EDA was created by Congress pursuant to the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to provide financial assistance to both rural and urban distressed communities. EDA's mission is to lead the Federal economic development agenda by promoting innovation and competitiveness, preparing American regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. EDA will fulfill its mission by fostering entrepreneurship, innovation and productivity through Investments in infrastructure development, capacity building and business development in order to attract private capital investments and new and better jobs to Regions experiencing substantial and persistent economic distress. EDA works in partnership with distressed Regions to address problems associated with long-term economic distress as well as to assist those Regions experiencing sudden and severe economic dislocations, such as those resulting from natural disasters, conversions of military installations, changing trade patterns and the depletion of natural resources. EDA Investments generally take the form of Grants to or Cooperative Agreements with Eligible Recipients.

(a) EDA's Headquarters Office is located at: U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230.

(b) EDA has regional offices throughout the United States and each regional office's contact information may be found on EDA's Internet Web site at http://www.eda.gov or in the applicable announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity issued by EDA. Please contact the appropriate regional office to learn about EDA Investment opportunities in your Region.

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary for Economic Development within the Department.

Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy or CEDS means a strategy that meets the requirements of § 303.7 of this chapter.

Cooperative Agreement means the financial assistance award of EDA funds to an Eligible Recipient where substantial involvement is expected between EDA and the Eligible Recipient in carrying out a purpose or activity authorized under PWEDA or another statute. See 31 U.S.C. 6305.

Co-Recipient means one of multiple Recipients awarded Investment Assistance under a single award. Unless otherwise provided in the terms and conditions of the Investment Assistance, each Co-Recipient is jointly and severally liable for fulfilling the terms of the Investment Assistance.

Department means the U.S. Department of Commerce.

District Organization means an organization meeting the requirements of § 304.2 of this chapter.

Economic Development District or District or EDD means any Region in the United States designated by EDA as an Economic Development District under § 304.1 of this chapter (or such regulation as was previously in effect before the effective date of this section) and also includes any economic development district designated as such under section 403 of PWEDA, as in effect on February 10, 1999.

EDA means the Economic Development Administration within the Department.

Eligible Applicant means an entity qualified to be an Eligible Recipient or its authorized representative.

Eligible Recipient means any of the following:

(1) City or other political subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of State or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities, or a consortium of political subdivisions;

(2) State;

(3) Institution of higher education or a consortium of institutions of higher education;

(4) Public or private non-profit organization or association, including a community or faith-based non-profit organization, acting in cooperation with officials of a political subdivision of a State;

(5) District Organization;

(6) Indian Tribe or a consortium of Indian Tribes; or

(7) Private individual or for-profit organization, but only for Training, Research and Technical Assistance Investments pursuant to § 306.1(d)(3) of this chapter.

Federal Agency means a department, agency or instrumentality of the United States government.

Federal Funding Opportunity or FFO means an announcement EDA publishes during the fiscal year at http://www.grants.gov and on EDA's Internet Web site at http://www.eda.gov that provides the funding amounts, application and programmatic requirements, funding priorities, special circumstances, and other information concerning a specific competitive solicitation for EDA's economic development assistance programs. EDA also may periodically publish FFOs on specific programs or initiatives.

Federally Declared Disaster means a Presidentially Declared Disaster, a fisheries resource disaster pursuant to section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1861a(a)), or other Federally declared disasters pursuant to applicable law.

Grant means the financial assistance award of EDA funds to an Eligible Recipient, under which the Eligible Recipient bears responsibility for carrying out a purpose or activity authorized under PWEDA or another statute. See 31 U.S.C. 6304.

Immediate Family means a person's spouse (or domestic partner or significant other), parents, grandparents, siblings, children and grandchildren, but does not include distant relatives, such as cousins, unless the distant relative lives in the same household as the person.

In-Kind Contribution(s) means non-cash contributions, which may include contributions of space, equipment, services and assumptions of debt that are fairly evaluated by EDA and that satisfy applicable Federal uniform administrative requirements and cost principles as set out in 2 CFR part 200.

Indian Tribe means an entity on the list of recognized tribes published pursuant to the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994, as amended (Pub. L. 103-454) (25 U.S.C. 479a et seq.), and any Alaska Native Village or Regional Corporation (as defined in or established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). This term includes the governing body of an Indian Tribe, Indian corporation (restricted to Indians), Indian authority, or other non-profit Indian tribal organization or entity; provided that the Indian tribal organization, corporation, or entity is wholly owned by, and established for the benefit of, the Indian Tribe or Alaska Native Village.

