(a) Prohibition. ICDBG funds may not be used to directly assist a business, including a business expansion, in the relocation of a plant, facility, or operation from one Identified Service Area to another Identified Service Area, if the relocation is likely to result in a significant loss of jobs in the Identified Service Area from which the relocation occurs.

(b) Definitions. The following definitions apply to this section:

(1) Directly assist. Directly assist means the provision of ICDBG funds for activities pursuant to:

(i) § 1003.203(b); or

(ii) §§ 1003.201(a)-(d), 1003.201(k), 1003.203(a), or § 1003.204 when the grantee, subrecipient, or, in the case of an activity carried out pursuant to § 1003.204, a Community Based Development Organization (CBDO) enters into an agreement with a business to undertake one or more of these activities as a condition of the business relocating a facility, plant, or operation to the grantee's Identified Service Area. Provision of public facilities and indirect assistance that will provide benefit to multiple businesses does not fall under the definition of “directly assist,” unless it includes the provision of infrastructure to aid a specific business that is the subject of an agreement with the specific assisted business.

(2) Area. The relevant definition of “area” for a Native American economic development project is the “Identified Service Area” for the eligible applicant, as defined in § 1003.4.

(3) Operation. A business operation includes, but is not limited to, any equipment, employment opportunity, production capacity, or product line of the business.

(4) Significant loss of jobs. (i) A loss of jobs is significant if the number of jobs to be lost in the Identified Service Area in which the affected business is currently located is equal to or greater than one-tenth of one percent of the total number of persons in the labor force of that area; or, in all cases, a loss of 500 or more jobs. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, a loss of 25 jobs or fewer does not constitute a significant loss of jobs.

(ii) A job is considered to be lost due to the provision of ICDBG assistance if the job is relocated within 3 years of the provision of assistance to the business; or the time period within which jobs are to be created, as specified by the agreement between the business and the recipient, is longer than 3 years.

(c) Written agreement. Before directly assisting a business with ICDBG funds, the recipient, subrecipient, or a CBDO (in the case of an activity carried out pursuant to § 1003.204) shall sign a written agreement with the assisted business. The written agreement shall include:

(1) Statement. A statement from the assisted business as to whether the assisted activity will result in the relocation of any industrial or commercial plant, facility, or operation from one Identified Service Area to another, and, if so, the number of jobs that will be relocated from each Identified Service Area; and

(2) Required certification. If the assistance will not result in a relocation covered by this section, a certification from the assisted business that neither it, nor any of its subsidiaries, has plans to relocate jobs, at the time the agreement is signed, that would result in a significant job loss as defined in this rule.

(d) Assistance not covered by this section. This section does not apply to:

(1) Relocation assistance. Relocation assistance under § 1003.602(b), (c), or (d);

(2) Microenterprises. Assistance to microenterprises as defined by section 102(a)(22) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974; and

(3) Arms-length transactions. Assistance to a business that purchases business equipment, inventory, or other physical assets in an arms-length transaction, including the assets of an existing business, provided that the purchase does not result in the relocation of the sellers' business operation (including customer base or list, goodwill, product lines, or trade names) from one Identified Service Area to another Identified Service Area and does not produce a significant loss of jobs in the Identified Service Area from which the relocation occurs.