Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, 42145-42154 [E9-19955]
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 160 / Thursday, August 20, 2009 / Notices
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Roger Ryder, Program Delivery
Engineer, Federal Highway
Administration, 200 North High Street,
Columbus, Ohio 43215; telephone: (614)
280–6849; e-mail:
Roger.Ryder@fhwa.dot.gov; FHWA Ohio
Division Office’s normal business hours
are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (eastern time).
You may also contact Mr. Ferzan
Ahmed, Ohio Department of
Transportation, 400 E. William Street,
Delaware, Ohio 43015; telephone: (740)
833–8367; e-mail:
Ferzan.Ahmed@dot.state.oh.us.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is
hereby given that the FHWA and other
Federal agencies have taken final agency
actions by issuing licenses, permits, and
approvals for the following major
highway improvements in the State of
Ohio: To reconstruct the I–70/I–71/SR
315 freeway system known as
Columbus’ South Innerbelt and involves
changing the I–70 and I–71 lanes
assignments, adding additional through
lanes on I–70 and I–71 and
reconfiguring the I–70/I–71/SR 315 west
interchange and the I–70/I–71 east
interchange. The improvements will
also consolidate access to the downtown
area by moving ramps to the periphery
of the I–70/I–71 overlap section and
compelling motorists traveling to and
from downtown Columbus to use oneway urban corridor streets. Motorists
will access downtown Columbus via
one-way urban corridor streets that run
parallel to the north side of the I–70/I–
71 overlap and along both sides of I–71.
These streets collect traffic from the
freeway to distribute it throughout the
downtown. The Mound Street corridor
will be used for westbound traffic along
the I–70/I–71 overlap and the Fulton
Street corridor for eastbound traffic.
Along I–71 traffic will utilize Lester
Drive and Willow Alley for southbound
traffic while northbound traffic will use
a new urban corridor street parallel to
Parsons Avenue. The improvements
will provide for three (3) through lanes
in each direction for I–70, two (2)
through lanes in each direction for I–71
and the elimination of the weaving
between interstate routes in the overlap
section by keeping the I–70 lanes to the
inside and bringing the I–71 lanes along
the outside. The project length is
approximately 8.7 miles.
The actions by the Federal agencies,
and the laws under which such actions
were taken, are described in the
Environmental Assessment (EA) for the
project, approved on January 14, 2009,
in the Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI) issued on July 8, 2009, and in
other documents in the FHWA
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administrative record. The EA, FONSI,
and other documents in the FHWA
administrative record file are available
by contacting the FHWA or the Ohio
Department of Transportation at the
addresses provided above. The EA and
FONSI can be viewed at ODOT District
6 Office in Delaware, Ohio and on
ODOT’s Web site at https://
www.7071study.org.
This notice applies to all Federal
agency decisions as of the issuance date
of this notice and all laws under which
such actions were taken, including but
not limited to:
1. General: National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) [42 U.S.C. 4321–
4351]; Federal-Aid Highway Act [23
U.S.C. 109].
2. Air: Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7401–
7671(q).
3. Land: Section 4(f) of the
Department of Transportation Act of
1966 [49 U.S.C. 303]; Landscaping and
Scenic Enhancement (Wildflowers), 23
U.S.C. 319.
4. Wildlife: Endangered Species Act
[16 U.S.C. 1531–1544 and section 1536],
Marine Mammal Protection Act [16
U.S.C. 1361], Fish and Wildlife
Coordination Act [16 U.S.C. 661–
667(d)], Migratory Bird Treaty Act [16
U.S.C. 703–712].
5. Historic and Cultural Resources:
Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966, as amended
[16 U.S.C. 470(f) et seq.]; Archeological
Resources Protection Act of 1977 [16
U.S.C. 470(aa)–11]; Archeological and
Historic Preservation Act [16 U.S.C.
469–469(c)]; Native American Grave
Protection and Repatriation Act
(NAGPRA) [25 U.S.C. 3001–3013].
6. Social and Economic: Civil Rights
Act of 1964 [42 U.S.C. 2000(d)–
2000(d)(1)]; American Indian Religious
Freedom Act [42 U.S.C. 1996]; Farmland
Protection Policy Act (FPPA) [7 U.S.C.
4201–4209].
7. Wetlands and Water Resources:
Land and Water Conservation Fund
(LWCF), 16 U.S.C. 4601–4604; Safe
Drinking Water Act (SDWA), 42 U.S.C.
300(f)–300(j)(6); Rivers and Harbors Act
of 1899, 33 U.S.C. 401–406; Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act, 16 U.S.C. 1271–1287;
Emergency Wetlands Resources Act, 16
U.S.C. 3921, 3931; TEA–21 Wetlands
Mitigation, 23 U.S.C. 103(b)(6)(m),
133(b)(11); Flood Disaster Protection
Act, 42 U.S.C. 4001–4128.
8. Executive Orders: E.O. 11990
Protection of Wetlands; E.O. 11988
Floodplain Management; E.O. 12898
Federal Actions to Address
Environmental Justice in Minority
Populations and Low Income
Populations; E.O. 11593 Protection and
Enhancement of Cultural Resources;
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E.O. 13007 Indian Sacred Sites; E.O.
13287 Preserve America; E.O. 13175
Consultation and Coordination with
Indian Tribal Governments; E.O. 11514
Protection and Enhancement of
Environmental Quality; E.O. 13112
Invasive Species.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning
and Construction. The regulations
implementing Executive Order 12372
regarding intergovernmental consultation on
Federal programs and activities apply to this
program.)
Authority: 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1).
Issued on August 13, 2009.
Patrick A. Bauer,
Acting Division Administrator, Columbus,
Ohio.
[FR Doc. E9–20068 Filed 8–19–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–RY–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund
Funding Opportunity Title: Notice of
Funds Availability (NOFA) inviting
applications for the FY 2010 Funding
Round of the Native American CDFI
Assistance (NACA) Program.
Announcement Type: Announcement
of funding opportunity.
Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) Number: 21.020
DATES: Applications for Financial
Assistance (FA) and/or Technical
Assistance (TA) awards through the FY
2010 Funding Round of the NACA
Program must be received by 5 p.m.
