WASHINGTON - The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works is conducting a 60-day public comment period to gather public comments on the definition of the term “economically disadvantaged community” and other terms from June 3 to August 2.
1. In accordance with Section 160 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020 the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works is conducting a 60-day public comment period to gather public comments on the definition of the term “economically disadvantaged community” and other terms listed below. A companion Federal Register Notice is publishing concurrently and can be found at www.federalregister.gov/d/2022-11881.
2. Section 160 of the WRDA of 2020 directs the Secretary to define the term ‘‘economically disadvantaged community’’ for the purposes of the Act and the amendments made by the Act. To the maximum extent practicable and to the extent that such criteria are applicable in relation to the development of water resources development projects, the criteria under section 301(a)(1) and (2) of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3161) is utilized.
3. Definition
The definition of “economically disadvantaged community” in this document would apply to all provisions in WRDA 2020 using this term.
a. Economically Disadvantaged Community. For purposes of the Army Civil Works program an economically disadvantaged community is defined as meeting 1 or more of the following:
(1) Low per capita income - The area has a per capita income of 80 percent or less of the national average.
(2) Unemployment rate above national average - The area has an unemployment rate that is, for the most recent 24-month period for which data are available, at least 1 percent greater than the national average unemployment rate.
(3) Indian country as defined in 18 U.S.C. 1151.
(4) U.S. Territories
4. Comments received by the deadline for this public notice and the above referenced Federal Register notice will be reviewed and considered as we develop the final definitions.
5. Comments may be submitted electronically or by USPS mail as described below: a. www.federalregister.gov/d/2022-11881, Docket ID No. COE-2022-0006 - http:// www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions
b. Electronic – WRDA20SEC160@USACE.ARMY.MIL
c. USPS Mail - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: Ms. Amy Frantz, CEW-P, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 3F91, 441 G St NW, Washington, DC 20314. Comments must be postmarked by no later than the last day of the comment period.
6. Questions regarding this public notice should be directed to Gib Owen, Office of the ASA(CW), at gib.a.owen.civ@army.mil or 571-274-1929.