40 U.S.C. § 14525 — State development planning process

(a) State Development Plan. Following policies the Appalachian Regional Commission sets, each state member must submit a development plan for the area of the state within the Appalachian region. The plan must: (1) be submitted on the schedule the Commission sets; (2) reflect the goals, objectives, and priorities in the regional development plan and any approved subregional development plan for that state's subregion; (3) describe the state's organization and ongoing process for Appalachian development planning, including (A) how local development districts participate in that process, (B) how the process connects to overall statewide planning and budgeting, and (C) how planning and projects are coordinated under this subtitle, the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, and other federal, state, and local programs; (4) set out the state's goals, objectives, and priorities for the region, as established by the Governor, and identify the needs behind them; and (5) describe the development strategies for reaching those goals, including funding sources and recommendations for specific projects to receive assistance under this subtitle.

(b) Areawide Action Programs. The Commission must encourage preparing and carrying out areawide action programs that lay out interrelated projects and schedules, the necessary agency funding, and other commitments to implement them — making appropriate use of existing plans for the area.

(c) Local Development Districts. Local development districts certified by the state under section 14102(a)(2) provide the link between state and local planning. They help states coordinate areawide programs and projects and may prepare or adopt areawide plans or action programs. In choosing programs and projects, states must consult local development districts, local governments, and citizen groups, and consider their goals, objectives, priorities, and recommendations.

(d) Federal Responsibilities. As much as practical, federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities that fund or run programs or projects in the region must: (1) take into account the policies, goals, and objectives the Commission and its member states establish under this subtitle; (2) treat Appalachian state development strategies the Commission has approved as satisfying overall economic-development-planning requirements for their programs; and (3) accept the boundaries and organization of any certified local development district that the Governor designates as the areawide agency required under those programs.