Eastern Time (ET), October 7, 2009.
Executive Summary: Subject to
funding availability, this NOFA is
issued in connection with the FY 2010
Funding Round of the NACA Program
(the FY 2010 Funding Round). The
NACA Program is administered by the
Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund (the Fund).
I. Funding Opportunity Description
A. Through the NACA Program, the
Fund provides: (i) FA awards to CDFIs
that have at least 50 percent of their
activities directed toward serving Native
American, Alaskan Native, and/or
Native Hawaiian Communities (Native
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
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Populations, and (ii) TA grants to Native
CDFIs, entities proposing to become
Native CDFIs, and to Native
organizations, Tribes, and Tribal
organizations that propose to create
Native CDFIs (Sponsoring Entities), in
order to build their capacity to meet the
community development and capital
access needs of their existing or
proposed Target Markets and/or to
become certified Native 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 NACA 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: Through this
NOFA, and subject to funding
availability, the Fund expects that it
may award approximately $12 million
in appropriated funds in the FY 2010
Funding Round. The Fund reserves the
right to award in excess of $12 million
in appropriated funds to Applicants in
the FY 2010 Funding Round, provided
that the funds are available and the
Fund deems it appropriate.
B. Availability of Funds for the FY
2010 Funding Round: Funds for the FY
2010 Funding Round have not yet been
appropriated. If funds are not
appropriated for the FY 2010 Funding
Round, there will not be a FY 2010
Funding Round. Further, it is possible
that if funds are appropriated for the FY
2010 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 2010
Funding Round 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 funds through the FY 2010 Funding
Round of the CDFI Program.
C. Types of Awards: An Applicant
may submit an application either for: (i)
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A FA-only award; (ii) a 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 five
categories: (i) Financial Products; (ii)
Financial Services; (iii) Development
Services; (iv) Loan Loss Reserves,
Capital Reserves, or other activities/uses
that support the activities in the
Applicant’s Comprehensive Business
Plan; and/or (v) 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 (including administrative
funds used to carry out Financial
Products). Financial Services means
checking and savings accounts, certified
checks, automated teller machines
services, deposit taking, remittances,
safe deposit box services, and other
similar services (including
administrative funds used to carry out
Financial Services). Development
Services means activities that promote
community development and are
integral to the Applicant’s provisions of
Financial Products and Financial
Services (including administrative
funds used to carry out Development
Services) including, for example,
financial or credit counseling, housing
and homeownership counseling (preand post-), self-employment technical
assistance, entrepreneurship training,
and financial management skillbuilding. Loan Loss Reserves means
funds that the Applicant will set aside
in the form of cash reserves, 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 (including
administrative funds used to carry out
Loan Loss Reserves). 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 (including administrative
funds used to carry out Capital
Reserves). Operations means funds that
the Applicant will use to carry out its
Comprehensive Business Plan, and/or
for related purposes that the Fund
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deems appropriate, that are not used to
carry out or administer any of the
foregoing eligible FA uses. 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 a 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 a FA award to an 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.
FA awards must be used to support the
Applicant’s activities; FA awards cannot
be used to support the activities of, or
otherwise be ‘‘passed through’’ to, thirdparty entities, whether Affiliates,
Subsidiaries, or others, without the
prior written permission of the Fund.
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, or 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
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Internet connectivity and related
management information systems; (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 Native
CDFI or to create a Native CDFI.
D. 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.
III. Eligibility Information
A. Eligible Applicants: The
Regulations specify the eligibility
42147
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 following criteria:
TABLE 1—FA APPLICANT CRITERIA
FA applicant
category
Applicant criteria
Applicant may apply for:
Application
deadline
Native CDFI .............
A Certified/Certifiable Native CDFI that meets all
other eligibility requirements described in this
NOFA.
Up to and including $750,000 in FA funds, and
up to and including $150,000 in TA funds.
5:00 p.m. ET, October 7, 2009.
Please note: 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. TA Applicants: All Applicants for
TA grants through this NOFA must meet
the following criteria:
TABLE 2—TA APPLICANT CRITERIA
Applicant type
Criteria of applicant
TA–Only ...........
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FA/TA ...............
A Certified Native CDFI, a Certifiable Native CDFI, Up to $150,000 for capacity-building activities .........
an Emerging Native CDFI, or a Sponsoring Entity.
A Certified Native CDFI or a Certifiable Native Up to $150,000 in TA for capacity-building activities
CDFI.
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. Native CDFI Certification
Requirements: For purposes of this
NOFA, eligible FA Applicants include
Certified Native CDFIs and Certifiable
Native CDFIs; eligible TA Applicants
include Certified Native CDFIs,
Certifiable Native CDFIs, Emerging
Native CDFIs, and Sponsoring Entities,
defined as follows:
(a) Certified Native CDFIs: For
purposes of this NOFA, a Certified
Native CDFI is an entity that has
received official notification from the
Fund that it meets all CDFI certification
requirements as of the date of
publication of this NOFA, the
certification of which has not expired
and that has not been notified by the
Fund that its certification has been
terminated. In cases where the Fund
provided Native 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 Native
CDFIs meet this eligibility requirement.
When applicable, each such Applicant
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Applicant can apply for:
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must submit a Certification of Material
Events form to the Fund not later than
September 16, 2009 (see Table 3—FY
2010 NACA Program Deadlines). The
Certification of Material Events form can
be found on the Fund’s Web site at
https://www.CDFIfund.gov.
(b) Certifiable Native CDFIs: For
purposes of this NOFA, a Certifiable
Native CDFI is an entity from which the
Fund has received a complete CDFI
Certification application no later than
September 16, 2009 (see Table 3—FY
2010 NACA Program Deadlines),
evidencing that the Applicant meets the
requirements to be certified as a Native
CDFI. The CDFI Certification
application can be found on the Fund’s
Web site at https://www.CDFIfund.gov. If
the Fund is unable to certify the
organization as a Native CDFI based on
the CDFI certification application
submitted to the Fund, it is in the sole
discretion of the Fund to terminate the
Notice of Award and the award
commitment. While a Certifiable Native
CDFI may be conditionally selected for
a FA award (as evidenced through the
Notice of Award), the Fund will not
enter into an Assistance Agreement or
disburse award funds unless and until
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Application due
date
5:00 p.m. ET, October 7, 2009.
