Notice2021-21433
Notice of Information Collection and Request for Public Comment
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 4, 2021
Issuing agencies
Treasury DepartmentCommunity Development Financial Institutions Fund
Abstract
The U.S. Department of the Treasury, as part of a continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). Currently, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), Department of the Treasury, is soliciting comments concerning the Small Dollar Loan Program (SDL Program) Application (Application). The Application is an online form submitted through the CDFI Fund's Award Management Information System (AMIS).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 189 (Monday, October 4, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 189 (Monday, October 4, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54787-54789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21433]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
Notice of Information Collection and Request for Public Comment
ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Treasury, as part of a continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general
public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment
on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by
the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
Currently, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI
Fund), Department of the Treasury, is soliciting comments concerning
the Small Dollar Loan Program (SDL Program) Application (Application).
The Application is an online form submitted through the CDFI Fund's
Award Management Information System (AMIS).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before December 3, 2021,
to be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments via email to Tanya McInnis, Program
Manager for the Depository Institutions Initiatives, CDFI Fund at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3d4e59514d7d5e595b5413494f585c4e135a524b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e390878f93a38087858acd9791868290cd848c95">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tanya McInnis, SDL Program, Program
Manager, CDFI Fund, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20220, (202) 653-0241 (not a toll-free
number). Other information regarding the CDFI Fund and its programs may
be obtained on the CDFI Fund website at <a href="https://www.cdfifund.gov">https://www.cdfifund.gov</a>. The
SDL Program Application Template, which presents the questions that
will comprise the online Application, may be obtained from the SDL
Program page of the CDFI Fund website at <a href="https://www.cdfifund.gov/sdlp">https://www.cdfifund.gov/sdlp</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Small Dollar Loan Program Application.
OMB Number: 1559-0051.
Abstract: The Small Dollar Loan Program (SDL Program) is a new
program, authorized by Title XII--Improving Access to Mainstream
Financial Institutions Act of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-203), which amended The
Community Development Banking and Financial
[[Page 54788]]
Institutions Act of 1994 to include the Small Dollar Loan Program (12
U.S.C. 4719). Through the SDL Program, the CDFI Fund provides grants
for loan loss reserves and technical assistance to enable award
recipients to establish and maintain small dollar loan programs to
address the issues of expanding consumer access to mainstream financial
institutions and providing alternatives to high-cost small dollar
loans. The SDL Program is also intended to enable award recipients to
help unbanked and underbanked populations build credit, access
affordable capital, and allow greater access into the mainstream
financial system.
Through the SDL Program, the CDFI Fund will provide:
Grants for Loan Loss Reserves (LLR): The awards will enable a
Certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to
establish a loan loss reserve fund in order to defray the costs of
establishing or maintaining a small dollar loan program.
Grants for Technical Assistance (TA): The awards will support
technology, staff support, and other eligible activities to enable a
Certified CDFI to establish and maintain a small dollar loan program.
SDL Program Award Recipients are selected through a competitive
process involving a careful review of their Application for program
funding. The Application requires the submission of numeric data and
narrative responses for two parts: Part 1: Business Strategy and
Community Impact and Part 2: Organization Capacity, including Financial
Analysis and Compliance Risk Evaluation. The Award selection process is
described in the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) for each funding
round.
This request for public comment relates to the SDL Program
Application Form under OMB control number 1559-0051. Capitalized terms
not defined in this Notice (other than titles) have the meaning set
forth in the fiscal year (FY) 2021 SDL Program NOFA.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 100 (Application).
Estimated Annual Time per Respondent: 68 hours (Application).
Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 5,493 hours (Application).
Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this Notice
will be summarized and/or included in the request for Office of
Management and Budget approval. All comments will become a matter of
public record and may be published on the CDFI Fund website at <a href="https://www.cdfifund.gov">https://www.cdfifund.gov</a>.
The CDFI Fund is seeking input on the content of the Application
with regard to the following: (a) Whether the collection of information
as proposed is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility in evaluating Applications; (b) the accuracy of the agency's
estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) ways to
enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be
collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including through the use of technology;
and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation,
maintenance and purchase of services required to provide information.
Additionally, the CDFI Fund specifically requests comments
concerning the following questions:
1. What, if any, Application questions and tables are redundant or
unnecessary?
