be used to support the creation of a new entity or
activities of a sponsored entity.
C. Notice of Award; Assistance Agreement: Each Awardee under this
NOFA must sign a Notice of Award and an Assistance Agreement in order
to receive a disbursement of award proceeds by the Fund. The Notice of
Award and the Assistance Agreement contain the terms and conditions of
the award. For further information, see Sections VI.A and VI.B of this
NOFA.
[[Page 48013]]
III. Eligibility Information
A. Eligible Applicants: The Regulations specify the eligibility
requirements that each Applicant must meet in order to be eligible to
apply for assistance under this NOFA. The following sets forth
additional detail and dates that relate to the submission of
applications under this NOFA:
1. FA Applicant Categories: All Applicants for FA awards through
this NOFA must meet the criteria for one of the following two
categories:
Table 2--FA Applicant Criteria
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applicant may
FA applicant category Applicant criteria apply for: Application deadline
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category I/Small and/or (1) Is a Certified/ Up to and Midnight, ET, Wednesday, October
Emerging CDFI Assistance Certifiable CDFI;. including 29, 2008.
(SECA). (2) Has total assets, $500,000 in FA
as of the end of the funds, and up to
Applicant's most $100,000 in TA
recent fiscal year end funds.
or September 30, 2008,
as follows:.
Insured
Depository
Institutions and
Depository Institution
Holding Companies: up
to $250 million
Insured Credit
Unions: up to $10
million
Venture
capital funds: up to
$10 million
Other CDFIs:
up to $5 million; or
(3) Began operations on
or after January 1,
2005; and
(4) Prior to the
application deadline,
has not been selected
to receive in excess
of $500,000 in FA
award(s) in the
aggregate from the
CDFI Program or Native
Initiatives Funding
Programs
Category II/Core............... A Certified/Certifiable Up to and Midnight, ET, Wednesday, October
CDFI that meets all including $2 29, 2008.
other eligibility million in FA
requirements described funds, and up to
in this NOFA. $100,000 in TA
funds.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: (1) The Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to award amounts in excess of or less than the anticipated
maximum award amounts permitted in this NOFA, if the Fund deems it
appropriate. (2) Any Applicant that requests FA funding in excess of
$500,000 is classified as a Category II/Core Applicant, regardless of
its total assets, years in operation, or prior Fund awards. (3) The
term ``began operations'' is defined as the financing activity start
date indicated in the Applicant's myCDFIFund account. (4) The term
``Native Initiatives Funding Programs'' refers to the Native American
CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program and all prior funding programs, through
which funds are no longer available, including the Native American CDFI
Technical Assistance (NACTA) Component of the CDFI Program, the Native
American CDFI Development (NACD) Program, and the Native American
Technical Assistance (NATA) Component of the CDFI Program.
2. TA Applicants: All Applicants for TA grants through this NOFA
must meet the following criteria:
Table 3--TA Applicant Criteria
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applicant type Criteria of applicant Applicant can apply for: Application due date
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TA-Only.............................. A Certified CDFI, a Certifiable CDFI, Up to $100,000 for capacity- TA-only: Midnight, ET, Wednesday, October
or an Emerging CDFI. building activities. 29, 2008.
FA/TA (Core/SECA).................... A Certified CDFI, a Certifiable CDFI... Up to $100,000 for capacity- FA/TA: Midnight, ET, Wednesday, October
building activities. 29, 2008.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Fund, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to award
amounts less than the anticipated maximum award amounts permitted in
this NOFA, if the Fund deems it appropriate.
3. CDFI Certification Requirements: For purposes of this NOFA,
eligible FA Applicants include Certified CDFIs and Certifiable CDFIs;
eligible TA Applicants include Certified CDFIs, Certifiable CDFIs and
Emerging CDFIs, defined as follows:
(a) Certified CDFIs: A certified CDFI whose certification has not
expired and that has not been notified by the Fund that its
certification has been terminated. Each such Applicant must submit a
``Certification of Material Event Form'' to the Fund not later than the
Certification Application deadline stated in Table 1 of this NOFA, or
such other dates as the Fund may proscribe, in accordance with the
instructions on the Fund's Web site at www.cdfifund.gov. Please note:
the Fund provided some CDFIs with written notification that their
certifications had been extended. The Fund will consider the extended
certification date (the later date) to determine whether those CDFIs
meet this eligibility requirement.
(b) Certifiable CDFIs: For purposes of this NOFA, a Certifiable
CDFI is an entity from which the Fund receives a complete CDFI
Certification Application no later than the Certification Application
deadline stated in Table 1 of this NOFA, or such other dates as the
Fund may proscribe, evidencing that the Applicant meets the
requirements to be certified as a CDFI. Applicants may obtain the CDFI
Certification
[[Page 48014]]
Application through the Fund's Web site at www.cdfifund.gov.
Applications for certification must be submitted as instructed in the
application form. Please note: FA Applicants that are Certifiable
CDFIs: while your organization may be conditionally selected for
funding (as evidenced through the Notice of Award), the Fund will not
enter into an Assistance Agreement or disburse award funds unless and
until the Fund has certified your organization as a CDFI. If the Fund
is unable to certify your organization as a CDFI based on the CDFI
certification application that your organization submits to the Fund,
the Notice of Award may be terminated and the award commitment may be
cancelled, in the sole discretion of the Fund.