5:00 p.m. ET, October 7, 2009.
the Fund has officially certified the
organization as a Native CDFI.
(c) Emerging Native CDFIs: For
purposes of this NOFA, an Emerging
Native CDFI is an entity that
demonstrates to the Fund’s satisfaction
that it has a reasonable plan to be a
certified Native CDFI within two
calendar years after both entities enter
into an Assistance Agreement or such
other date selected by the Fund.
Emerging Native CDFIs may apply for
TA grants only and are not eligible to
apply for FA awards. Each Emerging
Native CDFI selected to receive a TA
grant will be required, pursuant to its
Assistance Agreement with the Fund, to
become certified as a Native CDFI by a
certain date.
(d) Sponsoring Entities: For the
purposes of this NOFA, a Sponsoring
Entity is an entity that proposes to
create a separate legal entity that will
become a certified Native CDFI. For
purposes of this NOFA, Sponsoring
Entities include: (a) A Tribe, Tribal
entity, Alaska Native Village, Village
Corporation, Regional Corporation, NonProfit Regional Corporation/Association,
or Inter-Tribal or Inter-Village
organization; or (b) an organization
whose primary mission is to serve a
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Native Community including, but not
limited to, an Urban Indian Center,
Tribally Controlled Community College,
community development corporation
(CDC), training or education
organization, or Chamber of Commerce,
and that primarily serves a Native
Community (meaning, at least 50
percent of its activities are directed
toward the Native Community).
Sponsoring Entities may only apply for
TA grants; they are not eligible to apply
for FA awards. Each Sponsoring Entity
that is selected to receive a TA grant
will be required, pursuant to its
Assistance Agreement with the Fund, to
create a legal entity by a certain date
that will, in turn, seek Native CDFI
certification and to transfer available
award funds to that Native CDFI upon
certification.
4. Limitation on Awards: An
Applicant may receive only one FA
award through the FY 2010 Funding
Round of the CDFI Program or the
NACA Program. No Applicant may also
receive a FY 2010 Bank Enterprise
Award (BEA) Program award (subject to
certain limitations; refer to the
Regulations at 12 CFR 1805.102). An
NACA Program Applicant, its
Subsidiaries, or Affiliates also may
apply for and receive a tax credit
allocation through the New Markets Tax
Credit (NMTC) Program, but only to the
extent that the activities approved for
NACA Program awards are different
from those activities for which the
Applicant receives a NMTC Program
allocation.
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 an entity
otherwise identified as an Affiliate by
the Applicant in its funding application
under this NOFA. Prior Awardees
should note the following:
1. $5 million Funding Cap: Congress
waived the $5 million funding cap for
the FY 2009 Funding Round, and it is
possible that the $5 million funding cap
may be waived for the FY 2010 Funding
Round as well. As of the publication
date of this NOFA, however, such a
waiver has not been enacted into law.
Accordingly, the Fund is currently
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 threeyear period extends back three years
from the date that the Fund signs a
Notice of Award; for purposes of this
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NOFA, and for ease of administration,
the Fund will consider any assistance
documented with a Notice of Award
dated between October 1, 2007 and
October 1, 2010 (which is the
anticipated date that the Fund will issue
Notices of Award for the FY 2010
Funding Round). However, in light of
the possibility of a waiver of the $5
million funding cap, an Applicant who
is otherwise eligible under this NOFA,
and is requesting an award amount that
would cause the Applicant to exceed
the $5 million funding cap, should
submit an Application under this
NOFA. The Fund will assess
applicability of the $5 million funding
cap during the award selection phase
based upon whether the Congressional
waiver has been enacted at that time.
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
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.
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4. Default Status: The Fund will not
consider an application submitted by an
Applicant that is a prior 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 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 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 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 Awardee under any Fund program
if the Applicant has a balance of
undisbursed award funds (as defined
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
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to this NOFA if an Affiliate of the
Applicant is a prior 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 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 FY 2004, 2005, and 2006
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 2004,
2005, 2006, and 2007 awards that
remain undisbursed as of the
application deadline of this NOFA. The
term ‘‘Native Initiatives Funding
Programs’’ refers to the NACA Program
and all prior Native American funding
programs sponsored by the Fund,
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.
To calculate total includable BEA/
CDFI/NI awards: amounts that are
undisbursed as of the application
deadline of this NOFA cannot exceed
five percent 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
2010 Funding Round.
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The ‘‘undisbursed award funds’’
calculation does not include: (i) Tax
credit allocation authority made
available through the 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.
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). An Applicant
that is unsure about the disbursement
status of any prior award should contact
the Fund’s Senior Resource Manager via
email at
CDFI.disburseinquiries@cdfi.treas.gov.
C. Matching Funds: Congress waived
the matching funds requirements for the
FY 2009 Funding Round, and it is
possible that the matching funds
requirements may be waived for the FY
2010 Funding Round as well. As of the
publication date of this NOFA, however,
such a waiver has not been enacted into
law. Accordingly, the Fund encourages
Applicants to include matching funds
documentation as instructed in the
application; if the matching funds
waiver is enacted, the Fund will not
consider matching funds
documentation. An Applicant that does
not include matching funds
documentation in its application runs
the risk of being determined to be
ineligible for funding under the FY 2010
Funding Round if said matching funds
waiver is not enacted. In light of the
possibility of a waiver of the matching
funds requirements, an Applicant who
would not satisfy the matching funds
requirements but is otherwise eligible
under this NOFA should submit an
application under this NOFA. The Fund
will assess applicability of the matching
funds requirements during the award
selection phase based upon whether the
Congressional waiver has been enacted
at that time.
Accordingly, subject to the
immediately preceding paragraph:
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1. 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
provided by the Fund. For example, if
an Applicant is requesting a FA award
from the Fund, the Applicant must
show that it has obtained matching
funds through commitment(s) from nonFederal sources that are at least equal to
the amount requested from the Fund.
