On June 3, 2022, the Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a joint notice, proposing to amend their regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA). Read the joint notice of proposed rulemaking here.
The CRA was enacted in 1977 to encourage banks to help meet the credit needs of the low and moderate-income communities and households in their chartered area. The proposed amendment would update how CRA activities qualify for consideration, where CRA considers activities, and how to evaluate CRA activities.
The proposed rule includes a new designation of “Native Land Areas,” including Indian country, land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans, state American Indian reservations, Alaska Native Villages, Hawaiian Homelands, Alaska Native Village Statistical Areas, Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Areas, Tribal Designated Statistical Areas, American Indian Joint-Use Areas, and state-designated Tribal Statistical Areas. The proposed rule would create a definition for qualifying community development activities that are targeted to and conducted in Native Land Areas, including:
- Revitalization activities in Native Land Areas,
- Essential community facilities in Native Land Areas,
- Essential community infrastructure in Native Land Areas, and
- Disaster-preparedness and climate-resiliency activities in Native Land Areas.
The agencies believe that designating Native Land Areas and specific activities within Native Land Areas will promote banking and financial practices that support Native American communities.
The agencies are requesting feedback on the new designation of Native Land Areas and have put forth specific questions in the proposed rules. Comments can be submitted to the Federal eRulemaking Portal (“Docket ID OCC– 2022–0002”) at www.regulations.gov and are due by August 5, 2022.