(c) Emerging CDFIs: For purposes of this NOFA, an Emerging CDFI is
an entity that demonstrates to the Fund's satisfaction that it has a
reasonable plan to be certified as a CDFI by December 31, 2011 or such
other date selected by the Fund. Emerging CDFIs may only apply for TA
grants; they are not eligible to apply for FA awards. Each Emerging
CDFI that is selected to receive a TA grant will be required, pursuant
to its Assistance Agreement with the Fund, to become certified as a
CDFI by a certain date.
4. Limitation on Awards: An Applicant may receive only one award
through the CDFI Program in the FY 2009 Funding Round. No Applicant may
receive a BEA Program award if it has a CDFI Program and a BEA Program
application pending in the same funding round (subject to certain
limitations; refer to the Regulations at 12 CFR 1805.102). A CDFI
Program Applicant, its Subsidiaries or Affiliates also may apply for
and receive a tax credit allocation through the NMTC Program, but only
to the extent that the activities approved for CDFI Program awards are
different from those activities for which the Applicant receives a NMTC
Program allocation.
5. Contacting the Fund. The Fund will respond to questions and
provide support concerning CDFI certification related to the FY 2009
Funding Round between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, through the
date that is three business days before the certification application
deadline. The CDFI Certification Application and other information
regarding CDFI certification may be obtained from the Fund's Web site
at https://www.cdfifund.gov.
B. Prior Awardees: Applicants must be aware that success in a prior
round of any of the Fund's programs is not indicative of success under
this NOFA. For purposes of this section, the Fund will consider an
Affiliate to be any entity that meets the definition of Affiliate in
the Regulations or any entity otherwise identified as an affiliate by
the Applicant in its funding Application under this NOFA. Prior
awardees are eligible to apply under this NOFA, except as follows:
1. $5 Million funding cap: The Fund is generally prohibited from
obligating more than $5 million in assistance, in the aggregate, to any
one organization and its Subsidiaries and Affiliates during any three-
year period. In general, the three-year period extends back three years
from the date that the Fund signs a Notice of Award; for purposes of
this NOFA, and for ease of administration, the Fund will consider any
assistance documented with a Notice of Award dated between July 31,
2006 and July 31, 2009 (which is the anticipated date that the Fund
will issue Notices of Award for the FY 2009 Funding Round).
2. Failure to meet reporting requirements: The Fund will not
consider an application submitted by an Applicant if the Applicant, or
an Affiliate of the Applicant is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee
under any Fund program and is not current on the reporting requirements
set forth in a previously executed assistance, allocation or award
agreement(s), as of the applicable application deadline of this NOFA.
Please note that the Fund only acknowledges the receipt of reports that
are complete. As such, incomplete reports or reports that are deficient
of required elements will not be recognized as having been received.
3. Pending resolution of noncompliance: If an Applicant is a prior
Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program and if: (i) It has
submitted complete and timely reports to the Fund that demonstrate
noncompliance with a previous assistance, allocation or award
agreement; and (ii) the Fund has yet to make a final determination as
to whether the entity is in default of its previous assistance,
allocation or award agreement, the Fund will consider the Applicant's
application under this NOFA pending full resolution, in the sole
determination of the Fund, of the noncompliance. Further, if an
Affiliate of the Applicant is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee and if
such entity: (i) Has submitted complete and timely reports to the Fund
that demonstrate noncompliance with a previous assistance, allocation
or award agreement; and (ii) the Fund has yet to make a final
determination as to whether the entity is in default of its previous
assistance, allocation, or award agreement, the Fund will consider the
Applicant's application under this NOFA pending full resolution, in the
sole determination of the Fund, of the noncompliance.
4. Default status: The Fund will not consider an application
submitted by an Applicant that is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee
under any Fund program if, as of the applicable application deadline of
this NOFA, the Fund has made a final determination that such Applicant
is in default of a previously executed assistance, allocation or award
agreement(s). Further, an entity is not eligible to apply for an award
pursuant to this NOFA if, as of the applicable application deadline of
this NOFA, the Fund has made a final determination that an Affiliate of
the Applicant is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under any Fund
program and has been determined by the Fund to be in default of a
previously executed assistance, allocation or award agreement(s). Such
entities will be ineligible to apply for an award pursuant to this NOFA
so long as the Applicant's, or its Affiliate's, prior award or
allocation remains in default status or such other time period as
specified by the Fund in writing.
5. Termination in default: The Fund will not consider an
application submitted by an Applicant that is a prior Fund Awardee or
allocatee under any Fund program if: (i) Within the 12-month period
prior to the applicable application deadline of this NOFA, the Fund has
made a final determination that such Applicant's prior award or
allocation terminated in default of a previously executed assistance,
allocation or award agreement(s); and (ii) the final reporting period
end date for the applicable terminated assistance, allocation or award
agreement(s) falls within the 12-month period prior to the application
deadline of this NOFA. Further, an entity is not eligible to apply for
an award pursuant to this NOFA if: (i) Within the 12-month period prior
to the applicable application deadline, the Fund has made a final
determination that an Affiliate of the Applicant is a prior Fund
Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program whose award or allocation
terminated in default of a previously executed assistance, allocation
or award agreement(s); and (ii) the final reporting period end date for
the applicable terminated assistance, allocation or award agreement(s)
falls within the 12-month period prior to the application deadline of
this NOFA.
