(a) General eligibility requirements. A nominated area:

(1) May not exceed one thousand square miles in total land area;

(2) Must have one continuous boundary if located in more than one State or may consist of not more than three noncontiguous parcels if located in only one State;

(3) If located in more than one State, must be located within no more than three contiguous States;

(4) May not include any portion of a central business district (as such term is used for purposes of the most recent Census of Retail Trade) unless the poverty rate for each Census tract in such district is not less than 35 percent for an Empowerment Zone (30 percent in the case of an Enterprise Community);

(5) Subject to paragraph (b)(4) of this section, may not include any portion of an area already included in an Empowerment Zone or Enterprise Community or included in an area otherwise nominated to be designated under this section;

(b) Eligibility requirements specific to different rounds.

(1) For purposes of Round I designations only, a nominated area may not include any area within an Indian reservation;

(2) For purposes of applying paragraph (a)(1) of this section to Round II, Round IIS and Round III designations:

(i) A Census tract larger than 1,000 square miles shall be reduced to a 1,000 square mile area with a continuous boundary, if necessary, after application of §§25.103(b)(2) (ii) and (iii);

(ii) Land owned by the Federal, State or local government may (and in the event the Census tract exceeds 1,000 square miles, will) be excluded in determining the square mileage of a nominated area; and

(iii) Developable sites, in the aggregate not exceeding 2,000 acres, may (and in the event the Census tract exceeds 1,000 square miles, will) be excluded in determining the square mileage of the nominated area;

(3) For purposes of applying paragraph (a)(2) of this section to Round II, Round IIS and Round III designations, the following shall not be treated as violating the continuous boundary requirement nor the limit on the number of noncontiguous parcels:

(i) Exclusion of excess area pursuant to paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section;

(ii) Exclusion of government owned land pursuant to paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this section; or

(iii) Exclusion of developable sites pursuant to paragraph (b)(2)(iii) of this section; and

(4) Paragraph (a)(5) of this section shall not apply where a Round I Enterprise Community is applying either in its entirety or together with an additional area for a Round II Empowerment Zone designation.

[63 FR 19114, Apr. 16, 1998, as amended at 63 FR 53780, Oct. 7, 1998; 67 FR 13557, Mar. 25, 2002]