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42 U.S. Code § 11501. Designation of enterprise zones
(a) Designation of zones
(1) “Enterprise zone” definedFor purposes of this section, the term “enterprise zone” means any area that—
(A)
is nominated by one or more local governments and the State or States in which it is located for designation as an enterprise zone (in this section referred to as a “nominated area”); and
(B) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development designates as an enterprise zone, after consultation with—
(i)
the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, and the Treasury, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration; and
(ii)
in the case of an area on an Indian reservation, the Secretary of the Interior.
(2) Number of designations
(A) In general
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may designate not more than 100 nominated areas as enterprise zones.
(B) Minimum designation in rural areasOf the areas designated under subparagraph (A), not less than ⅓ shall be areas that—
(i)
are within a local government jurisdiction or jurisdictions with a population of less than 50,000 (as determined under the most recent census data available);
(ii)
are outside of a metropolitan statistical area (as designated by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget); or
(iii)
that are determined by the Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, to be rural areas.
(3) Areas designated based solely on degree of poverty
(A) In general
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall designate (i) the nominated areas with the highest average ranking with respect to the criteria set forth in subparagraphs (C) and (D) of subsection (c)(3), and the 1 criterion set forth in subparagraph (E)(i) or (E)(ii) of subsection (c)(3) that gives an area a higher ranking; and (ii) for areas described in paragraph (2)(B), the nominated areas with the highest ranking with respect to the 1 criterion set forth in subparagraph (C), (D), (E)(i), or (E)(ii) of subsection (c)(3) that gives an area a higher ranking. For purposes of the preceding sentence, an area shall be ranked within each such criterion on the basis of the amount by which the area exceeds such criterion, with the area that exceeds such criterion by the greatest amount given the highest ranking.
(B) Exception where inadequate course of action, etc.
An area shall not be designated under subparagraph (A) if the Secretary determines that the course of action with respect to such area is inadequate.
(C) Separate application to rural and other areas
Subparagraph (A) shall be applied separately with respect to areas described in paragraph (2)(B) and to other areas.