6. Undisbursed award funds: The Fund will not consider an
application submitted by an Applicant that is a prior Fund Awardee
under any Fund program if the Applicant has a balance of undisbursed
award funds (defined
[[Page 48015]]
below) under said prior award(s), as of the applicable 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 Fund Awardee under any Fund program, and has a balance of
undisbursed award funds under said prior award(s), as of the applicable
application deadline of this NOFA. In a case where another entity that
Controls the Applicant, is Controlled by the Applicant or shares common
management officials with the Applicant (as determined by the Fund), is
a prior Fund Awardee under any Fund program, and has a balance of
undisbursed award funds under said prior award(s), as of the applicable
application deadline of this NOFA, the Fund will include the combined
awards of the Applicant and such Affiliated entities when calculating
the amount of undisbursed award funds.
For purposes of the calculation of undisbursed award funds for the
BEA Program, only awards made to the Applicant (and any Affiliates)
three to five calendar years prior to the end of the calendar year of
the application deadline of this NOFA are included (``includable BEA
awards''). Thus, for purposes of this NOFA, undisbursed BEA Program
award funds are the amount of FYs 2003, 2004 and 2005 awards that
remain undisbursed as of the application deadline of this NOFA.
For purposes of the calculation of undisbursed award funds for the
CDFI Program and the Native Initiatives Funding Programs, only awards
made to the Applicant (and any Affiliates) two to five calendar years
prior to the end of the calendar year of this NOFA are included
(``includable CDFI/NI awards''). Thus, for purposes of this NOFA,
undisbursed CDFI Program and NI awards are the amount of FYs 2003,
2004, 2005 and 2006 awards that remain undisbursed as of the
application deadline of this NOFA.
To calculate total includable BEA/CDFI/NI awards: Amounts that are
undisbursed as of the application deadline of this NOFA cannot exceed
five percent (5%) of the total includable awards. Please refer to an
example of this calculation on the Fund's Web site, found in the Q&A
document for the FY 2009 Funding Round.
The ``undisbursed award funds'' calculation does not include: (i)
Tax credit allocation authority made available through the New Markets
Tax Credit (NMTC) Program; (ii) any award funds for which the Fund
received a full and complete disbursement request from the Awardee by
the applicable application deadline of this NOFA; (iii) any award funds
for an award that has been terminated in writing by the Fund or
deobligated by the Fund; or (iv) any award funds for an award that does
not have a fully executed assistance or award agreement. The Fund
strongly encourages Applicants requesting disbursements of
``undisbursed funds'' from prior awards to provide the Fund with a
complete disbursement request at least 10 business days prior to the
application deadline of this NOFA. An Applicant that is unsure about
the disbursement status of any prior award should contact the Fund's
Financial Manager via e-mail at CDFI.disburseinquiries@cdfi.treas.gov
for more information, no less than thirty (30) calendar days prior to
the application deadline of this NOFA. Requests submitted less than
thirty calendar days prior to the application deadline may not receive
a response before the application deadline.
7. Contact the Fund. Applicants that are prior Fund Awardees are
advised to: (i) Comply with requirements specified in assistance,
allocation and/or award agreement(s), and (ii) contact the Fund to
ensure that all necessary actions are underway for the disbursement or
deobligation of any outstanding balance of said prior award(s).
Disbursement questions should be directed to Grants Management via e-
mail to grantsmanagement@cdfi.treas.gov. Reporting and compliance
questions should be directed to Compliance, Monitoring and Evaluation
(CME) at (202) 622-6330 or by e-mail to cme@cdfi.treas.gov. Telephone
calls to Grants Management and Financial Management should be directed
to (202) 622-8226; facsimiles to (202) 622-7754; and mail to CDFI Fund,
601 13th Street, NW., Suite 200 South, Washington, DC 20005. The Fund
will respond to Applicants' reporting, disbursement or compliance
questions between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, starting the date
of the publication of this NOFA through the date that is two business
days before the applicable application deadline. The Fund will not
respond to Applicants' reporting, disbursement or compliance phone
calls or e-mail inquiries that are received after 5 p.m. ET on said
date, until after the funding application deadline.