Applicants cannot use matching funds
from a prior FA award under the NACA
or CDFI Program or under another
Federal grant or award program 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 NACA or 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 NACA or CDFI Program funds
or other Federal funds. For the purposes
of this NOFA, BEA Program awards may
be used 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 website for further
information.
2. 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. An Applicant
for a FA award 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,
2008, 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, 2011 (with required
documentation of such receipt received
by the Fund not later than March 31,
2011), or to grant an extension of such
matching funds deadline for specific
Applicants selected to receive FA
awards, if the Fund deems it
appropriate. For any Applicant that
demonstrates that it has less than 100
percent of matching funds in-hand or
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firmly committed as of the application
deadline, the Fund will evaluate the
Applicant’s ability to raise the
remaining matching funds by March 14,
2011.
3. Matching Funds Terms Defined;
Required Documentation. (a) ‘‘Matching
funds in-hand’’ means the Applicant
has actually received the matching
funds. If the matching funds are ‘‘inhand,’’ 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 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.
4. The Fund may contact the
matching funds source to discuss the
matching funds and the documentation
provided by the Applicant. 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 a
substitute for the ineligible matching
funds; provided, however, that (i) the
Applicant must provide acceptable
alternative matching funds
documentation within two 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.
5. Special Rule for Insured Credit
Unions: The Regulations allow an
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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
has occurred over the Applicant’s most
recent fiscal year; (ii) the annual average
of such increases that has 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, as
provided in the Regulations. 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,
2008, and December 31, 2009, as
demonstrated by the corresponding
NCUA report.
IV. Application and Submission
Information
A. 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.
B. Form of Application Submission:
Applicants must submit applications
under this NOFA electronically.
Applications sent by mail, facsimile, or
other form will not be permitted, except
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in circumstances that the Fund, in its
sole discretion, deems acceptable.
C. Applications Submitted via
myCDFIFund: Applicants must submit
applications under this NOFA
electronically, through myCDFIFund,
the Fund’s Internet-based interface.
Please note that the Fund will not
accept applications through Grants.gov.
Applications sent by mail, facsimile, or
other form will not be accepted except
in circumstances approved by the Fund,
in its sole discretion. The Fund will
post to its Web site at https://
www.cdfifund.gov instructions for
accessing and submitting the
application as soon as they become
available.
D. Application Content Requirements:
Detailed application content
requirements, including the required
elements of the Comprehensive
Business Plan, are found in the
application and guidance. Each
Applicant must provide, as part of its
application submission, a Dun and
Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering
System (DUNS) number pursuant to
OMB guidance (68 FR 38402).
Applicants should allow sufficient time
for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
and/or Dun and Bradstreet to respond to
inquiries and/or requests for
identification numbers. In addition,
each application must include a valid
and current Employer Identification
Number (EIN), with a letter or other
documentation from the IRS confirming
the Applicant’s EIN. An electronic
application that does not include an EIN
is incomplete and cannot be transmitted
to the Fund. Once an application is
submitted, the Applicant will not be
allowed to change any element of the
application. The preceding sentences do
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).
E. Under the Paperwork Reduction
Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), an agency
may not conduct or sponsor a collection
of information, and an individual is not
required to respond to a collection of
information, unless it displays a valid
OMB control number. Pursuant to the
Paperwork Reduction Act, the
application has been assigned the
following control number: 1559–0025.
F. Application Deadlines: 1. The
following are the deadlines for
submission of the NACA Program
Funding Application, the CDFI
Certification Application, and the
Certification of Material Events form:
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TABLE 3—FY 2010 NACA PROGRAM DEADLINES
[All 5 p.m. ET deadlines]
Document
Submission deadline
NACA Program Funding Application ..............................
CDFI Certification Application ........................................
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 ........................................
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 .................................
Certification of Material Events Form .............................
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 .................................
All NACA Program funding
applications must be electronic and
submitted through myCDFIFund. 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.
G. Intergovernmental Review: Not
applicable.
H. 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
indicated in the following table:
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TABLE 4—APPLICATION SCORING
CRITERIA
Scoring
points
Application sections
Market Analysis ..............................
Business Strategy ...........................
Community Development Performance & Effective Use ..................
Management ...................................
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25
25
20
20
TABLE 4—APPLICATION SCORING
CRITERIA—Continued
Scoring
points
Application sections
Financial Health & Viability .............
10
C. Technical Assistance Proposal:
Any Applicant applying for a TA grant,
either alone or in conjunction with a
request for an 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 grant (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 Native
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
plan to become certified (as specified
above in Section III, Eligibility
Information; A.3. Native 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
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Last date to contact Fund
Monday, October 5, 2009.
Monday, September 14,
2009.
Monday, September 14,
2009.
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 grant. 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.
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, or 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.
(b) Evaluating Prior Award
Performance: In the case of an
Applicant that has previously received
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funding 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 the current
calendar year 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 2007, 2008,
or 2009 FA award (if the Applicant is
applying for an FA award under this
NOFA) if (A) the amount of deobligated
funds is at least $200,000 and (B) the
deobligation occurred within the 12
months prior to the application deadline
under this NOFA. Any award
deobligations that result in a point
deduction for an application submitted
under this NOFA will not be counted
against future applications for FA
through the NACA Program. 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 years indicating
that the Applicant has discriminated on
the basis of race, color, national origin,
disability, age, marital status, receipt of
income from public assistance, religion,
or sex.
(c) 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. In the case of tied scores,
Applicants will be ranked according to
each Applicant’s combined scores in the
Market Analysis, Business Strategy, and
Community Development Performance
& Effective Use sections; then the score
on the Financial Health and Viability
section; then the score on the
Management section. In addition, the
Fund shall consider the institutional
and geographic diversity of Applicants
when making its funding decisions.
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5. Insured Native 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 an FA award 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 (i) improvement in status is
imminent and such improvement is
expected to occur within the next nine
months 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 an FA award and the
obligations of an Assistance Agreement
related to such an FA award.
