As used in this part—

Annual report means the report submitted to USDA by all rural Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities pursuant to §25.400.

Applicant means the entity that is submitting the community's strategic plan for accomplishing comprehensive economic, human community, and physical development within the area; such an entity may include, but is not limited to, State governments, local governments, tribal governments, regional planning agencies, non-profit organizations, community-based organizations, or a partnership of community members and other entities. The applicant may be the same as or different from the lead managing entity.

Baseline condition means a measurable condition or problem at the time of designation for which benchmark goals have been established for improvement.

Benchmark activity means a program, project, task or combination thereof which is designed to achieve a benchmark goal.

Benchmark goal means a measurable goal targeted for achievement in the strategic plan.

Brownfield means a “qualified contaminated site” meeting the requirements of section 941 of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, (26 U.S.C. 198(c)), where the site is located in an empowerment zone or enterprise community.

Census tract means a population census tract, or, if census tracts are not defined for the area, a block numbering area (BNA) as established by the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce. BNAs are areas delineated by state officials or (lacking state participation) by the Census Bureau, following Census Bureau guidelines, for the purpose of grouping and numbering decennial census blocks in counties or statistically equivalent entities in which census tracts have not been established. A BNA is equivalent to a census tract in the Census Bureau's geographic hierarchy.

Champion Community means a rural area granted such status by the Secretary pursuant to this part from among those communities which applied for designation as either a rural Empowerment Zone or Enterprise Community and which were not so designated.

Designation means the process by which the Secretary designates rural areas as empowerment zones or enterprise communities pursuant to eligibility criteria established by subchapter U of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 1391 et seq.).

Designation date means December 21, 1994, in the case of Round I designations, December 24, 1998, in the case of Round II and Round IIS designations and January 11, 2002, in the case of Round III designations

Designation period means, in the case of empowerment zones, the lesser of such time as has elapsed from the designation date to December 31, 2009 or from the designation date to the effective date of an applicable notice of revocation pursuant to 7 CFR 25.405(e) and, in the case of enterprise communities, the lesser of ten years or such time as has elapsed from the designation date to the effective date of an applicable notice of revocation pursuant to 7 CFR 25.405(e).

Developable site means a parcel of land in a nominated area which may be developed for commercial or industrial purposes.

Empowerment Zone means a rural area so designated by the Secretary pursuant to this part.

Enterprise Community means a rural area so designated by the Secretary pursuant to this part.

EZ/EC SSBG funds or EZ/EC Social Services Block Grant funds means any funds that may be provided to states or tribal governments by HHS in accordance with section 2007(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397f), for use by designated Empowerment Zones or Enterprise Communities.

Funding official means the state director in the state where the designated rural area is located, or if the designated rural area is located in more than one state, the state where the headquarters office of the lead managing entity is located.

HHS means the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

HUD means the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Indian reservation means a reservation as defined in section 168(j)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 168(j)(6).

Lead managing entity means the entity that will administer and be responsible for the implementation of the strategic plan.

Local government means any county, city, town, township, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a state, and any combination of these political subdivisions that is recognized by the Secretary.

Nominated area means an area which is nominated by one or more local governments and the state or states in which it is located for designation in accordance with this part.

Office of Community Development or OCD means the office of the Deputy Administrator, Community Development, as identified in 7 CFR 2003.26(b)(4).

Outmigration means the negative percentage change reported by the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, for the sum of:

(1) Net Domestic Migration;

(2) Net Federal Movement; and

(3) Net International Migration, as such terms are defined for purposes of the 1990 Census.

Poverty rate means, for a given Census tract, the poverty rate reported in Table 19 of the Bureau of the Census CPH-3 series of publications from the 1990 Census of Population and Housing: Population and Housing Characteristics for Census Tracts and Block Numbering Areas.

Revocation of designation means the process by which the Secretary may revoke the designation of an area as an Empowerment Zone or Enterprise Community pursuant to §25.405.

Round I identifies designations of rural Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities pursuant to subchapter C, part I (Empowerment Zones, Enterprise Communities and Rural Development Investment Areas) of Title XIII of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-66).

Round II identifies designations of rural Empowerment Zones pursuant to subtitle F (Empowerment Zones, Enterprise Communities, Brownfields, and Community Development Financial Institutions) of Title IX of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (Pub. L. 105-34).

Round IIS identifies designations of rural enterprise communities pursuant to section 766 of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105-277).

Round III identifies designations of empowerment zones pursuant to section 111 of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-554).

Rural area means any area defined pursuant to §25.503.

Secretary means the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

State means any state in the United States.

State director means the state director for the Rural Development mission area within USDA, as identified in 7 CFR 2003.10.

Strategic plan means a plan for achieving benchmark goals evidencing improvement over identified baseline conditions, developed with the participation and commitment of local governments, tribal governments, state governments, private sector, community members and others, pursuant to the provisions of §25.202.

USDA means the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

USDA EZ/EC grant program means the grant program authorized by section 766 of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105-277).

[63 FR 19114, Apr. 16, 1998, as amended at 67 FR 13556, Apr. 24, 2002; 68 FR 16170, Apr. 3, 2003]