8. Other Targeted Populations as Target Markets: Other Targeted
Populations are defined as identifiable groups of individuals in the
Applicant's service area for which there exists a strong basis of
evidence that they lack access to loans, Equity Investments and/or
Financial Services. The Fund has determined that there is strong basis
of evidence that the following groups of individuals lack access to
loans, Equity Investments and/or Financial Services on a national
level: Blacks or African Americans, Native Americans or American
Indians, and Hispanics or Latinos. In addition, for purposes of this
NOFA, the Fund has determined that there is a strong basis of evidence
that Alaska Natives residing in Alaska, Native Hawaiians residing in
Hawaii, and Other Pacific Islanders residing in other Pacific Islands,
lack adequate access to loans, Equity Investments or Financial
Services. An Applicant designating any of the above-cited Other
Targeted Populations is not required to provide additional narrative
explaining the Other Targeted Population's lack of adequate access to
loans, Equity Investments or Financial Services. For purposes of this
NOFA, the Fund will use the following definitions, set forth in the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Notice, Revisions to the
Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
(October 30, 1997), as amended and supplemented:
(a) American Indian, Native American or Alaska Native: A person
having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South
America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal
affiliation or community attachment;
(b) Black or African American: A person having origins in any of
the black racial groups of Africa (terms such as ``Haitian'' or
``Negro'' can be used in addition to ``Black or African American'');
(c) Hispanic or Latino: A person of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto
Rican, South or Central American or other Spanish culture or origin,
regardless of race (the term ``Spanish origin'' can be used in addition
to ``Hispanic or Latino''); and
(d) Native Hawaiian: A person having origins in any of the original
peoples of Hawaii; and
(e) Other Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the
original peoples of Guam, Samoa or other Pacific Islands.
C. Matching Funds
1. Matching Funds Requirements in General: Applicants responding to
this NOFA must obtain non-Federal matching funds from sources other
than the Federal government on the basis of not less than one dollar
for each dollar of FA funds provided by the Fund (matching funds are
not required for TA grants). Matching funds must be at least comparable
in form and value to the FA award provided by the Fund (for example, if
an Applicant is requesting a FA grant from the Fund, the Applicant must
have evidence that it has obtained
[[Page 48016]]
matching funds through grant(s) from non-Federal sources that are at
least equal to the amount requested from the Fund). Funds used by an
Applicant as matching funds for a prior FA award under the CDFI Program
or under another Federal grant or award program cannot be used to
satisfy the matching funds requirement of this NOFA. If an Applicant
seeks to use as matching funds monies received from an organization
that was a prior Awardee under the CDFI Program, the Fund will deem
such funds to be Federal funds, unless the funding entity establishes
to the reasonable satisfaction of the Fund that such funds do not
consist, in whole or in part, of CDFI Program funds or other Federal
funds. For the purposes of this NOFA, BEA Program awards are not deemed
to be Federal funds and are eligible as matching funds. The Fund
encourages Applicants to review the Regulations at 12 CFR 1805.500 et
seq. and matching funds guidance materials on the Fund's Web site for
further information.
2. Matching Funds Requirements Per Applicant Category: Due to
funding constraints and the desire to quickly deploy Fund dollars, the
Fund will not consider for a FA award any Applicant that has no
matching funds in-hand or firmly committed as of the application
deadline of this NOFA. Specifically, FA Applicants must meet the
following matching funds requirements:
(a) Category I/SECA Applicants: A Category I/SECA Applicant must
demonstrate that it has eligible matching funds equal to no less than
25 percent of the amount of the FA award requested in-hand or firmly
committed, on or after January 1, 2007, and on or before the
application deadline. The Fund reserves the right to rescind all or a
portion of a FA award and re-allocate the rescinded award amount to
other qualified Applicant(s), if an Applicant fails to obtain in-hand
100 percent of the required matching funds by March 14, 2010 (with
required documentation of such receipt received by the Fund not later
than March 31, 2010), or to grant an extension of such matching funds
deadline for specific Applicants selected to receive FA, if the Fund
deems it appropriate. For any Applicant that demonstrates that it has
less than 100 percent of matching funds in-hand or firmly committed as
of the application deadline, the Fund will evaluate the Applicant's
ability to raise the remaining matching funds by March 14, 2010.
(b) Category II/Core Applicants: A Category II/Core Applicant must
demonstrate that it has eligible matching funds equal to no less than
100 percent of the amount of the FA award requested in-hand or firmly
committed, on or after January 1, 2007, and on or before the
application deadline. The Fund reserves the right to rescind all or a
portion of a FA award and re-allocate the rescinded award amount to
other qualified Applicant(s), if an Applicant fails to obtain in-hand
100 percent of the required matching funds by March 14, 2010 (with
required documentation of such receipt received by the Fund not later
than March 31, 2010), or to grant an extension of such matching funds
deadline for specific Applicants selected to receive FA, if the Fund
deems it appropriate.
3. Matching Funds Terms Defined; Required Documentation.
(a) ``Matching funds in-hand'' means that the Applicant has
actually received the matching funds. If the matching funds are ``in-
hand,'' the Applicant must provide the Fund with acceptable written
documentation of the source, form and amount of the Matching Funds
(i.e., grant, loan, deposit, and equity investment). For a loan, the
Applicant must provide the Fund with a copy of the loan agreement and
promissory note. For a grant, the Applicant must provide the Fund with
a copy of the grant letter or agreement for all grants of $50,000 or
more. For an equity investment, the Applicant must provide the Fund
with a copy of the stock certificate and any related shareholder
agreement. Further, if the matching funds are ``in-hand,'' the
Applicant must provide the Fund with acceptable documentation that
evidences its receipt of the matching funds proceeds, such as a copy of
a check or a wire transfer statement.
