Request for Public Comment - Capital Magnet Fund

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 43 / Friday, March 6, 2009 / Notices
MPVs and VSP–515 is the vehicle
eligibility number assigned to 1997
through 2001 RHD Jeep Cherokee MPVs
admissible under this notice of final
decision.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30141(a)(1)(A) and
(b)(1); 49 CFR 593.8; delegations of authority
at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8.
Issued on February 27, 2009.
Claude H. Harris,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. E9–4808 Filed 3–5–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
Release of Waybill Data
The Surface Transportation Board has
received a request from GATX Rail
(WB512–14–12/16/08), for permission
to use certain data from the Board’s
Carload Waybill Samples. A copy of this
request may be obtained from the Office
of Economics, Environmental Analysis,
and Administration.
The waybill sample contains
confidential railroad and shipper data;
therefore, if any parties object to these
requests, they should file their
objections with the Director of the
Board’s Office of Economics,
Environmental Analysis, and
Administration within 14 calendar days
of the date of this notice. The rules for
release of waybill data are codified at 49
CFR 1244.9.
Contact: Scott Decker, (202) 245–
0330.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. E9–4747 Filed 3–5–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–10–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund
Capital Magnet Fund
AGENCY: Community Development
Financial Institutions Fund, U.S.
Department of the Treasury.
ACTION: Request for public comment.

This notice invites comments
from the public on issues regarding how
the Community Development Financial
Institutions (CDFI) Fund should design,
implement, and administer the Capital
Magnet Fund, as set forth in Section
1339 of the Federal Housing Enterprises
Financial Safety and Soundness Act of
1992 (the Act), which was added

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

SUMMARY:

VerDate Nov<24>2008

16:20 Mar 05, 2009

Jkt 217001

through Section 1131(b) of the Housing
and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. All
materials submitted will be available for
public inspection and copying.
DATES: All comments and submissions
must be received by May 5, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent by
mail to: Deputy Director of Policy and
Programs, CDFI Fund, U.S. Department
of the Treasury, 601 13th Street, NW.,
Suite 200 South, Washington, DC 20005;
by e-mail to [email protected]; 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
and the Capital Magnet Fund may be
downloaded from the CDFI Fund’s Web
site at http://www.cdfifundgov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Capital Magnet Fund was established
through the Housing and Economic
Recovery Act of 2008, which added
Section 1339 of the Federal Housing
Enterprises Financial Safety and
Soundness Act of 1992 (the Act), 12
U.S.C. 4569. Through the Capital
Magnet Fund, the CDFI Fund will carry
out a competitive grant program for
CDFIs and nonprofit organizations (if
one of their principal purposes is the
development or management of
affordable housing) to attract private
capital for and increase investment in
the development, preservation,
rehabilitation, and purchase of
affordable housing for primarily
extremely low-, very low-, and lowincome families; and economic
development activities or community
service facilities (such as day care
centers, workforce development centers,
and health care clinics) which in
conjunction with affordable housing
activities will implement a concerted
strategy to stabilize or revitalize a lowincome area or underserved rural area.
Section 1339 established the Capital
Magnet Fund as a program that will be
administered by the CDFI Fund.
The CDFI Fund invites and
encourages comments and suggestions
germane to the mission, purpose, and
implementation of the Capital Magnet
Fund. The CDFI Fund is particularly
interested in comments in the following
areas:
Eligible Use of Funds
Section 1339(c) of the Act states that
Capital Magnet Fund grants shall be
used to attract private capital for and
increase investment in: (a) The
development, preservation,
rehabilitation, or purchase of affordable
housing for primarily extremely low-,
very low-, and low-income families; and
(b) economic development activities or

