§3161 Eligibility of areas

Summary

To get help under sections 3141 or 3149, a project must be in an area that, when the application is sent, meets at least one of six tests. The tests cover income, jobs, and local hardship. They include: per-person income at 80 percent or less of the U.S. average; an unemployment rate over the most recent 24-month period that is at least 1 percent higher than the national rate; a Secretary finding that the area has or will have serious unemployment, underemployment, or economic adjustment problems; median household income at 80 percent or less of the national average; either a labor force participation rate at 90 percent or less of the national average or a prime-age employment gap of 5 percent or more; or expected severe job or economic problems from shrinking energy industries. Small pockets of poverty or high unemployment inside a larger area can qualify even if political borders cross them. Eligibility must be shown with the most recent federal data available (for example, from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, or Bureau of Indian Affairs), or with the most recent state data if no federal data exist. The Secretary will accept that documentation unless it is shown to be wrong. Any redevelopment area labels made before the effective date of the Economic Development Administration Reform Act of 1998 stop being effective after that date. If the Secretary adds nearby counties or towns to a district under the special-need test, the Secretary must tell Congress and post online a written reason and the economic data for those places.