Funds Availability (NOFA) Inviting Applications for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program FY 2012 Funding Round (the FY 2012 Funding Round), 68831-68841 [2011-28684]
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 215 / Monday, November 7, 2011 / Notices
2010, Docket No. EP 558 (Sub-No. 14)
(STB served Oct. 3, 2011). This revenue
adequacy standard was applied to each
Class I railroad. One carrier, Union
Pacific Railroad Company, was found to
be revenue adequate for 2010.
The decision in this proceeding is
posted on the Board’s Web site at
https://www.stb.dot.gov. Copies of the
decision may be purchased by
contacting the Office of Public
Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and
Compliance at (202) 245–0238.
Assistance for the hearing impaired is
available through FIRS at (800) 877–
8339.
This action will not significantly
affect either the quality of the human
environment or the conservation of
energy resources.
Decided: November 2, 2011.
By the Board, Chairman Elliott, Vice
Chairman Begeman, and Commissioner
Mulvey.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2011–28748 Filed 11–4–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund
Funds Availability (NOFA) Inviting
Applications for the Community
Development Financial Institutions
(CDFI) Program FY 2012 Funding
Round (the FY 2012 Funding Round)
Announcement Type: Announcement
of funding opportunity.
Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) Number: 21.020.
DATES: Applications for Financial
Assistance (FA) or Technical Assistance
(TA) awards through the FY 2012
Funding Round must be received by
midnight, Eastern Time (ET), January
11, 2012.
SUMMARY: Executive Summary: Subject
to funding availability, this NOFA is
issued in connection with the FY 2012
Funding Round of the CDFI Program,
administered by the Community
Development Financial Institutions
(CDFI) Fund.
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I. Funding Opportunity Description
A. Award Requirements
Through the CDFI Program, the CDFI
Fund provides FA awards and TA
grants. FA awards are made to certified
CDFIs that complete and submit the
CDFI Program Application and meet the
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requirements set forth in this NOFA,
subject to funding availability. In FY
2012, subject to the availability of
funding, the CDFI Fund will also make
FA awards under the Healthy Food
Financing Initiative (HFFI–FA) to
certified CDFIs that meet the
requirements set forth in this NOFA. TA
grants are made to certified CDFIs and
entities proposing to become certified
that complete and submit the CDFI
Program Application and meet the
requirements set forth in this NOFA.
B. Program Regulations
The regulations governing the CDFI
Program are found at 12 CFR parts 1805
and 1815 (the Regulations) and provide
guidance on evaluation criteria and
other requirements. Details regarding
application content requirements are
found in the Application and related
materials. Each capitalized term in this
NOFA is more fully defined in this
NOFA, the Regulations, or the
Application, and the CDFI Fund
encourages Applicants to review the
Regulations in addition to this NOFA.
C. The CDFI Fund reserves the right
to fund, in whole or in part, any, all, or
none of the applications submitted in
response to this NOFA. The CDFI Fund
reserves the right to reallocate funds
from the amount that is anticipated to
be available under this NOFA to other
CDFI Fund programs, particularly if the
CDFI Fund determines that the number
of awards made under this NOFA is
fewer than projected. In addition, the
CDFI Fund invites applications that
propose innovative Financial Products
and Financial Services to address the
current difficult economic conditions of
our nation.
D. Coordination With Broader
Community Development Strategies
Consistent with Federal efforts to
promote community revitalization, it is
important for communities to develop a
comprehensive neighborhood
revitalization strategy that addresses
neighborhood assets that are essential to
transforming distressed neighborhoods
into healthy and vibrant communities of
opportunity. Furthermore, only through
the development of comprehensive
neighborhood revitalization plans that
embrace the coordinated use of
programs and resources in order to
effectively address the interrelated
needs within a community will the
broader vision of neighborhood
transformation occur. Although not a
requirement for participating in the
CDFI Program, the Federal government
believes that a CDFI will be most
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successful when it is part of, and
contributing to, an area’s broader
neighborhood revitalization strategy.
II. Award Information
A. Funding Availability
1. FY 2012 Funding Round
Subject to funding availability, the
CDFI Fund expects to award, through
this NOFA, approximately $123 million
in appropriated funds in the following
ways: (i) $15 million in FA awards to
Category I/SECA Applicants; (ii) $105
million in FA awards to Category II/
Core Applicants; and (iii) $3 million in
TA grants to TA Applicants. In addition,
through this NOFA and the Native
American CDFI Assistance (NACA)
Program NOFA, the CDFI Fund expects
to award approximately $25 million
total in FA awards to HFFI Applicants
under the CDFI and NACA Programs.
The CDFI Fund reserves the right to
award more or less than the amounts
cited above in each category in the FY
2012 Funding Round, based upon
available funding and other appropriate
factors.
2. Availability of Funds for the FY 2012
Funding Round
Funds for the FY 2012 Funding
Round have not yet been appropriated.
If funds are not appropriated for the
CDFI Program, there will not be a FY
2012 Funding Round. If funds are
appropriated, the amount of such funds
may be greater or less than the amounts
set forth above. If funds for the FY 2012
Funding Round for the Native American
CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program are
not appropriated, entities eligible to
apply for CDFI Program funds that
would have applied for NACA Program
funding, are encouraged to apply for
CDFI Program funds through this
NOFA.
B. Types of Awards
An Applicant may submit an
application for a TA award or an FA
award, which includes CDFI Program
FA and HFFI–FA.
1. FA Awards
FA awards provide flexible financial
support to CDFIs so they may achieve
the strategies outlined in their
Comprehensive Business Plans. FA
awards can be used in the following six
categories: (i) Financial Products; (ii)
Financial Services; (iii) Development
Services; (iv) Loan Loss Reserves; (v)
Capital Reserves; and/or (vi) Operations.
For purposes of this NOFA, the six
categories mean:
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TABLE 1—SIX CATEGORIES OF FA
(i) Financial Products ..................
(ii) Financial Services ..................
(iii) Development Services ..........
(iv) Loan Loss Reserves .............
(v) Capital Reserves ....................
(vi) Operations .............................
Loans, grants, equity investments, and similar financing activities, including the purchase of loans that the
Applicant originates and the provision of loan guarantees, in the Applicant’s Target Market, or for related
purposes that the CDFI Fund deems appropriate (including administrative funds used to carry out Financial
Products).
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).
Activities that promote community development and help the Applicant provide its Financial Products and Financial Services, including financial or credit counseling, housing and homeownership counseling (pre- and
post-), self-employment technical assistance, entrepreneurship training, and financial management skillbuilding (including administrative funds used to carry out Development Services).
Funds 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 the Target Market, or for related purposes that the CDFI
Fund deems appropriate (including administrative funds used to carry out Loan Loss Reserves).
Funds set aside as 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 CDFI Fund deems appropriate (including administrative funds used to carry out Capital Reserves).
Funds used to carry out the Comprehensive Business Plan, and/or for related purposes the CDFI Fund
deems appropriate, that are not used to carry out or administer any of the foregoing eligible FA uses.
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The CDFI Fund may provide FA
awards in the form of equity
investments (including secondary
capital in the case of certain Insured
Credit Unions), grants, loans, deposits,
credit union shares, or any combination
thereof. The CDFI Fund reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to provide
an FA award in a form and amount
other than that which the Applicant
requests; however, the award amount
will not exceed the Applicant’s award
request as stated in its application. 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,
transferred, or co-awarded to, thirdparty entities, whether Affiliates,
Subsidiaries, or others. This includes
certified CDFI bank holding companies
that intend to transfer FA awards to
their banks. Such transfers are not
permitted. The entity that is to carry out
the responsibilities of the award and
deploy the award funds must be the
entity that applies for the award.
2. Healthy Food Financing Initiative
(HFFI) and HFFI–FA Awards
(a) Overview. The United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA),
Health and Human Services (HHS), and
the United States Department of the
Treasury are working together to
support projects that increase access to
healthy, affordable food in low-income
neighborhoods that lack access to
healthy food options. As part of a
coordinated effort called the Healthy
Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), these
three departments will aim to expand
the availability of nutritious food
through the establishment of healthy
food retail outlets, including developing
and equipping grocery stores, small
retailers, corner stores, and farmers
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markets to help revitalize
neighborhoods that currently lack these
options.
In addition to the CDFI and NACA
Programs, the HFFI includes: (i) The
New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)
Program, also administered by the CDFI
Fund; (ii) the Community and Economic
Development (CED) Program, which
HHS administers; and (iii) several
programs that USDA administers
including, among others, the Business
and Industry (B&I) Program and the
Intermediary Relending Program (IRP).
Each of these programs provides a
unique mechanism to support initiatives
aimed at increasing access to healthy
food. When these programs are
combined, public dollars can act far
more effectively as a market catalyst by
providing the full range of financing to
local actors—a key step to addressing
the problem of limited access to
affordable and nutritious food. Instead
of approaching this problem through
separate agency and program silos, the
HFFI will use a collaborative approach
involving the resources of all three
agencies.
For more information about this
initiative, please visit the HFFI Web site
at https://www.usda.gov/fooddeserts.
(b) HFFI–FA Awards. In FY 2012,
subject to appropriations, the CDFI
Fund may award up to $25 million of
HFFI–FA awards through the CDFI and
NACA Programs. The CDFI Fund
expects to make HFFI–FA awards of up
to $3.5 million to certified CDFIs that
submit and complete the CDFI/NACA
Program Application and the HFFI–FA
Supplemental Questionnaire. The
HFFI–FA Supplemental Questionnaire
will only be sent to those applicants
indicating in their FY 2012 application
that they intend to apply for an HFFI–
FA award. The CDFI Fund reserves the
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right to make awards less than or greater
than $3.5 million based upon the
questionnaires received and the funds
available. The FY 2012 HFFI–FA
supplemental questionnaire will not
likely be finalized and made available to
prospective applicants until after the FY
2012 CDFI Program Application
deadline. However, a copy of the FY
2011 HFFI–FA supplemental
questionnaire is available for review on
the CDFI Fund’s Web site at http//
www.cdfifund.gov.
HFFI–FA awards will be provided as
a supplement to FA awards; therefore,
only those applicants that have been
selected to receive an FA award under
the FY 2012 CDFI or NACA Funding
Round will be eligible to receive an
HFFI–FA award. Such applicants will
be rated and scored separately based
upon the HFFI–FA supplemental
questionnaire responses. HFFI–FA
Applicants will be rated, among other
elements, on the extent of community
need, the quality of their HFFI–FA
strategy, and their capacity to execute
that strategy. The CDFI Fund will
collaborate with the other Federal
agencies involved in the HFFI prior to
making final award selections. The CDFI
Fund may, at its discretion, perform
additional due diligence on Applicants
for this initiative. HFFI–FA awards must
be used to support the Applicant’s
activities; the awards cannot be used to
support the activities of, or otherwise be
passed through, transferred, or coawarded to, third-party entities, whether
Affiliates, Subsidiaries, or others. This
includes the transfer of an award from
a Bank Holding Company to a Bank
subsidiary.
3. TA Grants
(a) The CDFI Fund provides TA as a
grant and reserves the right, in its sole
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discretion, to provide a grant for uses
and amounts other than that which the
Applicant requests; however, the grant
amount will not exceed the Applicant’s
request as stated in its application and
the applicable budget chart.
(b) For purposes of this NOFA, TA
eligible uses are: (i) Personnel/salary;
(ii) personnel/fringe; (iii) professional
services; (iv) travel; (v) training; (vi)
equipment; (vii) materials/supplies; and
(viii) other costs. (Please see the
Application for details on TA uses.) TA
grants must be used to support the
Applicant’s capacity building activities.
TA grants cannot be used to support the
activities of, or otherwise be passed
through, transferred, or co-awarded to,
third-party entities, whether Affiliates,
Subsidiaries, or others. This includes
the transfer of an award from a Bank
Holding Company to a Bank subsidiary.
