29 U.S.C. § 3121 — Workforce development areas

(a) Regions

(1) Identification. Before the second full program year after July 22, 2014, and as part of preparing the State plan, a State must identify regions in the State if it wants to receive an allotment under section 3162(b) or 3172(b) of this title. The State must consult the local boards and chief elected officials in the local areas. It must also follow the considerations in subsection (b)(1)(B).

(2) Types of regions. For this Act, the State must identify—

(A) which regions consist of one local area that matches the region;

(B) which regions consist of two or more local areas that, together, match the region. These are called planning regions, consistent with section 3102 of this title; and

(C) which regions described in subparagraph (B) are interstate areas. An interstate area is within two or more States and consists of labor market areas, economic development areas, or other suitable neighboring subareas of those States.

(b) Local areas

(1) In general

(A) Process. Except as subsection (d) provides, and consistent with paragraphs (2) and (3), the Governor must designate local workforce development areas within the State if the State wants to receive an allotment under section 3162(b) or 3172(b) of this title. The Governor must do this—

(i) after consulting the State board; and

(ii) after consulting chief elected officials and local boards and considering comments received through the public-comment process described in section 3112(b)(2)(E)(iii)(II) of this title.

(B) Considerations. Except for the local areas described in paragraphs (2) and (3), the Governor must base the designation on how much the areas—

(i) match labor market areas in the State;

(ii) match regional economic development areas in the State; and

(iii) have the Federal and non-Federal resources needed to administer activities under part B and other applicable provisions of this Act effectively. This includes considering whether the areas have suitable education and training providers, such as higher-education institutions and area career and technical education schools.

(2) Initial designation. During the first two full program years after July 22, 2014, the Governor must approve a request for initial designation as a local area from an area that was designated as a local area under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 during the two-year period before July 22, 2014, if the area performed successfully and maintained fiscal integrity.

(3) Subsequent designation. After the period of an initial designation under paragraph (2), the Governor must approve that local area’s request for another designation if the area—

(A) performed successfully;

(B) maintained fiscal integrity; and

(C) if it is in a planning region, met the requirements in subsection (c)(1).

(4) Designation on recommendation of State board. The Governor may approve a request from one unit of general local government, or from two or more such units together, to designate an area as a local area if the State board, using the considerations in paragraph (1)(B), determines and recommends to the Governor that the area should be designated.

(5) Areas served by rural concentrated employment programs. Under paragraph (2) or (3), the Governor may approve a request for designation as a local area from an area described in section 3122(c)(1)(C) of this title.

(6) Appeals. A unit of general local government, including a combination of such units, or a grant recipient that asks for designation under paragraph (2) or (3) but is denied may appeal to the State board under the appeal process in the State plan. If the appeal does not produce the designation, the Secretary of Labor may require the area to be designated under paragraph (2) or (3). The Secretary may do this after the unit or grant recipient asks for review and the Secretary determines either that the unit or grant recipient did not receive the procedural rights provided by the appeals process described in the State plan, as specified in section 3112(b)(2)(D)(i)(III) of this title, or that the area meets the requirements of paragraph (2) or (3).

(7) Redesignation assistance. If all local areas in a planning region request it, the State must provide funding from funds made available under sections 3163(a) and 3173(a)(1) of this title. The funding must help the local areas carry out activities to make it easier to redesignate them as one local area.

(c) Regional coordination

(1) Regional planning. The local boards and chief elected officials in each planning region described in subsection (a)(2)(B) or (C) must take part in a regional planning process. The process must result in—

(A) preparing a regional plan as described in paragraph (2);

(B) establishing regional service strategies, including cooperative service-delivery agreements;

(C) developing and carrying out sector initiatives for industries or occupations in demand in the region;

(D) collecting and analyzing regional labor-market data together with the State;

(E) establishing arrangements for administrative costs, including pooling money for those costs when appropriate for the region;

(F) coordinating transportation and other supportive services when appropriate for the region;

(G) coordinating services with regional economic-development services and providers; and

(H) establishing an agreement about how the planning region will collectively negotiate and agree with the Governor on local performance levels and report on the performance-accountability measures described in section 3141(c) of this title, for local areas or for the planning region.

(2) Regional plans. After consulting the local boards and chief elected officials for the planning regions, the State must require the local boards and chief elected officials within each planning region to prepare, submit, and obtain approval of one regional plan. The plan must describe the activities in paragraph (1) and include the local plans for each local area in the planning region. The State must provide technical assistance and labor-market data, when local areas request them, to help with regional planning and later service-delivery efforts.

(3) References. In this Act and in core-program provisions that are not in this Act—

(A) Local area. Except as provided in section 3111(d)(9) of this title, this section, section 3122(c)(1)(B) or (4) of this title, section 3122(d)(12)(B) of this title, or text that supplies a related provision specifically for a planning region, a provision’s use of “local area” also refers to a planning region when the corresponding local areas in that region implement the provision.

(B) Local plan. Except as this subsection provides, “local plan” also refers to the part of a regional plan prepared for the corresponding local area in the region, and to any regionwide part of that plan that affects or relates to the local area.

(d) Single State local areas

(1) Continuation of previous designation. The Governor of a State that was a single State local area under title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, as that title was in effect on July 1, 2013, may designate the State as one local area for this subchapter. If the Governor does so, the Governor must identify the State as a local area in the State plan.

(2) Effect on local plan and local functions. If a State is designated as a local area under this subsection, the local plan prepared under section 3123 of this title for that area must be submitted for approval as part of the State plan. In that State, the State board must perform the functions of a local board as specified in this Act or in provisions authorizing a core program. The State does not have to meet and report on a set of local performance-accountability measures.

(e) Definitions

For this section:

(1) Performed successfully. For a local area, “performed successfully” means that, for each of the last two consecutive years for which data are available before performance is determined under this paragraph, the local area met or exceeded the adjusted performance levels for the primary performance indicators described in section 3141(b)(2)(A) of this title. If applicable, it instead means meeting or exceeding the core performance indicators described in section 136(b)(2)(A) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2871(b)(2)(A)), as that provision was in effect the day before July 22, 2014.

(2) Sustained fiscal integrity. For a local area, “sustained fiscal integrity” means that, during either of the last two consecutive years before the determination about fiscal integrity, the Secretary did not formally determine that the grant recipient or the area’s administrative entity misspent money provided under part B. If applicable, this refers to money provided under title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 as that title was in effect before part B took effect. The misspending must not have resulted from willfully disregarding the requirements of the provision involved, gross negligence, or failure to follow accepted standards of administration.