42 U.S.C. § 300ff–19 — Establishment of program

(a) In general. The Secretary, through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, must give grants for the services described in section 300ff–14 to "transitional areas." These grants must follow the same fund-allocation rules that apply under section 300ff–14(c). (b) Transitional areas. A "transitional area" is (subject to subsection (c)) a metropolitan area that reported and had confirmed by the CDC Director a cumulative total of at least 1,000 but fewer than 2,000 AIDS cases during the most recent five-calendar-year period with available data. (c) Certain eligibility rules. (1) Fiscal year 2011: if a metropolitan area got funding as an eligible area under subpart I in fiscal year 2010, but for fiscal year 2011 doesn't qualify as an eligible area under subpart I and doesn't qualify as a transitional area under subsection (b), the law treats it as a transitional area anyway for that year. (2) Continued status as a transitional area. (A) Once an area is a transitional area, it stays one until it fails, for three fiscal years in a row, both: (i) to qualify under subsection (b), and (ii) (subject to (B) and (C)) to have at least 1,500 living AIDS cases (reported and confirmed by the CDC Director) as of December 31 of the most recent year with data. (B) Margin of error: for fiscal years after 2008, an area with at least 1,400 (but fewer than 1,500) living cases still counts as meeting that 1,500 test if no more than 5 percent of its grant money under this part is unspent as of the end of the most recent fiscal year with data. (C) Exception: (A) and (B) don't apply for a year in which the area instead qualifies as an eligible area under subpart I. (d) Application of certain provisions of subpart I. (1) Administration; planning council. (A) Section 300ff–12's rules about grant administration and the planning council apply to transitional-area grants the same way they apply to subpart I grants, except that (subject to (B)) the transitional area's chief elected official can choose to skip section 300ff–12(b)'s specific requirements, as long as the official gives the Secretary documentation showing how the area gathered community input -- especially from people with HIV -- to set priorities and allocate the grant money. (B) Exception: for fiscal years 2007 through 2013, that opt-out in (A) isn't available if the area got subpart I funding in fiscal year 2006. (2) Type and distribution of grants; timeframe for using funds. (A) Section 300ff–13's rules on formula grants and supplemental grants apply to transitional-area grants the same way they apply to subpart I grants, subject to (B) and (C). (B) The formula-grant increase rule in section 300ff–13(a)(4) doesn't apply here. (C) For supplemental grants: (i) the Secretary must combine the money available for transitional areas under this subsection with the money available under section 300ff–13(b) and run them as one program; (ii) within that combined program, the Secretary decides how to split money between subpart I eligible areas and transitional areas, following the eligibility rules that apply and the priority rule in section 300ff–13(b)(2)(C); (iii) money in the combined program is subject to use under sections 300ff–13(a)(4) and 300ff–20(d)(1), per section 300ff–13(b)(1). (3) Application; technical assistance; definitions. Sections 300ff–15 (application), 300ff–16 (technical assistance), and 300ff–17 (definitions) apply to transitional-area grants the same way they apply to subpart I grants.