C. Assistance Agreement
Each Awardee under this NOFA must
sign an Assistance Agreement before the
CDFI Fund will disburse an award or
grant. The Assistance Agreement
contains the Award’s terms and
conditions. For further information, see
Section VI.A of this NOFA.
III. Eligibility Information
A. Eligible Applicants
The Regulations specify the eligibility
requirements each Applicant must meet
in order to be eligible to apply for
assistance under this NOFA. CDFI
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Program Applicants may apply as either
an FA applicant or a TA applicant, but
not both. If an Applicant applies for
both types of awards, it is in the sole
discretion of the CDFI Fund to
disqualify the Applicant from
competing for either an FA award or a
TA grant or to decide to give the
Applicant either an FA award or a TA
grant.
1. FA Applicant Categories
All FA Applicants must meet the
criteria listed in Table 2. (Applicants
requesting FA funding in excess of the
allowable amount for Category I will be
classified as Category II Applicants,
regardless of their total assets, years in
operation, or prior CDFI Fund awards.)
TABLE 2—FA APPLICANT CRITERIA
FA applicant category
Applicant criteria
Applicant may apply for:
Category I/Small and/or Emerging CDFI Assistance (SECA).
(1) Is a Certified/Certifiable CDFI ....................
(2) As of the end of the Applicant’s most recent fiscal year end or September 30, 2011,
has total assets as follows:
• Insured Depository Institutions and Depository Institution Holding Companies:
up to $250 million
• Insured Credit Unions: up to $10 million
• Venture capital funds: up to $10 million
• Other CDFIs: up to $5 million
OR
(3) Began operations * on or after January 1,
2008
A Certified/Certifiable CDFI that meets all
other eligibility requirements described in
this NOFA.
Up to and including $600,000 in FA funds and
up to and including $3.5 million in FA funds
under the HFFI–FA.
Category II/Core .................................................
Up to and including $2 million in FA funds;
and up to and including $3.5 million in FA
funds under the HFFI–FA.
* The term ‘‘began operations’’ is defined as the financing activity start date indicated in the Applicant’s myCDFIFund account.
2. TA Applicants
All TA Applicants must meet the
following criteria:
TABLE 3—TA APPLICANT CRITERIA
Applicant type
Criteria of applicant
TA ........................................
A Certified CDFI, a Certifiable CDFI, or an Emerging
CDFI.
3. CDFI Certification Requirements
For purposes of this NOFA, eligible
FA Applicants include Certified CDFIs
Applicant can apply for:
Up to $100,000 for capacity-building activities.
and Certifiable CDFIs; eligible TA
Applicants include Certified CDFIs,
Certifiable CDFIs, and Emerging CDFIs,
defined as follows:
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TABLE 4—CDFI CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS DEFINITIONS
(a) Certified CDFI ...............................................
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An entity the CDFI Fund has officially notified that it meets all CDFI certification requirements
as of this NOFA’s publication date. CDFIs that have received official notification from the
CDFI Fund that their certification has expired or been terminated are not eligible to apply as
Certified. If the CDFI Fund has provided certified CDFIs with written notification that their
certifications had been extended, the CDFI Fund will consider the extended certification
dates to determine whether those certified CDFIs meet this eligibility requirement.
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TABLE 4—CDFI CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS DEFINITIONS—Continued
(b) Certifiable CDFI .............................................
(c) Emerging CDFI ..............................................
(d) Material Events Form ....................................
(e) Other Targeted Populations as Target Markets.
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4. Limitation on Awards
An Applicant may receive only one
award under this FY 2012 NOFA. An
Applicant may receive only one award
through the FY 2012 CDFI Program
Funding Round or the FY 2012 NACA
Program Funding Round.
B. Prior Awardees
For purposes of this section, the CDFI
Fund will consider an Affiliate to be any
entity that meets the definition of
Affiliate in the Regulations or any entity
otherwise identified as an Affiliate by
the Applicant in its funding application
and/or its myCDFIFund account. Prior
awardees should note the following:
1. $5 Million Funding Cap: Congress
waived the $5 million funding cap (i.e.,
the prohibition that an applicant and its
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An entity that has submitted an application to the CDFI Fund demonstrating it meets the CDFI
certification requirements but the CDFI Fund has not yet officially certified the entity. If the
CDFI Fund is unable to certify an Applicant and the Applicant is selected for an FA award,
the CDFI Fund may, in its sole discretion, terminate the award commitment. The CDFI Fund
will not enter into an Assistance Agreement or disburse FA award funds unless and until an
Applicant is Certified. The CDFI Certification application can be found on the CDFI Fund’s
Web site at https://www.cdfifund.gov. Certifiable Applicants must have submitted a certification application as of the date indicated in Section IV.F of this NOFA to be eligible for FA
in the FY 2012 round.
An entity that demonstrates to the CDFI Fund it has an acceptable plan to become Certified
by December 31, 2013, or another date selected by the CDFI Fund. Emerging CDFIs may
only apply for TA grants; they are not eligible to apply for FA awards. Each Emerging CDFI
selected to receive a TA grant will be required, pursuant to its Assistance Agreement with
the CDFI Fund, to become certified as a CDFI by a specified date.
Certified applicants must submit a certification of Material Events form if they have experienced a material event. A ‘‘material event’’ is an occurrence that affects an organization’s
strategic direction, mission, or business operation and, thereby, its status as a Certified
CDFI and/or its compliance with the terms and conditions of an Assistance Agreement.
Please see Section IV in this NOFA for deadlines to submit material events forms. The material events form can be found on the CDFI Fund’s Web site at https://www.cdfifund.gov.
Other Targeted Populations are defined as identifiable groups of individuals in the Applicant’s
service area for which there exists strong evidence that they lack access to loans, equity investments, and/or Financial Services. The CDFI Fund has determined there is strong evidence that the following groups of individuals lack access to such products and services on
a national level or within their recognized ancestral areas: (i) Native Americans or American
Indians, including Alaska Natives living in Alaska; (ii) Blacks or African Americans; (iii) Hispanics or Latinos; (iv) Native Hawaiians living in Hawaii; and (v) other Pacific Islanders living
in other Pacific Islands.
An Applicant designating any of the above-cited Other Targeted Populations is not required to
provide additional narrative explaining their lack of access to loans, equity investments, or
Financial Services. To define these populations for the purposes of this NOFA, the CDFI
Fund is using the following definitions, set forth in the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) Notice, Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race
and Ethnicity (October 30, 1997), as amended and supplemented:
(a) American Indian, Native American, or Alaska Native: A person having origins in any of the
original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains
tribal affiliation or community attachment;
(b) Black or African American: A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa (terms such as Haitian or Negro can be used in addition to Black or African American);
(c) Hispanic or Latino: A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American,
or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race (the term Spanish origin can be used
in addition to Hispanic or Latino);
(d) Native Hawaiian: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii; and
(e) Other Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Guam,
Samoa or other Pacific Islands.
Affiliates cannot collectively receive
more than $5 million in CDFI Program
awards over a three year period) for
each of the FY 2009, FY 2010 and the
FY 2011 funding rounds, and it is
possible that the $5 million funding cap
may be waived for the FY 2012 Funding
Round. However, as of this NOFA’s
publication date such a waiver has not
been enacted into law. Accordingly, the
CDFI 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
calculated for the cap extends back
three years from the Effective Date of the
Assistance Agreement between the
Awardee and the CDFI Fund. However,
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for purposes of this NOFA, because the
funding cap was waived for 2009, 2010,
and 2011, the CDFI Fund will only
include assistance in the cap calculation
that will be provided to an Applicant (or
its Subsidiaries or Affiliates) in the FY
2012 Funding Round. This means if a
waiver of the funding cap is not
enacted, Applicants and their
Subsidiaries and Affiliates will be
limited to a maximum award of $5
million in FA, HFFI–FA, and TA funds
in FY 2012. The CDFI Fund will assess
the $5 million funding cap applicability
during the award selection phase if a
Congressional waiver has not been
enacted by that time.
Please see Table 5 for other Prior
Awardee Requirements and
Considerations:
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TABLE 5—PRIOR AWARDEE REQUIREMENTS AND CONSIDERATIONS
Prior awardee situation
Requirements and considerations
Failure to Meet Reporting Requirements ...........
The CDFI Fund will not consider an application if the Applicant or its Affiliate is a prior Awardee/Allocatee under any CDFI Fund program and is not current on the reporting requirements
set forth in a previously executed assistance, allocation, or award agreement(s), as of this
NOFA’s application deadline. The CDFI Fund only acknowledges receipt of reports that are
complete; incomplete reports or reports that are deficient of required elements will not be
considered as having been received.
It is in the CDFI Fund’s sole discretion to consider the Applicant’s application pending until full
resolution of a noncompliance issue if the Applicant, is a prior Awardee/Allocatee under any
CDFI Fund program and if: (i) The entity has submitted reports to the CDFI Fund indicating
noncompliance with a previously executed agreement with the CDFI Fund, and (ii) the CDFI
Fund has yet to make a final determination as to whether the entity is in default of its previously executed agreement.
The CDFI Fund will not consider an application if an Applicant is a prior Awardee/Allocatee
under any CDFI Fund program and is in default of a previously executed agreement with the
CDFI Fund at the time that the application is due under this NOFA. Such entities will be ineligible to apply for an award under this NOFA as long as the Applicant or its Affiliate’s prior
award or allocation remains in default status or such other time period as the CDFI Fund
has specified in writing.
The CDFI Fund will not consider an application if an Applicant is a prior Awardee/Allocatee
under any CDFI Fund program and the CDFI Fund has made a final determination that the
Awardee/Allocatee’s prior award was terminated in default: (i) Within the 12-month period
prior to this NOFA’s application deadline, and (ii) the final reporting period end date for the
applicable terminated award falls within the 12-month period prior to this NOFA’s application
deadline.
The CDFI Fund encourages Applicants with undisbursed funds to request the undisbursed
funds from the CDFI Fund at least 10 business days prior to this NOFA’s application deadline.
The CDFI Fund will not consider an application if the Applicant is an Awardee under any CDFI
Fund program and has undisbursed award funds (as defined below) as of this NOFA’s application deadline. The CDFI Fund will include the combined undisbursed prior awards, as of
this NOFAs application deadline, of the Applicant and its affiliated entities, including those in
which the affiliated entity Controls the Applicant, is Controlled by the Applicant, or shares
common management officials with the Applicant as the CDFI Fund determines.
For the BEA Program, undisbursed award funds will be included in the calculation of
undisbursed awards for the Applicant and any three to five calendar years prior to the end
of the calendar year of this NOFA’s application deadline. For purposes of this NOFA, therefore, undisbursed awards made in FYs 2006, 2007, and 2008 will be included in the calculation for the Applicant’s undisbursed award amounts if the funds have not been disbursed as
of this NOFA’s application deadline.
The CDFI Program undisbursed funds will be calculated by adding all undisbursed award
amounts made to the Applicant two to five calendar years prior to the end of the calendar
year of this NOFA. Therefore, undisbursed CDFI Program awards made in FYs 2006, 2007,
2008, and 2009 will be included in the undisbursed calculation as of this NOFA’s application
deadline.
Undisbursed awards cannot exceed five percent of the total includable awards for the Applicant’s BEA/CDFI/NACA awards, as of this NOFA’s application deadline. (The total ‘‘includable’’ award amount is the total award amount from the relevant CDFI Fund program.)
Please refer to an example of this calculation on the CDFI Fund’s Web site, found in the
Q&A document for the FY 2012 Funding Round. The ‘‘undisbursed award funds’’ calculation
does not include: (i) Tax credit allocation authority made available through the NMTC Program; (ii) award funds that the Awardee has requested from the CDFI Fund by submitting a
full and complete disbursement request before this NOFA’s application deadline; (iii) award
funds for an award that the CDFI Fund has terminated or de-obligated; or (iv) award funds
for an award that does not have a fully executed assistance or award agreement.