PO 00000

Frm 00091

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

9869

community service facilities, such as
daycare centers, workforce development
centers, and health care clinics, which
in conjunction with affordable housing
activities implement a concerted
strategy to stabilize or revitalize a lowincome area or underserved rural area.
Section 1339(f) of the Act states that
grant amounts awarded from the Capital
Magnet Fund may be used in
furtherance of the purposes above,
including for the following eligible uses:
(1) To provide loan loss reserves;
(2) To capitalize a revolving loan
fund;
(3) To capitalize an affordable housing
fund;
(4) To capitalize a fund to support
economic development activities or
community service facilities, as
described in Section 1339(c)(2) of the
Act; and
(5) For risk-sharing loans.
The CDFI Fund welcomes comments
on issues relating to the eligibility of
certain activities, particularly with
respect to the following questions:
(a) What definition should the CDFI
Fund use to assess what constitutes
‘‘affordable housing?’’ What
affordability thresholds or restrictions
(if any) should the Fund require, and for
how long a period should these be in
place?
(b) How should ‘‘primarily’’ be
defined, as such term is used in Section
1339(c)(l)? What are the appropriate
minimum levels of targeting that each
project should be required to achieve
(e.g., 50 percent of housing units are
affordable to low-income persons, 20
percent of housing units are available to
extremely low-income persons, etc.)?
(c) How should ‘‘preservation’’ be
defined, as such term is used in Section
1339(c)(1)? Should it include the refinancing of single- or multi-family
mortgages as eligible activities?
(d) How should ‘‘rehabilitation’’ be
defined, as such term is used in Section
1339(c)(1)?
(e) Capital Magnet Fund grants may
be used to finance economic
development activities and/or
community service facilities ‘‘in
conjunction with affordable housing
activities.’’
(i) What restrictions (if any) should
the CDFI Fund place on the percentage
of award dollars that an awardee may
apply towards economic development
activities and/or community service
facilities (e.g., no more than 20 percent
of a total award)?
(ii) Should the CDFI Fund support
economic development activities/
community service facilities in
conjunction with affordable housing
activities financed by sources other than

E:\FR\FM\06MRN1.SGM

06MRN1

9870

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 43 / Friday, March 6, 2009 / Notices

Capital Magnet Fund grants (e.g., LowIncome Housing Tax Credits; Hope VI;
or private sources) or solely in
conjunction with Capital Magnet Fund
grants?
(iii) How should the CDFI Fund
define ‘‘in conjunction with’’? For
example, does this mean on the same
premises, in a separate property
adjoining the premises, contiguous to or
within the census tract where the
premises is located, or within a certain
distance from the premises? (iv) How
should the CDFI Fund define
‘‘concerted strategy’’?

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

Eligible Grantees
Section 1339(e) of the Act states that
Capital Magnet Fund grants may only be
made to: (a) A CDFI that has been
certified by the CDFI Fund; or (b) a
nonprofit organization having as one of
its principal purposes the development
or management of affordable housing.
How should the CDFI Fund define
‘‘principal purpose,’’ with respect to
determining whether one of an entity’s
principal purposes is the development
or management of affordable housing?
Applications
The CDFI Fund welcomes comments
pertaining to the content of the
application materials, the timing of
award rounds, and the application
scoring and review protocols
particularly with respect to the
following questions:
(a) Are there other competitive award
programs, Federal or otherwise, upon
which the CDFI Fund should model the
Capital Magnet Fund’s application
scoring and review protocols?
(b) Should the CDFI Fund divide
applicants among different pools so that
they compete only among organizations
at the same capacity level (similar to the
Core and SECA designations for the
CDFI Program)?
(c) Should the CDFI Fund accept
applications on an annual basis or more
often (e.g., twice a year)?
(d) Section 1339(j)(2)(D)(ii) requires
‘‘a prioritization of funding based upon:
(1) The ability to use such funds to
generate additional investments;
(2) Affordable housing need (taking
into account the distinct needs of
different regions of the country); and
(3) Ability to obligate amounts and
undertake activities so funded in a
timely manner.’’ With respect to this
particular requirement:
(i) How should the CDFI Fund
quantify each of the three priority
factors? For each of the three factors,
what should applicants be required to
present and/or address as part of their
application materials?