6. Award Notification: Each Applicant
will be informed of the Fund’s award
decision either through a Notice of
Award (NOA) if selected for an award
(see NOA section, below) or written
declination if not selected for an award.
The Fund will notify Awardees by email using the addresses maintained in
the Awardee’s myCDFIFund account.
Each Applicant that is not selected for
an award, for 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 its available resources.
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, 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
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 website. There is no right to
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appeal the Fund’s award decisions. The
Fund’s award decisions are final.
VI. Award Administration Information
A. Notice of Award (NOA): The Fund
will signify its conditional selection of
an Applicant as an Awardee by
delivering a signed NOA to the
Applicant through its myCDFIFund
account.
The NOA 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 NOA and return it to the Fund. By
executing a NOA, 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, 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 NOA or
take such other actions as it deems
appropriate. Moreover, by executing a
NOA, 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 NOA 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 NOA, 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.
1. Failure to Meet Reporting
Requirements: If an Awardee or an
Affiliate of the Awardee is a prior
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 NOA, 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
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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 NOA 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
NOA 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 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
VerDate Nov<24>2008
16:07 Aug 19, 2009
Jkt 217001
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 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 NOA 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 is a
prior 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 or
determine not to enter 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 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 or determine not
to enter into an Assistance Agreement.
5. 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 years, in any proceeding instituted
against the Awardee in, by, or before
any court, governmental, or
PO 00000
Frm 00107
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
42153
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. TA-only Sponsoring Entity,
FA-only, and FA/TA Assistance
Agreements under this NOFA generally
will have three-year performance
periods; TA-only Assistance
Agreements generally will have twoyear 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
requested documentation, within the
deadlines set by the Fund.
Each FA Awardee must provide the
Fund with a certificate of good standing
(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; however
Financial Reports are not required of
Sponsoring Entities); (ii) Institution
Level Report; (iii) Transaction Level
Report (for Awardees receiving FA
awards); (iv) Financial Status Report
form SF–269/SF–425 (for Awardees
receiving TA grants); (v) Uses of
Financial Assistance (for Awardees
receiving FA awards); (vi) Explanation
of Noncompliance (as applicable); and
(vii) 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
E:\FR\FM\20AUN1.SGM
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42154
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 160 / Thursday, August 20, 2009 / Notices
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 entities or 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 compliance with the
requirements set forth in the Assistance
Agreement and to assess the impact of
the NACA Program. The Institution
Level Report and the Transaction Level
Report must be submitted through the
Fund’s web-based data collection
system, the Community Investment
Impact System (CIIS). The Financial
Reports 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 three
days prior to the application deadline.
The Fund will not respond to questions
or provide support concerning the
applications that are received after 5
p.m. ET on said dates, until after the
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 responses on its Web site
to questions of general applicability
regarding the NACA Program.
B. The Fund’s contact information is
as follows:
TABLE 5—CONTACT INFORMATION
[Fax number for all offices: 202–622–7754]
Type of question
Telephone number (not toll free)
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
NACA Program .............................................................................................
CDFI Certification .........................................................................................
Compliance Monitoring and Evaluation ........................................................
Information Technology Support ..................................................................
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. Communication with the CDFI
Fund: The Fund will use the
myCDFIFund Internet interface to
communicate 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/
accessingciis.pdf.
VerDate Nov<24>2008
16:07 Aug 19, 2009
Jkt 217001
202–622–6355
202–622–6355
202–622–6330
202–622–2455
...................................
...................................
...................................
...................................
E-mail addresses
cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov.
cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov.
cme@cdfi.treas.gov.
IThelp@cdfi.treas.gov.
VIII. Information Sessions and
Outreach
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
The Fund may conduct webinars or
host information sessions for
organizations interested in applying to,
or learning about, the Fund’s programs.
For further information, please visit the
Fund’s Web site at https://
www.cdfifund.gov.
SUMMARY: The Department of the
Treasury, as part of its continuing effort
to reduce paperwork and respondent
burden, invites the general public and
other Federal agencies to take this
opportunity to comment on proposed
and/or continuing information
collections, as required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is
soliciting comments concerning Form
XXXX, Tax Return Preparer Complaint.
DATES: Written comments should be
received on or before October 19, 2009
to be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments
to R. Joseph Durbala, Internal Revenue
Service, Room 6129, 1111 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20224.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of the form and instructions
should be directed to Dawn Bidne, at
(202) 622–3933, or at Internal Revenue
Service, Room 6129, 1111 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20224,
Authority: 12 U.S.C. 4703, 4704, 4706,
4707, 4717; 12 CFR part 1805.
Dated: August 13, 2009.
Donna J. Gambrell,
Director, Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. E9–19955 Filed 8–19–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–70–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request for Form XXXX
AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Treasury.
PO 00000
Frm 00108
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
E:\FR\FM\20AUN1.SGM
20AUN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 160 (Thursday, August 20, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42145-42154]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-19955]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
Funding Opportunity Title: Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA)
inviting applications for the FY 2010 Funding Round of the Native
American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program.
Announcement Type: Announcement of funding opportunity.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 21.020
DATES: Applications for Financial Assistance (FA) and/or Technical
Assistance (TA) awards through the FY 2010 Funding Round of the NACA
Program must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), October 7, 2009.
Executive Summary: Subject to funding availability, this NOFA is
issued in connection with the FY 2010 Funding Round of the NACA Program
(the FY 2010 Funding Round). The NACA Program is administered by the
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (the Fund).
I. Funding Opportunity Description
A. Through the NACA Program, the Fund provides: (i) FA awards to
CDFIs that have at least 50 percent of their activities directed toward
serving Native American, Alaskan Native, and/or Native Hawaiian
Communities (Native 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
[[Page 42146]]
Populations, and (ii) TA grants to Native CDFIs, entities proposing to
become Native CDFIs, and to Native organizations, Tribes, and Tribal
organizations that propose to create Native CDFIs (Sponsoring
Entities), in order to build their capacity to meet the community
development and capital access needs of their existing or proposed
Target Markets and/or to become certified Native 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 NACA 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: Through this NOFA, and subject to funding
availability, the Fund expects that it may award approximately $12
million in appropriated funds in the FY 2010 Funding Round. The Fund
reserves the right to award in excess of $12 million in appropriated
funds to Applicants in the FY 2010 Funding Round, provided that the
funds are available and the Fund deems it appropriate.