(b) ``Firmly committed matching funds'' means that the Applicant
has entered into or received a legally binding commitment from the
matching funds source that the matching funds will be disbursed to the
Applicant. If the matching funds are ``firmly committed,'' the
Applicant must provide the Fund with acceptable written documentation
to evidence the source, form, and amount of the firm commitment (and,
in the case of a loan, the terms thereof), as well as the anticipated
date of disbursement of the committed funds.
(c) The Fund may contact the matching funds source to discuss the
matching funds and the documentation provided by the Awardee. If the
Fund determines that any portion of the Applicant's matching funds is
ineligible under this NOFA, the Fund, in its sole discretion, may
permit the Applicant to offer alternative matching funds as substitute
for the ineligible matching funds; provided, however, that (i) the
Applicant must provide acceptable alternative matching funds
documentation within 2 business days of the Fund's request and (ii) the
alternative matching funds documentation cannot increase the total
amount of Financial Assistance requested by the Applicant.
4. Special Rule for Insured Credit Unions. Please note that the
Regulations allow an Insured Credit Union to use retained earnings to
serve as matching funds for a FA grant in an amount equal to: (i) The
increase in retained earnings that have occurred over the Applicant's
most recent fiscal year; (ii) the annual average of such increases that
have occurred over the Applicant's three most recent fiscal years; or
(iii) the entire retained earnings that have been accumulated since the
inception of the Applicant or such other financial measure as may be
specified by the Fund. For purposes of this NOFA, if option (iii) is
used, the Applicant must increase its member and/or non-member shares
or total loans outstanding by an amount that is equal to the amount of
retained earnings that is committed as matching funds. This amount must
be raised by the end of the Awardee's second performance period, as set
forth in its Assistance Agreement, and will be based on amounts
reported in the Applicant's Audited or Reviewed Financial Statements or
NCUA Form 5300 Call Report. The Fund will assess the likelihood of this
increase during the application review process. An award will not be
made to any Applicant that has not demonstrated that it has increased
shares or loans by at least 25 percent of the requested FA award amount
between December 31, 2007 and December 31, 2008, as demonstrated by the
corresponding NCUA report.
IV. Application And Submission Information
A. Form of Application Submission: Applicants may submit
applications under this NOFA only electronically, through Grants.gov.
Applications sent by mail, facsimile or other form will not be
accepted, except in circumstances that the Fund, in its sole
discretion, deems acceptable.
B. Grants.gov: For the FY 2009 Funding Round, in compliance with
Public Law 106-107 and Section 5(a) of the Federal Financial Assistance
Management Improvement Act of 1999, the Fund is accepting applications
submitted through the Grants.gov electronic system. The Fund will post
to its Web site at www.cdfifund.gov instructions for accessing and
submitting an application through
[[Page 48017]]
Grants.gov. The application instructions will be posted as soon as they
are available and once the application materials are accessible through
Grants.gov. The anticipated release date for the application
instructions is Friday, August 8, 2008. Applicants are encouraged to
start the registration process now at www.Grants.gov as the process may
take several weeks to fully complete. See the following link for
information on getting started on Grants.gov: https://grants.gov/assets/
GrantsgovCoBrandBrochure8X11.pdf.
C. Application Content Requirements: Detailed application content
requirements are found in the application and guidance. Please note
that, pursuant to OMB guidance (68 FR 38402), each Applicant must
provide, as part of its application submission, a Dun and Bradstreet
Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. In addition, each
application must include a valid and current Employer Identification
Number (EIN), with a letter or other documentation from the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) confirming the Applicant's EIN. An electronic
application that does not include an EIN is incomplete and cannot be
transmitted to the Fund. Applicants should allow sufficient time for
the IRS and/or Dun and Bradstreet to respond to inquiries and/or
requests for identification numbers. Once an application is submitted,
the Applicant will not be allowed to change any element of the
application. The preceding sentence does not limit the Fund's ability
to contact an Applicant for the purpose of obtaining clarifying or
confirming application information (such as a DUNS number or EIN
information).
D. MyCDFIFund Accounts: All Applicants must register User and
Organization accounts in myCDFIFund, the Fund's Internet-based
interface. An Applicant must be registered as both a User and an
Organization in myCDFIFund as of the applicable application deadline in
order to be considered to have submitted a complete application. As
myCDFIFund is the Fund's primary means of communication with Applicants
and Awardees, organizations must make sure that they update the contact
information in their myCDFIFund accounts before the applicable
application deadline. For more information on myCDFIFund, please see
the ``Frequently Asked Questions'' link posted at https://
www.cdfifund.gov/myCDFI/Help/Help.asp.
E. Application Deadlines: Applicants must submit all materials
described in and required by the application by the applicable
deadline.
1. Application Deadlines: Applications must be received in
accordance with this NOFA by the following deadlines:
Table 4--FY 2009 CDFI Program Deadlines
[All midnight, ET deadlines]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application type Application deadline Last date to contact fund staff
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CDFI Certification Application...... Wednesday, October 1, 2008.. Friday, September 26, 2008.
CDFI Program Funding Application (FA Wednesday, October 29, 2008. Monday, October 27, 2008.
and/or TA) (Core/SECA).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All funding applications must be electronic and submitted through
Grants.gov: no paper submittals or attachments will be accepted (please
see the CDFI Certification Application for requirements specific to
that application).
