area eligibility

area eligibility Sec. 401. (a) The Secretary shall designate as “redevelopment areas”— (1) those areas in which he determines, upon the basis of standards generally comparable with those set forth in paragraphs (A) and (B), that there has existed substantial and persistent unemployment for an extended period of time and those areas in which he determines there has been a substantial loss of population due to lack of employment opportunity. There shall be included among the areas so designated any area— (A) where the Secretary of Labor finds that the current rate of unemployment, as determined by appropriate annual statistics for the most, recent available calendar year, is 6 per centum or more and has averaged at least 6 per centum for the qualifying time periods specified in paragraph (B); and (B) where the Secretary of Labor finds that the annual average rate of unemployment has been at least— (i) 50 per centum above the national average for three of the preceding four calendar years, or (ii) 75 per centum above the national average for two of the preceding three calendar years, or (iii) 100 per centum above the national average for one of the preceding two calendar years. The Secretary of Labor shall find the facts and provide the data to be used by the Secretary in making the determinations required by this subsection; (2) those additional areas which have a median family income not in excess of 40 per centum of the national median, as determined by the most recent available statistics for such areas; (3) those additional Federal or State Indian reservations or trust or restricted Indian-owned land areas which the Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of the Interior or an appropriate State agency, determines manifest the greatest degree of economic distress on the basis of unemployment and income statistics and other appropriate evidence of economic underdevelopment; (4) upon request of such areas, those additional areas in which the Secretary determines that the loss, removal, curtailment, or closing of a major source of employment has caused within three years prior to, or threatens to cause within three years after, the date of the request an unusual and abrupt rise in unemployment of such magnitude that the unemployment rate for the area at the time of the request, exceeds the national average, or can reasonably be expected to exceed the national average, by 50 per centum or more unless assistance is provided. Notwithstanding any provision of subsection 401(b) to the contrary, an area designated under the authority of this paragraph may be given a reasonable time after designation in which to submit the overall economic development program required by subsection 202(b)(10) of this Act; 79 Stat. 561 (5) notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, those additional areas which were designated redevelopment areas under the Area Redevelopment Act on or after March 1, 1965: Provided, however, That the continued eligibility of such areas after the first annual review of eligibility conducted in accordance with section 402 of this Act shall be dependent on their qualification for designation under the standards of economic need set forth in subsections (a)(1) through (a)(4) of this section. (b) The size and boundaries of redevelopment areas shall be as determined by the Secretary: Provided, however, That— (1) no area shall be designated until it has an approved overall economic development program in accordance with subsection 202(b)(10) of this Act; (2) any area which does not submit an acceptable overall economic development program in accordance with subsection 202 (b)(10) of this Act within a reasonable time after notification of eligibility for designation, shall not thereafter be designated prior to the next annual review of eligibility in accordance with section 402 of this Act: (3) no area shall be designated which does not have a population of at least one thousand five hundred persons, except for areas designated under subsection 401(a)(3), which shall have a population of not less than one thousand persons: and (4) except for areas designated under subsections (a)(3) and (a)(4) hereof, no area shall be designated which is smaller than a “labor area” (as defined by the Secretary of Labor), a county, or a municipality with a population of over two hundred and fifty thousand, whichever in the opinion of the Secretary is appropriate. (c) Upon the request of the Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, and such other heads of agencies as may be appropriate are authorized to conduct such special studies, obtain such information, and compile and furnish to the Secretary such data as the Secretary may deem necessary’ or proper to enable him to make the determinations provided for in this section. The Secretary shall reimburse when appropriate, out of any funds appropriated to carry out the purposes of this Act, the foregoing officers for any expenditures incurred by them under this section. (d) If a State has no area designated under the preceding subsections of this section as a redevelopment area, the Secretary shall designate as a redevelopment area that area in such State which in his opinion most nearly qualifies under such preceding subsections. An area so designated shall have its eligibility terminated in accordance with the provisions of section 402 if any other area within the same State subsequently has become qualified or been designated under any other subsection of this section as of the time of the annual review prescribed by section 402: Provided, That the Secretary shall not terminate any designation of an area in a State as a redevelopment area if to do so would result in such State having no redevelopment area. (e) As used in this Act, the term “redevelopment area” refers to any area within the United States which has been designated by the Secretary as a redevelopment area.