VerDate Nov<24>2008

16:20 Mar 05, 2009

Jkt 217001

(ii) Should this prioritization be
incorporated into the standard scoring
of the application (e.g., by weighting
certain questions more heavily) or
should there be separate ‘‘priority
points’’ specific to each of the three
criteria?
Geographic Diversity
Section 1339(h)(2)(A) of the Act
states: ‘‘The Secretary of the Treasury
shall seek to fund activities in
geographically diverse areas of
economic distress, including
metropolitan and undeserved rural areas
in every State.’’ Section 1 339(h)(2)(B)
provides that objective criteria of
economic distress may include:
(1) The percentage of low-income
families or the extent of poverty;
(2) The rate of unemployment or
underemployment;
(3) The extent of blight and
disinvestment;
(4) Projects that target extremely
low-, very low-, and low-income
families in or outside a designated
economic distress area; or
(5) Any other criteria designated by
the Secretary of the Treasury.
The CDFI Fund welcomes comments
on issues relating to geographic
diversity, particularly with respect to
the following questions:
(a) What objective criteria of
economic distress should the CDFI
Fund adopt?
(1) If the percentage of low-income
families is selected as an objective
criterion of economic distress, what is
the appropriate minimum level (e.g.,
census tracts where the median family
income is at or below 80 percent of the
applicable area median family income)?
(2) If poverty rate is selected as an
objective criterion of economic distress,
what is the appropriate minimum level
(e.g., census tracts with at least a 20
percent poverty rate)?
(3) If unemployment or
underemployment is selected as an
objective criterion of economic distress,
what is the appropriate minimum level
(e.g., census tracts with an
unemployment rate at least 1.5 times the
national average)?
(4) If ‘‘blight’’ or ‘‘disinvestment’’ is
selected as an objective criterion of
economic distress, how should they be
defined?
(5) Are there additional criteria of
distress, other than those specifically
listed in Section 1339(h)(2)(B), that the
CDFI Fund should consider? For
example, is there a measure specific to
housing that should be considered (e.g.,
the ratio of renters to homeowners in a
community; percentage of vacant
properties in a community; or

PO 00000

Frm 00092

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

percentage of substandard properties in
a community)?
(6) Are there special populations
facing economic distress or with high
housing needs that the Fund should
consider? Are there particular measures
that should not be used because they
may inadvertently disadvantage certain
populations? If so, provide examples of
particular households or communities
that would not qualify under specific
definitions.
(b) How should the CDFI Fund define
‘‘rural areas’’? For example, is a rural
area any census tract that is not located
in a metropolitan statistical area (MSA)?
Respondents should discuss how a
particular definition would enable the
program to best ensure funding to
people in rural areas, and discuss
whether there are particular measures
that should not be used because they
may inadvertently disadvantage certain
populations (i.e., provide examples of
particular households or communities
that would not qualify under specific
definitions).
(c) Should the CDFI Fund ensure that,
in any given award round, there is a
project located in every state? Should
the CDFI Fund ‘‘skip over’’ otherwise
higher rated applicants to ensure that
this geographic diversity goal is met?
(d) Section 1339(j)(2)(D)(i) of the Act
requires that ‘‘funds be fairly distributed
to urban, suburban, and rural areas.’’
How can the CDFI Fund best achieve
this outcome?
Leverage of Funds
Section 1339(h)(3) of the Act states:
‘‘Each grant from the Capital Magnet
Fund awarded under this section shall
be reasonably expected to result in
eligible housing, or economic and
community development projects that
support or sustain an affordable housing
project funded by a grant under this
section whose aggregate costs total at
least 10 times the grant amount.’’
The CDFI Fund welcomes comments
regarding how applicants would be able
to demonstrate a leveraging ratio of 10:1
of ‘‘total aggregate costs,’’ particularly
with respect to the following questions:
(a) What documentation should be
required to demonstrate a leveraging
ratio of 10:1 of ‘‘total aggregate costs’’?
(b) How should this 10:1 standard be
measured (e.g., on a project-by-project
basis for each project funded, or on a
collective basis for all projects
financed)?
(c) Is there a timing consideration as
to when the CDFI Fund should release
its award dollars (e.g., not until all other
sources of financing have been
secured)?

E:\FR\FM\06MRN1.SGM

06MRN1

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 43 / Friday, March 6, 2009 / Notices
Commitment for Use Deadline
Section 1339(h)(4) of the Act states:
‘‘Amounts made available for grants
under this section shall be committed
for use within 2 years of the date of such
allocation.’’ The CDFJ Fund welcomes
comments regarding how the term
‘‘committed’’ should be defined, and
how it can be verified, for the purposes
of this requirement.
Prohibited Uses
Section 1339(h)(5)–(6) of the Act lists
prohibited uses with respect to grants
awarded under this program.
Are there any additional prohibitions
or limitations that should be applied?
For example, there are no stated
limitations regarding the portions of
Capital Magnet Fund grants that may be
retained by the awardee to cover
operating costs. Should the CDFJ Fund
permit a set portion of awards to cover
operating costs? If so, what percentage
of the funds should be allowed? Should
awardees be restricted in the level of
fees they charge to sub recipients/endusers?