B. Availability of Funds for the FY 2010 Funding Round: Funds for
the FY 2010 Funding Round have not yet been appropriated. If funds are
not appropriated for the FY 2010 Funding Round, there will not be a FY
2010 Funding Round. Further, it is possible that if funds are
appropriated for the FY 2010 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 2010 Funding Round 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 funds through the FY 2010 Funding Round of the CDFI Program.
C. Types of Awards: An Applicant may submit an application either
for: (i) A FA-only award; (ii) a 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
five categories: (i) Financial Products; (ii) Financial Services; (iii)
Development Services; (iv) Loan Loss Reserves, Capital Reserves, or
other activities/uses that support the activities in the Applicant's
Comprehensive Business Plan; and/or (v) 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 (including administrative funds used to carry out
Financial Products). Financial Services means checking and savings
accounts, certified checks, automated teller machines services, deposit
taking, remittances, safe deposit box services, and other similar
services (including administrative funds used to carry out Financial
Services). Development Services means activities that promote community
development and are integral to the Applicant's provisions of Financial
Products and Financial Services (including administrative funds used to
carry out Development Services) including, for example, financial or
credit counseling, housing and homeownership counseling (pre- and post-
), self-employment technical assistance, entrepreneurship training, and
financial management skill-building. Loan Loss Reserves means funds
that the Applicant will set aside in the form of cash reserves, 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 (including
administrative funds used to carry out Loan Loss Reserves). 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 (including administrative funds used to carry out Capital
Reserves). Operations means funds that the Applicant will use to carry
out its Comprehensive Business Plan, and/or for related purposes that
the Fund deems appropriate, that are not used to carry out or
administer any of the foregoing eligible FA uses. 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 a 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 a FA award to an
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. FA awards must be used to support the Applicant's
activities; FA awards cannot be used to support the activities of, or
otherwise be ``passed through'' to, third-party entities, whether
Affiliates, Subsidiaries, or others, without the prior written
permission of the Fund.
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, or 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
[[Page 42147]]
Internet connectivity and related management information systems; (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 Native CDFI or
to create a Native CDFI.
D. 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.
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 following criteria:
Table 1--FA Applicant Criteria
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FA applicant category Applicant criteria Applicant may apply for: Application deadline
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Native CDFI................... A Certified/Certifiable Up to and including 5:00 p.m. ET, October
Native CDFI that meets all $750,000 in FA funds, and 7, 2009.
other eligibility up to and including
requirements described in $150,000 in TA funds.
this NOFA.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: 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. TA Applicants: All Applicants for TA grants through this NOFA
must meet the following criteria:
Table 2--TA Applicant Criteria
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applicant type Criteria of applicant Applicant can apply for: Application due date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TA-Only.............. A Certified Native CDFI, a Up to $150,000 for capacity- 5:00 p.m. ET, October
Certifiable Native CDFI, an building activities. 7, 2009.
Emerging Native CDFI, or a
Sponsoring Entity.
FA/TA................ A Certified Native CDFI or a Up to $150,000 in TA for 5:00 p.m. ET, October
Certifiable Native CDFI. capacity-building activities. 7, 2009.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. Native CDFI Certification Requirements: For purposes of this
NOFA, eligible FA Applicants include Certified Native CDFIs and
Certifiable Native CDFIs; eligible TA Applicants include Certified
Native CDFIs, Certifiable Native CDFIs, Emerging Native CDFIs, and
Sponsoring Entities, defined as follows:
(a) Certified Native CDFIs: For purposes of this NOFA, a Certified
Native CDFI is an entity that has received official notification from
the Fund that it meets all CDFI certification requirements as of the
date of publication of this NOFA, the certification of which has not
expired and that has not been notified by the Fund that its
certification has been terminated. In cases where the Fund provided
Native 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 Native CDFIs meet this
eligibility requirement. When applicable, each such Applicant must
submit a Certification of Material Events form to the Fund not later
than September 16, 2009 (see Table 3--FY 2010 NACA Program Deadlines).
The Certification of Material Events form can be found on the Fund's
Web site at https://www.CDFIfund.gov.
(b) Certifiable Native CDFIs: For purposes of this NOFA, a
Certifiable Native CDFI is an entity from which the Fund has received a
complete CDFI Certification application no later than September 16,
2009 (see Table 3--FY 2010 NACA Program Deadlines), evidencing that the
Applicant meets the requirements to be certified as a Native CDFI. The
CDFI Certification application can be found on the Fund's Web site at
https://www.CDFIfund.gov. If the Fund is unable to certify the
organization as a Native CDFI based on the CDFI certification
application submitted to the Fund, it is in the sole discretion of the
Fund to terminate the Notice of Award and the award commitment. While a
Certifiable Native CDFI may be conditionally selected for a FA award
(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 officially certified the organization as a Native CDFI.
(c) Emerging Native CDFIs: For purposes of this NOFA, an Emerging
Native CDFI is an entity that demonstrates to the Fund's satisfaction
that it has a reasonable plan to be a certified Native CDFI within two
calendar years after both entities enter into an Assistance Agreement
or such other date selected by the Fund. Emerging Native CDFIs may
apply for TA grants only and are not eligible to apply for FA awards.
Each Emerging Native CDFI selected to receive a TA grant will be
required, pursuant to its Assistance Agreement with the Fund, to become
certified as a Native CDFI by a certain date.
(d) Sponsoring Entities: For the purposes of this NOFA, a
Sponsoring Entity is an entity that proposes to create a separate legal
entity that will become a certified Native CDFI. For purposes of this
NOFA, Sponsoring Entities include: (a) A Tribe, Tribal entity, Alaska
Native Village, Village Corporation, Regional Corporation, Non-Profit
Regional Corporation/Association, or Inter-Tribal or Inter-Village
organization; or (b) an organization whose primary mission is to serve
a
[[Page 42148]]
Native Community including, but not limited to, an Urban Indian Center,
Tribally Controlled Community College, community development
corporation (CDC), training or education organization, or Chamber of
Commerce, and that primarily serves a Native Community (meaning, at
least 50 percent of its activities are directed toward the Native
Community). Sponsoring Entities may only apply for TA grants; they are
not eligible to apply for FA awards. Each Sponsoring Entity that is
selected to receive a TA grant will be required, pursuant to its
Assistance Agreement with the Fund, to create a legal entity by a
certain date that will, in turn, seek Native CDFI certification and to
transfer available award funds to that Native CDFI upon certification.
