12 2 STA T . 1 93 3 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 2 46—J U NE 1 8, 2008 inaru ra l ar e a o nl yb e c au s e th e cluster is a dj acent to not m ore than 2 census bloc k s that are other w ise consid - ered not in a rural area under this p ara g raph .‘ ‘ (F)URBAN AR E A G R OWTH . — ‘‘(i) AP P LIC ATION.— T his subparagraph applies to— ‘‘( I ) any area that— ‘‘(aa) is a collection o f census blocks that are contiguous to each other
‘‘(bb) has a housing density that the S ec- retary estimates is greater than 2 0 0 housing units per s q uare mile; and ‘‘(cc) is contiguous or adjacent to an e x isting boundary of a rural area; and ‘‘(II) any urbani z ed area contiguous and adja- cent to a city or town described in subparagraph (A)(i). ‘‘(ii) A DJUS T M ENTS.—The Secretary may , by regula- tion only, consider— ‘‘(I) an area described in clause (i)(I) not to be a rural area for purposes of subparagraphs (A) and ( C ); and ‘‘(II) an area described in clause (i)(II) not to be a rural area for purposes of subparagraph (C). ‘‘(iii) APPEALS.—A program applicant may appeal an estimate made under clause (i)(I) based on appro- priate data for an area, as determined by the Secretary. ‘‘( G ) H AWAII AND PUERTO RICO.— N otwithstanding any other pro v ision of this paragraph, within the areas of the County of Honolulu, Hawaii, and the Commonwealth of P uerto R ico, the Secretary may designate any part of the areas as a rural area if the Secretary determines that the part is not urban in character, other than any area included in the Honolulu Census D esignated Place or the San J uan Census Designated Place. ’ ’. (b) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report that— ( 1 ) assesses the various definitions of the term ‘‘rural’’ and ‘‘rural area’’ that are used with respect to programs administered by the Secretary; (2) describes the effects that the variations in those defini- tions have on those programs; ( 3 ) make recommendations for ways to better target funds provided through rural development programs; and ( 4 ) determines the effect of the amendment made by sub- section (a) on the level of rural development funding and partici- pation in those programs in each State. SEC.6019 . NATIO NA LRU RAL D E V ELO PM ENT PARTNERS H IP. Section 3 78 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2008m) is amended— (1) in subsection (g)(1), by striking ‘‘2003 through 2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2008 through 2012’’; and
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