Pending Resolution of Noncompliance ..............
Default Status: ....................................................
Termination in Default: .......................................
Undisbursed Award Funds: ................................
• BEA Program Undisbursed Awards Calculations:
• CDFI Program Undisbursed Awards Calculations:
• Undisbursed Award Calculations: ...................
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2. Contact the CDFI Fund
Applicants that are prior CDFI Fund
Awardees are advised to: (i) Comply
with requirements specified in
assistance, allocation, and/or award
agreement(s), and (ii) contact the CDFI
Fund to ensure necessary actions are
underway for the disbursement or deobligation of any prior outstanding
award balance(s) as referenced above.
An Applicant that is unsure about the
disbursement status of any prior award
should contact the CDFI Fund by
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sending an email to
CDFI.disburseinquiries@cdfi.treas.gov.
C. Matching Funds
1. Matching Funds Requirements in
General
FA Applicants must obtain nonFederal matching funds, on the basis of
not less than one dollar for each dollar
of FA funds the CDFI Fund provides.
(This requirement pertains to FA
Applicants only; matching funds are not
required for TA Applicants). Matching
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funds must be comparable in form and
value to the FA award. This means that
if an Applicant is requesting an FA
award, the Applicant must show it has
obtained matching funds through
commitment(s) from non-Federal
sources that are equal to the amount
requested from the CDFI Fund.
Applicants cannot use matching funds
from a prior FA award under the CDFI
Program or under another federal grant
or award program to satisfy the
matching funds requirement of this
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percent of matching funds in-hand or
firmly committed as of the application
deadline, the CDFI Fund will evaluate
the Applicant’s ability to raise the
remaining matching funds by March 14,
2013.
(b) Category II/Core Applicants: A
Category II/Core Applicant must
demonstrate that it has eligible
matching funds equal to no less than 25
percent of the amount of the FA award
requested in-hand or firmly committed,
on or after January 1, 2010 and on or
before the application deadline. The
CDFI Fund reserves the right to rescind
all or a portion of an FA award and reallocate 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, 2013 (with required
documentation of such receipt received
by the CDFI Fund not later than March
31, 2013). The CDFI Fund may grant an
extension of such matching funds
deadline for specific Applicants
selected to receive FA, if the CDFI Fund
deems it appropriate. For any Applicant
that demonstrates it has less than 100
percent of matching funds in-hand or
firmly committed as of the application
deadline, the CDFI Fund will evaluate
the Applicant’s ability to raise the
remaining matching funds by March 14,
2013.
(c) HFFI–FA Applicants: It is possible
that the matching funds requirements
for HFFI–FA awards may be waived for
the FY 2012 Funding Round. However,
as of this NOFA’s publication such a
waiver has not been enacted. An
Applicant requesting an HFFI–FA
award that does not include matching
funds documentation in its application
NOFA. If an Applicant seeks to use
matching funds from an organization
that was a prior Awardee under the
CDFI Program, the CDFI Fund will deem
such funds as federal funds, unless the
funding entity establishes and the CDFI
Fund agrees, that such funds do not
consist, in whole or in part, of CDFI
Program funds or other federal funds.
The CDFI Fund encourages Applicants
to review the Regulations at 12 CFR
1805.500 et seq. and matching funds
guidance materials on the CDFI Fund’s
Web site for further information.
2. The CDFI Fund will not consider
any FA Applicant for an award that has
no matching funds in-hand or firmly
committed as of this NOFA’s
application deadline. Specifically, FA
Applicants must meet the following
matching funds requirements:
(a) Category I/SECA: A Category I/
SECA Applicant must demonstrate that
it has eligible matching funds equal to
no less than 25 percent of the FA
amount requested in-hand or firmly
committed, on or after January 1, 2010,
and on or before the application
deadline. The CDFI Fund reserves the
right to rescind all or a portion of an 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,
2013 (with required documentation of
such receipt received by the CDFI Fund
not later than March 31, 2013). The
CDFI Fund may grant an extension of
such matching funds deadline for
specific Applicants selected to receive
FA awards, if the CDFI Fund deems it
appropriate. For any Applicant that
demonstrates it has less than 100
will be deemed ineligible for funding
under the FY 2012 Funding Round if a
matching funds waiver is not enacted.
An Applicant requesting an HFFI–FA
award that would not satisfy the
matching funds requirements but is
otherwise eligible under this NOFA may
wish to submit an application in the
event a matching funds waiver is
enacted.
Accordingly, subject to the
immediately preceding paragraph: A
HFFI–FA Applicant must demonstrate
that it has eligible matching funds equal
to no less than 25 percent of the FA
amount requested in-hand or firmly
committed, on or after January 1, 2010,
and on or before the deadline for the
submitting the HFFI–FA supplemental
questionnaire. The CDFI Fund reserves
the right to rescind all or a portion of
an 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, 2013 (with required documentation
of such receipt received by the CDFI
Fund not later than March 31, 2013).
The CDFI Fund may grant an extension
of such matching funds deadline for
specific Applicants selected to receive
FA awards, if the CDFI Fund deems it
appropriate. For any Applicant that
demonstrates it has less than 100
percent of matching funds in-hand or
firmly committed as of the application
deadline, the CDFI Fund will evaluate
the Applicant’s ability to raise the
remaining matching funds by March 14,
2013.
3. Matching Funds Terms Defined;
Required Documentation
TABLE 6—MATCHING FUNDS DEFINITIONS
Type of matching funds
Definition
(a) Matching funds ‘‘in-hand’’ .............................
The Applicant has actually received disbursement of the matching funds and provides to the
CDFI Fund acceptable written documentation, showing the source, form, and amount of the
matching funds (i.e., grant, loan, deposit, and equity investment). Applicants must provide
copies of the following documentation depending on the type of award being requested: (i)
Loans—the loan agreement and promissory note; (ii) grant—the grant letter or agreement
for all grants of $50,000 or more; (iii) equity investment—the stock certificate and any related shareholder agreement. The Applicant must also provide acceptable documentation
that demonstrates receipt of the matching funds, such as a copy of a check or a wire transfer statement.
The Applicant has entered into or received a legally binding commitment from the matching
funds source showing the funds will be disbursed to the Applicant. The Applicant must also
provide acceptable written documentation showing the source, form, and amount of the firm
commitment (and, in the case of a loan, the terms thereof), as well as the anticipated disbursement date of the committed funds.
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(b) Matching Funds ‘‘firmly committed’’ ..............
4. The CDFI Fund may contact the
matching funds source to discuss the
matching funds and the documentation
that the Applicant has provided. If the
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CDFI Fund determines that any portion
of the Applicant’s matching funds is
ineligible under this NOFA, the CDFI
Fund, in its sole discretion, may permit
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the Applicant to offer alternative
matching funds as a substitute for the
ineligible matching funds. In such
instances: (i) The Applicant must
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provide acceptable alternative matching
funds documentation within two
business days of the CDFI Fund’s
request, and (ii) the alternative matching
funds documentation will not increase
the total amount of FA the Applicant
requested.
5. Special Rule for Insured Credit
Unions
The Regulations allow an Insured
Credit Union to use retained earnings to
serve as matching funds for an FA
award 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
equal to the amount of retained earnings
committed as matching funds. This
increase must occur 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 CDFI 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 in
the relevant Financial Statements or
NCUA Call Report that it has increased
shares or loans by at least 25 percent of
the requested FA award amount
between December 31, 2010, and
December 31, 2011.
IV. Application and Submission
Information
A. Application Submission
Under this NOFA, all Applicants
must submit their applications
electronically through Grants.gov. The
CDFI Fund will not accept applications
through myCDFIFund accounts nor will
applications be accepted via email,
mail, facsimile, or other forms of
communication, except in
circumstances approved by the CDFI
Fund beforehand.
B. Grants.gov
In compliance with Public Law 106–
107 and Section 5(a) of the Federal
Financial Assistance Management
Improvement Act, the CDFI Fund is
required to accept applications
submitted through the Grants.gov
electronic system. The CDFI Fund
strongly recommends Applicants start
the registration process as soon as
possible and visit https://www.grants.gov
immediately. Applicants that have used
Grants.gov in the past must verify that
their registration is current and active.
New applicants must properly register,
which may take several weeks to
complete. Pursuant to OMB guidance
(68 FR 38402), each Applicant must
provide, as part of its application
submission, a Dun and Bradstreet Data
Universal Numbering System (DUNS)
number. In addition, each application
must include a valid and current
Employer Identification Number (EIN).
An electronic application that does not
include either a DUNS or an EIN is
incomplete and may not be transmitted
to the CDFI Fund from Grants.gov. As a
result, Applicants without a DUNS or
EIN should allow sufficient time for the
IRS and/or Dun and Bradstreet to
respond to inquiries and/or requests for
identification numbers.
The CDFI Fund will not consider
Applicants that fail to properly register
in Grants.gov or to confirm they are
properly registered and as a result, are
unable to submit their applications
before the deadline. Applicants are
reminded that the CDFI Fund does not
maintain the Grants.gov registration or
submittal process so Applicants must
contact Grants.gov directly for issues
related to that aspect of the application
submission process. Please see the
following link for information on getting
started on Grants.gov: https://grants.gov/
applicants/organization_registration.jsp
68837
C. myCDFIFund Accounts
myCDFIFund is the CDFI Fund’s
primary means of communication with
Applicants. Applicants are responsible
for ensuring their myCDFIFund account
is updated at all times. All Applicants
must register as an organization and as
a user with myCDFIFund before the
application deadline. Applicants failing
to properly register and update their
myCDFIFund accounts may miss
important communication with the
CDFI Fund that could impact their
application. For more information on
myCDFIFund, please see the
‘‘Frequently Asked Questions’’ link
posted at https://www.cdfifund.gov/
myCDFI/Help/Help.asp.
D. Application Content Requirements
The Application and related
documents can be found on the
Grants.gov and the CDFI Fund’s Web
sites. The CDFI Fund anticipates posting
the Application and related documents
to the CDFI Fund’s Web site on the same
day that the NOFA is released or shortly
thereafter. Once an application is
submitted to Grants.gov, the Applicant
will not be allowed to change any
element of the application. The CDFI
Fund, however, may contact the
Applicant to clarify or confirm
application information.
E. Paperwork Reduction Act
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act
(44 U.S.C. chapter 35), an agency may
not conduct or sponsor a collection of
information, and an individual is not
required to respond to a collection of
information, unless it displays a valid
OMB control number. Pursuant to the
Paperwork Reduction Act, the CDFI
Program funding Application has been
assigned the following control number:
1559–0021.
F. Application Deadlines
1. Please see the following table for
critical deadlines that are relevant to the
FY 2012 Funding Round. All times
listed are Eastern Standard Time (ET):
TABLE 7—FY 2012 FUNDING ROUND APPLICATION CRITICAL DATES
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Description
Date due
Certification application ..................................................................................................
Certification Material Events Form ................................................................................
Last day to contact Program staff .................................................................................
Last day to contact Compliance staff ............................................................................
Combined Program Application .....................................................................................
December 14, 2011 ......................................
December 14, 2011 ......................................
January 9, 2012 ............................................
January 9, 2012 ............................................
January 11, 2012 ..........................................
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Time
5:00 p.m.
5:00 p.m.
5:00 p.m.
5:00 p.m.
midnight.
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2. Late Delivery
2012 Application is a fillable electronic
PDF form, with pre-set text limits and
font size restrictions. Applicants should
not submit information that has not
been specifically requested in this
NOFA or the Application. Applicants
should not submit documents such as
strategic plans or market studies unless
the CDFI Fund has specifically
requested such documents in the
Application.
The CDFI Fund will not accept an
application, nor any portion of an
application, delivered after the
application deadline. The CDFI Fund
will not grant exceptions or waivers.