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

Section 1339(h)(8) of the Act provides
for accountability standards with
respect to tracking the use of award
dollars, as well as remedies in the event
that an awardee misuses funds.
The CDFI Fund welcomes comments
on how to administer awards and
monitor the deployment of funds
awarded under the Capital Magnet
Fund, particularly with respect to the
following questions:
(a) What documentation should be
required to demonstrate that funds
awarded under the Capital Magnet Fund
have been committed?
(b) What types of documentation
should be required to demonstrate
completion of projects?
(c) What types of documentation
should be required to demonstrate
satisfaction of the affordability
requirement related to housing
developed, preserved, rehabilitated, or
purchased with the support of Capital
Magnet Fund awards?
(d) What support, if any, would
applicants and awardees like to see from
the CDFI Fund at the post-award stage?
(e) What specific industry standards
for impact measures (units produced,
percentage of units affordable to lowincome persons; time to complete; etc.)
should the CDFI Fund adopt for
evaluating and monitoring projects
funded under the Capital Magnet Fund?

16:20 Mar 05, 2009

Jkt 217001

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 4569.
Dated: February 27, 2009.
Donna J. Gambrell.
Director, Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. E9–4648 Filed 3–5–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–70–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of Thrift Supervision
[Docket ID: OTS–2009–0001]

Open Meeting of the OTS Minority
Depository Institutions Advisory
Committee

Accountability of Recipients and
Grantees

VerDate Nov<24>2008

General Comments
The Fund is interested in comments
regarding the types of affordable
housing projects or activities for which
applicants anticipate applying under the
Capital Magnet Fund. Please detail the
specific activity (development,
preservation, rehabilitation, purchase,
etc.), the populations served by this
activity, the applicant’s role in the
activity, the sources of finance used to
complete each activity, and the
preferred time frame of grants received
under the Capital Magnet Fund.

AGENCY: Department of the Treasury,
Office of Thrift Supervision.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
SUMMARY: The OTS Minority Depository
Institutions Advisory Committee
(MDIAC) will convene its first meeting
on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, in
Conference Room 6A of the Office of
Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW.,
Washington, DC, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Eastern Time. The meeting will be open
to the public.
DATES: The meeting will be held on
Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at 9:30
a.m. Eastern Time.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at
the Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G
Street, NW., Washington, DC in
Conference Room A. The public is
invited to submit written statements to
the MDIAC by any one of the following
methods:
• E-mail address:
[email protected]; or
• Mail: To Cassandra McConnell,
Designated Federal Official, Office of
Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20552 in triplicate.
The agency must receive statements
no later than March 18, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Cassandra McConnell, Designated
Federal Official, (202) 906–5750, Office
of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street,
NW., Washington, DC 20552.

PO 00000

Frm 00093

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

9871

By this
notice, the Office of Thrift Supervision
is announcing that the OTS Minority
Depository Institutions Advisory
Committee will convene its first meeting
on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, in
Conference Room 6A at the Office of
Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW.,
Washington, DC, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Eastern Time. The meeting will be open
to the public. Because the meeting will
be held in a secured facility with
limited space, members of the public
who plan to attend the meeting, and
members of the public who require
auxiliary aid, must contact the Office of
Community Affairs at 202–906–7891 by
5 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday,
March 18, 2009, to inform OTS of their
desire to attend the meeting and to
provide the information that will be
required to facilitate entry into the OTS
building. To enter the building,
attendees should provide their full
name, e-mail address, date of birth,
social security number, organization,
and country of citizenship. The purpose
of the meeting is to advise OTS on ways
to meet the goals established by section
308 of the Financial Institutions Reform,
Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989
(FIRREA), Public Law 101–73, Title III,
103 Stat. 353, 12 U.S.C.A. 1463 note.
The goals of section 308 are to preserve
the present number of minority
institutions, preserve the minority
character of minority-owned institutions
in cases involving mergers or
acquisitions, provide technical
assistance, and encourage the creation
of new minority institutions. The
MDIAC will help OTS meet those goals
by providing informed advice and
recommendations regarding a range of
issues involving minority depository
institutions.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Dated: March 3, 2009.
By the Office of Thrift Supervision.
Montrice Godard Yakimov,
Managing Director, Compliance and
Consumer Protection.
[FR Doc. E9–4814 Filed 3–3–09; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 6720–01–P

U.S.-CHINA ECONOMIC AND
SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION
Notice of Open Public Hearing
AGENCY: U.S.-China Economic and
Security Review Commission.
ACTION: Notice of open public hearing—
March 24, 2009, Washington, DC.
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the
following hearing of the U.S.-China
Economic and Security Review
Commission.

E:\FR\FM\06MRN1.SGM

06MRN1