2. Late Delivery: The Fund will neither accept a late application
nor any portion of an application that is late; an application that is
late, or for which any portion is late, will be rejected. The Fund will
not grant exceptions or waivers. Any application that is deemed
ineligible will not be returned to the Applicant.
F. Intergovernmental Review: Not applicable.
G. Funding Restrictions: For allowable uses of FA proceeds, please
see the Regulations at 12 CFR 1805.301.
V. Application Review Information
A. Format: Funding applications must be single-spaced and use a 12-
point font with 1-inch margins. Each section in the Application that is
scored has page limitations. Applicants are encouraged to read each
section carefully and to remain within the page limitations for each
section. The Fund will not consider responses beyond the specified page
limitation in each section. Also, the Fund will read only information
requested in the Application and will not read attachments that have
not been specifically requested in this NOFA or the Application, such
as the Applicant's five-year strategic or marketing plans.
B. Criteria: The Fund will evaluate each application on a 100-point
scale using numeric scores with respect to the five sections required
in the Application. The Fund will score each section as follows:
Table 5--Application Scoring Criteria
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application sections Scoring points
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Market Analysis........................ TA-only--25.
SECA--25.
Core--20.
Business Strategy...................... TA-only--25.
SECA--25.
Core--20.
Community Development Performance & TA-only--20.
Effective Use. SECA--20.
Core--20.
Management............................. TA-only--20.
SECA--20.
Core--20.
Financial Health & Viability........... TA-only--10.
SECA--10.
Core--20.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Technical Assistance Proposal: Any Applicant applying for a TA
grant, either alone or in conjunction with a request for a FA award,
must complete a Technical Assistance Proposal (TAP) as part of its
application. The TAP consists of a summary of the organizational
improvements needed to achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive
Business Plan, a budget, and a description of the requested goods and/
or services comprising the TA award request. The budget and
accompanying narrative will be evaluated for the eligibility and
appropriateness of the proposed uses of the TA award (described above).
In addition, if the Applicant identifies a capacity-building need
related to any of the evaluation criteria above (for example, if the
Applicant requires a market need analysis or a community development
impact tracking/reporting system), the Fund will assess its plan to use
the TA grant to address said needs.
1. Non-Certified Applicants: An Applicant that is not a Certified
CDFI and that requests TA to address certification requirements must
explain how the requested TA grant will assist the Applicant in meeting
the certification requirements. The Fund will assess the reasonableness
of the
[[Page 48018]]
plan to become certified (as specified above in Section III,
Eligibility Requirements; A.3. CDFI Certification Requirements), taking
into account the requested TA. For example, if the Applicant does not
currently make loans and therefore does not meet the Financing Entity
requirement, it might describe how the TA funds will be used to hire a
consultant to develop underwriting policies and procedures to support
the Applicant's ability to start its lending activity.
2. Recurring Activities: An Applicant that requests a TA grant for
recurring activities must clearly describe the benefit that would
accrue to its capacity or to its Target Market(s) (such as plans for
expansion of staff, market, or products) as a result of the TA award.
If the Applicant is a prior Fund Awardee, it must describe how it has
used the prior assistance and explain the need for additional Fund
dollars over and above such prior assistance. The Fund will not provide
funding for the same activities funded in prior awards.
D. Review and Selection Process
1. Eligibility and Completeness Review: The Fund will review each
application to determine whether it is complete and the Applicant meets
the eligibility requirements set forth above. An incomplete application
does not meet eligibility requirements and will be rejected. Any
application that does not meet eligibility requirements will not be
returned to the Applicant.
2. Substantive Review: If an application is determined to be
complete and the Applicant is determined to be eligible, the Fund will
conduct the substantive review of the application in accordance with
the criteria and procedures described in the Regulations, this NOFA and
the application and guidance. As part of the review process, the Fund
may contact the Applicant by telephone, e-mail, mail, or through an on-
site visit for the sole purpose of obtaining clarifying or confirming
application information (such as statements of work, matching funds
documentation, EINs, DUNS numbers, for example). After submitting its
application, the Applicant will not be permitted to revise or modify
its application in any way nor attempt to negotiate the terms of an
award. If contacted for clarifying or confirming information, the
Applicant must respond within the time parameters set by the Fund.
3. Application Scoring; Ranking:
(a) Application Scoring: The Fund will evaluate each application on
a 100-point scale, comprising the five criteria categories described
above, and assign numeric scores. An Applicant must receive a minimum
score in each evaluation criteria in order to be considered for an
award.