4. Limitation on Awards: An Applicant may receive only one FA award
through the FY 2010 Funding Round of the CDFI Program or the NACA
Program. No Applicant may also receive a FY 2010 Bank Enterprise Award
(BEA) Program award (subject to certain limitations; refer to the
Regulations at 12 CFR 1805.102). An NACA Program Applicant, its
Subsidiaries, or Affiliates also may apply for and receive a tax credit
allocation through the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program, but only
to the extent that the activities approved for NACA Program awards are
different from those activities for which the Applicant receives a NMTC
Program allocation.
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 an entity otherwise identified as an Affiliate by
the Applicant in its funding application under this NOFA. Prior
Awardees should note the following:
1. $5 million Funding Cap: Congress waived the $5 million funding
cap for the FY 2009 Funding Round, and it is possible that the $5
million funding cap may be waived for the FY 2010 Funding Round as
well. As of the publication date of this NOFA, however, such a waiver
has not been enacted into law. Accordingly, the Fund is currently
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 October 1, 2007 and October 1, 2010 (which is the anticipated
date that the Fund will issue Notices of Award for the FY 2010 Funding
Round). However, in light of the possibility of a waiver of the $5
million funding cap, an Applicant who is otherwise eligible under this
NOFA, and is requesting an award amount that would cause the Applicant
to exceed the $5 million funding cap, should submit an Application
under this NOFA. The Fund will assess applicability of the $5 million
funding cap during the award selection phase based upon whether the
Congressional waiver has been enacted at that time.
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 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 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 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 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 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 Awardee under any
Fund program if the Applicant has a balance of undisbursed award funds
(as defined 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
[[Page 42149]]
to this NOFA if an Affiliate of the Applicant is a prior 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 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 FY 2004, 2005, and 2006 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 2004,
2005, 2006, and 2007 awards that remain undisbursed as of the
application deadline of this NOFA. The term ``Native Initiatives
Funding Programs'' refers to the NACA Program and all prior Native
American funding programs sponsored by the Fund, 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.
To calculate total includable BEA/CDFI/NI awards: amounts that are
undisbursed as of the application deadline of this NOFA cannot exceed
five percent 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 2010 Funding Round.
The ``undisbursed award funds'' calculation does not include: (i)
Tax credit allocation authority made available through the 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.
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). An
Applicant that is unsure about the disbursement status of any prior
award should contact the Fund's Senior Resource Manager via email at
CDFI.disburseinquiries@cdfi.treas.gov.
C. Matching Funds: Congress waived the matching funds requirements
for the FY 2009 Funding Round, and it is possible that the matching
funds requirements may be waived for the FY 2010 Funding Round as well.
As of the publication date of this NOFA, however, such a waiver has not
been enacted into law. Accordingly, the Fund encourages Applicants to
include matching funds documentation as instructed in the application;
if the matching funds waiver is enacted, the Fund will not consider
matching funds documentation. An Applicant that does not include
matching funds documentation in its application runs the risk of being
determined to be ineligible for funding under the FY 2010 Funding Round
if said matching funds waiver is not enacted. In light of the
possibility of a waiver of the matching funds requirements, an
Applicant who would not satisfy the matching funds requirements but is
otherwise eligible under this NOFA should submit an application under
this NOFA. The Fund will assess applicability of the matching funds
requirements during the award selection phase based upon whether the
Congressional waiver has been enacted at that time.
Accordingly, subject to the immediately preceding paragraph:
1. 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 provided
by the Fund. For example, if an Applicant is requesting a FA award from
the Fund, the Applicant must show that it has obtained matching funds
through commitment(s) from non-Federal sources that are at least equal
to the amount requested from the Fund. Applicants cannot use matching
funds from a prior FA award under the NACA or CDFI Program or under
another Federal grant or award program 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 NACA or 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 NACA or CDFI Program funds or other Federal funds. For the
purposes of this NOFA, BEA Program awards may be used 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 website for further information.
2. 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. An Applicant for a FA award 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, 2008, 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, 2011 (with required documentation of such
receipt received by the Fund not later than March 31, 2011), or to
grant an extension of such matching funds deadline for specific
Applicants selected to receive FA awards, if the Fund deems it
appropriate. For any Applicant that demonstrates that it has less than
100 percent of matching funds in-hand or
[[Page 42150]]
firmly committed as of the application deadline, the Fund will evaluate
the Applicant's ability to raise the remaining matching funds by March
14, 2011.
3. Matching Funds Terms Defined; Required Documentation. (a)
``Matching funds in-hand'' means 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 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.
4. The Fund may contact the matching funds source to discuss the
matching funds and the documentation provided by the Applicant. 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 a
substitute for the ineligible matching funds; provided, however, that
(i) the Applicant must provide acceptable alternative matching funds
documentation within two 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.
5. Special Rule for Insured Credit Unions: 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 has occurred over the Applicant's most recent
fiscal year; (ii) the annual average of such increases that has
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, as provided in the Regulations. 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,
2008, and December 31, 2009, as demonstrated by the corresponding NCUA
report.
IV. Application and Submission Information
A. 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.
B. Form of Application Submission: Applicants must submit
applications under this NOFA electronically. Applications sent by mail,
facsimile, or other form will not be permitted, except in circumstances
that the Fund, in its sole discretion, deems acceptable.
C. Applications Submitted via myCDFIFund: Applicants must submit
applications under this NOFA electronically, through myCDFIFund, the
Fund's Internet-based interface. Please note that the Fund will not
accept applications through Grants.gov. Applications sent by mail,
facsimile, or other form will not be accepted except in circumstances
approved by the Fund, in its sole discretion. The Fund will post to its
Web site at https://www.cdfifund.gov instructions for accessing and
submitting the application as soon as they become available.