Interested Party means any officer, employee or member of the board of directors or other governing board of the Recipient, including any other parties that advise, approve, recommend or otherwise participate in the business decisions of the Recipient, such as agents, advisors, consultants, attorneys, accountants or shareholders. An Interested Party also includes the Interested Party's Immediate Family and other persons directly connected to the Interested Party by law or through a business arrangement.

Investment or Investment Assistance means a Grant or Cooperative Agreement entered into by EDA and a Recipient.

Investment Rate means, as set forth in § 301.4 of this chapter, the amount of the EDA Investment in a particular Project expressed as a percentage of the total Project cost.

Local Share or Matching Share means the non-EDA funds and any In-Kind Contributions that are approved by EDA and provided by a Recipient or third party as a condition of an Investment. The Matching Share may include funds from another Federal Agency only if authorized by statute that allows such use, which may be determined by EDA's reasonable interpretation of such authority.

Presidentially Declared Disaster means a major disaster or emergency declared under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).

Project means the proposed or authorized activity (or activities) the purpose of which fulfills EDA's mission and program requirements as set forth in PWEDA or Stevenson-Wydler and this chapter and which may be funded in whole or in part by EDA Investment Assistance.

PWEDA means the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3121 et seq.).

Recipient means an entity receiving EDA Investment Assistance, including any EDA-approved successor to the entity.

Region or Regional means an economic unit of human, natural, technological, capital or other resources, defined geographically. Geographic areas comprising a Region need not be contiguous or defined by political boundaries, but should constitute a cohesive area capable of undertaking self-sustained economic development. For the limited purposes of determining economic distress levels and Investment Rates pursuant to part 301 of this chapter, a Region also may comprise a specific geographic area defined solely by its level of economic distress, as set forth in §§ 301.3(a)(2) and 301.3(a)(3) of this chapter.

Regional Commission means any of the following:

(1) The Appalachian Regional Commission established under chapter 143 of title 40, United States Code;

(2) The Delta Regional Authority established under subtitle F of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2009aa et seq.);

(3) The Denali Commission established under the Denali Commission Act of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 3121 note; 112 Stat. 2681-637 et seq.); or

(4) The Northern Great Plains Regional Authority established under subtitle G of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2009bb et seq.).

Regional Innovation Clusters or RICs means networks of similar, synergistic, or complementary entities that support a single industry sector and its various supply chains. In general, RICs:

(1) Are based on a geographic area that may cross municipal, county, and other jurisdictional boundaries;

(2) May include catalysts of innovation and drivers of Regional economic growth, such as universities, government research centers, and other research and development resources;

(3) Have active channels for business transactions and communication; and

(4) Depend upon specialized infrastructure, labor markets, and services that build on the unique competitive assets of a location, including talent, technology, services, and hard and soft infrastructure, to spur innovation, job creation, and business expansion.

Special Impact Area means a Region served by a Project for which the requirements of section 302 of PWEDA and § 303.7 of this chapter have, upon an application filed by an Eligible Recipient pursuant to section 214 of PWEDA and part 310 of this chapter, been waived in whole or in part by the Assistant Secretary.

Special Need means a circumstance or legal status arising from actual or threatened severe unemployment or economic adjustment problems resulting from severe short-term or long-term changes in economic conditions, including:

(1) Substantial outmigration or population loss;

(2) Underemployment; that is, employment of workers at less than full-time or at less skilled tasks than their training or abilities permit;

(3) Military base closures or realignments, defense contractor reductions-in-force, or U.S. Department of Energy defense-related funding reductions;

(4) Natural or other major disasters or emergencies;

(5) Extraordinary depletion of natural resources;

(6) Closing or restructuring of an industrial firm or loss of a major employer;

(7) Negative effects of changing trade patterns; or

(8) Other circumstances set forth in an FFO.

State means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.

Stevenson-Wydler, for purposes of EDA, means the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, as amended (15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.).

Subrecipient means an Eligible Recipient that receives a redistribution of Investment Assistance in the form of a subgrant, under part 309 of this chapter, from another Eligible Recipient to carry out part of a Federal program.

Trade Act, for purposes of EDA, means title II, chapters 3, 4 and 5, of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2341 et seq.).

United States means all of the States.