Any application that is deemed
ineligible or rejected will not be
returned to the Applicant.
G. Intergovernmental Review
B. Review and Selection Process
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
Applicants must complete, and the
CDFI Fund will only accept, the
Application as provided in Grants.gov
and the CDFI Fund’s Web site. The FY
1. Eligibility and Completeness Review
The CDFI Fund will review each
application to determine whether it is
complete and the Applicant meets the
eligibility requirements described in
Section III of this NOFA. An incomplete
application or one that does not meet
eligibility requirements will be rejected.
2. Substantive Review
If the Applicant has submitted a
complete and eligible application, the
CDFI Fund will conduct a substantive
review in accordance with the criteria
and procedures described in the
Regulations, this NOFA, and the
Application guidance. The CDFI Fund
reserves the right to contact the
Applicant by telephone, email, or mail
for the sole purpose of clarifying or
confirming application information. If
contacted, the Applicant must respond
within the CDFI Fund’s time parameters
or run the risk of their application being
rejected.
3. Application Scoring and Award
Selection (FA and TA Applicants)
(a) Application Scoring: The CDFI
Fund will evaluate each application on
the criteria categories and the scoring
scale described in the Application. An
Applicant must receive a minimum
score in each evaluation criteria in order
to be considered for an award. The CDFI
Fund will score each part as indicated
in the following table:
TABLE 8—APPLICATION SCORING CRITERIA
Application parts
Scoring points
Financial Assistance (FA) Applicants
High Impact Narrative ......................................................................................................................................................................
Target Market Needs** ....................................................................................................................................................................
Responsiveness to Target Market Needs .......................................................................................................................................
Delivery Capacity .............................................................................................................................................................................
10
10
40
40
TOTAL POINTS ........................................................................................................................................................................
100
Technical Assistance (TA) Applicants
Technical Assistance Proposal ........................................................................................................................................................
Target Market Needs .......................................................................................................................................................................
Responsiveness to Target Market Needs .......................................................................................................................................
Delivery Capacity .............................................................................................................................................................................
20
10
30
40
TOTAL POINTS ........................................................................................................................................................................
100
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** Includes up to 4 points based on a quantitative distress index for FA applicants only.
(b) In the FY 2012 Funding Round,
the CDFI Fund will allow FA
Applicants to earn up to 4 extra
distressed points for serving eligible
highly distressed target markets. Such
markets are identified by a quantitative
index of distress based on high poverty
rates, high unemployment rates, low
median family income, and for nonMetro areas, population loss. Applicants
can identify distressed markets by using
the index, which identifies the most
distressed markets with the highest rank
number. The index is posted to the CDFI
Fund’s Web site at https://
www.cdfifund.gov/distressindex.
Applicants will be required to deploy
award funds into the distressed markets
as identified in the application and for
which distressed points were awarded.
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(c) Applicants whose activities are
part of a broader neighborhood
revitalization strategy and/or that target
marginalized or isolated populations
will be scored more favorably under the
section of the application pertaining to
‘‘Responsiveness to Target Market
Needs.’’
(d) Evaluating Prior Award
Performance: The CDFI Fund will
deduct points for any Applicant that is
a prior awardee or allocatee of any CDFI
Fund program if the Applicant: (i) is
noncompliant with any active award or
award that terminated in the current
calendar year by failing to meet
performance goals and measures,
reporting deadlines, or other
requirements set forth in the CDFI
Fund’s assistance, allocation, or award
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agreement(s) during the Applicant’s two
complete fiscal years prior to this
NOFA’s application deadline; (ii) failed
to make timely loan payments to the
CDFI Fund during the Applicant’s two
complete fiscal years prior to this
NOFA’s application deadline (if
applicable); and (iii) did not perform on
any prior assistance, allocation, or
award agreement, which is determined
during the application review process.
In addition, the CDFI Fund will deduct
points if an FA Applicant had funds deobligated for FA awards issued in FY
2009, 2010 or 2011 if: (i) The amount of
de-obligated funds is at least $200,000
and (ii) the de-obligation occurred
within the 12 months prior to this
NOFA’s application deadline. Point
deductions for a de-obligation in this
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funding round will not be counted
against future FA applications. The
CDFI Fund has the sole discretion to
deduct points from prior Awardees/
Allocates if those Applicants have
proceedings instituted against them in,
by, or before any court, governmental,
agency, or administrative body and has
received a final determination within
the last three years indicating 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.
(e) Award Selection: The CDFI Fund
will make its final award selections
based on the Applicants’ scores, ranked
from highest to lowest, and the amount
of funds available. In the case of tied
scores, Applicants will be ranked first
according to each Applicant’s Delivery
Capacity score; then the number of
distressed points indicated. TA
Applicants, Category I, and Category II
Applicants will be grouped and ranked
separately. In addition, the CDFI Fund
may consider the institutional and
geographic diversity of Applicants when
making its funding decisions.
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4. Insured CDFIs
In the case of Insured Depository
Institutions and Insured Credit Unions,
the CDFI Fund will consider the views
of the Appropriate Federal Banking
Agencies. Throughout the award review
process, the CDFI Fund will consult
with the Appropriate Federal Banking
Agency about the Applicant’s financial
safety and soundness. If the Appropriate
Federal Banking Agency identifies
safety and soundness concerns, the
CDFI Fund will assess whether the
concerns cause or will cause the
Applicant to be incapable of
undertaking the activities for which
funding has been requested. If it is
determined the Applicant is incapable
of meeting its obligations, the CDFI
Fund reserves the right to rescind the
award decision. The CDFI Fund also
reserves the right to require insured
CDFI Applicants to improve safety and
soundness conditions prior to receiving
an award disbursement. In addition, the
CDFI Fund will take into consideration
Community Reinvestment Act
assessments of Insured Depository
Institutions and/or their Affiliates.
5. Award Notification
Each Applicant will be informed of
the CDFI Fund’s award decision through
a notification in the Applicant’s
myCDFIFund account. This includes
notification to Applicants that have not
been selected for an award if the
decision is based on reasons other than
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completeness or eligibility. Applicants
that have not been selected for an award
will receive a debriefing in their
myCDFIFund account. The CDFI Fund
will provide this feedback in a format
and within a timeframe dependent on
available resources.
6. Application Rejection
The CDFI Fund reserves the right to
reject an application if information
(including administrative errors) comes
to the CDFI Fund’s attention that either
adversely affects an Applicant’s
eligibility for an award, adversely affects
the CDFI Fund’s evaluation or scoring of
an application, or indicates fraud or
mismanagement on the Applicant’s part.
If the CDFI Fund determines any
portion of the application is incorrect in
a material respect, the CDFI Fund
reserves the right, in its sole discretion,
to reject the application. The CDFI Fund
reserves the right to change its eligibility
and evaluation criteria and procedures,
if the CDFI Fund deems it appropriate.
If the changes materially affect the CDFI
Fund’s award decisions the CDFI Fund
will provide information about the
changes through the CDFI Fund’s Web
site. The CDFI Fund’s award decisions
are final and there is no right to appeal
the decisions.
VI. Award Administration Information
A. Assistance Agreement
Each Applicant selected to receive an
award under this NOFA must enter into
an Assistance Agreement with the CDFI
Fund in order to receive disbursement
of the award funds. The Assistance
Agreement will set forth the award
terms and conditions, including but not
be limited to the award: (i) Amount; (ii)
type; (iii) uses; (iv) targeted market or
activities; (v) performance goals and
measures; and (vi) reporting
requirements. FA Assistance
Agreements will usually have three-year
performance periods; TA Assistance
Agreements will usually have two-year
performance periods. All FA and TA
awardees that are not Insured CDFIs
will be required to provide the CDFI
Fund with a Certificate of Good
Standing from the Secretary of State for
the Awardee’s state of incorporation.
This certificate can often be acquired
online on the secretary of state Web site
for the Awardee’s state of incorporation
and must generally be dated within 270
days of the date the Awardee executes
the Assistance Agreement. Due to
considerable backlogs in state
government offices, Applicants are
advised to submit requests for
Certificates of Good Standing at the time
that they submit their applications. If
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68839
prior to entering into an Assistance
Agreement with the CDFI Fund,
information (including administrative
error) comes to the CDFI Fund’s
attention that either adversely affects
the Awardee’s eligibility for an award,
or adversely affects the CDFI Fund’s
evaluation of the Awardee’s application,
or indicates fraud or mismanagement on
the Awardee’s part, the CDFI Fund may,
in its discretion and without advance
notice to the Awardee, terminate the
award or take such other actions as it
deems appropriate. Moreover, if prior to
entering into an Assistance Agreement,
the CDFI Fund determines that the
Awardee or an Affiliate of the Awardee
is in default of any previously executed
agreement with the CDFI Fund, the
CDFI Fund may, in its discretion and
without advance notice to the Awardee,
either terminate the award or take such
other actions as it deems appropriate.
For purposes of this section, the CDFI
Fund will consider an Affiliate to mean
any entity that meets the definition of
Affiliate in the Regulations or is
otherwise identified by the Awardee as
an Affiliate. The CDFI Fund reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to rescind an
award if the Awardee fails to return the
Assistance Agreement, signed by the
authorized representative of the
Awardee, and/or provide the CDFI Fund
with any other requested
documentation, within the CDFI Fund’s
deadlines.
1. Failure To Meet Reporting
Requirements
If an Awardee is a prior Awardee/
Allocatee under any CDFI Fund
program and is not current with the
reporting requirements set forth in the
previously executed agreement(s) with
the CDFI Fund, the CDFI Fund reserves
the right, in its sole discretion, to delay
entering into an Assistance Agreement
until the Awardee/Allocatee is current
with the reporting requirements. Please
note that the CDFI 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/Allocatee is unable
to meet this requirement within the
timeframe the CDFI Fund sets, the CDFI
Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to terminate and rescind the
Assistance Agreement and the award
made under this NOFA.
2. Pending Resolution of
Noncompliance
If an Applicant is a prior Awardee
under any CDFI Fund program and if: (i)
it has submitted reports to the CDFI
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Fund that demonstrate noncompliance
with a previous executed agreement
with the CDFI Fund; and (ii) the CDFI
Fund has yet to make a final
determination as to whether the entity
is in default of its agreement, the CDFI
Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to delay entering into an
Assistance Agreement, pending full
resolution of the noncompliance issue
to the CDFI Fund’s satisfaction. If the
said prior Awardee/Allocatee is unable
to satisfactorily resolve the compliance
issues, the CDFI Fund reserves the right,
in its sole discretion, to terminate and
rescind the Assistance Agreement 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 CDFI Fund has made a final
determination that an Awardee is a
prior Awardee/Allocatee under any
CDFI Fund program is in default of a
previously executed assistance,
allocation, or award agreement(s), the
CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to delay entering into an
Assistance Agreement, until said prior
Awardee/Allocatee has submitted a
complete and timely report
demonstrating full compliance within
the CDFI Fund’s timeframe. If said prior
Awardee/Allocatee is unable to meet
this requirement and the CDFI Fund has
not specified in writing that the prior
Awardee/Allocatee is otherwise eligible
to receive an Award under this NOFA,
the CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its
sole discretion, to terminate and rescind
the Assistance Agreement and the
award made under this NOFA.
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4. Termination in Default
The CDFI Fund reserves the right, in
its sole discretion, to delay entering into
or not to enter into an Assistance
Agreement if: (i) Within the 12-month
period prior to entering into an
Assistance Agreement for this funding
round, the CDFI Fund has made a final
determination that a prior Awardee
under any CDFI Fund program whose
award or allocation agreement was
terminated in default, and (ii) the final
reporting period end date for the
applicable terminated agreement falls
within the 12-month period prior to this
NOFA’s application deadline.
