(a) The Governor must assign local areas to a region prior to submission of the State Unified or Combined Plan, in order for the State to receive WIOA title I, subtitle B adult, dislocated worker, and youth allotments.

(b) The Governor must develop a policy and process for identifying regions. Such policy must include:

(1) Consultation with the Local WDBs and chief elected officials (CEOs) in the local area(s) as required in WIOA sec. 102(b)(2)(D)(i)(II) and WIOA sec. 106(a)(1); and

(2) Consideration of the extent to which the local areas in a proposed region:

(i) Share a single labor market;

(ii) Share a common economic development area; and

(iii) Possess the Federal and non-Federal resources, including appropriate education and training institutions, to administer activities under WIOA subtitle B.

(c) In addition to the required criteria described in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, other factors the Governor also may consider include:

(1) Population centers;

(2) Commuting patterns;

(3) Land ownership;

(4) Industrial composition;

(5) Location quotients;

(6) Labor force conditions;

(7) Geographic boundaries; and

(8) Additional factors as determined by the Secretary.

(d) Regions must consist of:

(1) One local area;

(2) Two or more contiguous local areas in a single State; or

(3) Two or more contiguous local areas in two or more States.

(e) Planning regions are those regions described in paragraph (d)(2) or (3) of this section. Planning regions are subject to the regional planning requirements in §679.510.