Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§3146 Regulations on relative needs and allocations

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 38— - PUBLIC WORKS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - GRANTS FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT › § 3146

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must make sure rules for this assistance program weigh how much help each qualifying area needs. That judgment must look at things like how bad and how long unemployment is, per-person income and how many people are working or underemployed, and whether people are leaving and causing economic harm. The Secretary must give money based mainly on how distressed an area is, not on favoritism for a place or one kind of problem. Any goal to bring in private money must not hurt rural or urban distressed areas or stop applicants from doing public works or economic development there, and the relevant Congressional committees must be told before the goal is changed. Grants must help create and keep jobs and be likely to meet their performance targets.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §3146

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

In promulgating rules, regulations, and procedures for assistance under this subchapter, the Secretary shall ensure that—
(1)the relative needs of eligible areas are given adequate consideration by the Secretary, as determined based on, among other relevant factors—
(A)the severity of the rates of unemployment in the eligible areas and the duration of the unemployment;
(B)the per capita income levels, the labor force participation rate, and the extent of underemployment in eligible areas; and
(C)the outmigration of population from eligible areas and the extent to which the outmigration is causing economic injury in the eligible areas;
(2)allocations of assistance under this subchapter are prioritized to ensure that the level of economic distress of an area, rather than a preference for a geographic area or a specific type of economic distress, is the primary factor in allocating the assistance;
(3)(A)rural and urban economically distressed areas are not harmed by the establishment or implementation by the Secretary of a private sector leveraging goal for a project under this subchapter;
(B)any private sector leveraging goal established by the Secretary does not prohibit or discourage grant applicants under this subchapter from public works in, or economic development of, rural or urban economically distressed areas; and
(C)the relevant Committees of Congress are notified prior to making any changes to any private sector leveraging goal; and
(4)grants made under this subchapter promote job creation and retention and will have a high probability of meeting or exceeding applicable performance requirements established in connection with the grants.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2025—Par. (1)(B). Pub. L. 118–272, § 2216(1), added subpar. (B) and struck out former subpar. (B) which read as follows: “the income levels and the extent of underemployment in eligible areas; and”. Par. (4). Pub. L. 118–272, § 2216(2), inserted “and retention” after “creation”. 2004—Pars. (3), (4). Pub. L. 108–373 added pars. (3) and (4).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective Feb. 11, 1999, see section 105 of Pub. L. 105–393, set out as a note under section 3121 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 3146

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73