5. Compliance With Federal AntiDiscrimination Laws
If the Awardee has previously
received funding through any CDFI
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Fund program, and if at any time prior
to entering into an Assistance
Agreement through this NOFA, the
CDFI 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 CDFI
Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to terminate and rescind the
Assistance Agreement and the award
made under this NOFA.
account. The Institution Level Report
and the Transaction Level Report must
be submitted through the CDFI Fund’s
Web-based data collection system, the
Community Investment Impact System
(CIIS). The Financial Reports may be
uploaded to the Awardee’s
myCDFIFund account. All other
components of the Annual Report may
be submitted electronically, as the CDFI
Fund directs. The CDFI Fund reserves
the right, in its sole discretion, to
modify these reporting requirements if it
determines it to be appropriate and
necessary; however, such reporting
requirements will be modified only after
notice to Awardees.
B. Reporting
2. Accounting
1. Reporting Requirements
At least on an annual basis, the CDFI
Fund will collect information from each
Awardee including, but not limited to,
an Annual Report with the following
components: (i) Financial Reports, (ii)
OMB A–133 audit; (iii) A–133 Narrative
Report; (iv) Institution Level Report; (v)
Transaction Level Report (for Awardees
receiving FA awards); (vi) Financial
Status Report SF–425 (for Awardees
receiving TA grants); (vii) Uses of
Financial Assistance (for Awardees
receiving FA awards); (viii) Uses of
Technical Assistance (for Awardees
receiving TA grants); (ix) Explanation of
Noncompliance (as applicable); and (x)
such other information as the CDFI
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 is
actually 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 CDFI Fund may
require, the Awardee is responsible for
ensuring that the information submitted
is timely and complete. The CDFI 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 CDFI
Fund will use such information to
monitor each Awardee’s compliance
with the requirements in the Assistance
Agreement and to assess the impact of
the CDFI Program. All reports must be
electronically submitted to the CDFI
Fund via the Awardee’s myCDFIFund
The CDFI Fund will require each FA
and TA Awardee to account for and
track the use of its award. This means
that FA and TA Awardees must track
every dollar and must inform the CDFI
Fund of its uses. This will require
Awardees to establish separate
administrative and accounting controls,
subject to the applicable OMB Circulars.
The CDFI Fund will provide guidance
on the format and content of the annual
information to be provided, outlining
and describing how the funds were
used. All Awardees must provide the
CDFI Fund with an accurate and
completed Automated Clearinghouse
(ACH) form prior to award closing and
disbursement.
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Frm 00124
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
VII. Agency Contacts
A. The CDFI Fund will respond to
questions concerning this NOFA and
the funding Application between the
hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time,
starting on the date that the NOFA is
published through three business days
prior to the application deadline. During
the three business days prior to the
application deadline, the CDFI Fund
will not respond to questions for
Applicants until after the application
deadline. Applications and other
information regarding the CDFI Fund
and its programs may be obtained from
the CDFI Fund’s Web site at https://
www.cdfifund.gov. The CDFI Fund will
post on its Web site responses to
questions of general applicability
regarding the CDFI Program.
B. Applicants may contact the CDFI
Fund as follows:
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 215 / Monday, November 7, 2011 / Notices
68841
TABLE 9—CONTACT INFORMATION
Telephone number (not toll
free)
Type of question
Email addresses
Fax number for all offices: (202) 622–7754
CDFI Program ..............................................................................................................
Certification, Compliance Monitoring and Evaluation ..................................................
Information Technology Support ..................................................................................
(202) 622–6355 .................
(202) 622–6330 .................
(202) 622–2455 .................
C. Information Technology Support
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
People who have visual or mobility
impairments that prevent them from
creating a Target Market map using the
CDFI Fund’s Web site should call (202)
622–2455 for assistance (this is not a toll
free number).
Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund
D. Communication With the CDFI Fund
The CDFI Fund will use the
Applicants’ and Awardees’ contact
information in their myCDFIFund
accounts to communicate. It is
imperative; therefore, that Applicants,
Awardees, Subsidiaries, Affiliates, and
signatories maintain accurate contact
information in their accounts. This
includes information like contact
names, especially for the authorized
representative; email addresses; fax and
phone numbers; and office locations.
For more information about
myCDFIFund, as well as information on
the Community Investment Impact
System, please see the following Web
site: https://www.cdfifund.gov/ciis/
accessingciis.pdf.
VIII. Information Sessions and
Outreach
The CDFI Fund may conduct
Webinars or host information sessions
for organizations that are considering
applying to, or are interested in learning
about, the CDFI Fund’s programs. For
further information, please visit the
CDFI Fund’s Web site at https://
www.cdfifund.gov.
Authority: 12 U.S.C. 4701, et seq.; 12 CFR
parts 1805 and 1815.
Dated: October 31, 2011.
Donna J. Gambrell,
Director, Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund.
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[FR Doc. 2011–28684 Filed 11–4–11; 8:45 am]
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New Markets Tax Credit Program
Community Development
Financial Institutions Fund, U.S.
Department of the Treasury
ACTION: Request for public comment.
AGENCY:
This notice invites comments
from the public regarding the New
Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program,
which is jointly administered by the
Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) and the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS). All
materials submitted will be available for
public inspection and copying.
DATES: All comments and submissions
must be received by February 6, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent by
mail to: Bob Ibanez, Manager, New
Markets Tax Credit Program, CDFI
Fund, U.S. Department of the Treasury,
601 13th Street NW., Suite 200 South,
Washington, DC 20005; by email to
cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov; or by facsimile
at (202) 622–7754. Please note this is
not a toll-free number.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Information regarding the CDFI Fund
may be found on the CDFI Fund’s Web
site at https://www.cdfifund.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The New
Markets Tax Credit Program was
authorized by the Community Renewal
Tax Relief Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106–
554). It has been extended and amended
since initial authorization. The CDFI
Fund periodically seeks the views of the
public on the NMTC Program, seeking
to increase its effectiveness, while
reducing cost and burden on program
participants. Currently the CDFI Fund is
conducting through a third-party a long
term, longitudinal study of the NMTC
Program, including an evaluation of
investor behavior. This study will be
completed in 2012. Once this study is
complete, the CDFI Fund may seek
comments from the public about
whether additional modifications to the
program should be made based upon
study findings.
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00125
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov.
ccme@cdfi.treas.gov.
IThelpdesk@cdfi.treas.gov.
In response to this Request for Public
Comment, the CDFI Fund invites and
encourages all comments and
suggestions germane to the mission,
purpose and implementation of the
NMTC Program. The CDFI Fund is
particularly interested in comments in
the following areas:
1. Low-Income Communities and Areas
of Higher Distress
The NMTC Program targets LowIncome Communities (LICs), including
Targeted Populations, as defined in 12
U.S.C. 4702(20). To encourage
investment in areas experiencing greater
economic distress, the CDFI Fund also
provides an opportunity for applicants
to score more highly by committing to
making investments in Areas of Higher
Distress. The CDFI Fund welcomes
comments on the definition of ‘‘Low
Income Community’’ and designation as
an Area of Higher Distress. Specifically:
LICs are generally defined by statute
as census tracts with a poverty rate of
at least 20 percent or a median family
income at or below 80 percent of the
area median income. The CDFI Fund
has relied upon decennial census data
in determining whether census tracts
meet these qualifications, and deems as
eligible those census tracts which meet
the statutory criteria, provided that the
decennial census data shows that the
‘‘population for which poverty is
determined’’ is greater than zero.
(a) Should the CDFI Fund consider
using different standards or
methodologies for determining whether
census tracts meet the statutory
definition of low-income communities?
For example, could using different
census data or a different methodology
appropriately include census tracts that
are currently excluded? Conversely,
could using different census data or a
different methodology appropriately
exclude census tracts that are currently
eligible (e.g., census tracts with low
populations)? Please cite specific
examples of census tract types (not
individual census tracts) and sources of
national census tract-level data the CDFI
Fund could use to both map eligibility
and monitor compliance.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 215 (Monday, November 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68831-68841]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-28684]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
Funds Availability (NOFA) Inviting Applications for the Community
Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program FY 2012 Funding Round
(the FY 2012 Funding Round)
Announcement Type: Announcement of funding opportunity.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 21.020.
DATES: Applications for Financial Assistance (FA) or Technical
Assistance (TA) awards through the FY 2012 Funding Round must be
received by midnight, Eastern Time (ET), January 11, 2012.
SUMMARY: Executive Summary: Subject to funding availability, this NOFA
is issued in connection with the FY 2012 Funding Round of the CDFI
Program, administered by the Community Development Financial
Institutions (CDFI) Fund.
I. Funding Opportunity Description
A. Award Requirements
Through the CDFI Program, the CDFI Fund provides FA awards and TA
grants. FA awards are made to certified CDFIs that complete and submit
the CDFI Program Application and meet the requirements set forth in
this NOFA, subject to funding availability. In FY 2012, subject to the
availability of funding, the CDFI Fund will also make FA awards under
the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI-FA) to certified CDFIs that
meet the requirements set forth in this NOFA. TA grants are made to
certified CDFIs and entities proposing to become certified that
complete and submit the CDFI Program Application and meet the
requirements set forth in this NOFA.
B. Program Regulations
The regulations governing the CDFI Program are found at 12 CFR
parts 1805 and 1815 (the Regulations) and provide guidance on
evaluation criteria and other requirements. Details regarding
application content requirements are found in the Application and
related materials. Each capitalized term in this NOFA is more fully
defined in this NOFA, the Regulations, or the Application, and the CDFI
Fund encourages Applicants to review the Regulations in addition to
this NOFA.
C. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to fund, in whole or in part,
any, all, or none of the applications submitted in response to this
NOFA. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to reallocate funds from the
amount that is anticipated to be available under this NOFA to other
CDFI Fund programs, particularly if the CDFI Fund determines that the
number of awards made under this NOFA is fewer than projected. In
addition, the CDFI Fund invites applications that propose innovative
Financial Products and Financial Services to address the current
difficult economic conditions of our nation.
D. Coordination With Broader Community Development Strategies
Consistent with Federal efforts to promote community
revitalization, it is important for communities to develop a
comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy that addresses
neighborhood assets that are essential to transforming distressed
neighborhoods into healthy and vibrant communities of opportunity.
Furthermore, only through the development of comprehensive neighborhood
revitalization plans that embrace the coordinated use of programs and
resources in order to effectively address the interrelated needs within
a community will the broader vision of neighborhood transformation
occur. Although not a requirement for participating in the CDFI
Program, the Federal government believes that a CDFI will be most
successful when it is part of, and contributing to, an area's broader
neighborhood revitalization strategy.
II. Award Information
A. Funding Availability
1. FY 2012 Funding Round
Subject to funding availability, the CDFI Fund expects to award,
through this NOFA, approximately $123 million in appropriated funds in
the following ways: (i) $15 million in FA awards to Category I/SECA
Applicants; (ii) $105 million in FA awards to Category II/Core
Applicants; and (iii) $3 million in TA grants to TA Applicants. In
addition, through this NOFA and the Native American CDFI Assistance
(NACA) Program NOFA, the CDFI Fund expects to award approximately $25
million total in FA awards to HFFI Applicants under the CDFI and NACA
Programs. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to award more or less than
the amounts cited above in each category in the FY 2012 Funding Round,
based upon available funding and other appropriate factors.
2. Availability of Funds for the FY 2012 Funding Round
Funds for the FY 2012 Funding Round have not yet been appropriated.
If funds are not appropriated for the CDFI Program, there will not be a
FY 2012 Funding Round. If funds are appropriated, the amount of such
funds may be greater or less than the amounts set forth above. If funds
for the FY 2012 Funding Round for the Native American CDFI Assistance
(NACA) Program are not appropriated, entities eligible to apply for
CDFI Program funds that would have applied for NACA Program funding,
are encouraged to apply for CDFI Program funds through this NOFA.
B. Types of Awards
An Applicant may submit an application for a TA award or an FA
award, which includes CDFI Program FA and HFFI-FA.
