(a) Half of the total amount of funds appropriated to carry out this subtitle for each of fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 will be made available for Violent Offender Incarceration Grants.

(b) Eligibility. To be eligible to receive such a grant, a state, or states organized as multi-state compacts, must meet the requirements of section 91.3(b).

(c) Allocation of violent offender incarceration funds—(1) Formula allocation. 85% of the sum of the amount available for grants under this section for any fiscal year and any amount transferred as described in §91.4(c) for that fiscal year will be allocated as follows:

(i) 0.25% will be allocated to each eligible state except that the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands shall each be allocated 0.05%.

(ii) The amount remaining after application of paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section will be allocated to each eligible state in the ratio that the number of Part 1 violent crimes reported by such state to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 1993 bears to the number of Part 1 violent crimes reported by all states to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 1993.

(2) Discretionary allocation. Fifteen percent of the sum of the amount available for Violent Offender Incarceration Grants for any fiscal year under this subsection and any amount transferred as described in §91.4(c) for that fiscal year will be allocated at the discretion of the Assistant Attorney General for OJP to states that have demonstrated:

(i) The greatest need for such grants, and

(ii) The ability to best utilize the funds to meet the objectives of the grant program and ensure that secure cell space is available for the confinement of violent offenders.

(d) Transfer of unused funds. On September 30 of each fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000, the Assistant Attorney General will transfer to the discretionary program under paragraph (c)(2) of this section any funds made available under paragraph (c)(1) of this section that are not allocated to an eligible state under paragraph (c)(1) of this section.