(i) Evaluating Prior Award Performance: In the case of an Applicant
that has previously received funding from the Fund through any Fund
program, the Fund will consider and will deduct points for: (i) The
Applicant's noncompliance with any active award or award that
terminated in Calendar Year 2008 in meeting its performance goals and
measures, reporting deadlines and other requirements set forth in the
assistance or award agreement(s) with the Fund during the Applicant's
two complete fiscal years prior to the application deadline of this
NOFA; (ii) the Applicant's failure to make timely loan payments to the
Fund during the Applicant's two complete fiscal years prior to the
application deadline of this NOFA (if applicable); (iii) performance on
any prior Assistance Agreement as part of the overall assessment of the
Applicant's ability to carry out its Comprehensive Business Plan; and
(iv) funds deobligated from a FY 2005, FY 2006 or FY 2007 FA award (if
the Applicant is applying for a FA award under this NOFA) if (A) the
amount of deobligated funds is at least $200,000 and (B) the
deobligation occurred subsequent to the expiration of the period of
award funds availability (generally, any funds deobligated after the
September 30th following the year in which the award was made). Any
award deobligations that result in a point deduction under an
application submitted pursuant to either funding round of this NOFA
will not be counted against any future application for FA through the
CDFI Program. Furthermore, in the case of an Applicant that has
previously received funding through any Fund program, the Fund will
consider and may, in its discretion, deduct points for those Applicants
that have in any proceeding instituted against the Applicant in, by or
before any court, governmental or administrative body or agency
received a final determination within the last three (3) years
indicating that the Applicant has discriminated on the basis on the
basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, marital status,
receipt of income from public assistance, religion, or sex.
(b) Ranking: The Fund then will rank the applications by their
scores, from highest to lowest.
4. Award Selection: The Fund will make its final award selections
based on the rank order of Applicants by their scores and the amount of
funds available. TA-only Applicants, Category I/ SECA and Category II/
Core Applicants will be ranked separately. In addition, the Fund may
consider the institutional and geographic diversity of Applicants when
making its funding decisions.
5. Insured CDFIs: In the case of Insured Depository Institutions
and Insured Credit Unions, the Fund will take into consideration the
views of the Appropriate Federal Banking Agencies; in the case of
State-Insured Credit Unions, the Fund may consult with the appropriate
State banking agencies (or comparable entity). The Fund will not
approve a FA award or a TA grant to any Insured Credit Union (other
than a State-Insured Credit Union) or Insured Depository Institution
Applicant for which its Appropriate Federal Banking Agency indicates it
has safety and soundness concerns, unless the Appropriate Federal
Banking Agency asserts, in writing, that improvement in status is
imminent and such improvement is expected to occur not later than
September 30, 2009 or within such other time frame deemed acceptable by
the Fund, or (ii) the safety and soundness condition of the Applicant
is adequate to undertake the activities for which the Applicant has
requested a FA award and the obligations of an Assistance Agreement
related to such a FA award.
6. Award Notification: Each Applicant will be informed of the
Fund's award decision either through a Notice of Award if selected for
an award (see Notice of Award section, below) or written declination if
not selected for an award. Each Applicant that is not selected for an
award based on reasons other than completeness or eligibility issues
will be provided a written debriefing on the strengths and weaknesses
of its application. This feedback will be provided in a format and
within a timeframe to be determined by the Fund, based on available
resources. The Fund will notify Awardees by e-mail using the addresses
maintained in the Awardee's myCDFIFund account (postal mailings will be
used only in rare cases).
7. The Fund reserves the right to reject an application if
information (including administrative errors) comes to the attention of
the Fund that either adversely affects an applicant's eligibility for
an award, or adversely affects the Fund's evaluation or scoring of an
application, or indicates fraud or mismanagement on the part of an
Applicant. If the Fund determines that any portion of the application
is incorrect in any material respect, the Fund reserves the right, in
its sole
[[Page 48019]]
discretion, to reject the application. The Fund reserves the right to
change its eligibility and evaluation criteria and procedures, if the
Fund deems it appropriate; if said changes materially affect the Fund's
award decisions, the Fund will provide information regarding the
changes through the Fund's Web site. There is no right to appeal the
Fund's award decisions. The Fund's award decisions are final.
VI. Award Administration Information
A. Notice of Award: The Fund will signify its conditional selection
of an Applicant as an Awardee by delivering a signed Notice of Award to
the Applicant through its myCDFIFund account. The Notice of Award will
contain the general terms and conditions underlying the Fund's
provision of assistance including, but not limited to, the requirement
that the Awardee and the Fund enter into an Assistance Agreement. The
Applicant must execute the Notice of Award and return it to the Fund.
By executing a Notice of Award, the Awardee agrees, among other things,
that, if prior to entering into an Assistance Agreement with the Fund,
information (including administrative error) comes to the attention of
the Fund that either adversely affects the Awardee's eligibility for an
award, or adversely affects the Fund's evaluation of the Awardee's
application, or indicates fraud or mismanagement on the part of the
Awardee, the Fund may, in its discretion and without advance notice to
the Awardee, terminate the Notice of Award or take such other actions
as it deems appropriate. Moreover, by executing a Notice of Award, the
Awardee agrees that, if prior to entering into an Assistance Agreement
with the Fund, the Fund determines that the Awardee or an Affiliate of
the Awardee, is in default of any Assistance Agreement previously
entered into with the Fund, the Fund may, in its discretion and without
advance notice to the Awardee, either terminate the Notice of Award or
take such other actions as it deems appropriate. The Fund reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to rescind its award if the Awardee
fails to return the Notice of Award, signed by the authorized
representative of the Awardee, along with any other requested
documentation, within the deadline set by the Fund. For purposes of
this section, the Fund will consider an Affiliate to mean any entity
that meets the definition of Affiliate in the Regulations or any entity
otherwise identified as an Affiliate by the Applicant in its funding
Application under this NOFA.