1. FA Awards
FA awards provide flexible financial support to CDFIs so they may
achieve the strategies outlined in their Comprehensive Business Plans.
FA awards can be used in the following six categories: (i) Financial
Products; (ii) Financial Services; (iii) Development Services; (iv)
Loan Loss Reserves; (v) Capital Reserves; and/or (vi) Operations. For
purposes of this NOFA, the six categories mean:
[[Page 68832]]
Table 1--Six Categories of FA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(i) Financial Products................................. Loans, grants, equity investments, and similar
financing activities, including the purchase of loans
that the Applicant originates and the provision of
loan guarantees, in the Applicant's Target Market, or
for related purposes that the CDFI Fund deems
appropriate (including administrative funds used to
carry out Financial Products).
(ii) Financial Services................................ 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).
(iii) Development Services............................. Activities that promote community development and help
the Applicant provide its Financial Products and
Financial Services, including financial or credit
counseling, housing and homeownership counseling (pre-
and post-), self-employment technical assistance,
entrepreneurship training, and financial management
skill-building (including administrative funds used to
carry out Development Services).
(iv) Loan Loss Reserves................................ Funds 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 the Target Market, or for related purposes that the
CDFI Fund deems appropriate (including administrative
funds used to carry out Loan Loss Reserves).
(v) Capital Reserves................................... Funds set aside as 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 CDFI Fund deems appropriate (including
administrative funds used to carry out Capital
Reserves).
(vi) Operations........................................ Funds used to carry out the Comprehensive Business
Plan, and/or for related purposes the CDFI Fund deems
appropriate, that are not used to carry out or
administer any of the foregoing eligible FA uses.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The CDFI Fund may provide FA awards in the form of equity
investments (including secondary capital in the case of certain Insured
Credit Unions), grants, loans, deposits, credit union shares, or any
combination thereof. The CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to provide an FA award in a form and amount other than that
which the Applicant requests; however, the award amount will not exceed
the Applicant's award request as stated in its application. 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,
transferred, or co-awarded to, third-party entities, whether
Affiliates, Subsidiaries, or others. This includes certified CDFI bank
holding companies that intend to transfer FA awards to their banks.
Such transfers are not permitted. The entity that is to carry out the
responsibilities of the award and deploy the award funds must be the
entity that applies for the award.
2. Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) and HFFI-FA Awards
(a) Overview. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA),
Health and Human Services (HHS), and the United States Department of
the Treasury are working together to support projects that increase
access to healthy, affordable food in low-income neighborhoods that
lack access to healthy food options. As part of a coordinated effort
called the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), these three
departments will aim to expand the availability of nutritious food
through the establishment of healthy food retail outlets, including
developing and equipping grocery stores, small retailers, corner
stores, and farmers markets to help revitalize neighborhoods that
currently lack these options.
In addition to the CDFI and NACA Programs, the HFFI includes: (i)
The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program, also administered by the
CDFI Fund; (ii) the Community and Economic Development (CED) Program,
which HHS administers; and (iii) several programs that USDA administers
including, among others, the Business and Industry (B&I) Program and
the Intermediary Relending Program (IRP). Each of these programs
provides a unique mechanism to support initiatives aimed at increasing
access to healthy food. When these programs are combined, public
dollars can act far more effectively as a market catalyst by providing
the full range of financing to local actors--a key step to addressing
the problem of limited access to affordable and nutritious food.
Instead of approaching this problem through separate agency and program
silos, the HFFI will use a collaborative approach involving the
resources of all three agencies.
For more information about this initiative, please visit the HFFI
Web site at https://www.usda.gov/fooddeserts.
(b) HFFI-FA Awards. In FY 2012, subject to appropriations, the CDFI
Fund may award up to $25 million of HFFI-FA awards through the CDFI and
NACA Programs. The CDFI Fund expects to make HFFI-FA awards of up to
$3.5 million to certified CDFIs that submit and complete the CDFI/NACA
Program Application and the HFFI-FA Supplemental Questionnaire. The
HFFI-FA Supplemental Questionnaire will only be sent to those
applicants indicating in their FY 2012 application that they intend to
apply for an HFFI-FA award. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to make
awards less than or greater than $3.5 million based upon the
questionnaires received and the funds available. The FY 2012 HFFI-FA
supplemental questionnaire will not likely be finalized and made
available to prospective applicants until after the FY 2012 CDFI
Program Application deadline. However, a copy of the FY 2011 HFFI-FA
supplemental questionnaire is available for review on the CDFI Fund's
Web site at http//www.cdfifund.gov.
HFFI-FA awards will be provided as a supplement to FA awards;
therefore, only those applicants that have been selected to receive an
FA award under the FY 2012 CDFI or NACA Funding Round will be eligible
to receive an HFFI-FA award. Such applicants will be rated and scored
separately based upon the HFFI-FA supplemental questionnaire responses.
HFFI-FA Applicants will be rated, among other elements, on the extent
of community need, the quality of their HFFI-FA strategy, and their
capacity to execute that strategy. The CDFI Fund will collaborate with
the other Federal agencies involved in the HFFI prior to making final
award selections. The CDFI Fund may, at its discretion, perform
additional due diligence on Applicants for this initiative. HFFI-FA
awards must be used to support the Applicant's activities; the awards
cannot be used to support the activities of, or otherwise be passed
through, transferred, or co-awarded to, third-party entities, whether
Affiliates, Subsidiaries, or others. This includes the transfer of an
award from a Bank Holding Company to a Bank subsidiary.
3. TA Grants
(a) The CDFI Fund provides TA as a grant and reserves the right, in
its sole
[[Page 68833]]
discretion, to provide a grant for uses and amounts other than that
which the Applicant requests; however, the grant amount will not exceed
the Applicant's request as stated in its application and the applicable
budget chart.
(b) For purposes of this NOFA, TA eligible uses are: (i) Personnel/
salary; (ii) personnel/fringe; (iii) professional services; (iv)
travel; (v) training; (vi) equipment; (vii) materials/supplies; and
(viii) other costs. (Please see the Application for details on TA
uses.) TA grants must be used to support the Applicant's capacity
building activities. TA grants cannot be used to support the activities
of, or otherwise be passed through, transferred, or co-awarded to,
third-party entities, whether Affiliates, Subsidiaries, or others. This
includes the transfer of an award from a Bank Holding Company to a Bank
subsidiary.
C. Assistance Agreement
Each Awardee under this NOFA must sign an Assistance Agreement
before the CDFI Fund will disburse an award or grant. The Assistance
Agreement contains the Award's terms and conditions. For further
information, see Section VI.A of this NOFA.
III. Eligibility Information
A. Eligible Applicants
The Regulations specify the eligibility requirements each Applicant
must meet in order to be eligible to apply for assistance under this
NOFA. CDFI Program Applicants may apply as either an FA applicant or a
TA applicant, but not both. If an Applicant applies for both types of
awards, it is in the sole discretion of the CDFI Fund to disqualify the
Applicant from competing for either an FA award or a TA grant or to
decide to give the Applicant either an FA award or a TA grant.
1. FA Applicant Categories
All FA Applicants must meet the criteria listed in Table 2.
(Applicants requesting FA funding in excess of the allowable amount for
Category I will be classified as Category II Applicants, regardless of
their total assets, years in operation, or prior CDFI Fund awards.)
Table 2--FA Applicant Criteria
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applicant may apply
FA applicant category Applicant criteria for:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category I/Small and/or (1) Is a Certified/ Up to and including
Emerging CDFI Assistance Certifiable CDFI. $600,000 in FA
(SECA). (2) As of the end of funds and up to and
the Applicant's including $3.5
most recent fiscal million in FA funds
year end or under the HFFI-FA.
September 30, 2011,
has total assets as
follows:.
Insured
Depository
Institutions and
Depository
Institution Holding
Companies: up to
$250 million.
Insured
Credit Unions: up
to $10 million.
Venture
capital funds: up
to $10 million.
Other
CDFIs: up to $5
million.
OR..................
(3) Began operations
* on or after
January 1, 2008.
Category II/Core............ A Certified/ Up to and including
Certifiable CDFI $2 million in FA
that meets all funds; and up to
other eligibility and including $3.5
requirements million in FA funds
described in this under the HFFI-FA.
NOFA.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The term ``began operations'' is defined as the financing activity
start date indicated in the Applicant's myCDFIFund account.
2. TA Applicants
All TA Applicants must meet the following criteria:
Table 3--TA Applicant Criteria
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applicant type Criteria of applicant Applicant can apply for:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TA................................. A Certified CDFI, a Certifiable CDFI, Up to $100,000 for capacity-building
or an Emerging CDFI. activities.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. CDFI Certification Requirements
For purposes of this NOFA, eligible FA Applicants include Certified
CDFIs and Certifiable CDFIs; eligible TA Applicants include Certified
CDFIs, Certifiable CDFIs, and Emerging CDFIs, defined as follows:
Table 4--CDFI Certification Requirements Definitions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Certified CDFI........... An entity the CDFI Fund has officially
notified that it meets all CDFI
certification requirements as of this
NOFA's publication date. CDFIs that have
received official notification from the
CDFI Fund that their certification has
expired or been terminated are not
eligible to apply as Certified. If the
CDFI Fund has provided certified CDFIs
with written notification that their
certifications had been extended, the
CDFI Fund will consider the extended
certification dates to determine whether
those certified CDFIs meet this
eligibility requirement.
[[Page 68834]]
(b) Certifiable CDFI......... An entity that has submitted an
application to the CDFI Fund
demonstrating it meets the CDFI
certification requirements but the CDFI
Fund has not yet officially certified
the entity. If the CDFI Fund is unable
to certify an Applicant and the
Applicant is selected for an FA award,
the CDFI Fund may, in its sole
discretion, terminate the award
commitment. The CDFI Fund will not enter
into an Assistance Agreement or disburse
FA award funds unless and until an
Applicant is Certified. The CDFI
Certification application can be found
on the CDFI Fund's Web site at https://www.cdfifund.gov. Certifiable Applicants
must have submitted a certification
application as of the date indicated in
Section IV.F of this NOFA to be eligible
for FA in the FY 2012 round.
(c) Emerging CDFI............ An entity that demonstrates to the CDFI
Fund it has an acceptable plan to become
Certified by December 31, 2013, or
another date selected by the CDFI Fund.
Emerging CDFIs may only apply for TA
grants; they are not eligible to apply
for FA awards. Each Emerging CDFI
selected to receive a TA grant will be
required, pursuant to its Assistance
Agreement with the CDFI Fund, to become
certified as a CDFI by a specified date.
(d) Material Events Form..... Certified applicants must submit a
certification of Material Events form if
they have experienced a material event.
A ``material event'' is an occurrence
that affects an organization's strategic
direction, mission, or business
operation and, thereby, its status as a
Certified CDFI and/or its compliance
with the terms and conditions of an
Assistance Agreement. Please see Section
IV in this NOFA for deadlines to submit
material events forms. The material
events form can be found on the CDFI
Fund's Web site at https://www.cdfifund.gov.
(e) Other Targeted Other Targeted Populations are defined as
Populations as Target identifiable groups of individuals in
Markets. the Applicant's service area for which
there exists strong evidence that they
lack access to loans, equity
investments, and/or Financial Services.
The CDFI Fund has determined there is
strong evidence that the following
groups of individuals lack access to
such products and services on a national
level or within their recognized
ancestral areas: (i) Native Americans or
American Indians, including Alaska
Natives living in Alaska; (ii) Blacks or
African Americans; (iii) Hispanics or
Latinos; (iv) Native Hawaiians living in
Hawaii; and (v) other Pacific Islanders
living in other Pacific Islands.