2. What, if any, questions or tables should be added to ensure
collection of relevant information?
3. Does the data and information requested in the Application allow
an Applicant to adequately explain its business strategy, community
impact and ability to meet the program objectives?
4. In the FY 2021 SDL Program Application, the CDFI Fund stated
that LLR Awards may be made in amounts up to 20% of the Applicant's
three-year projected total of Small Dollar Loans closed, not to exceed
$350,000. Is the 20% cap too high or too low? If so, please describe
and justify.
5. The FY 2021 SDL Program Application states that the Awards will
not be made to organizations that engage in the Prohibited Practices
listed in the NOFA. Are the Prohibited Practices reasonable? Should any
of the listed Prohibited Practices be modified or removed? Are there
Prohibited Practices that should be added to the list? Please describe
and justify your responses to these sub-questions.
6. The CDFI Fund will prioritize funding for Applications that
propose to offer small dollar loan programs that include any of the
following prioritized lending practices and characteristics: (i) Offer
small dollar loan terms that are at least ninety (90) days; (ii) use
ability to repay underwriting that considers the borrower's ability to
repay a loan based on both the borrower's income and expenses; (iii)
make loan decisions within one business day (or twenty-four (24) hours)
after receipt of required documents; (iv) offer a reduction in the
borrower's loan rate if the borrower elects to use automatic debit
payments; (v) offer automatic savings features that are built into the
regularly-scheduled payments on a loan--provided that the resulting
payment is still affordable--or, at a minimum, loans that can be
structured so that, subject to the borrower's consent, payments
continue for a period of time after the loan is repaid with all of the
payments going into a savings vehicle; and (vi) offer access to
financial education, including credit counseling. Are the prioritized
lending practices and characteristics reasonable? Should any of the
listed prioritized lending practices and characteristics be modified or
removed? Are there prioritized lending practices and characteristics
that should be added to the list? Please describe and justify your
responses to these sub-questions.
7. Are any of the questions particularly burdensome or difficult to
answer? If so, please be specific as to the type of CDFI (e.g.,
regulated, non-profit) that finds it difficult.
8. Are the character limitations for narrative responses
appropriate? Should certain questions allow additional or fewer
characters? If so, please specify.
9. Are there questions that lack clarity as to intent or purpose?
If so, which questions, and what needs to be clarified in order for
Applicants to provide a comprehensive response?
10. The Application includes questions about the intended impact of
an Applicant's small dollar lending strategy. (a) How should the CDFI
Fund assess the impact of SDL Program Awards on Low-Income Families and
communities? (b) The CDFI Fund has identified a set of impacts for
Applicants to choose in the Application (see FY 2021 SDL Program
Application Question 7. (c). Are the current impact choices
sufficiently comprehensive? Are there impacts that should be added or
modified?
11. The statute governing the SDL Program states that there are
three eligible Applicant types. Per the Statute, Applicants can be
either (a) a Certified CDFI that applies individually for an LLR Award
or for a TA Award or for a combination of an LLR Award and TA Award; or
(b) a Certified CDFI that applies as a partnership with a federally
insured depository institution that has a primary mission to serve
targeted Investment Areas (FIDI) for an LLR Award or (c) a Certified
CDFI that applies as a partnership with two or more Certified CDFIs for
a TA Award. The CDFI Fund has two questions related to these different
Applicant types: (i) Are additional questions or revisions to existing
questions needed in the Application to further clarify and
differentiate the three eligible Applicant
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types? If so, please describe and justify. (ii) The Application
currently asks Applicants that apply as a partnership with a FIDI for
an LLR Award to submit an attestation form that is signed by the FIDI
that the FIDI has a mission to serve targeted Investment Areas. Should
the CDFI Fund make revisions to the attestation form that the FIDI must
sign? If yes, what are the revisions? Should the CDFI Fund request any
other documentation that the FIDI must submit in order to demonstrate
its primary mission to serve targeted Investment Areas? If so, please
describe and justify.
12. In future funding rounds, new priorities may emerge, such as
disaster response, an economic downturn, or new initiatives. How should
the CDFI Fund address changing priorities on a round-by-round basis?
What approaches would be preferred?
Authority: Pub. L. 110-289, 12 CFR 1807.
Jodie L. Harris,
Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. 2021-21433 Filed 9-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-05-P
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