1. Failure to meet reporting requirements: If an Awardee, or an
Affiliate of the Awardee is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under any
Fund program and is not current on the reporting requirements set forth
in the previously executed assistance, allocation or award
agreement(s), as of the date of the Notice of Award, the Fund reserves
the right, in its sole discretion, to delay entering into an Assistance
Agreement until said prior Awardee or allocatee is current on the
reporting requirements in any previously executed assistance,
allocation or award agreement(s). Please note that the Fund only
acknowledges the receipt of reports that are complete. As such,
incomplete reports or reports that are deficient of required elements
will not be recognized as having been received. If said prior Awardee
or allocatee is unable to meet this requirement within the timeframe
set by the Fund, the Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion,
to terminate and rescind the Notice of Award and the award made under
this NOFA.
2. Pending resolution of noncompliance: If an Applicant is a prior
Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program and if: (i) It has
submitted complete and timely reports to the Fund that demonstrate
noncompliance with a previous assistance, award or allocation
agreement; and (ii) the Fund has yet to make a final determination as
to whether the entity is in default of its previous assistance, award
or allocation agreement, the Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to delay entering into an Assistance Agreement, pending
full resolution, in the sole determination of the Fund, of the
noncompliance. Further, if an Affiliate of the Awardee is a prior Fund
Awardee or allocatee and if such entity: (i) Has submitted complete and
timely reports to the Fund that demonstrate noncompliance with a
previous assistance, award or allocation agreement; and (ii) the Fund
has yet to make a final determination as to whether the entity is in
default of its previous assistance, award or allocation agreement, the
Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to delay entering into
an Assistance Agreement, pending full resolution, in the sole
determination of the Fund, of the noncompliance. If the prior Awardee
or allocatee in question is unable to satisfactorily resolve the issues
of noncompliance, in the sole determination of the Fund, the Fund
reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate and rescind
the Notice of Award and the award made under this NOFA.
3. Default status: If, at any time prior to entering into an
Assistance Agreement through this NOFA, the Fund has made a final
determination that an Awardee that is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee
under any Fund program is in default of a previously executed
assistance, allocation or award agreement(s), the Fund reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to delay entering into an Assistance
Agreement, until said prior Awardee or allocatee has submitted a
complete and timely report demonstrating full compliance with said
agreement within a timeframe set by the Fund. Further, if at any time
prior to entering into an Assistance Agreement through this NOFA, the
Fund has made a final determination that an Affiliate of the Awardee is
a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program and is in
default of a previously executed assistance, allocation or award
agreement(s), the Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to
delay entering into an Assistance Agreement, until said prior Awardee
or allocatee has submitted a complete and timely report demonstrating
full compliance with said agreement within a timeframe set by the Fund.
If said prior Awardee or allocatee is unable to meet this requirement
and the Fund has not specified in writing that the prior Awardee or
allocatee is otherwise eligible to receive an Award under this NOFA,
the Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate and
rescind the Notice of Award and the award made under this NOFA.
4. Termination in default: If (i) within the 12-month period prior
to entering into an Assistance Agreement through this NOFA, the Fund
has made a final determination that an Awardee that is a prior Fund
Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program whose award or allocation
was terminated in default of such prior agreement; and (ii) the final
reporting period end date for the applicable terminated agreement falls
within the 12-month period prior to the application deadline of this
NOFA, the Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to delay
entering into an Assistance Agreement. Further, if (i) within the 12-
month period prior to entering into an Assistance Agreement through
this NOFA, the Fund has made a final determination that an Affiliate of
the Awardee is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program
whose award or allocation was terminated in default of such prior
agreement; and (ii) the final reporting period end date for the
applicable terminated agreement falls within the
[[Page 48020]]
12-month period prior to the application deadline of this NOFA, the
Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to delay entering into
an Assistance Agreement.
5. Deobligated awards: An Awardee that receives an FA award
pursuant to this NOFA for which an amount over $200,000 is deobligated
by the Fund subsequent to the expiration of the period of award funds
availability (generally, any funds deobligated after the September 30th
following the year in which the award was made) but within the 12
months prior to the application deadline, may not apply for a new award
through the NOFA for another CDFI Fund program funding round after the
date of said deobligation.
6. Compliance with Federal Anti-Discrimination Laws: If the Awardee
has previously received funding through any Fund program, and if at any
time prior to entering into an Assistance Agreement through this NOFA,
the Fund is made aware of a final determination, made within the last
three (3) years, in any proceeding instituted against the Awardee in,
by or before any court, governmental or administrative body or agency,
declaring that the Awardee has discriminated on the basis of race,
color, national origin, disability, age, marital status, receipt of
income from public assistance, religion, or sex, the Fund reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to terminate and rescind the Notice of
Award and the award made under this NOFA.
B. Assistance Agreement: Each Applicant that is selected to receive
an award under this NOFA must enter into an Assistance Agreement with
the Fund in order to receive disbursement of award proceeds. The
A