(a) Ranking order. Rural and urban applications will be ranked according to their final scores as determined in accordance with § 599.303, with the highest scoring applications ranked first.
(b) Separate ranking categories. After initial ranking, both rural and urban applications will be separated into two ranking categories:
(1) Category 1. Applications for designation of nominated areas that are Enterprise Communities or Empowerment Zones will be placed into Category 1 in rank order.
(2) Category 2. Applications for designation of nominated areas that are not placed into or selected from Category 1 will be placed into Category 2 in rank order.
(a) In general. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the total number of Renewal Communities to be designated and the distribution of designations between urban and rural areas are as follows:
(1) Total number. The total number of nominated areas to be selected for designation as Renewal Communities is 40.
(2) Rural areas. HUD will select at least 12 rural areas for designation as Renewal Communities. If HUD does not receive at least 12 eligible rural area applications for Renewal Community designation, the number of rural area designations will be the number of eligible rural area applications received by HUD.
(3) Urban areas. The number of urban areas selected for designation as Renewal Communities will be the number remaining after subtracting the number of rural areas selected from 40.
(b) Less than 40 eligible applications. If HUD receives fewer than 40 eligible applications nominating areas, the total number of nominated areas to be selected for designation as Renewal Communities will be the total number of eligible applications.
(a) Selection of Category 1 applications—(1) Six or less rural nominations. If there are six or fewer Category 1 rural area nominations, HUD will select all of the nominated rural areas in Category 1 for designation as Renewal Communities. HUD will then select the highest ranking Category 1 urban area nominations, but will not exceed a total of 20 Category 1 designations.
(2) More than six rural nominations. If there are more than six Category 1 rural area nominations, HUD will select the six highest ranked Category 1 rural applications, and will then select, in rank order, the highest ranking Category 1 area nominations, whether urban or rural, until not more than a total of 20 Category 1 designations is made.
(b) Selection of Category 2 applications. After not more than 20 Category 1 designations are made in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section, any remaining Category 1 applications will be placed back in rank order into Category 2, with selections for a combined Category 1 and Category 2 total of not more than 40 designations made as follows:
(1) Less than six Category 1 rural applications. If the number of rural area applications selected in Category 1 is less than six, HUD will select the highest ranking rural area applications in Category 2 until the total number of rural areas selected is 12. The remaining designations will be made from both rural and urban areas in rank order. If there are fewer than 12 eligible rural applications overall, counting both Category 1 and Category 2, all of the eligible rural applications will be selected.
(2) Six or more Category 1 rural applications. If the number of rural area applications selected in Category 1 is six or more, HUD will select the six highest Category 2 rural applications. The remaining designations will be made from both rural and urban areas in rank order.
(c) Effective date of designation. The effective date of designation as a Renewal Community is the date a nominated area is selected in accordance with this section.
(a) Notification of applicant. HUD will notify each applicant of the designation of its nominated area as a Renewal Community.
(b) Federal Register publication. In addition to any other form of notification, HUD will publish a notice of the designation of Renewal Communities in the Federal Register.