# Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; Announcement Type: Notice of Information Collection and Request for Public Comment
**ACTION:**
Notice and request for public comment.
**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 Federal and State 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 (CDFI) Fund, Department of the Treasury, is soliciting comments concerning the Opportunity Zone (OZ) Nomination Tool. The OZ Nomination Tool contains online forms submitted through the CDFI Fund's Awards Management Information System (AMIS).
**DATES:**
Written comments must be received on or before May 5, 2026, to be assured of consideration.
**ADDRESSES:**
You may submit comments concerning the OZ Nomination Tool via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at *www.regulations.gov.* Follow the instructions on the website for the submission of comments. In general, all comments will be available for inspection at *www.regulations.gov.* Comments, including attachments and other supporting materials, are part of the public record. Do not submit any information in your comments or supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate for public disclosure.
**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:**
Shafron Hawkins, Senior Advisor, CDFI Fund, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20220, 202-653-0300, or *[email protected].* Other information regarding the CDFI Fund and its programs may be obtained on the CDFI Fund website at *https://www.cdfifund.gov.*
**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:**
*Title:* Opportunity Zone Nomination Tool.
*OMB Number:* 1559-0049.
*Abstract:* The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA; Pub. L. 115-97) created a tax incentive for investors who reinvest eligible capital gains into Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs) that in turn deploy these resources into certain distressed census tracts in the 50 states, U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia (collectively, “States”) which may be designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs). A QOF is an investment vehicle that is organized as a corporation or partnership for the purpose of investing in QOZ property (other than another QOF). QOZs are certain low-income community (LIC) eligible census tracts nominated by the States, and certified and designated by the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary). Taxpayers who invest in a QOZ can receive certain tax benefits for their investments as an incentive to improve economic growth and job creation in underserved communities. Section 70421 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA, Pub. L. 119-21), signed into law on July 4, 2025, made the QOZ incentives permanent and, pertinent to this collection of information, established new dates by which eligible census tracts may be nominated as a QOZ by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a State. The designation period for the first set of new QOZs will begin on July 1, 2026, with additional rounds of designations to follow every ten years thereafter. New approved designations will become effective as of January 1, 2027, and will remain in effect for a similar ten-year period. To take advantage of this incentive, State CEOs must nominate eligible census tracts for designation as a QOZ during a 90-day period, subject to a single 30-day extension period, beginning on July 1, 2026. The Secretary certifies such nominations and designates the eligible census tract as a QOZ within 30 days of receiving notice from the CEO that the State has made its nomination. In response to these statutory requirements, the CDFI Fund will reinstate the OZ Nomination Tool, which will assist the Secretary in the certification and designation process.
*Estimated Number of Respondents:* 56.
*Estimated Annual Time per Respondent:* 1 hour.
*Estimated Annual Burden Hours:* 56 hours.
*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 (OMB) approval. All comments will become a matter of public record and may be published on *Regulations.gov* . The CDFI Fund is seeking input on the OZ Nomination Tool. An Overview of the OZ Nomination Tool Information Collection may be obtained from *www.regulations.gov.* Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (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 automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of information displays a valid OMB control number.
*Authority:* Pub. L. 119-21, Pub. L. 115-97.
Dated: March 4, 2026.
Alexandria Smith,
Acting Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.