An Applicant designating any of the above-
cited Other Targeted Populations is not
required to provide additional narrative
explaining their lack of access to
loans, equity investments, or Financial
Services. To define these populations
for the purposes of this NOFA, the CDFI
Fund is using the following definitions,
set forth in the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) Notice, Revisions to
the Standards for the Classification of
Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
(October 30, 1997), as amended and
supplemented:
(a) American Indian, Native American, or
Alaska Native: A person having origins
in any of the original peoples of North
and South America (including Central
America) and who maintains tribal
affiliation or community attachment;
(b) Black or African American: A person
having origins in any of the black
racial groups of Africa (terms such as
Haitian or Negro can be used in addition
to Black or African American);
(c) Hispanic or Latino: A person of
Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or
Central American, or other Spanish
culture or origin, regardless of race
(the term Spanish origin can be used in
addition to Hispanic or Latino);
(d) Native Hawaiian: A person having
origins in any of the original peoples
of Hawaii; and
(e) Other Pacific Islander: A person
having origins in any of the original
peoples of Guam, Samoa or other Pacific
Islands.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Limitation on Awards
An Applicant may receive only one award under this FY 2012 NOFA. An
Applicant may receive only one award through the FY 2012 CDFI Program
Funding Round or the FY 2012 NACA Program Funding Round.
B. Prior Awardees
For purposes of this section, the CDFI Fund will consider an
Affiliate to be any entity that meets the definition of Affiliate in
the Regulations or any entity otherwise identified as an Affiliate by
the Applicant in its funding application and/or its myCDFIFund account.
Prior awardees should note the following:
1. $5 Million Funding Cap: Congress waived the $5 million funding
cap (i.e., the prohibition that an applicant and its Affiliates cannot
collectively receive more than $5 million in CDFI Program awards over a
three year period) for each of the FY 2009, FY 2010 and the FY 2011
funding rounds, and it is possible that the $5 million funding cap may
be waived for the FY 2012 Funding Round. However, as of this NOFA's
publication date such a waiver has not been enacted into law.
Accordingly, the CDFI 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 calculated for the cap
extends back three years from the Effective Date of the Assistance
Agreement between the Awardee and the CDFI Fund. However, for purposes
of this NOFA, because the funding cap was waived for 2009, 2010, and
2011, the CDFI Fund will only include assistance in the cap calculation
that will be provided to an Applicant (or its Subsidiaries or
Affiliates) in the FY 2012 Funding Round. This means if a waiver of the
funding cap is not enacted, Applicants and their Subsidiaries and
Affiliates will be limited to a maximum award of $5 million in FA,
HFFI-FA, and TA funds in FY 2012. The CDFI Fund will assess the $5
million funding cap applicability during the award selection phase if a
Congressional waiver has not been enacted by that time.
Please see Table 5 for other Prior Awardee Requirements and
Considerations:
[[Page 68835]]
Table 5--Prior Awardee Requirements and Considerations
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prior awardee situation Requirements and considerations
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Failure to Meet Reporting The CDFI Fund will not consider an
Requirements. application if the Applicant or its
Affiliate is a prior Awardee/Allocatee
under any CDFI Fund program and is not
current on the reporting requirements
set forth in a previously executed
assistance, allocation, or award
agreement(s), as of this NOFA's
application deadline. The CDFI Fund only
acknowledges receipt of reports that are
complete; incomplete reports or reports
that are deficient of required elements
will not be considered as having been
received.
Pending Resolution of It is in the CDFI Fund's sole discretion
Noncompliance. to consider the Applicant's application
pending until full resolution of a
noncompliance issue if the Applicant, is
a prior Awardee/Allocatee under any CDFI
Fund program and if: (i) The entity has
submitted reports to the CDFI Fund
indicating noncompliance with a
previously executed agreement with the
CDFI Fund, and (ii) the CDFI Fund has
yet to make a final determination as to
whether the entity is in default of its
previously executed agreement.
Default Status:.............. The CDFI Fund will not consider an
application if an Applicant is a prior
Awardee/Allocatee under any CDFI Fund
program and is in default of a
previously executed agreement with the
CDFI Fund at the time that the
application is due under this NOFA. Such
entities will be ineligible to apply for
an award under this NOFA as long as the
Applicant or its Affiliate's prior award
or allocation remains in default status
or such other time period as the CDFI
Fund has specified in writing.
Termination in Default:...... The CDFI Fund will not consider an
application if an Applicant is a prior
Awardee/Allocatee under any CDFI Fund
program and the CDFI Fund has made a
final determination that the Awardee/
Allocatee's prior award was terminated
in default: (i) Within the 12-month
period prior to this NOFA's application
deadline, and (ii) the final reporting
period end date for the applicable
terminated award falls within the 12-
month period prior to this NOFA's
application deadline.
Undisbursed Award Funds:..... The CDFI Fund encourages Applicants with
undisbursed funds to request the
undisbursed funds from the CDFI Fund at
least 10 business days prior to this
NOFA's application deadline.
The CDFI Fund will not consider an
application if the Applicant is an
Awardee under any CDFI Fund program and
has undisbursed award funds (as defined
below) as of this NOFA's application
deadline. The CDFI Fund will include the
combined undisbursed prior awards, as of
this NOFAs application deadline, of the
Applicant and its affiliated entities,
including those in which the affiliated
entity Controls the Applicant, is
Controlled by the Applicant, or shares
common management officials with the
Applicant as the CDFI Fund determines.
BEA Program For the BEA Program, undisbursed award
Undisbursed Awards funds will be included in the
Calculations: calculation of undisbursed awards for
the Applicant and any three to five
calendar years prior to the end of the
calendar year of this NOFA's application
deadline. For purposes of this NOFA,
therefore, undisbursed awards made in
FYs 2006, 2007, and 2008 will be
included in the calculation for the
Applicant's undisbursed award amounts if
the funds have not been disbursed as of
this NOFA's application deadline.
CDFI Program The CDFI Program undisbursed funds will
Undisbursed Awards be calculated by adding all undisbursed
Calculations: award amounts made to the Applicant two
to five calendar years prior to the end
of the calendar year of this NOFA.
Therefore, undisbursed CDFI Program
awards made in FYs 2006, 2007, 2008, and
2009 will be included in the undisbursed
calculation as of this NOFA's
application deadline.
Undisbursed Award Undisbursed awards cannot exceed five
Calculations:. percent of the total includable awards
for the Applicant's BEA/CDFI/NACA
awards, as of this NOFA's application
deadline. (The total ``includable''
award amount is the total award amount
from the relevant CDFI Fund program.)
Please refer to an example of this
calculation on the CDFI Fund's Web site,
found in the Q&A document for the FY
2012 Funding Round. The ``undisbursed
award funds'' calculation does not
include: (i) Tax credit allocation
authority made available through the
NMTC Program; (ii) award funds that the
Awardee has requested from the CDFI Fund
by submitting a full and complete
disbursement request before this NOFA's
application deadline; (iii) award funds
for an award that the CDFI Fund has
terminated or de-obligated; or (iv)
award funds for an award that does not
have a fully executed assistance or
award agreement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Contact the CDFI Fund
Applicants that are prior CDFI Fund Awardees are advised to: (i)
Comply with requirements specified in assistance, allocation, and/or
award agreement(s), and (ii) contact the CDFI Fund to ensure necessary
actions are underway for the disbursement or de-obligation of any prior
outstanding award balance(s) as referenced above. An Applicant that is
unsure about the disbursement status of any prior award should contact
the CDFI Fund by sending an email to
CDFI.disburseinquiries@cdfi.treas.gov.
C. Matching Funds
1. Matching Funds Requirements in General
FA Applicants must obtain non-Federal matching funds, on the basis
of not less than one dollar for each dollar of FA funds the CDFI Fund
provides. (This requirement pertains to FA Applicants only; matching
funds are not required for TA Applicants). Matching funds must be
comparable in form and value to the FA award. This means that if an
Applicant is requesting an FA award, the Applicant must show it has
obtained matching funds through commitment(s) from non-Federal sources
that are equal to the amount requested from the CDFI Fund. Applicants
cannot use matching funds from a prior FA award under the CDFI Program
or under another federal grant or award program to satisfy the matching
funds requirement of this
[[Page 68836]]
NOFA. If an Applicant seeks to use matching funds from an organization
that was a prior Awardee under the CDFI Program, the CDFI Fund will
deem such funds as federal funds, unless the funding entity establishes
and the CDFI Fund agrees, that such funds do not consist, in whole or
in part, of CDFI Program funds or other federal funds. The CDFI Fund
encourages Applicants to review the Regulations at 12 CFR 1805.500 et
seq. and matching funds guidance materials on the CDFI Fund's Web site
for further information.
2. The CDFI Fund will not consider any FA Applicant for an award
that has no matching funds in-hand or firmly committed as of this
NOFA's application deadline. Specifically, FA Applicants must meet the
following matching funds requirements:
(a) Category I/SECA: A Category I/SECA Applicant must demonstrate
that it has eligible matching funds equal to no less than 25 percent of
the FA amount requested in-hand or firmly committed, on or after
January 1, 2010, and on or before the application deadline. The CDFI
Fund reserves the right to rescind all or a portion of an 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, 2013 (with required documentation of such
receipt received by the CDFI Fund not later than March 31, 2013). The
CDFI Fund may grant an extension of such matching funds deadline for
specific Applicants selected to receive FA awards, if the CDFI Fund
deems it appropriate. For any Applicant that demonstrates it has less
than 100 percent of matching funds in-hand or firmly committed as of
the application deadline, the CDFI Fund will evaluate the Applicant's
ability to raise the remaining matching funds by March 14, 2013.
(b) Category II/Core Applicants: A Category II/Core Applicant must
demonstrate that it has eligible matching funds equal to no less than
25 percent of the amount of the FA award requested in-hand or firmly
committed, on or after January 1, 2010 and on or before the application
deadline. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to rescind all or a portion
of an 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, 2013 (with required
documentation of such receipt received by the CDFI Fund not later than
March 31, 2013). The CDFI Fund may grant an extension of such matching
funds deadline for specific Applicants selected to receive FA, if the
CDFI Fund deems it appropriate. For any Applicant that demonstrates it
has less than 100 percent of matching funds in-hand or firmly committed
as of the application deadline, the CDFI Fund will evaluate the
Applicant's ability to raise the remaining matching funds by March 14,
2013.
(c) HFFI-FA Applicants: It is possible that the matching funds
requirements for HFFI-FA awards may be waived for the FY 2012 Funding
Round. However, as of this NOFA's publication such a waiver has not
been enacted. An Applicant requesting an HFFI-FA award that does not
include matching funds documentation in its application will be deemed
ineligible for funding under the FY 2012 Funding Round if a matching
funds waiver is not enacted. An Applicant requesting an HFFI-FA award
that would not satisfy the matching funds requirements but is otherwise
eligible under this NOFA may wish to submit an application in the event
a matching funds waiver is enacted.
Accordingly, subject to the immediately preceding paragraph: A
HFFI-FA Applicant must demonstrate that it has eligible matching funds
equal to no less than 25 percent of the FA amount requested in-hand or
firmly committed, on or after January 1, 2010, and on or before the
deadline for the submitting the HFFI-FA supplemental questionnaire. The
CDFI Fund reserves the right to rescind all or a portion of an 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, 2013 (with required
documentation of such receipt received by the CDFI Fund not later than
March 31, 2013). The CDFI Fund may grant an extension of such matching
funds deadline for specific Applicants selected to receive FA awards,
if the CDFI Fund deems it appropriate. For any Applicant that
demonstrates it has less than 100 percent of matching funds in-hand or
firmly committed as of the application deadline, the CDFI Fund will
evaluate the Applicant's ability to raise the remaining matching funds
by March 14, 2013.