D. Application Content Requirements: Detailed application content
requirements, including the required elements of the Comprehensive
Business Plan, are found in the application and guidance. Each
Applicant must provide, as part of its application submission, a Dun
and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number pursuant
to OMB guidance (68 FR 38402). Applicants should allow sufficient time
for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and/or Dun and Bradstreet to
respond to inquiries and/or requests for identification numbers. In
addition, each application must include a valid and current Employer
Identification Number (EIN), with a letter or other documentation from
the IRS confirming the Applicant's EIN. An electronic application that
does not include an EIN is incomplete and cannot be transmitted to the
Fund. Once an application is submitted, the Applicant will not be
allowed to change any element of the application. The preceding
sentences do 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).
E. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), an
agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and an
individual is not required to respond to a collection of information,
unless it displays a valid OMB control number. Pursuant to the
Paperwork Reduction Act, the application has been assigned the
following control number: 1559-0025.
F. Application Deadlines: 1. The following are the deadlines for
submission of the NACA Program Funding Application, the CDFI
Certification Application, and the Certification of Material Events
form:
[[Page 42151]]
Table 3--FY 2010 NACA Program Deadlines
[All 5 p.m. ET deadlines]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Document Submission deadline Last date to contact Fund
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NACA Program Funding Application... Wednesday, October 7, 2009..... Monday, October 5, 2009.
CDFI Certification Application..... Wednesday, September 16, 2009.. Monday, September 14, 2009.
Certification of Material Events Wednesday, September 16, 2009.. Monday, September 14, 2009.
Form.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All NACA Program funding applications must be electronic and
submitted through myCDFIFund. 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.
G. Intergovernmental Review: Not applicable.
H. 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 indicated in
the following table:
Table 4--Application Scoring Criteria
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scoring
Application sections points
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Market Analysis............................................... 25
Business Strategy............................................. 25
Community Development Performance & Effective Use............. 20
Management.................................................... 20
Financial Health & Viability.................................. 10
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Technical Assistance Proposal: Any Applicant applying for a TA
grant, either alone or in conjunction with a request for an 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 grant (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
Native 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 plan to become certified (as specified above in
Section III, Eligibility Information; A.3. Native 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 grant.
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.
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, or 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.
(b) Evaluating Prior Award Performance: In the case of an Applicant
that has previously received
[[Page 42152]]
funding 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 the current calendar year 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
2007, 2008, or 2009 FA award (if the Applicant is applying for an FA
award under this NOFA) if (A) the amount of deobligated funds is at
least $200,000 and (B) the deobligation occurred within the 12 months
prior to the application deadline under this NOFA. Any award
deobligations that result in a point deduction for an application
submitted under this NOFA will not be counted against future
applications for FA through the NACA Program. 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 years indicating that the Applicant has discriminated on the
basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, marital status,
receipt of income from public assistance, religion, or sex.
(c) 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. In the case of tied scores, Applicants will be ranked
according to each Applicant's combined scores in the Market Analysis,
Business Strategy, and Community Development Performance & Effective
Use sections; then the score on the Financial Health and Viability
section; then the score on the Management section. In addition, the
Fund shall consider the institutional and geographic diversity of
Applicants when making its funding decisions.
5. Insured Native 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 an FA award 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 (i) improvement in status is imminent
and such improvement is expected to occur within the next nine months
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 an FA
award and the obligations of an Assistance Agreement related to such an
FA award.
6. Award Notification: Each Applicant will be informed of the
Fund's award decision either through a Notice of Award (NOA) if
selected for an award (see NOA section, below) or written declination
if not selected for an award. The Fund will notify Awardees by e-mail
using the addresses maintained in the Awardee's myCDFIFund account.
Each Applicant that is not selected for an award, for 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 its available resources.
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, 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 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 website. 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 (NOA): The Fund will signify its conditional
selection of an Applicant as an Awardee by delivering a signed NOA to
the Applicant through its myCDFIFund account.
The NOA 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 NOA and return it to the
Fund. By executing a NOA, 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, 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 NOA or take such other actions as it deems
appropriate. Moreover, by executing a NOA, 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 NOA 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 NOA, 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.
1. Failure to Meet Reporting Requirements: If an Awardee or an
Affiliate of the Awardee is a prior 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 NOA, 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
[[Page 42153]]
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 NOA 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 NOA 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 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 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 NOA 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 is a prior 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 or determine not to enter 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 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 or determine not to enter into an Assistance Agreement.
5. 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 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. TA-only Sponsoring
Entity, 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 requested
documentation, within the deadlines set by the Fund.
Each FA Awardee must provide the Fund with a certificate of good
standing (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; however Financial Reports are not required of Sponsoring
Entities); (ii) Institution Level Report; (iii) Transaction Level
Report (for Awardees receiving FA awards); (iv) Financial Status Report
form SF-269/SF-425 (for Awardees receiving TA grants); (v) Uses of
Financial Assistance (for Awardees receiving FA awards); (vi)
Explanation of Noncompliance (as applicable); and (vii) 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
[[Page 42154]]
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
entities or 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 compliance with the
requirements set forth in the Assistance Agreement and to assess the
impact of the NACA Program. The Institution Level Report and the
Transaction Level Report must be submitted through the Fund's web-based
data collection system, the Community Investment Impact System (CIIS).
The Financial Reports 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 three days prior to the application deadline. The Fund will not
respond to questions or provide support concerning the applications
that are received after 5 p.m. ET on said dates, until after the
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 responses on its
Web site to questions of general applicability regarding the NACA
Program.
B. The Fund's contact information is as follows:
Table 5--Contact Information
[Fax number for all offices: 202-622-7754]
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Telephone number (not toll
Type of question free) E-mail addresses
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NACA Program........................... 202-622-6355.............. cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov.
CDFI Certification..................... 202-622-6355.............. cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov.
Compliance Monitoring and Evaluation... 202-622-6330.............. cme@cdfi.treas.gov<