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NAFCU Senior Regulatory Affairs Counsel Michael Emancipator is at the Treasury Department today to discuss credit union participation in the department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.

The discussion will also focus on Treasury's recent request for input from industry stakeholders on the CDFI designation process as the fund explores ways to enhance this process and reevaluates its criteria for CDFI eligibility.

Credit unions can comment via NAFCU's Regulatory Alert. Comments are due to the CDFI Fund by March 10.

Credit unions that have the agency's low-income designation share many of the qualifications required for CDFI certification. Last year, the NCUA and Treasury signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate increased credit union involvement in the fund, with the aim of doubling the number of CDFI-certified credit unions.

The NCUA on Monday opened its first streamlined application round for CDFI Fund certification. The first 2017 application round will run through March 17.

Through the streamlined certification process, low-income-designated credit unions can submit data on loan originations and target markets to the NCUA's Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives. If the NCUA deems the credit union qualified, the agency will give the credit union an application form and the necessary data to complete it.