3. Matching Funds Terms Defined; Required Documentation
Table 6--Matching Funds Definitions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type of matching funds Definition
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Matching funds ``in- The Applicant has actually received
hand''. disbursement of the matching funds and
provides to the CDFI Fund acceptable
written documentation, showing the
source, form, and amount of the matching
funds (i.e., grant, loan, deposit, and
equity investment). Applicants must
provide copies of the following
documentation depending on the type of
award being requested: (i) Loans--the
loan agreement and promissory note; (ii)
grant--the grant letter or agreement for
all grants of $50,000 or more; (iii)
equity investment--the stock certificate
and any related shareholder agreement.
The Applicant must also provide
acceptable documentation that
demonstrates receipt of the matching
funds, such as a copy of a check or a
wire transfer statement.
(b) Matching Funds ``firmly The Applicant has entered into or
committed''. received a legally binding commitment
from the matching funds source showing
the funds will be disbursed to the
Applicant. The Applicant must also
provide acceptable written documentation
showing the source, form, and amount of
the firm commitment (and, in the case of
a loan, the terms thereof), as well as
the anticipated disbursement date of the
committed funds.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. The CDFI Fund may contact the matching funds source to discuss
the matching funds and the documentation that the Applicant has
provided. If the CDFI Fund determines that any portion of the
Applicant's matching funds is ineligible under this NOFA, the CDFI
Fund, in its sole discretion, may permit the Applicant to offer
alternative matching funds as a substitute for the ineligible matching
funds. In such instances: (i) The Applicant must
[[Page 68837]]
provide acceptable alternative matching funds documentation within two
business days of the CDFI Fund's request, and (ii) the alternative
matching funds documentation will not increase the total amount of FA
the Applicant requested.
5. Special Rule for Insured Credit Unions
The Regulations allow an Insured Credit Union to use retained
earnings to serve as matching funds for an FA award 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 equal to the amount of retained earnings
committed as matching funds. This increase must occur 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 CDFI 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 in the relevant Financial Statements or NCUA
Call Report that it has increased shares or loans by at least 25
percent of the requested FA award amount between December 31, 2010, and
December 31, 2011.
IV. Application and Submission Information
A. Application Submission
Under this NOFA, all Applicants must submit their applications
electronically through Grants.gov. The CDFI Fund will not accept
applications through myCDFIFund accounts nor will applications be
accepted via email, mail, facsimile, or other forms of communication,
except in circumstances approved by the CDFI Fund beforehand.
B. Grants.gov
In compliance with Public Law 106-107 and Section 5(a) of the
Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act, the CDFI Fund
is required to accept applications submitted through the Grants.gov
electronic system. The CDFI Fund strongly recommends Applicants start
the registration process as soon as possible and visit https://www.grants.gov immediately. Applicants that have used Grants.gov in the
past must verify that their registration is current and active. New
applicants must properly register, which may take several weeks to
complete. Pursuant to OMB guidance (68 FR 38402), each Applicant must
provide, as part of its application submission, a Dun and Bradstreet
Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. In addition, each
application must include a valid and current Employer Identification
Number (EIN). An electronic application that does not include either a
DUNS or an EIN is incomplete and may not be transmitted to the CDFI
Fund from Grants.gov. As a result, Applicants without a DUNS or EIN
should allow sufficient time for the IRS and/or Dun and Bradstreet to
respond to inquiries and/or requests for identification numbers.
The CDFI Fund will not consider Applicants that fail to properly
register in Grants.gov or to confirm they are properly registered and
as a result, are unable to submit their applications before the
deadline. Applicants are reminded that the CDFI Fund does not maintain
the Grants.gov registration or submittal process so Applicants must
contact Grants.gov directly for issues related to that aspect of the
application submission process. Please see the following link for
information on getting started on Grants.gov: https://grants.gov/applicants/organization_registration.jsp
C. myCDFIFund Accounts
myCDFIFund is the CDFI Fund's primary means of communication with
Applicants. Applicants are responsible for ensuring their myCDFIFund
account is updated at all times. All Applicants must register as an
organization and as a user with myCDFIFund before the application
deadline. Applicants failing to properly register and update their
myCDFIFund accounts may miss important communication with the CDFI Fund
that could impact their application. For more information on
myCDFIFund, please see the ``Frequently Asked Questions'' link posted
at https://www.cdfifund.gov/myCDFI/Help/Help.asp.
D. Application Content Requirements
The Application and related documents can be found on the
Grants.gov and the CDFI Fund's Web sites. The CDFI Fund anticipates
posting the Application and related documents to the CDFI Fund's Web
site on the same day that the NOFA is released or shortly thereafter.
Once an application is submitted to Grants.gov, the Applicant will not
be allowed to change any element of the application. The CDFI Fund,
however, may contact the Applicant to clarify or confirm application
information.
E. Paperwork Reduction Act
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), an agency
may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and an
individual is not required to respond to a collection of information,
unless it displays a valid OMB control number. Pursuant to the
Paperwork Reduction Act, the CDFI Program funding Application has been
assigned the following control number: 1559-0021.
F. Application Deadlines
1. Please see the following table for critical deadlines that are
relevant to the FY 2012 Funding Round. All times listed are Eastern
Standard Time (ET):
Table 7--FY 2012 Funding Round Application Critical Dates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Description Date due Time
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Certification application........ December 14, 2011.. 5:00 p.m.
Certification Material Events December 14, 2011.. 5:00 p.m.
Form.
Last day to contact Program staff January 9, 2012.... 5:00 p.m.
Last day to contact Compliance January 9, 2012.... 5:00 p.m.
staff.
Combined Program Application..... January 11, 2012... midnight.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 68838]]
2. Late Delivery
The CDFI Fund will not accept an application, nor any portion of an
application, delivered after the application deadline. The CDFI Fund
will not grant exceptions or waivers. Any application that is deemed
ineligible or rejected 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
Applicants must complete, and the CDFI Fund will only accept, the
Application as provided in Grants.gov and the CDFI Fund's Web site. The
FY 2012 Application is a fillable electronic PDF form, with pre-set
text limits and font size restrictions. Applicants should not submit
information that has not been specifically requested in this NOFA or
the Application. Applicants should not submit documents such as
strategic plans or market studies unless the CDFI Fund has specifically
requested such documents in the Application.
B. Review and Selection Process
1. Eligibility and Completeness Review
The CDFI Fund will review each application to determine whether it
is complete and the Applicant meets the eligibility requirements
described in Section III of this NOFA. An incomplete application or one
that does not meet eligibility requirements will be rejected.
2. Substantive Review
If the Applicant has submitted a complete and eligible application,
the CDFI Fund will conduct a substantive review in accordance with the
criteria and procedures described in the Regulations, this NOFA, and
the Application guidance. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to contact
the Applicant by telephone, email, or mail for the sole purpose of
clarifying or confirming application information. If contacted, the
Applicant must respond within the CDFI Fund's time parameters or run
the risk of their application being rejected.
3. Application Scoring and Award Selection (FA and TA Applicants)
(a) Application Scoring: The CDFI Fund will evaluate each
application on the criteria categories and the scoring scale described
in the Application. An Applicant must receive a minimum score in each
evaluation criteria in order to be considered for an award. The CDFI
Fund will score each part as indicated in the following table:
Table 8--Application Scoring Criteria
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application parts Scoring points
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Financial Assistance (FA) Applicants
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Impact Narrative................................. 10
Target Market Needs**................................. 10
Responsiveness to Target Market Needs................. 40
Delivery Capacity..................................... 40
-----------------
TOTAL POINTS...................................... 100
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Technical Assistance (TA) Applicants
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Technical Assistance Proposal......................... 20
Target Market Needs................................... 10
Responsiveness to Target Market Needs................. 30
Delivery Capacity..................................... 40
-----------------
TOTAL POINTS...................................... 100
------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Includes up to 4 points based on a quantitative distress index for FA
applicants only.
(b) In the FY 2012 Funding Round, the CDFI Fund will allow FA
Applicants to earn up to 4 extra distressed points for serving eligible
highly distressed target markets. Such markets are identified by a
quantitative index of distress based on high poverty rates, high
unemployment rates, low median family income, and for non-Metro areas,
population loss. Applicants can identify distressed markets by using
the index, which identifies the most distressed markets with the
highest rank number. The index is posted to the CDFI Fund's Web site at
https://www.cdfifund.gov/distressindex. Applicants will be required to
deploy award funds into the distressed markets as identified in the
application and for which distressed points were awarded.
(c) Applicants whose activities are part of a broader neighborhood
revitalization strategy and/or that target marginalized or isolated
populations will be scored more favorably under the section of the
application pertaining to ``Responsiveness to Target Market Needs.''
(d) Evaluating Prior Award Performance: The CDFI Fund will deduct
points for any Applicant that is a prior awardee or allocatee of any
CDFI Fund program if the Applicant: (i) is noncompliant with any active
award or award that terminated in the current calendar year by failing
to meet performance goals and measures, reporting deadlines, or other
requirements set forth in the CDFI Fund's assistance, allocation, or
award agreement(s) during the Applicant's two complete fiscal years
prior to this NOFA's application deadline; (ii) failed to make timely
loan payments to the CDFI Fund during the Applicant's two complete
fiscal years prior to this NOFA's application deadline (if applicable);
and (iii) did not perform on any prior assistance, allocation, or award
agreement, which is determined during the application review process.
In addition, the CDFI Fund will deduct points if an FA Applicant had
funds de-obligated for FA awards issued in FY 2009, 2010 or 2011 if:
(i) The amount of de-obligated funds is at least $200,000 and (ii) the
de-obligation occurred within the 12 months prior to this NOFA's
application deadline. Point deductions for a de-obligation in this
[[Page 68839]]
funding round will not be counted against future FA applications. The
CDFI Fund has the sole discretion to deduct points from prior Awardees/
Allocates if those Applicants have proceedings instituted against them
in, by, or before any court, governmental, agency, or administrative
body and has received a final determination within the last three years
indicating 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.
(e) Award Selection: The CDFI Fund will make its final award
selections based on the Applicants' scores, ranked from highest to
lowest, and the amount of funds available. In the case of tied scores,
Applicants will be ranked first according to each Applicant's Delivery
Capacity score; then the number of distressed points indicated. TA
Applicants, Category I, and Category II Applicants will be grouped and
ranked separately. In addition, the CDFI Fund may consider the
institutional and geographic diversity of Applicants when making its
funding decisions.
4. Insured CDFIs
In the case of Insured Depository Institutions and Insured Credit
Unions, the CDFI Fund will consider the views of the Appropriate
Federal Banking Agencies. Throughout the award review process, the CDFI
Fund will consult with the Appropriate Federal Banking Agency about the
Applicant's financial safety and soundness. If the Appropriate Federal
Banking Agency identifies safety and soundness concerns, the CDFI Fund
will assess whether the concerns cause or will cause the Applicant to
be incapable of undertaking the activities for which funding has been
requested. If it is determined the Applicant is incapable of meeting
its obligations, the CDFI Fund reserves the right to rescind the award
decision. The CDFI Fund also reserves the right to require insured CDFI
Applicants to improve safety and soundness conditions prior to
receiving an award disbursement. In addition, the CDFI Fund will take
into consideration Community Reinvestment Act assessments of Insured
Depository Institutions and/or their Affiliates.
5. Award Notification
Each Applicant will be informed of the CDFI Fund's award decision
through a notification in the Applicant's myCDFIFund account. This
includes notification to Applicants that have not been selected for an
award if the decision is based on reasons other than completeness or
eligibility. Applicants that have not been selected for an award will
receive a debriefing in their myCDFIFund account. The CDFI Fund will
provide this feedback in a format and within a timeframe dependent on
available resources.
6. Application Rejection
The CDFI Fund reserves the right to reject an application if
information (including administrative errors) comes to the CDFI Fund's
attention that either adversely affects an Applicant's eligibility for
an award, adversely affects the CDFI Fund's evaluation or scoring of an
application, or indicates fraud or mismanagement on the Applicant's
part. If the CDFI Fund determines any portion of the application is
incorrect in a material respect, the CDFI Fu
